Could The Hunger Games Turn Your Teen Into A Revolutionary?

By Tom van Laer, City University London

The Hunger Games novels and films have fascinated me for more than seven years.

And I’m not alone.

The popular books by Suzanne Collins are the most visible example of a genre of stories today’s teens are reading voraciously: young adult dystopian fiction.

Dystopian fiction is set in a world where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives. Typically, these worlds are environmentally degraded or governed by totalitarian regimes.

My favorite example is George Orwell’s 1984, a hugely ambitious novel that deals with themes of both personal threat and universal oppression. Orwell’s vision is expressed in phrases like Big Brother, doublethink and Thought Police that are now part of everyday speech.

Even though they may have read 1984 as kids, some of today’s parents worry their teens' obsession with dark fiction means they’ll grow up and overthrow the government – like Katniss Everdeen in Hunger Games or Tris Prior in Divergent.

How real is this concern?

Secret, Immersive Cinema Is Likely To Change The Future Of Film

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back at Secret Cinema. © Mike Massaro

By Sarah Atkinson, King's College London 
and Helen W. Kennedy, University of Brighton

The soon-to-be-released Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens is tipped to be the box office success of 2015. Hardly surprising given that fans have been waiting ten years since the last installment.

A lot has changed in how films are produced and promoted in the intervening decade. Last summer, for example, there was a huge Secret Cinema Star Wars event. Their immersive The Empire Strikes Back experience sold a staggering 100,000 tickets, generating over £6 million at the box office.

Running over four months, the event brought to the fore a new form of immersive cinematic entertainment which exploded in the UK over the summer of 2015. In addition to Secret Cinema’s event, the largest season of Open Air Cinema concluded its 125 outdoor screening run. In fact, a dizzying number of organisations now turn cinema into events: in the UK these include Sneaky Experience, Floating Cinema, Sing-alonga, Rooftop Film Club and Nomad Cinema.

#ClimateChange - NGO Bandeiras Brancas (White Banners) Creates A Video To Warn Of The Dangers Of Global Warming

NGO takes advantage of the UN Conference in Paris to send a message to people all over the world

#ClimateChange - Global Warming 'Pause' Was A Myth All Along, Says New Study

By Stephan Lewandowsky, University of Bristol

The idea that global warming has “stopped” is a contrarian talking point that dates back to at least 2006. This framing was first created on blogs, then picked up by segments of the media – and it ultimately found entry into the scientific literature itself. There are now numerous peer-reviewed articles that address a presumed recent “pause” or “hiatus” in global warming, including the latest IPCC report.

So did global warming really pause, stop, or enter a hiatus? At least six academic studies have been published in 2015 that argue against the existence of a pause or hiatus, including three that were authored by me and colleagues James Risbey of CSIRO in Hobart, Tasmania, and Naomi Oreskes of Harvard University.

#COP21 - Let's Ask David Cameron To Stand With Climate Vulnerable Countries!

30 vulnerable countries -- including amazing island paradises on the verge of drowning -- are calling for a 100% clean energy future.It’s the best chance to bring together rich countries like Britain and the global south -- but we need a public statement from David Cameron to help make it happen.  

Click here to tweet him now

#COP21 - Political Leaders, Climate Experts And Mayors To Speak On Cities' Role In Tackling Climate Change

NEW YORK and PARIS, Nov. 30, 2015 /PRNewswire 

World famous speakers including Al Gore and Robert Redford will join a range of mayors, climate experts and celebrities at the Climate Summit for Local Leaders at Paris City Hall this December 4th, alongside COP21.

Co-hosted by Mayor Anne Hidalgo and Michael Bloomberg, the Climate Summit for Local Leaders is a historic gathering of Mayors, Governors and local leaders from all over the world, aiming to bring a decisive contribution to the 21st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) and strengthen the significant role they are playing in tackling Climate Change.

The Summit is the first of its kind and scale, and represents major progress in local and global leadership on Climate policies.

#ClimateMarch - This Is The Movement Our World Has Been Waiting For

Dear extraordinary Avaazers,  We did it! Despite losing our flagship Paris event, this weekend's Global Climate March still broke records as the largest climate mobilisation in history! From São Paulo to Sydney, 785,000 of us shook the ground in over 2,300 events in 175 countries, united in one voice calling for a 100% clean energy future to save everything we love. It was front page media worldwide, and the impact is already being felt at the summit here in Paris.

Don't Wait For Global Politics To Fix Climate Change – We Can Do It Ourselves

By James Dyke, University of Southampton

It’s now almost certain that 2015 will be the warmest year ever recorded. However, rather than reduce green house gas emissions – something that has to happen quite urgently in order to avoid crashing through the safety barrier of 2℃ warming – we continue to pump more into the atmosphere.

#RefugeesWelcome - Communities Across Canada Preparing to Welcome Syrian Refugees

OTTAWA, Nov. 29, 2015 /CNW/ 

As the Government of Canada has stepped up efforts to welcome 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada, communities from coast to coast to coast are also preparing to welcome Syrian refugees with open arms.

What Your Musical Taste Says About Your Personality

David Greenberg, University of Cambridge

We’re exposed to music for nearly 20% of our waking lives. But much of our musical experience seems to be a mystery. Why does some music bring us to tears while other pieces make us dance? Why is it that the music that we like can make others agitated? And why do some people seem to have a natural ability to play music while others have difficulty carrying a tune? Science is beginning to show that these individual differences are not just random but are, in part, due to people’s personalities.

How Islamic Law Can Take On ISIS

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, Emory University

The media coverage of the terrorist atrocities of Friday November 13 in Paris would seem to promote an almost mythical image of the Islamic State (ISIS). What humanity needs, however, is to demystify ISIS as a criminal organization. And that need is particularly important in my community – the Muslim community.

The vast majority of Muslims almost certainly (we do not have exact figures) feel moral revulsion and outrage about the violence perpetrated by ISIS. Indeed, Egypt’s top Sunni cleric, to name just one example, was quick to denounce the perpetrators of Friday’s “hideous and hateful” attacks.

However, the truth of the matter is that ISIS leaders and supporters can and do draw on a wealth of scriptural and historical sources to justify their actions.

Traditional interpretations of Sharia, or Islamic law, approved aggressive jihad to propagate Islam. They permitted the killing of captive enemy men. They allowed jihadis to enslave enemy women and children, as ISIS did with the Yazidi women in Syria.

I am a Muslim scholar of Sharia. It is my contention that ISIS' claim of Islamic legitimacy can be countered only by a viable alternative interpretation of Islamic law.

Right-Wing Populism Is Surging On Both Sides Of The Atlantic – Here's Why

Ruth Wodak, Lancaster University

On both sides of the Atlantic, right-wing populist parties are enjoying another moment in the sun. In Europe, the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) recently doubled its vote in a state election. Fellow travellers are making headway across Europe – France’s Front National, Hungary’s Jobbik, Bulgaria’s Ataka, and the party formally known as True Finns.

Many explanations for the European surge point to a xenophobic knee-jerk reaction to the refugee crisis, but that’s far too simplistic; the phenomenon is hardly confined to Europe. Look at the surprising success of Donald Trump in the US’s Republican party primary campaign. Many of his fellow candidates are struggling to keep up with his firebrand pronouncements, not least his proposal to deport millions of illegal immigrants.

So why exactly are these leaders and parties enjoying such success – and are they really all birds of a feather?