
Are bees going extinct?
According to reports, we’re facing the beepocalypse. Pollinators are dying out, and the result will be much of our food will disappear. If true, it’s seriously worrying. But is it true? Let’s have a look.
According to reports, we’re facing the beepocalypse. Pollinators are dying out, and the result will be much of our food will disappear. If true, it’s seriously worrying. But is it true? Let’s have a look.
One of the burning questions we’re asking ourselves right now concerns our diet. Should we eat meat? Let’s discuss.
It’s been described as “the climate change paper so depressing its sending people to therapy.” Its author describes it as “a research paper concluding that climate-induced collapse is now inevitable.” It’s become the intellectual underpinning for people like Extinction Rebellion when they tell children they may die young. It’s Jem Bendell’s paper on Deep Adaptation. Does it bear up to scrutiny? Let’s have a look.
The University of Sydney is so keen to get women into engineering, it has lowered the bar for entry for girls. As of next year, they will get 10 additional entry points to encourage them to apply. Is it a great initiative to tackle chronic under-representation of women in tech fields? Or is it a colossal blunder that insults women and casts a shadow over those who made it on merit under the normal system? Let’s discuss.
Last week, BBC’s Hard Talk programme featured Extinction Rebellion founder Roger Hallam. During the interview he said that the science predicts mass starvation leading to the inevitable collapse of capitalism within the next ten years. He added that we would likely see the death of 6 billion people within fifty to seventy years. Was he right? We look at the science.
The UK’s new gender stereotyping ad ban delivers up its first transgressors – adverts for Philadelphia cheese and Volkswagen. We have a look at each, and ask what is the harm the Advertising Standards Agency is meant to be protecting us from, and is this effective action to change society for the better or nanny state government at its worst?
UK National treasure and professional crotchety old bloke, Michael Buerk, provoked outrage and even some nuanced discussion with a column arguing that obese people should be left alone. And if that means they die early, that’s fine because it means the national health service will save money. Controversial, or common sense? Let’s discuss!
Esteemed actor Mark Rylance has resigned from the Royal Shakespeare Company because of its longstanding sponsorship deal with oil giant BP, who he directly blames for climate change. Another esteemed actor, Maureen Lipman, has called his moral stance “jolly silly”. Who’s right? – and should campaigners be focusing on BP’s sponsorships in the first place?
Are we really, as some people claim, in the middle of the sixth mass extinction? Are we seeing the insect apocalypse, or 'insectaggedon' as some people call it? And what do we need to do about species extinction?
In the UK, we are now at the end of the big Easter period of action for Extinction Rebellion. It hit the headlines big time, got everybody talking. So was I right or wrong in my previous video, where I said that their approach was hurting, not helping?
More importantly, what was the rather surprising element I learned since that video that most of the general public don't know, and even a good portion of those that took part in the protests probably don't either?