The former PM’s high earnings have been partly attributed to the way he speaks. But I’ll take Bill Paterson or Maya Angelou’s sonorous tones over the voice of privilege any dayWhy does Boris Johnson command stupid money for public speaking? In February he reported a £2.5m advance; that seems awfully steep for 20 minutes of “Caecilius est in Peppa Pig World”. It’s a fair, indeed pressing, question posed by the Financial Times recently. I would happily pay a significant sum – all the money I spend on takeaways in a year, say, with the attendant sacrifice that involves for a reluctant cook – never to see or hear him again.The journalist Janan Ganesh concluded that it’s partly Johnson’s voice: “Beautiful … deep and textured, raspy without crossing into sibilance”. I forced myself to listen to a little of it, and, OK, it’s deeper than I remembered, but he sounds slightly congested to me, like he needs to lay off the Daylesford cheese. I understand the point, however. It’s a voice redolent both of a more lighthearted, Wodehousian time and, if you’re truly deluded, the Churchillian doggedness to which he aspires.Emma Beddington is a Guardian columnistDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 300 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at guardian.letters@theguardian.com Continue reading...

Sensory perception is a many-splendoured thing, and without it we’d have nothingIt’s a glorious spring morning in Sydney and I’m full of nervous anticipation as I cross the university campus, heading toward the lecture theatre where I’m going to be talking to the latest group of students about the senses. I love to watch their faces when I describe the wonders of sensory biology. I want to do it justice; I’m not just relaying information, I’m giving a performance in the hope that my enthusiasm might kindle theirs.On my way, I cut through a Sydney landmark known as the Quadrangle – the centrepiece of the campus. The architects added a finishing touch, a subtropical tree in one corner, and, each year, as the southern hemisphere spring takes hold, this jacaranda tree erupts into bloom, its fragrant lilac flowers calling time on the academic year. Jacarandas across Sydney join in, transforming the city. For a month, the parks and pavements are blanketed with petals. For me, it’s the sensory highlight of the year. Continue reading...

The rise in global antibiotic resistance means huge sums are being invested in ground-breaking treatments. But some scientists are turning back the clock in the hunt for effective alternativesFor several long months in the 1990s, Ronald Sherman travelled all over southern California catching flies. As a qualified doctor pursuing an infectious diseases fellowship, Sherman was curious about a potential new – and also very old – way to clean wounds. At medical school, he’d written a paper on the history of maggot therapy, tracing how the creepy crawlies helped heal soldiers in the Napoleonic wars, the American civil war and the First World War. Now Sherman wanted to test maggots in a modern setting. The problem? No one farmed and sold the species of flies that the doctor needed – so he went out and caught them himself.Once the specimens were collected and “as soon as everyone stopped laughing”, Sherman got to work. After treating his first patients with maggots, he was impressed by the results, but nonetheless he struggled to get his initial research papers published. A rejection letter from one journal read: “Publishing the manuscript might be interpreted as an endorsement for a therapy that is ancient.” Yet today, Sherman says, “that same journal probably has two or three articles about maggot therapy every year!” Continue reading...

As our summers get warmer and wetter even the hardy English rose is vulnerable to fungal disease, but researchers are on the caseThe velvety petals and sweet scent of a rose make it a classic of the traditional English garden.But growers and gardeners have long cursed a disease that has ravaged the delicate beauty of their favourite flowers: black spot. Now scientists at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) are trying to find an answer to the problem. Continue reading...

When Jack Nunn encouraged his mother Barbara to share her DNA test results online it uncovered a vast cohort of new half-siblings

Artefacts, video and 3D model tell tragic story of the Gloucester, which ran aground carrying future kingThe remains of a 17th-century royal shipwreck will go on display in Norwich as part of an exhibition exploring its last voyage.The Gloucester sank off the Norfolk coast in 1682 while carrying the future king of England, Scotland and Ireland, James Stuart, then the Duke of York. Continue reading...

Tanya Frank’s son Zach has lived with mental illness since he was a teenager. But after years journeying through the traditional healthcare system, could radical alternatives save him from an endless cycle of hospital stays and drugs?There are nights when I wake up and, in the disorientation of those first conscious moments, I am right back there. Los Angeles, 2009. Winter. Zach has entered my room, perched on the edge of my bed, and begged: “Mum. What is going to happen to me? You must know.”I see him in all his anguish – my younger son in his last teenage year. He has just been discharged from hospital after having what the doctors had called a psychotic break, when he thought that his friends weren’t his friends but were out to harm him, that our house was bugged and that helicopters were instruments of surveillance, trained on him. Years before, it would have been called a nervous breakdown. I don’t like either term much, but I think the connotations of a nervous breakdown feel more apt. It was this sense of nervousness that I witnessed on the night I first took my boy to the psychiatric hospital. Continue reading...

Scientists studying the Permian-Triassic mass extinction find ecosystems can suddenly tip overThe steady destruction of wildlife can suddenly tip over into total ecosystem collapse, scientists studying the greatest mass extinction in Earth’s history have found.Many scientists think the huge current losses of biodiversity are the start of a new mass extinction. But the new research shows total ecosystem collapse is “inevitable”, if the losses are not reversed, the scientists said. Continue reading...

From chatbots to deepfakes, here is the lowdown on the current state of artificial intelligenceBarely a day goes by without some new story about AI, or artificial intelligence. The excitement about it is palpable – the possibilities, some say, are endless. Fears about it are spreading fast, too.There can be much assumed knowledge and understanding about AI, which can be bewildering for people who have not followed every twist and turn of the debate.Reinforcement learning

My longtime colleague Luis Cuevas, who has died aged 66 of pancreatic cancer, was an academic who specialised in paediatrics, epidemiology and tropical medicine. For most of his career he did his research and teaching at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), which he joined in 1985 after fleeing to the UK from political violence in his native Guatemala. He was still working at the LSTM at his death.Luis’s work focused mainly on the diagnosis and management of diseases of poverty, and one of his most notable achievements was the development of a same-day diagnosis approach for tuberculosis, which was adopted by the World Health Organization in 2011. He was also involved in working out ways to diagnose people with the tropical disease Chikungunya and was at the forefront of LSTM’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Continue reading...

Stalky plant is not approved as a livestock feed, holding back a sustainable industry that could invigorate agricultureKen Elliott runs a hemp oilseed and fiber processing facility in Fort Benton, Montana. His company, IND Hemp, grinds up the stalky plant so that it can be used for a variety of purposes, such as snacks, grain, insulation and paper. About 20 truckloads of spent biomass lie in heaps on his property.Elliott estimates he could make a couple million dollars if he sold this leftover stuff as livestock feed. Hemp seedcake would make a great substitute for alfalfa – rich in fatty acids, proteins and fiber. His cattle rancher buddies are hit hard by the soaring costs of hay and would love to get their hands on this alternative. One buffalo herder wanted to buy the whole lot. Continue reading...

Researchers say findings indicate quantity of sleep alone is not enough to benefit; quality is keyIt is no mystery that a good night’s sleep and a lie-in can improve your day. But researchers are suggesting that, far from just being enjoyable, quality sleep may even add years to people’s lives.Men who regularly sleep well could live almost five years longer than those who do not, while women could benefit by two years, research suggests. And they could also enjoy better health during their lives. Continue reading...

Conclusions from long-term survey in Sweden come days after 10th anniversary of Ella Kissi-Debrah’s death in LondonReducing air pollution could improve lung function development in children and cut the numbers of young people with significant pulmonary impairments, research suggests.The impact of air pollution on health has become a topic of intense concern in recent years, with research suggesting it can affect every organ in the body and the World Health Orgazisation noting children’s developing organs and nervous systems are more susceptible to long-term damage. Continue reading...

Events to mark 300 years since birth of Richard Price, a radical who ‘helped build the modern world’His achievements include helping shape the US constitution, championing women’s rights, furthering the cause of the anti-slavery movement – and he also found time to hone the maths used by the insurance industry. In short Richard Price, an 18th-century moral philosopher, nonconformist preacher and scientist, was – those in the know agree – Wales’s greatest thinker.The problem is that not so many people in the UK, Wales or even his home county of Bridgend, know much about him, and lots have never heard of him. Continue reading...

Laser technology called lidar is helping archaeologists complete years of fieldwork sometimes in the span of a single afternoonArchaeology is facing a time crunch. Thousands of years of human history risk imminent erasure, from tiny hamlets to entire cities - temples, walls and roads under grave threat of destruction. Urban sprawl and industrial agriculture are but two culprits, smothering ancient settlements beneath car parks and cattle pastures. International conflict and climate change are also damaging vulnerable sites, with warfare and water shortages destroying pockets of history across the world.The endless excavations of yesteryear are no longer the best solution. Big digs aren’t the big idea they once were: mapping the human archaeological record is now moving upward, into the sky. Continue reading...

Madeleine Finlay speaks to the Guardian’s architecture and design critic, Oliver Wainwright, about why the relatively obscure concept of the 15-minute city has become a magnet for conspiracy theories in recent weeks. And hears from Dr Richard Dunning about how the theory can be implemented in a way that’s fair to all residentsClips: GB News, Rebel News UK Continue reading...

Bioimpedance sensing technologies as used in smartwatches could affect implanted devices like pacemakersWearable fitness and wellness trackers could interfere with some implanted cardiac devices such as pacemakers, according to a study.Devices such as smartwatches, smart rings and smart scales used to monitor fitness-related activities could interfere with the functioning of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) such as pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs), and cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) devices, the study published in the Heart Rhythm journal found. Continue reading...

Huge systems appear to be far larger than was presumed possible so early after big bang, say scientistsThe James Webb space telescope has detected what appear to be six massive ancient galaxies, which astronomers are calling “universe breakers” because their existence could upend current theories of cosmology.The objects date to a time when the universe was just 3% of its current age and are far larger than was presumed possible for galaxies so early after the big bang. If confirmed, the findings would call into question scientists’ understanding of how the earliest galaxies formed. Continue reading...

AI experts say state needs to help create British version or risk national security and declining competitivenessThe UK needs to support the creation of a British version of ChatGPT, MPs were told on Wednesday, or the country would further lose the ability to determine its own fate.Speaking to the Commons science and technology committee, Adrian Joseph, BT’s chief data and artificial intelligence officer, said the government needed to have a national investment in “large language models”, the AI that underpins services such as ChatGPT, Bing Chat and Google’s Bard. Continue reading...

Researchers say impact on attainment is small but medical teams should think carefully before artificially kickstarting labourChildren born after induced labour may score lower in school tests at age 12, research suggests. Although the impact on individual attainment is small, researchers said it should prompt medical teams to “think twice” before artificially kickstarting labour in otherwise healthy pregnancies.Most pregnancies come to a natural end after 37 to 42 weeks with the spontaneous onset of labour, but approximately one in five births in the UK are artificially induced. Sometimes there are strong medical grounds for doing so, such as the mother or baby’s health being at risk, but in other cases women may be offered an induction because their baby is apparently healthy but overdue. Continue reading...

Analysis says hundreds of animals are contaminated with dangerous compounds linked to cancer and other health problemsHundreds of animal species across the globe from ticks to whales have blood contaminated with toxic PFAS, a new analysis of previous peer-reviewed research shows.Though the analysis does not aim to reveal how the exposure to PFAS affects wildlife, anecdotal evidence in some of the previous studies show the chemicals are likely sickening animals. Continue reading...

Local media report inquiry launched over application by Chinese scientist He Jiankui, whose work sparked ethics stormHong Kong has reportedly revoked a visa for the controversial gene therapy scientist He Jiankui less than a day after it was revealed he’d been granted one, despite having a criminal record in China for illegal medical practices.Hong Kong immigration officials said his visa was rescinded and a criminal investigation launched into allegations He had lied on his application form, the South China Morning Post reported. Continue reading...

The solid inner core is contained within the liquid outer core, enabling it to rotate differently from the Earth itselfEarth’s inner core appears to have stopped spinning faster than its mantle. New measurements suggest that the rotation of the inner core has slowed in recent decades and is now about to reverse direction, spinning more slowly than the mantle. The finding helps to explain recent changes in Earth’s magnetic field and the length of day.The Earth’s solid inner core is contained within the liquid outer core, enabling it to rotate differently from the Earth itself. Its spin is driven by the magnetic field generated in the outer core, and balanced by gravitational effects within Earth’s mantle. Continue reading...

New research finds strong social networks and physical activity in mid life can help prevent long-term health conditionsEnjoying satisfying relationships with partners, family, friends and work colleagues and exercising at least once every month could boost your physical and mental health in old age, two studies suggest.Globally, people are living longer and every country in the world is experiencing growth in the size and proportion of older people in their population. The number of those aged 80 or older is set to triple between 2020 and 2050, to reach 426 million. Continue reading...

Form of virus, formerly known as monkeypox, fatal in about 15% of cases among immunosuppressed peopleA severe and “horrific” form of mpox has been identified in immunosuppressed people living with HIV, which appears to be deadly in about 15% of cases.Solid organ transplant recipients, and those with blood cancers, may also be at risk, although no cases have yet been detected in such individuals. Continue reading...

A life-changing encounter with the secretive creature led Arnaud Desbiez to dedicate his work to saving it from extinctionArnaud Desbiez, a French-born conservationist, lived in the Brazilian Pantanal for years before a chance encounter changed his life – and he wasn’t even there for it. His wife, tapir conservationist Patrícia Medici, came upon a giant armadillo one night in 2009 while working in the field. Hearing the story lit a fire in Desbiez.“This was my dream species, the holy grail of all mammals,” he says. “I said, ‘You know what? If I could just see it.’” Continue reading...

Director Marion Neumann not only pays tribute to the magic of mushrooms but claims they could save humanity from the coming climate apocalypseAt once earthy and magical, fungi not only link us to the origins of life itself but also open doors to alternate realms of consciousness. In Marion Neumann’s loose-limbed documentary, just the latest in a string of films that opine on its enigma, the mushroom can even save the world.Compared with the surreal time-lapse photography of Louie Schwartzberg’s Fantastic Fungi (2019) or the rustic charm of Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw’s The Truffle Hunters (2020), Neumann’s approach is more free-wheeling and eccentric. Interviews with a wide host of fungi lovers – who include scientists, culinary specialists and devoted enthusiasts – delve into the generative power of mushrooms with vigour and optimism. Considering that the cultivation of fungal cultures has allowed us to ease our physical ailments as well as repair damaged ecosystems, the film posits that, beyond a transactional relationship, humans can also model our behaviours after the virtues of the mushroom. Mycelium, the word that describes the thread-like structure of fungal colonies, is often brought up, suggesting that humanity should aspire to such interconnectedness in the face of increasing ecological disasters. Continue reading...

Ian Sample speaks to Guardian science correspondent Nicola Davis about the news that Wegovy, an appetite suppressant popular with celebrities in the US, will soon be sold at UK pharmacies. It’s a prescription drug aimed at helping people with obesity lose weight, but some argue it doesn’t tackle the root cause of the diseaseClips: BBC, abc7NY Continue reading...

Professor of mathematical biology to succeed Sir Patrick Vallance after advising MoD and working with Sage during pandemicDame Angela McLean has been appointed as the UK’s chief scientific adviser – the first woman to hold the post.McLean will take over the role of providing independent scientific advice to the prime minister and members of the cabinet on 1 April, after the end of Sir Patrick Vallance’s five-year term. She will also advise on aspects of science and technology policy, and work to improve the quality and use of scientific evidence and advice in government. Continue reading...

The answers to today’s word and number puzzlesEarlier today I set you these four lexical-numerical puzzles, inspired by Tom Lehrer’s song That’s Mathematics. Here they are again with solutions. You will also discover the highly-anticipated winning entry to the competition for most brilliant self-referential fraction.1. Pair and share Continue reading...

Researchers say they have found a way to help survivors regain control of their arms and handsWhen Heather Rendulic experienced a series of strokes in 2012 at the age of 22, she lost functional use of her left hand. A decade later, she is once more able to use a fork and knife, thanks to electrodes implanted in her neck.About one in four people globally will experience a stroke in their lifetime – a condition in which the blood supply to part of the brain is cut off. Continue reading...

I am one of two million sufferers in the UK. When I read new studies, I am also trying to understand what’s going on in my legsI first arrived in the UK from Switzerland in 2019 to work at the High Consequence Emerging Viruses Group at what is now the UK Health Security Agency. At the time, my project was focused on Ebola virus disease survivors. I was excited for a new chapter in the Ebola field. But Covid quickly changed our plans.We applied our skills to develop Covid treatments and new antivirals. I was involved in early research to study the Sars-CoV-2 infection, and test vaccine candidates.The lab moved to the University of Oxford, where we joined a consortium of researchers who were studying how the immune system was responding after people had been vaccinated.Stephanie Longet is a postdoctoral researcher in immunology at the University of Oxford, and an expert in infectious diseases and vaccination Continue reading...

When wordplay meets numberplayUPDATE: Solutions now available hereBefore we get to today’s puzzles, here is a curious fact I learned recently:If you start with the word “YES” and advance each letter 16 along in the alphabet, it spells “OUI”? Continue reading...

Two of the brightest planets will be visible on western horizon – if weather cooperatesIf the weather cooperates and you can find a clear western horizon, this week will treat you to a spectacular evening conjunction.The two brightest planets, Jupiter and Venus, will meet in the western sky just after sunset. As an added bonus, the space between the two planets will play host to the tiny sliver of a crescent moon. The chart shows the view looking west from London at 1800 GMT on 22 February. The constellations are marked but no other stars will be visible at this time in that part of the sky. The planets, however, will stand out brightly against the gathering twilight. The moon will also look beautiful with slightly more than 8% of its surface illuminated. Stargazers around the world will be able to see the conjunction. Continue reading...

As the former Sage adviser leaves Wellcome to join WHO, he talks about exhausted health workers, the UK’s sluggish response to Covid and the danger of conspiracy theoriesMasks are a rarity now on streets and trains. We don’t leave empty seats in theatres or limit how many people browse in our shops. It seems like it’s all over – but Prof Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of Wellcome, once a key member of the government’s scientific advisory body Sage and an enormously influential figure in global health, says the Covid pandemic could still have unpleasant surprises in store.Farrar is not a doom-monger. But from where he is sitting, with long experience of epidemics from flu to Sars to Ebola, we are still in a risky place. We need to be ready for what this – or quite possibly another – bug could do to us. Continue reading...

Two thousand-year-old object found at Roman fort in Northumberland in 1992 has been reassessed by archaeologistsArchaeologists believe they may have found the only known lifesize Roman dildo, discovered in a ditch in what were the farthest northern fringes of the empire.If it was not used as a sexual implement then the 2,000-year-old object may have been an erect penis-shaped pestle, or it could have been a feature from a statue that people touched for good luck. Continue reading...

Object hit balcony in Matera and remnants in pristine condition – ‘almost as if we collected it directly from space’, says expertResidents of southern Italy’s picturesque and ancient “city of stone” have been gripped by another rocky phenomenon after a meteorite crash-landed on the balcony of a home in Matera’s suburbs.The space object, which had been travelling at about 200mph, was spotted in the skies above the Puglia and Basilicata regions on 14 February, becoming known as “Valentine’s fireball”, before falling on to the balcony of the home of brothers Gianfranco and Pino Losignore and their parents. Continue reading...

Research into the disease has focused on plaques in the brain. But some scientists think viruses and bacteria play a role – and their work is gaining groundAs Davangere Devanand, a neurologist at Columbia University Medical Center, combed through the reams of scientific data on Alzheimer’s, he stumbled across a surprising idea – could an infection be involved in driving the disease?“I was looking for an Alzheimer’s treatment approach that had a reasonable shot of working,” he says. “I found this old theory, going back 35 years, which linked herpes viruses to the disease, and there were all these indirect lines of evidence.” Continue reading...

Co-author advises taking off your shoes at the door after studying dog poop on Upper East SideResearchers at New York’s Marymount College have published a study that, in its essence, attempts to establish how much dog poop footwear carries into the homes of New Yorkers on the affluent Upper East Side.The study, released to the Indoor and Built Environment journal, concludes there’s a strong argument for leaving your outside shoes at the door – or risk tracking fecal bacteria around the house. Continue reading...

Discovery that extrachromosomal DNA act as cancer-causing genes seen as breakthrough that could lead to new therapiesScientists have pinpointed pieces of DNA which, they say, act like Bond villains in the way they help cancers spread. These microscopic agents have also been shown to be responsible for helping tumours gain resistance to anti-cancer drugs.The discovery of these bits of genetic material – known as extrachromosomal DNA or ecDNA – could revolutionise the treatments of some of the most aggressive tumours that affect people today, add the researchers. Continue reading...

The primatologist, 88, on why animals need names, the last time she cried properly (1969), looking forwards to life after death and looking back at being a four-year-old scientistThe scientist in me was evident early on. At four, desperate to know how eggs come out of chickens, I hid inside a hen house waiting to witness it. When I finally returned, Mum had called the police. I’d been missing for hours. Instead of punishing me, she listened intently to my discoveries.I was jealous of Tarzan’s Jane as a child. Yes, I know they were fictional. But I still felt spurned he didn’t pick me. Continue reading...

What’s the secret to making it into triple figures? Never stay stuck in the past, keep a diary … and dance while you still canBritish army colonel, diplomat and writer; Kent, England

Oscar nominee Cate Blanchett reflects on her life-changing role in Tár (1m25s), food writer Bee Wilson investigates the real impact of energy drinks on consumers (21m38s), and David Robson on what a ground-breaking study says about our power to shape our future selves (48m09s) Continue reading...

Study in mice suggests drug could temporarily stop sperm moving by blocking critical proteinWhen it comes to contraception, men may finally have a greater choice than a condom or vasectomy, with a study in mice released this week suggesting it may be possible to develop a pill that could be taken shortly before sex.With what some have described as a “global epidemic” of unplanned pregnancies, and surveys suggesting many men hold positive views about a potential “male pill”, it seems to be fertile ground. Continue reading...

Sumerian Lord Palace of the Kings found in archeological collaboration with British MuseumIt has been described by the director of the British Museum as “one of the most fascinating sites” he has has ever visited, but the archaeologist who led the discovery of a lost Sumerian temple in the ancient city of Girsu has said he was accused of “making it up” and wasting funding.Dr Sebastien Rey led the project that discovered the 4,500-year-old palace in modern-day Iraq – thought to hold the key to more information about one of the first known civilisations. Continue reading...

Research shows people get more deep REM sleep than in summer, and may need to adjust habits to seasonFor those of us who struggle to leave our beds in the winter, taunts of “lazy” could well be misplaced.New research suggests that while humans do not hibernate, we may need more sleep during the colder months. Continue reading...

Physicist who designed and developed innovative instruments that provided evidence of changes in the Earth’s atmosphereThe consensus on how human activity is changing our climate is now so comprehensive that it is easy to forget that crucial to building the scientific understanding has been the acquisition over decades of many careful environmental measurements. John Harries, who has died aged 76, was involved in designing, developing and deploying instruments that were placed on aeroplanes, balloons and satellites to measure the heat radiation emitted by the Earth. His work resulted in the first direct observational evidence of an increase in the carbon dioxide greenhouse effect.Visible light is radiation with a spectrum of colours from blue at short wavelengths to red at long wavelengths. Radiation at even longer wavelengths is invisible, but the spectrum continues with heat radiation in the infrared and far-infrared. Each gas in the atmosphere absorbs and emits radiation uniquely, having its own characteristic spectrum, and, knowing this, we can interpret measurements of radiation to reveal the concentration of that gas. Continue reading...

Exclusive: museum in London agreed to take care not to say anything that could damage sponsor Equinor’s reputationThe Science Museum in London signed a sponsorship contract containing a gagging clause with the Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor, agreeing to take care not to say anything that could damage the firm’s reputation, it can be revealed.The agreement, a copy of which was obtained by the Guardian and the investigative journalism organisation Point Source, concerned sponsorship of the museum’s current Wonderlab exhibition. Continue reading...

Psychologists call it ‘vicarious trauma’ – the result of witnessing too much misery, even if you’re not experiencing it first hand. And it can affect anyone, from war correspondents to legal professionals and interpretersIf I had been told that my dream career could end up affecting my mental health, I might have thought twice about pursuing it. Or perhaps I wouldn’t have. After all, trauma is not new in journalism – “if it bleeds, it leads” is the adage.But while crime and war correspondents know the risks they run, I fell into covering harrowing stories accidentally. I spent more than a decade on and off in the BBC newsroom, mostly in the user-generated content (UGC) hub team, dealing directly with the audience – finding case studies and trends, and tackling disinformation early by verifying stories before they were broadcast. Sometimes it was the best job ever, when the stories we covered could change people’s lives. Other times, the job meant scouring through racist and xenophobic missives, and exposure to pornography and graphic images of human remains. I would weep and feel hopeless about the world we inhabit, as we found ourselves mapping the geographies of murder, deconstructing images of beheadings, or cross-referencing atrocities on social media videos and open-source intelligence from far-flung places. Continue reading...

The torrent of bad news – on the economy, on the climate and on the war in Europe – can be exhausting. Despite the news reflecting a grim picture of our society, some of Australia’s best writers, including Helen Garner and Tony Birch, have found happiness amid the chaos.In this episode of Full Story, Gabrielle Jackson talks to Guardian Australia’s editor-in-chief, Lenore Taylor, and assistant editor for features, culture and lifestyle, Celina Ribeiro, about how we can find joy without turning away from the world’s most pressing issuesRead more: Continue reading...