| Read time: 5 minute(s)

Debate this: How not to get brainwashed by fake news?

Can we train ourselves to be lie detectors? The world is flooded with lies, fakes and misinformation. One academic, Alex Edmans is claiming salvation can only be found in our own minds. He thinks we could solve the misinformation problem if we all just learnt to check our facts and think critically about what we […]
| Read time: 6 minute(s)

How to read the news about Israel and Iran to your children?

On April 14th, Iran made a direct attack on Israel for the first time. Experts worry that any retaliation could drag in other countries. The situation is a dangerous jigsaw of competing interests. What is particularly worrying is that many players have an interest in keeping the conflict going to distract from their domestic troubles. […]
| Read time: 8 minute(s)

Debate this: Can we turn back time by banning phones? End ‘phone-based childhood’ now say experts

In the last decade, something astonishing has happened. Young people’s reading abilities have come down across the board and across the world. In the same time period, students’ mental health plummeted. Loneliness, anxiety and depression are all at record highs. Some pin the blame on the little box in your hand. But can we do […]
| Read time: 11 minute(s)

Debate of the Week: Could a pop star defeat Trump?The weird Swift theory driving America crazy

Two ‘T’s are on everyone’s lips: Taylor and Trump. Some think a showdown between them might be brewing — and that Joe Biden will come out on top. Millions of fans hang on her every word. Embassies release statements about her.Scholars hold conferences to discuss her work in hushed, reverent tones.An alien visitor might be […]
| Read time: 6 minute(s)

How do you avoid imparting your child with  a sense of entitlement?

Life is not always fair. No one owes you anything. Goals can only be attained through hard work. The biography of John D. Rockefeller, Sr., Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller,Sr. by Ron Chernow, is highly instructive in this regard.  We quote as follows: Convinced that struggle was the crucible of character, Rockefeller faced […]
| Read time: 12 minute(s)

The good news that nobody wants to read

Are we missing the truth? The headlines are full of horror, doom and gloom. Some experts say there is plenty of positive news, but we’re hardwired to focus on the bad. When you read the news, sometimes it can feel like the only things reported are terrible, depressing events. Why does the media concentrate on […]
| Read time: 5 minute(s)

Australia offers climate refuge to Tuvalu citizens

Australia has offered refuge to citizens of Tuvalu because of the catastrophic impacts of climate change, in a landmark new pact. Tuvalu – a series of low-lying atolls in the Pacific – is among the nations most at risk from rising seas. It is home to 11,200 people and has repeatedly called for greater action […]
| Read time: 6 minute(s)

DEBATE OF THE WEEK:Are his ideas hurting men?

IN THE NEWS: Andrew Tate portrays himself as the saviour of lost young men. But experts think he is really just milking them for all they are worth.  Cults tend to arise at times of insecurity. During the decline of the Roman Empire, many joined the secretive cult of Mithras. As the Industrial Revolution turned […]
| Read time: 5 minute(s)

DEBATE OF THE WEEK: Should we change the way we live?

THE NEWS: The population has exploded in the last 200 years. Now it is going into reverse. Experts worry this could be one shock too many.  Rapid population growth is a very new phenomenon. After 300,000 years on the planet, we only hit one billion people in 1804. That doubled 123 years later. Since 1974 […]
| Read time: 2 minute(s)

“Mummified Aliens” presented to Mexico Congress

During a public hearing in the Mexican Congress, two alleged ‘alien corpses’ were unveiled alongside videos displaying UFOs and anomalous phenomena. Experts testified that these small, “non-human” specimens were not part of Earth’s evolution but were found in diatom mines, later fossilized. The specimens, believed to be 1,000 years old and retrieved from Cusco, Peru, […]