Marian Tupy speaks with writer and political thinker Matt Johnson about historicism, progress, and how tribalism and the “desire for recognition” are testing the foundations of open societies.

And we're done. Leicester dominated the Play-off Final at The O2 to make it four different winners across the Super League Basketball season, whilst Sheffield were back in the winner's circle in the women's final. Dan and Dave look back at the last day of the season, whilst also looking forward to the future for British basketball. Reflections on t…

Mice are used as model organisms across a wide range of fields in science today--but it is far from obvious how studying a mouse in a maze can help us understand human problems like alcoholism or anxiety. How do scientists convince funders, fellow scientists, the general public, and even themselves that animal experiments are a good way of producin…

What a weekend of drama in the SLB Play-off Semi-Finals as the old guard of Leicester and Newcastle make it through to The O2. Undermanned Newcastle won both their legs against league champs London, whilst Leicester came from 20 down in leg one to win their tie after overtime in the second leg. Dan and Dave look back over all of the action. London …

While Kim Crespi was getting a haircut, her husband David murdered their five-year-old twin daughters during a game of hide and seek. In the aftermath, family, friends, and even David have more questions than answers. In 2005, Kim Crespi had what she later described as "the perfect life." She and her husband, David--a gentle giant of a man, devoutl…

And then there were four. London and Leicester won both legs to progress to the semi-finals, whilst Sheffield came from behind and Newcastle hung on to a first leg lead to punch their tickets. Dan and Dave look back at the play-off quarter-finals. Cheshire Phoenix 89-79 Sheffield Sharks (PO) Sheffield Sharks 99-82 Cheshire Phoenix (PO) (Sheffield w…

Stephanie Murray joins Chelsea Follett to discuss discourse around falling birth rates, the tension between pro-natalism and classical liberal values, and how it might be resolved.

London claimed the title with an emphatic victory over Leicester, but there was plenty of drama elsewhere as the regular season came to it's conclusion and play-off places were decided by a basket in Bristol and Cheshire. Dan and Dave look back over the final weekend's action. London Lions 97-80 Leicester Riders Manchester Basketball 104-88 Surrey …

In today's post-Roe v. Wade world, U.S. maternal mortality is on the rise and laws regarding contraception, involuntary sterilization, access to reproductive health services, and criminalization of people who are gestating are changing by the minute. Today I’m joined by Dr. Caitlin Killian, the editor of and one of the contributors to a new book fr…

Howard Chiang’s new book is a masterful study of the relationship between sexual knowledge and Chinese modernity. After Eunuchs: Science, Medicine, and the Transformation of Sex in Modern China (Columbia University Press, 2018) guides readers through the history of eunuchs in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the techniques of visualization t…

The title race is down to two as London end Sheffield's chances of winning the league, but Leicester stay alive with two tight home wins. Eagles get back to winning ways and reignite their top four chances as Manchester lose twice. And the play-off dream is over for Caledonia. Dan and Dave look back over all the action this Easter week. London Lion…

Daniel A. Rodriguez's history of a newly independent Cuba shaking off the U.S. occupation, The Right to Live in Health: Medical Politics in Postindependence Havana (University of North Carolina Press, 2020), focuses on the intersection of public health and politics in Havana. While medical policies were often used to further American colonial power…

A huge twist in the title race as Leicester win two and London and Sheffield both lose twice. Manchester solidify their top 4 credentials, whilst Caledonia are on the brink of elimination. Dan and Dave look back at all the action and reflect on Newcastle reaching the ENBL Final. London Lions 88-90 Manchester Basketball Bristol Flyers 71-64 Sheffiel…

What a week for Caledonia with wins over Sheffield and Leicester to keep their play-off hopes alive, whilst Surrey also posted back-to-back wins over the weekend. Dan and Dave look back at all the action in the league this week and it's fair to say Dan wasn't overly impressed with the new out of the governing body this week. Another look at the lic…

Despite progressive policy strides in health care reform, immigrant communities continue to experience stark disparities across the United States. In Not All In: Race, Immigration, and Health Care Exclusion in the Age of Obamacare (Johns Hopkins UP, 2025), Tiffany D. Joseph exposes the insidious contradiction of Massachusetts' advanced health care …

Black people, and especially Black women, suffer and die from diseases at much higher rates than their white counterparts. The vast majority of these health disparities are not attributed to behavioral differences or biology, but to the pervasive devaluation of Black bodies. Womanist Bioethics: Social Justice, Spirituality, and Black Women’s Health…

In Menstrual Myth Busting: The Case of the Hormonal Female (Policy Press, 2025), Dr. Sally King interrogates the diagnostic label of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) to expose and challenge sexist assumptions within medical research and practice. She powerfully demonstrates how the concept of the ‘hormonal’ premenstrual woman is merely the latest iterat…

A couple of double-headers this weekend, Newcastle and Sheffield split theirs, whilst Cheshire won both encounters with Surrey. Dan and Dave look back at all the action in SLB this week. Clean-up from last week Cheshire Phoenix 112-78 Surrey 89ers Bristol Flyers 76-62 Manchester Basketball Caledonia Gladiators 66-88 Leicester Riders Newcastle Eagle…

The last few years have brought increased writings from activists, artists, scholars, and concerned clinicians that cast a critical and constructive eye on psychiatry, mental health care, and the cultural relations of mental difference. With particular focus on accounts of lived experience and readings that cover issues of epistemic and social inju…

Most people think about abortion in the context of the country they live in. In the U.S., abortion fuels debate, elections, and legislation. In China, abortion is often treated as a settled issue. Why and how do abortion attitudes vary across the world? In her new book, Fetal Positions: Understanding Cross-National Public Opinion about Abortion (Ox…

London continue their unbeaten run at the top, whilst Cheshire and Bristol get much needed home wins. Dan and Dave look back at all the action in SLB this week and the games that didn't happen. The missing games Newcastle advance versus Bakken Leicester Riders 99-81 Newcastle Eagles Cheshire Phoenix 89-75 Caledonia Gladiators London Lions 80-69 Sur…

What is our immune system, and how does it work? A vast array of cells, proteins and chemicals spring into action whenever our bodies are damaged, but immunity is not something you can see, touch, or feel. It can fight off malicious bacteria and viruses, locate cancerous growths, and even rewire our brains--but sometimes our own tissues can get cau…

London strengthen their grip at the top of the table as both their rivals drop games, whilst Manchester take three wins in a week to move up the standings. Dan and Dave look back at all the action in the SLB this week Manchester Basketball 100-93 Leicester Riders Sheffield Sharks 101-82 Cheshire Phoenix London Lions 90-78 Cheshire Phoenix Mancheste…

Scott Lincicome joins Marian Tupy to discuss how President Trump's trade policies will affect American prosperity, national security, government revenue, and industry.

In contemporary China, people diagnosed with serious mental illnesses have long been placed under the guardianship of close relatives who decide on their hospitalization and treatment. Despite attempts at reforms to ensure patient rights, the 2013 Mental Health Law reinforced the family's rights and responsibilities. In Between Families and Institu…

Daniel Griswold, the former director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Trade Policy Studies, joins Chelsea Follett to discuss the true legacy of globalization.

Uncovers a powerful relationship between pathology and money: beginning in the nineteenth century, the severity of mental illness was measured against a patient’s economic productivity. Madness and Enterprise: Psychiatry, Economic Reason, and the Emergence of Pathological Value (U Chicago Press, 2024) reveals the economic norms embedded within psyc…

Sheffield made it ten wins in a row to claim a high-scoring victory in the Cup Final, whilst Oaklands took the women's title. Dan and Dave look back at the action from Nottingham and the rest of the league play London Lions 75-67 Bristol Flyers Caledonia Gladiators 94-96 Cheshire Phoenix Bristol Flyers 63-74 Leicester Riders Newcastle Eagles 67-83 …

The first birth control clinic in El Paso, Texas, opened in 1937. Since then, Mexican-origin women living in the border cities of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez have confronted various interest groups determined to control their reproductive lives, including a heavily funded international population control campaign led by Planned Parenthood Federation …

In the latest episode of Unlocking Academia, Raja Aderdor, the host, delves deeper into this fascinating work with Jeremy Farrell, a Postdoctoral Research Scholar at Leiden University, who co-authored a translation of this novella. Jeremy shares his insights into the satire, the medical practices described, and how Ibn Buṭlān's critique resonates w…

In this episode, Jorge Goldstein, the author of Patenting Life: The Commercialization of Biology, delves into the critical junction where biotechnology meets patent law. With a background as a molecular biologist turned patent attorney, Goldstein offers unique insights into how commercial biology has evolved and its profound effects on patent regul…

The top three continue to win, whilst Bristol have a difficult weekend at home and Newcastle lose two players to injury. Dan and Dave look back over all the domestic action as well as reflecting on Great Britain's successful final window in EuroBasket qualifying Reflections on GB qualifying for EuroBasket London Lions 78-73 Manchester Basketball Br…

How epidemic photography during a global pandemic of bubonic plague contributed to the development of modern epidemiology and our concept of the “pandemic.” In Visual Plague: The Emergence of Epidemic Photography (MIT Press, 2022), Christos Lynteris examines the emergence of epidemic photography during the third plague pandemic (1894–1959), a globa…