The Open University

Trump’s use of the National Guard against LA protesters defies all precedents

10 June 2025

Dr Sinead McEneaney, Senior Lecturer in History at The Open University, debates President Trump’s latest stance in LA against protesters over immigration raids and shares the historical background regarding the Insurrection Act and National Guard. Violence has erupted on the streets of cities across southern California over the weekend, as protesters clashed with agents from the […]

Five Books to read if you like apocalyptic fiction

9 June 2025

With the release of the movie 28 Years later this month, you may find yourself craving apocalyptic and dystopian fiction. Here are some suggestions from The Open University’s Jennie Owen, Lecturer in Creative Writing. These page-turners include pandemics, monsters and environmental collapse, and are guaranteed to have you both horrified and gripped. 1. Parable of […]

Ukraine’s air strikes on Russian air fields “strategically important”: academic opinion

4 June 2025

As Russia has been left counting the cost of multiple Ukrainian drone strikes on its air fields over the weekend, Dr Precious Chatterje-Doody, Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Studies at The Open University, focuses on three key factors in this latest stage of the war. The first key point is that these were the […]

Powerful new OU/BBC documentary tells the story of the murder of George Floyd and the backlash that followed

20 May 2025

Airing on Wednesday 21st May on BBC Two at 9pm and BBC iPlayer, Blacklash: The Murder of George Floyd” tells the story of one of the most shocking and defining moments in modern history, one that not only exposed police brutality and birthed the Black Lives Matter movement, but also exposed deep divides in the […]

Five books about modern war

28 April 2025

As Russia’s war on Ukraine continues to dominate the media, reports from the front lines show uncannily familiar scenes of soldiers living in trenches like their counterparts in the First World War. As stories of deals, betrayal and high politics lead the news agenda, it’s important to think about the human cost of conflict says […]

Retired sub-postmistress notches up her third degree

15 April 2025

At the age of 79 former sub-post mistress Pat Wetherell has proved that age is no bar to higher education since she recently donned graduation robes to collect her hard-earned MA in History from The Open University (OU). It’s the second OU degree the mother-of-two from Eston, Middlesbrough, has notched up, and her third degree […]

Five vampire books to read if you enjoyed the film Nosferatu

13 March 2025

Oscar-nominated film Nosferatu has rekindled the love of all things spooky in this new version of the 1922 classic that manages to mix elements of Frankenstein and The Exorcist (1973), deftly demonstrating that vampire films can go in new directions. So too can these five contemporary vampire novels, which play with conventions as well as […]

BBC’s Forensics: The Real CSI shows the specialised work of police and forensic teams investigating a violent crime

28 February 2025

The Open University has once again teamed up with the BBC for another episode of Forensics: The Real CSI that shows the work of police forensic teams investigating a woman’s death. The episode, titled ‘Murder in a Brothel’, airs at 9pm on Sunday, 2 March, on BBC Two and iPlayer, and will be available on […]

Russia’s militarisation of young Ukrainians risks long-term peace: academic comment

21 February 2025

While decisionmakers in Europe and the US wrestle with a roadmap to lasting peace in Ukraine an Open University academic says they need to understand the future threat posed by Russian militarisation of young people in occupied territories. As we approach the third anniversary of the war, Dr Precious Chatterje-Doody says Russia is attempting to […]

Five books to read if you love Nordic/Scandinavian noir

17 February 2025

You know the drill: In a cold and dark place, perhaps at the frontier of human civilisation, a murder has taken place. With fading light and a small community of suspects, our hero must find the killer before the community is driven apart by suspicion in these so-called Nordic-noir films. Samuel Sargeant, Lecturer in Creative […]

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