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EXPLAINED: 6 | Vintage Vibes

Jane Austen fight club: experts go head-to-head arguing for her best leading man

To mark the 250th anniversary of her birth, we’re pitting Jane Austen’s much-loved novels against each other in a battle of wit, charm and romance. Seven leading Austen experts have made their case for her ultimate leading man, but the winner is down to you. Cast your vote in the…

The Conversation

How the art of Chinese calligraphy can bring creative freedom in the age of AI

Many of us would struggle to recall the last time we wrote anything substantial by hand. Digital devices often feel more convenient and efficient. But research shows that the intricate motor skills and visual processing required for handwriting encourages more extensive brain activity than typing.

The Conversation

Troy’s fall was partly due to environmental strain – and it holds lessons for today

Sometimes the seeds of collapse are sown in the very soil of prosperity. Beneath the ancient city of Troy’s shining walls, the earth quietly cracked under the weight of its ambition.

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Why Jane Austen’s leading men are such enduringly popular heartthrobs

In Ang Lee’s adaptation of Sense and Sensibility (1995), the handsome cad Willoughby (played by Greg Wise) rescues Marianne (Kate Winslet) on horseback in the middle of a raging storm. Pathetic fallacy has rarely looked so good.

The Conversation

How Israel’s self-image changed from self-reliance to aggressive militarism

When the Zionist movement began to gather pace a century ago, many Jewish supporters wanted not just to create a political state for themselves, but to initiate a cultural revolution that would forge a new kind of Jewishness. Proud, self-reliant and resilient, the “new Jew” was a reaction to centuries…

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Animal Farm at 80: George Orwell’s enduring commitment to socialist revolution

During the early years of the second world war, George Orwell believed that England’s revolutionary moment had arrived. The defeat at Dunkirk had discredited the country’s ruling elite. Their bungling had left England on the verge of invasion and defeat.

The Conversation

I write James Bond novels – here’s why Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight will bring a crackling new intensity to 007

Our hero is on his way to confront danger, feign love and give away a little of his soul. As he takes a long plane journey over Europe into enemy territory, he reflects on what his younger self would make of him now: “Would he recognise himself beneath the surface…

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Jane Austen was a satirist – why isn’t she treated like one?

From the pompous vanity of Sir Walter Elliot in Persuasion (1817), to the shallow reading habits of Isabella in Northanger Abbey (1817), few characters in the works of Jane Austen are spared the gentle satire of her famously ironic narrative voice. Similarly, some of her best remembered characters, like Elizabeth…

The Conversation

Love in the age of WhatsApp – a philosopher explains how technology reduces the power of a relationship

A sense of distance has always been part of romantic love. The experience of wanting to be with another person often requires separation, if only in the form of days apart for work and travel. Matters become more complicated, however, when that distance is mediated by technology – by dating…

The Conversation

Enjoyed together, Red Dwarf and Jane Austen offer a lesson in immersive world building

This year marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth. An Austen enthusiast might attend the birthday ball at the Alton Assembly Rooms in Hampshire or take an Austen-themed walking tour. They might dance at the Pump Rooms in Bath, a city with strong Austen connections, or in Utah, which…

The Conversation

Who is Odysseus, hero of Christopher Nolan’s new epic?

Somewhere between hero and hustler, family man and philanderer, king and con artist, Odysseus is one of ancient literature’s most complex figures. In the Iliad, he is the mastermind behind the Trojan horse.

The Conversation

Psychedelic drug DMT and near death experiences have long been linked – my study is the first to explore the connection in depth

Have you ever wondered why people who nearly die often describe speeding toward supernatural light, or seeing their life flash before their eyes? You may have also heard about the powerful psychedelic dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a class A illegal drug in the UK, and how it might generate the so-called near-death…

The Conversation

My new history of romanticism shows how enslavement shaped European culture

According to one strand of history, slavery was abolished when Europeans found their conscience. According to another, it was abolished when it stopped being profitable. Both approaches tend to underplay the significance of Black resistance.

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A big night for women’s football – what you should watch, see and read this week

The feelings that surged through the pub that I watched the women’s Euro 2022 cup final in were electric. England had won. My friends were in tears. Strangers were shaking hands, patting each other on the back, smiling goofily at anyone who would catch their eye. It was wonderful. I’m…

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The 19th-century maritime superstitions that were believed to protect men at sea

Maritime folklore has long been shuffled to the margins of nautical history, presented as the quaint, colourful oddities of a former age. Yet this body of beliefs, practices and stories can offer important insights into how seafarers of the 19th century viewed and understood their working environment.

The Conversation

Hosepipe ban survival guide: which garden plants to save and which to sacrifice

With hosepipe bans in force across several English regions and more restrictions likely to follow, gardeners face some tough choices. When every drop counts, which plants deserve your precious water from the water butt, and which should you leave to fend for themselves?

The Conversation

A Philosopher Looks at Clothes by Kate Moran is engaging and unpretentious – we need more philosophy books like this

With a few exceptions, philosophers have had little to say about clothes. Maybe this is because the topic seems frivolous, or feminine, unworthy of the attention of a predominantly male collection of thinkers.

The Conversation

Sylvia Plath’s ‘fig tree analogy’ from The Bell Jar is being misappropriated

In chapter seven of Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar (1963), protagonist Esther Greenwood imagines her life branching out before her like a green fig-tree. Each individual fig on the branches represents a different “wonderful future” – a family, a successful career, romance, travel, fame, etc.

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A potted history of fermented foods – from pickles to kimchi

Are you a pro at pickling? How about baking sourdough bread or brewing your own kombucha? If the answer is yes, you’ve probably picked up on one of the recent trends promoting fermented foods, which promise to boost your gut health and save both you and the planet from the…

The Conversation

In Reframing Blackness, Alayo Akinkugbe challenges museums to see blackness first

In Reframing Blackness, writer and curator Alayo Akinkugbe explores the way that art history is taught, and the impact this has had on what we see in national museums in western cities. This teaching has often led to the exclusion of blackness from mainstream art spaces. Akinkugbe challenges this by…

The Conversation

Why the Sycamore Gap tree provoked such strong emotional reactions – a psychologist explains

In September 2023, so many people were shocked when the famous Sycamore Gap tree, thriving in a dip along Hadrian’s Wall, was deliberately cut down overnight. For many, the tree symbolised British resilience, heritage and an enduring history. The public response was swift and intense, with widespread outrage and grief…

The Conversation

Superman wasn’t always so squeaky clean – in early comics he was a radical vigilante

Superman was the very first superhero. He debuted in Action Comics issue #1 which was released in June 1938. Over time, the character has been assigned multiple nicknames: “The Man of Steel”, “The Man of Tomorrow” and “The Big Blue Boy Scout”. However, in his first appearance in ravaged Depression-era…

The Conversation

The Salt Path scandal: defending a memoir’s ‘emotional truth’ is a high-risk strategy

Raynor Winn, author of the award-winning memoir The Salt Path, which was recently adapted into a film, has been accused of “lies, deceit and desperation”. Writing in The Observer, reporter Chloe Hadjimatheou claims that Winn left out significant facts and invented parts of the story.

The Conversation

The Story of a Heart by Rachel Clarke is a powerful account of one child’s gift to another

What does it mean to save a life – and what does it cost? In The Story of a Heart, Rachel Clarke answers this not with slogans or sentiment, but with quiet, searing honesty. This book, which won this year’s Women’s prize for non-fiction, is about organ donation, yes, but…

The Conversation

A brief history of the slogan T-shirt

You probably have a drawer full of T-shirts. They’re comfy, easy to style, cheap and ubiquitous. But the T-shirt is anything but basic. For 70 years, they’ve been worn as a tool for self-expression, rebellion and protest. And in 2025, the slogan T-shirt is as powerful as it has ever…

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