Dear readers,
all is quiet in the Durham bubble at the moment.
Surprisingly enough, the world out there doesn’t stop because we are too busy typing away our summatives to make stuff happen. India is fighting with Pakistan, Trump is fighting with Kim Jong-un, May is fighting with Tusk. To put it straight, Erasmus is at risk, life is ugly, souls are forgotten, and a hard rain’s a-gonna fall.
As much as I love reminding you all that the world is a hot (blame global warming here) mess, today I am not in the mood to keep you updated on the latest failures of national and international politics. So as you drag yourself to your 9 am on this grey and damp morning, here’s some randomly-picked heart-warming news to temporarily restore your faith in humanity before you realize your housemate has left all their dirty dishes in the sink, again.
On Saturday, about 200,000 gathered in Milan and marched under the slogan “People First” to protest the wave of racism ascribed to the new immigration policies of the Italian government.
An autistic woman in Florida has recently made history by becoming the first lawyer to be affected by this condition. Meanwhile, a Chez hospital has recreated a 60’s atmosphere to help older patients in aftercare feel more at ease and recover memories – it works.
And even when everything else fails, solidarity and empathy work wonders, as in the case of 7 year old Emma Mertens, a terminally ill girl who loves dogs. When her family asked people to send Emma letters from their dogs, the message went viral and Emma has been flooded with more than 80,000 pictures of pups from all over the world.
If your dog too wants to send Emma a letter, please email emmalovesdogs7@gmail.com
I hope you will find the editor’s picks of the week equally mood-lifting.
Sian Butler – The Beginner’s Guide to a First Class Dissertation
Spoiler: it’s satire.
Rose Smithers – Moving Abroad: The Peculiar Combination of Anxiety and Opportunity
“Remember why you’re there in the first place; set yourself goals that you want to achieve each week or fortnight; go out and explore.”
Thomas Morris – Review: Into the Woods
“The director, Owen Kennedy, has put together a great show with the help of a very talented cast. And what’s more, since the show is a whole three hours in length, you know you’re getting value for money when you buy that ticket.”
Riana Dixon – Sex, Love and the Law
“A look outside our cultural bubble” that reveals which aspects of sex and love we might be taking for granted.
James Zychon – Funding Art in the Future: a Reflection on the Then and Now
A very interesting piece on the state of the art – ha – trying to answer a difficult and important question: who is going to fund individual artists?
Wishing you all a great week,
Æ