This week’s topical cartoon, illustrated by Rachel Beazley
Again, Boris?
12th November 2021
Top stories: 12th November
12th November 2021
Have a flick through this week’s top stories, curated by Jennifer Graham
The Anchor, Part 2
12th November 2021
The sunlight tickled her face as it fell in swathes through the kitchen window. The morning light lay languidly over the table, coating papers and paints with a golden lustre…
Edward Chancellor, financial historian, on the global response to COVID-19
12th November 2021
In April of this year, I sat down to interview Edward Chancellor, who offered me his view on the response to COVID-19 as a financial historian, which challenged more mainstream ideas around lockdown. As I sat at my desk to discuss the topic (the interview was conducted via Zoom, of course), Chancellor’s ideas around the influence of behavioural psychology on the global reaction, stood out to me. In drawing parallels between the disease cycle and financial cycle, Chancellor touches on crowd behaviour and cognitive dissonance to explain the reaction to COVID-19, and why extrapolation errors are so dangerous. We also discussed Johnson’s government’s imitative behaviour, and the importance of truth-seeking.
Proud of my Heritage
12th November 2021
Following on from the ‘Proud to Be’ assembly, I would like to share with you and inform you on my Zimbabwean heritage. Zimbabwe is a country in the South of Africa typically known for its beautiful landscape and wildlife. The main languages spoken in Zimbabwe are English, Shona and Ndebele but there are 16 different official Zimbabwean languages. The name “Zimbabwe” itself, stems from a Shona term for Great Zimbabwe, a medieval city named Masvingo whose remains are now a protected site in Zimbabwe. “Zimbabwe” derives from dzimba-dza-mabwe, translated from the Karanga dialect of Shona as “houses of stones”.