The Mediocrity Feedback Loop

Aaron Magid's biography examines how Jordan's King Abdullah has navigated 25 years of regional turmoil through Western alliances and survival. Written by Michael M. Rosen

Henry Kissinger’s policies influenced Cambodia’s fate, but they alone did not cause the rise of the Khmer Rouge.

This presentation is written and narrated by Dr Karleen Gribble, a researcher specialising in maternal and child health with particular expertise in breastfeeding and lactation policy. Dr Gribble argues that the replacement of sex-based language like "women," "mothers," and "breastfeeding" with gender-neutral terms like "pregnant people," "birthing bodies," and "chest feeding" in healthcare represents a failure of evidence-based medicine, cultural imperialism, and abuse of institutional power. She traces how this language shift originated in the United States around 2010–15 and spread globally through academic journals, publishers, health organisations, and funding bodies. She contends that these changes are being implemented without any research demonstrating benefits, while the limited existing studies show women find the language confusing, offensive, or dehumanising. Dr Gribble argues this is particularly problematic because it violates public health principles requiring clear communication, may harm vulnerable women with low health literacy, and imposes Western gender ideology on non-Western cultures. She documents how researchers and health professionals who question this shift face professional retaliation, and how her own research proposals to study the impact of desexed language were rejected as offensive. Dr Gribble calls for urgent research on the actual health impacts of this language change and a return to evidence-based practice that prioritises clear, dignified communication in women's healthcare.

Progressive discourse has become highly adept at identifying oppression, exclusion, and harm. But it is far less capable of understanding the basic conditions of political order. By Roohola Ramezani

The British establishment tends to deflect attention from the dangers of Islamism by attempting to silence those who point them out.

If leading media critics don’t expect much, filmmakers won’t deliver much.

How Margaret Mead’s romanticised account of Samoan life became the founding myth of cultural determinism—and why it endures despite having been thoroughly debunked.

Before Han Solo and Indiana Jones, there was another Harrison Ford, a star of silent cinema.

The article "Who Got the Camera?" by Dilan Esper recalls Los Angeles policing debates in the 1980s-90s: high crime (gangs, drugs, homelessness) versus claims of LAPD brutality under Chief Daryl Gates, who treated policing like war and used extreme tactics. It details the 1991 Rodney King incident: King, a felon intoxicated during a high-speed chase (up to 117 mph), was beaten by four LAPD officers with batons and a taser. Neighbor George Holliday's camcorder video—showing prolonged punishment, not defense—shifted public opinion. Tough-on-crime supporters rejected brutality; Gates was ousted, riots followed a state acquittal, and two officers got federal prison time. Author argues cameras (now ubiquitous, including bodycams) aid good cops by showcasing professionalism but expose bad ones, ending the "code of silence." Parallels to 2026: Trump's second-term ICE raids use masked agents in cities, arresting citizens/residents, beating immigrants, blocking filming, roughing protesters, and shooting two civilians dead in Minneapolis streets within weeks. Right-wing defenses (victim disobedience, threats) echo 1991 but fail against video evidence, evoking natural revulsion like family separations did in 2020. Polls confirm backlash: Trump's immigration approval fell from +9 (Aug 2025) to -20 (Jan 20, Rasmussen); YouGov shows more support than opposition for abolishing ICE; over 1/3 of Trump voters back deportation goals but not methods (Politico). Public wants secure borders without cruelty; midterms loom as reminder.

A new boxset edits out one of John Lennon’s most controversial songs.