The Open University

Could ‘Bidenomics’ be the white knight to save UK Plc?

17 August 2023

Our economy is broken in many places and it’s not behaving the way it should but it’s not beyond repair – we need more investment, in traditional industries as well as new tech, and a British ‘Bidenomics’ could be the answer. That’s the verdict of Alan Shipman, Senior Lecturer in economics at The Open University, […]

Victorian science-fiction writer’s indelible link with NASA and New Year’s Eve

3 August 2023

From New Year’s Eve to NASA rockets the ‘countdown’ is common language today but it was an overlooked late 19th Century science fiction writer who first introduced it. Academic Adam Baldwin from The Open University (OU) says the ‘countdown’ is normally credited to film maker Fritz Lang in his 1926 film The Girl in the […]

New OU / BBC programme explores how we can make our cars and heating greener

21 July 2023

Tuesday 25th July sees the first of two brand new programmes from The Open University (OU) and BBC titled What They Really Mean For You, beginning on BBC One at 20:00, presented by BBC’s Climate Editor, Justin Rowlatt. The first episode, Electric Cars: What They Really Mean For You, investigates people’s frustrations with electric cars […]

Helping savers could be the key to bursting the inflationary bubble

11 July 2023

For four decades Jonquil Lowe, Senior Lecturer in Economics and Personal Finance at The Open University, has scrutinised the performance of our economy under successive governments. Now she sets out with crystal-clear clarity, that if the banks help savers we all might benefit. We’re in a monetary quagmire. Mortgage holders are already struggling with higher […]

Award-winning author and broadcaster is keynote speaker at OU global challenges festival

8 June 2023

Gary Younge is one of the headliners at a four-day hybrid festival staged at the OU to give voice to research into real-life global challenges and social justice to aid change. The former Guardian columnist, who is also a Professor of sociology at the University of Manchester, has made several radio and TV documentaries on […]

Flash Fiction: Literature’s Delinquent Offspring

6 June 2023

The OU is due to launch its forthcoming flash fiction competition #OU50words. The multi-award-winning campaign invites those interested to write a piece of flash fiction in no more than 50 words, in response to the university’s daily video writing prompt. To support the competition, OU academic Gwyneth Jones shares the content below about ‘Literature’s Delinquent […]

Award-winning 50-word flash fiction competition returns!

5 June 2023

Back by popular demand, our multi-award-winning flash fiction competition #OU50words is returning to The Open University’s social media channels. Every day for seven days (starting on Monday 12 June) we’ll be sharing a different storytelling prompt designed to inspire you to forge a 50-word, fictional footpath. We invited award-winning photographer Laura Jones from Atmospheric Images to spend […]

Lovers of detective-fiction have the chance to study Agatha Christie’s writing for free

1 June 2023

If you ever wanted to know the secrets of writing detective fiction, The Open University is staging a free short course of the work of 20th Century whodunnit queen Agatha Christie. According to Guinness World Records, Christie is the best-selling fiction writer of all time, her novels having sold more than two billion copies. Now […]

From rags and pads to the sanitary apron: a brief history of period products

26 April 2023

Professor Emerita of Classical Studies Helen King writes about the history of period products and how women used them through the ages. Period blood: it’s not something many people want to talk about. Taboos around menstruation and menstrual blood have been around for centuries. Even today, despite menstrual blood being featured in contemporary art, this […]

Putin’s visit to Kherson, electronic call-up papers and the latest dissenter deterrent

20 April 2023

Dr Precious Chatterje-Doody is a politics and international relations academic at The Open University and specialises in communication, misinformation and security, particularly in Russia. Here she talks about what Putin’s latest visit to Kherson means, his new plan for drafting men into the Russian army and how he continues to manage dissent. President Putin’s recent […]

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