• It’s Official: It’s Not Television That Makes You Stupid

    Dr Elke Weissmann On Monday, 13 September, The Guardian ran a story with the subtitle ‘TV really does rot your brain’. It was based on research by different American health scientists who looked into the relationship between (self-reported) television consumption and decline in grey matter in later life. The great aspect was that these were…

  • From Disaster Comes (Environmental) Opportunity

    Professor Paul Aplin COVID wasn’t born in a Chinese lab. That’s my view, probably yours too, whatever the latest conspiracy-theorists say. The genetic makeup of COVID-19 is 96% identical to one found in bats, and the COVID outbreak has been pinned down to a wet food market in Wuhan. Wet food markets trade wild animals,…

  • How do we Respond to Terror?

    Travis D. Frain Its been nearly five years since I joined Edge Hill University, studying for a BA in History with Politics. My time as a student was far from orthodox, as in March 2017 I was part of a group of politics students involved in the terrorist attack on Westminster Bridge whilst on a…

  • The Renewal of Medical Education in the Era of the COVID 19 Pandemic

    Professor John Sandars The COVID 19 pandemic has seen unprecedented disruption in how we all live, learn and work; medical education has been no exception.  The global impact has fallen mainly on clinical training, especially for medical students and junior doctors.  Traditional opportunities for clinical training, including general practice and hospital, initially became impossible due…

  • Keir Relief?

    Paula Keaveney ©UK Parliament / Jessica Taylor After a massive build up and an election night involving a partial re-count, we have a result. Can Keir Starmer breathe again? The Labour victory in the Batley and Spen by-election (winning by 323), a close result after a tense and at time acrimonious contest, is qualified good…

  • Does the Award for Best Television Programme go to What We Value Most?

    Elke Weissmann It’s award season: the BAFTAs have just been celebrated at the beginning of June, and in America, the Emmys will be handed out in September. Did your favourite programmes win? No? Some of them? You are not sure? Your potential lack of knowledge is not all that surprising. This is the industry celebrating…

  • 4 years on from the Manchester Arena Attack

    Figen Murray On 22 May 2017, my life changed forever. My son, Martyn, was 29 years old at the time and looking forward to seeing Ariana Grande in concert at the Manchester Arena. Soon after 10.30pm that night we heard the news that an explosion had taken place at the Manchester Arena.  Martyn was among…

  • Who Compensates Victims of Terror? The Northern Ireland Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme

    Professor Emeritus Clive Walker QC (Hon), Christiane Rabenstein During the Troubles in Northern Ireland from 1969 to 1998 over 3,000 people died. It is also estimated that more than 40,000 people suffered both physical and psychological injuries, and many of those still live with permanent disablement. Yet, relatively few instances of loss have been compensated…

  • Appropriate Response: Who are the Victims in a Terrorist Attack?

    Terry O’Hara Three questions: Is it worse to be a victim of terrorism than any other violent crime? What is so different about being a victim or survivor of terrorism? Should the state response for victims of terrorism be different to that for other crime? Founded by Colin and Wendy Parry, the parents of 12-year-old…

  • When Documentary Filmmaking Meets Academia – Screening ‘The Atom: A Love Affair’ at ISR

    Vicki Lesley As those who attended the recent ISR online screening of my film The Atom: A Love Affair heard in the lively discussion that followed, making this documentary has been an epic undertaking for me. When I set out to investigate the renewed push for nuclear power back in the late 00’s, I had…

  • Not from Keith: What can Posthuman theory and an old Easter card do?

    Opening up Conversations about Performativity, Playfulness and Creativity in the Early Years of Primary School. Dr Jo Albin-Clark I’ve inherited a bag filled with my primary school books and creations. One thing catches my attention, a faded card with an adult drawn chick shape decorated with scrunched up tissue paper. Inside, a young hand has…

  • Poll Position

    Paula Keaveney When I worked for the BBC in Lancashire I remember one local election night when control of the council rested on the result of just one ward in Skelmersdale.  It was an anxious wait for the party leaders and showed how knife-edge some elections can be. We could see a lot more of…

  • Covid-19 Anniversary Blog Wrap Up – Is there hope for the ‘roaring 20s’?

    It is my sincere hope that this will be the only time that the ISR blog marks the anniversary of the first Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020. Certainly things do look positive – at least here at home. The UK has been riding high in the vaccine charts since January and the anticipated full capacity…

  • The problem is often the solution: The future of video-based learning

    A year ago, in March 2020, we saw a global adoption of an online video-based learning approach in the higher education sector as a strategy to flatten the curve of COVID-19 infection and to prevent person-to-person transmission around university campuses. Since then, we’ve found ourselves switching between online and blended learning to mitigate the impacts…

  • ‘Follow the Science’: Is it time to reaffirm the intellectual virtue of inquisitiveness?

    Last April I wrote a short piece for ISR discussing my views on what appeared to be systemic post hoc errors in statistical and reporting practices on COVID-19 mortality. I also suggested that proportionality should be an important principle helping the Government to strike the right balance between respect for civil liberties and the legitimate…

  • Are there really any Positives from the Pandemic?

    A year ago I suggested that COVID-19 might help us become more empathetic towards the life experiences and challenges of vulnerable groups and recognise the opportunity to transition to a more inclusive and sustainable world. Many people – including several authors of this blog – have seen the pandemic as an opportunity or a lesson…

  • Civil Liberties ‘on loan’: Covid-19 and beyond, do the police need more powers?

    The UK Government used the emergency powers through the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 to bring in the Coronavirus Act 2020. Similar trends were witnessed worldwide. The legislation has allowed police to restrict movement, prohibit events, detain people, enforce lockdowns and quarantine restrictions. In the UK, more than 68,000 fixed penalty notices (FPNs)…

  • Surviving the Pandemic: How to Trade out of Trouble

    The Sewing Rooms is a social enterprise that uses sewing skills to improve the resilience, health and employability of some of our community’s most vulnerable people. At the end of 2019, we were celebrating our move to new premises and the many opportunities for expansion that came along with having a larger space in which…

  • Covid-19, Brexit and a ‘Gust of Wind’: The Perfect Storm for Global Supply Chains

    Almost a year ago I wrote a piece for the ISR Covid-19 blog on what might happen to business models due to the pandemic. Part of my focus then was about the role of global supply chains, and particularly how disruptions in those supply chains can have a detrimental impact on a business. I thought…

  • Normalising ‘special’: Covid, online learning and those with special educational needs

    A year ago, I was wondering how some educational practices could be changed in category from ‘special’ to ‘normal’ as a result of socially distanced practices, and what that might mean for our relationship with normality. Online access to education had previously been campaigned for by disabled students with limited success, and where it was…