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Category: Arts and social sciences

Young people took up smoking during the pandemic – how tobacco has been used for stress relief for more than a century

Young people took up smoking during the pandemic – how tobacco has been used for stress relief for more than a century

Through his research interest in the smoking habits of people in war-time Britain, Dr Michael Reeve, a Lecturer in Modern British History, shows us how social disruption and stress, over time, has drawn people towards tobacco. In the UK and much of the west, smoking rates have consistently declined since the turn of the millennium. […]

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Lady Killers is back for a third series

Lady Killers is back for a third series

Lady Killers – one of the top ten most popular BBC Podcast series of 2022 – is back for a third time and integral to the show is The Open University’s Rosalind Crone working alongside popular history presenter Lucy Worsley. The half hour OU/BBC co production is due to air on 10 January on BBC […]

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#JeSuisCharlie was one of the most viral hashtags in history – here’s why it wouldn’t happen today

Emma Connolly, PhD Candidate, Politics and International Studies at The Open University writes for The Conversation about how #JeSuisCharlie was one of the most viral hashtags in history and why it wouldn’t happen today: It will be nine years on January 7 since a shooting at French weekly satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo killed 12 and […]

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Interest rates have stopped rising, but 2023 hikes could still cause recession for some economies

Interest rates have stopped rising, but 2023 hikes could still cause recession for some economies

Alan Shipman is a Senior Lecturer in Economics at The Open University who says that even though interest rates have stopped rising the sting in the tail is there’s still a danger of recession for some economies. Central banks on both sides of the Atlantic kept their main interest rates unchanged for the fourth successive month […]

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Putin’s four-hour Q&A is a valuable insight into the Russian president’s version of reality

Putin’s four-hour Q&A is a valuable insight into the Russian president’s version of reality

Dr Precious Chatterje-Doody is a Senior Lecturer in politics and international relations academic at The Open University and specialises in communication, misinformation and security, particularly in Russia. Here she gives her view on Vladimir Putin’s appearance at his annual press conference. Russian television audiences didn’t have much choice but to watch Vladimir Putin’s annual press […]

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A tribute to OU Honorary Graduate Benjamin Zephaniah 

A tribute to OU Honorary Graduate Benjamin Zephaniah 

It is with deep sadness that The Open University pays tribute to Benjamin Zephaniah, a distinguished poet, writer, and Honorary Graduate of the OU who has died at the age of 65.  Benjamin’s career spanned the realms of poetry, literature, radio, music, and television. In 2004, t he OU recognised his outstanding contributions to the […]

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Online learning to support counselling professionals

Online learning to support counselling professionals

Counsellors and psychotherapists are being given the chance to enhance their skills by taking part in online learning from The Open University to meet the changing demands from society. The OU is Europe’s largest provider of psychology education and has developed high-quality continuing professional development short courses to arm professionals with essential skills that they […]

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Destruction of Ukrainian heritage: why losing historical icons can leave a long shadow

Destruction of Ukrainian heritage: why losing historical icons can leave a long shadow

The Open University’s Professor of Philosophy Derek Matravers discusses how the destruction of historical artefacts and buildings currently being experienced by Ukraine can have a profound affect. Destruction of Ukrainian heritage is happening on a scale not seen there since World War II, a report published by the journal, Antiquity, has claimed. The report lists […]

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Lloyds of London archives show how important the City was to the transatlantic slave trade

Lloyds of London archives show how important the City was to the transatlantic slave trade

Katie Donington is a Senior Lecturer in Black, Caribbean and African History, and here she talks about how the archives owned by Lloyds of London show the City’s connection to slavery. In 1783, the City of London was gripped by a court case which symbolised the brutal economics of slavery. Two years previously, the Liverpool […]

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Six ways the upcoming autumn statement could affect your personal finances

Six ways the upcoming autumn statement could affect your personal finances

Personal finance expert at The Open University Jonquil Lowe gives six tips on how the Chancellor’s crucial words tomorrow (22 November) will affect individuals and business. The UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt will have limited room for manoeuvre when he makes his autumn statement about the government’s financial plans. The government is committed to supporting the […]

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