The Open University

Interior of Imam Mosque at Naqhsh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan, Iran

Cultural sites and war crimes, explaining the connection

20 January 2020

As tensions between Iran and the US continue, the OU’s Professor Derek Matravers takes a closer look at at why criticism was levelled at President Trump earlier this month, for his threats to Iran’s cultural sites. Derek Matravers is Professor of Philosphy at The Open University and his research activity includes his involvement in directing […]

Does poor spelling really mean Donald Trump isn’t fit to be president?

12 September 2017

In the aftermath of a controversial clash of protests in Boston, Donald Trump sent out a tweet about the need to heal the nation – managing in the process to misspell the word “heal”. He then quickly deleted the tweet, resent it with the same mistake, deleted the second attempt, until finally getting it right […]

Trumpslation: why Donald Trump’s words give translators so much trouble

7 August 2017

Much has already been written on the difficulty that translators and interpreters have when translating Donald Trump’s speeches and messages into other languages. The president’s frequent mangling of the English language has left interpreters and translators scratching their heads the world over. The most recent challenge for translators was how to translate the president’s inappropriate […]

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International Women’s Day: yes, we still need to protest this sh*t

8 March 2017

“I can’t believe we still have to protest this shit,” proclaimed a multitude of signs at a protest in London on January 21 2017. These signs, and others, were photographed, filtered, edited and uploaded to social media, linking protesters around the globe. The protests, which spread from the initial Women’s March on Washington, spurred by […]

The environmental costs of Trump’s wall

13 February 2017

It looks like Donald Trump’s “great, great wall” is actually going to happen. Its likely impact on human society has been well-noted, but in the longer-term a barrier across an entire continent will also have severe ecological consequences. The US-Mexico border is around 1,900 miles (3,100 km) long and some of it has already been […]

Bercow should see and speak only as directed by MPs: New Speaker of the House of Commons needed, says OU expert

7 February 2017

Reader in Government, Richard Heffernan, argues that John Bercow has overstepped the mark with his comments on Donald Trump. Highly political and too public a speakership “First elected as a Conservative MP in 1997, being reelected as such in 2001 and 2005, John Bercow becoming Speaker in 2009, ceased being a Conservative. It has long […]

Definition of word fascism in dictionary

The world’s words of the year pass judgement on a dark, surreal 2016

22 December 2016

Every December, lexicographers around the world choose their “words of the year”, and this year, perhaps more than ever, the stories these tell provide a fascinating insight into how we’ve experienced the drama and trauma of the last 12 months. 2016 had potential. It was 500 years ago that Thomas More wrote his Utopia, and […]

Trump and the triumph of hopeful nihilism

9 November 2016

For many US voters, the election of President Donald Trump is a worrying step backwards. But for many others, his rise to power is an exciting opportunity for national renewal. This division reflects the emergence of a new 21st-century politics – one waged between genuine cynics and hopeful nihilists. The former think the system is unchangeable […]

With Michigan triumph, Sanders proves the US need not settle for the ‘inevitable’

9 March 2016

Bernie Sanders’s victory in the Michigan presidential primary has stunned America’s political establishment. He not only defied the polls, which had put him behind by as much as 20 points, but he has also “changed the race” by once again challenging Hillary Clinton’s seemingly clear path to the Democratic nomination. Only a week before, she […]

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