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Category: Arts and social sciences

Hamza Yassin ©BBC/Silverback Films/Ellie Hilton

Lights, camera, wildlife! It’s Hamza’s Hidden Wild Isles

Britain is a treasure trove of natural history, some of it hiding in plain sight. Now a brand new series, Hamza’s Hidden Wild Isles, starts at 6.15pm on Sunday 12th October on BBC1 and BBC iPlayer aiming to uncover just a few of those wildlife wonders lying right under our noses. Behind the lens is […]

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Reporter Tir Dhondy (copyright BBC)

OU/BBC documentary investigates the rise of sextortion scams

A new OU/BBC documentary explores why sextortion scams on social media are becoming increasingly common. Airing on Sunday 5th October at 9pm on BBC Three and iPlayer, ‘Blackmailed: The Sextortion Killers’ follows reporter Tir Dhondy, as she takes a closer look at the darker side of social media. With unprecedented access and interviews with industry […]

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Five books for football fans

Five books for football fans

Football isn’t just played on the pitch – it lives on in the pages of countless captivating books that capture the drama on and off the turf. With the football season well under way, Dónall Mac Cathmhaoill, lecturer in creative writing at the OU has a selection of books to feast your eyes on. 1. […]

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What kind of democrat are you?

What kind of democrat are you?

Remember those explosive Brexit-style dinner-table discussions throughout the country? Now an international team of researchers led by the UK’s Open University, has devised a simple FREE interactive test to show people whether the actions they see as being democratic might be considered politically extreme to others. The £2.72 million EU Horizon-Europe/Innovate UK funded project has […]

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From ‘refrigerator mothers’ to paracetamol: why harmful autism myths are so common

From ‘refrigerator mothers’ to paracetamol: why harmful autism myths are so common

US president Donald Trump’s claim that pregnant women should avoid paracetamol – a statement that is both harmful and not backed by the science – fits into a long and damaging tradition of blaming parents, especially mothers, for autism, says Lindsay O’Dell, Professor of Critical Developmental Psychology, The Open University. Despite decades of research and […]

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Academic’s joy at reaching the finals in the BBC National Short Story Award

Academic’s joy at reaching the finals in the BBC National Short Story Award

Open University academic Dr Edward Hogan is riding high after learning he is one of five finalists in the BBC National Short Story Award. The Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at the OU was overjoyed when he learned that his story, ‘Little Green Man’ was shortlisted. His warm, humorous, yet tender tale is about Carrie, […]

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Jack smiling at the camera dressed in graduation gown with indoor garden to the left.

‘You’re not just improving your career prospects, you’re learning about yourself at the same time’

Working towards a degree was something Jack, 28, always assumed was in his future. After leaving school, Jack set off for a campus university but with no financial support to lean on, soon found it unsustainable. When a housemate told him about The Open University’s flexible courses, Jack couldn’t wait to dive in. Now a […]

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Does a partner need to know our sexual fantasies?

Does a partner need to know our sexual fantasies?

The actor of the X-Files series, Gillian Anderson, has just released a book about sexual fantasies. The book titled Want summarizes the various sexual fantasies of women from all over the world. Anderson is not the first author to explore the topic, says Samuel Jones, Lecturer in Applied Cognitive Psychology, The Open University. In 1973, American author Nancy […]

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Rethinking our national and international issues

Rethinking our national and international issues

The fourth series of the BBC/Open University radio show Rethink has begun which discusses issues from politics to technology, economics and beyond and poses how we might approach them differently in the future. This latest series, airs at 4pm on Thursdays, beginning 4 September, on Radio 4 and runs for five episodes, and is available […]

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Who was Jane Austen’s best heroine? These experts think they know

Who was Jane Austen’s best heroine? These experts think they know

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

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