After the Pope decries “cancel culture” as “ideological colonisation”, LBC ditch Maajid Nawaz from the airwaves and Maureen Lipman calls out Helen Mirren, being cancelled is once again back in the news. But what does it mean, how does it differ from being ignored and what can it mean for a person’s career? Beware brand…
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Rachel Paul’s change.org petition has gained traction across social media, as she urges Public Health Wales to renege on their change to Cervical Cancer Screening. Lengthening the interval between screening from 3 to 5 years, the body argues that recent changes to how the screening programme is performed warrant the change. January is Cervical Cancer…
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The word “exorcism”, for most of us, brings to mind the rotating head of Linda Blair and the terrifying accompanying sounds of Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells, but for others, exorcism is the most effective treatment for what many would call psychosis. With reports that the pandemic sparked an increase of requests for such ceremonies, it’s…
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The other night I became embroiled in a conversation sparked by a fellow skeptic’s comment: “hunting” big cats, monsters, ghosts and investigating their sightings is utterly pointless. The psychology behind such beliefs isn’t” It’s an opinion that I can understand and, to some extent, was sympathetic to a few months ago. However, I did change…
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Health news has, unsurprisingly, been dominated by Covid and its terrible consequences over the last couple of years, but so many other health conditions have been forgotten or overlooked. As waiting lists pile high, no one is further down the agenda than those who many believe have brought their problems upon themselves: drug addicts. …
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With raw sewage regularly turning up on the shores of “Stool Britannia”, most recently seen happening in the newly crowned city of Southend, the government has been caught with its trousers down. Public reaction to what some are calling “shitgate” has been vociferous and MPs have been inundated with complaints This summer, my family and…
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There’s nothing new about human interest in crime but as we watched the revelations around the murder of Gabby Petito play out on social media, a ghoulish and repugnant entertainment factor crept in. On Tuesday the Teton County, Wyoming, Coroner, Dr. Brent Blue confirmed that Gabby Petito died by strangulation, the latest in a story…
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With some petrol stations reported at 500% of their usual demand this past Saturday, just why do humans panic buy, even when reassured there was no reason to? Fights broke out as countless drivers were seen filling up cans as well as their tanks at the pumps. Despite an understanding of this harmful behaviour being…
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Sarah Harding’s untimely death from breast cancer has hit many women hard, but talking of her “fight” or “battle” with cancer does her – and all those affected by cancer – a disservice. It’s almost impossible to read or write a story about someone who has cancer without encountering or using pugilistic terms. Harding, who…
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We’ve come a long way from the days of unethical experimentation on – and routine institutionalisation of – autistic people, but critics of the Spectrum10K study fear it has murky intentions, with some even calling it “eugenicist” in nature. Tannice Hemming, who was diagnosed with autism in 2018, investigates. I first became aware of Spectrum10K…
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