In Smart America, new economy replaced ‘outmoded ideologies’ with dazzling technologies
Winners in Smart America have lost the capacity and the need for a national identity, which is why they can’t grasp its importance for others. Politically, Smart America came to be associated with the Democratic Party. This was not inevitable. If the party had refused to accept the closing of...
Zoom distance: Researchers estimate physical signals make up 70 per cent of conversation
Travel often demarcates an experience, focusing attention and solidifying work-life boundaries –whether it’s a flight to a conference or a daily commute to the office. As the online world has sliced those rituals away, people have experimented with “fake commutes” (a walk around the house or block) to trick themselves...
Online conferencing cuts cost, but weaned of thrill of in-person connection
The pandemic has immersed us faster and deeper in immersive communication technologies. It’s a disrupted, confusing, sometimes exhausting world, but shifting both the tech and our expectations might make it a better one. I am sitting in a darkened room, listening to upbeat music of the type often used at...
Vaccinating adults has double benefit of protecting children against Covid
Unvaccinated children seem to be reaping the benefits of mass Covid-19 vaccination programmes in many parts of the world. Infections in children have fallen as adults get their shots. But experts disagree on whether this means that unvaccinated children are unlikely to become a ‘reservoir’ for infection – and a...
Prince Harry and Meghan warned about support in US as they sink ‘beyond redemption’ in UK
Former US Anglo-American advisor and senior fellow of the Bow Group think-tank Lee Cohen has told Express.co.uk the tide was turning on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in the US despite initial positivity and welcomeness. Mr Cohen explained that, while the royal couple may be “beyond redemption” in the UK,...
Free America always had an insurgent mindset, breaking institutions down, not building them up
The government, which did so little for ordinary Americans, was still the enemy, along with “governing elites.” But for the sinking working class, freedom lost whatever economic meaning it had once had. It was a matter of personal dignity, identity. Members of this class began to see trespassers everywhere and...
We are ready for the first Kenyan original series, Showmax and Canal+ announce
“When I first read the script, I loved the delivery and realness of Silas as a character. It’s not exaggerated and he’s no Rambo hero; he just tackles his cases the normal way. I found a very real edge with this script and I hope I’ll do justice to the...
Threat of bitter break up looms in Black Lives Matter as infighting persists
Amid increased scrutiny of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullor’s lavish spending, including her reported purchases of multiple homes totalling upward of $3 million and the installation of fencing and an electric gate around one of those homes, the original ten BLM chapters are demanding more accountability and transparency from...
PhDs proliferate, openings shrink; research careers and innovation on verge of limbo
Nations, universities and research institutions around the world must redouble efforts to expand training for PhD students and postdoctoral researchers to prepare them for jobs outside academia. So urges a report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental coalition of 38 nations. The report, the result...
Americans no longer agree on the nation’s purpose, values, history or meaning
Nations, like individuals, tell stories in order to understand what they are, where they come from, and what they want to be. National narratives, like personal ones, are prone to sentimentality, grievance, pride, shame, self-blindness. There is never just one – they compete and constantly change. The most durable narratives...
