Category Archives: Politics

01Dec/25

Racism never went away – it simply changed shape

Lars Cornelissen, Manchester Metropolitan University; Independent Social Research Foundation

Prime Minister Keir Starmer thinks that racism is returning to British society. He has accused Nigel Farage’s Reform UK of sowing “toxic division” with its “racist rhetoric”.

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17Nov/25

The Global Rise of Gen Z Political Protests

Nov. 17, 2025 /Mpelembe Media/ —   There is an unprecedented global surge of Gen Z-led protests across multiple countries. Youth participation in political change is not new, the recent wave of these movements are interconnected and enabled by technology. The key commonalities among these countries experiencing these protests: they generally possess relatively high political rights but suffer from deficits in prosperity metrics such as income, health, or education, coupled with significantly high youth populations. The article concludes by discussing the mixed outcomes of these protests, which have led to full regime change in countries like Nepal and Madagascar. Is it possibie to predict where future youth uprisings might occur based on these shared characteristics? Continue reading

06Nov/25

The White House That Wasn’t: Unrealized History

The new issue of the White House History Quarterly magazine, titled “The White House That Wasn’t,” this seventy-ninth issue, explores alternative histories and unrealised plans related to the White House, beginning with the much larger design proposed by city planner Pierre Charles L’Enfant in 1791. The release outlines several articles, which discuss topics ranging from an artist’s vision of L’Enfant’s original plan and the President’s temporary house in Germantown, Pennsylvania, during the 1793 yellow fever epidemic, to objects like a Steinway piano that was declined and presidential myths that were proven false. The publication is produced by the White House Historical Association, a non-profit organisation founded in 1961 by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy to preserve and educate the public on the history of the Executive Mansion. Continue reading

01Nov/24

Free Speech and Inflation top US Voter Concerns; Climate Change a Non-starter according to Polls

On Oct. 24, 2024, Elon Musk on “X” wrote: “Major vibe shift” as FIRE, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression reported their recent poll results with free speech ranked higher than health care, crime and immigration; climate change was second from the last of twelve issues, says Friends of Science Society. The poll was conducted by the prestigious National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago. Continue reading

08Oct/24

Can Kemi Badenoch claim to have ‘become working class’ while working in McDonald’s – and why would she want to?

Michael Rees, Nottingham Trent University

Conservative MP Kemi Badenoch recently caused controversy by claiming that while she was born to a middle-class family, she “became working class” when working in McDonald’s to earn money while she was in college. In fairness to Badenoch, having a diversity of experience is an admirable attribute for an MP – something you wouldn’t associate with someone like recently deposed Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg for example.

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16Jul/24

How being shot might affect Donald Trump’s mental health – and that of millions of others

Simon McCarthy-Jones, Trinity College Dublin

After the attempted assassination of Donald Trump at his Pennsylvania campaign rally, there is much speculation about how this will affect the 2024 US election. However, no one is yet asking how these events may affect Trump himself.

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08Jul/24

Will Joe Biden step down? An expert Q&A

Dafydd Townley, University of Portsmouth

Joe Biden’s extremely weak performance at the CNN TV debate last week, has prompted senior figures in the Democrat party to question whether he is fit enough to stand for the upcoming presidential election. Former speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said it was reasonable to ask: “Is this an episode or is this a condition?”

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