Year: 2016

Overlooked

An initiative by The New York Times aiming to address the imbalance of coverage in their obituary section starts with profiles of fifteen women who were overlooked at the time of their death. The set includes remarkable figures from many walks of life – from great writers such as Charlotte Bront‘ and Sylvia Plath, to the early civil rights campaigner and journalist Ida B. Wells, and to Henrietta Lacks, whose cells were taken from her body without permission and used for medical research.

Aliens in our midst

Whilst we look for alien life on other planets, this piece examines ctenophores – creatures closer to home that are “profoundly different from any other animal on Earth” – so much so in fact that they may be on an entirely different evolutionary path to their planetary cohabitants.

Angela Merkel: The Chancellor Next Door

A profile that makes rather a lot from a seemingly brief conversation with the German Chancellor, weaving in insights and anecdotes from interviews with others that know her and played a part in her ascent

Federalist 10

James Madison, 4th President of the United States, wrote this essay on how to mitigate the “mischiefs of faction” in government in 1787. He noted the need to find balance – “In the first place, it is to be remarked that, however small the republic may be, the representatives must be raised to a certain number, in order to guard against the cabals of a few; and that, however large it may be, they must be limited to a certain number, in order to guard against the confusion of a multitude.” http://www.bit.ly/yale-madison