During the V-1 flying bomb campaign in 1944, Londoners stared at maps of falling bombs and became convinced the Germans had a strategy. They began looking for areas where bombs didn’t fall — areas where they suspected German spies might be hiding. This suspicion intensified after the first Vergeltungswaffe-1 bomb struck a railway bridge in Mile End on 13 June 1944, killing six people and leaving 200 homeless. Better known as the Vengeance Weapon, or the V-1, the first operati

There is no such country as Finland. This is one of my favourite conspiracy theories, up there with “birds aren’t real” (all birds were replaced by the US government in the seventies with surveillance drones) and the Avril Lavigne replacement theory (Avril Lavigne died in the early 2000s and was – for unclear reasons – quietly replaced by a double). But Finland is particularly good. According to its adherents, Finland is not a nation at all but a cartographic fiction invented

One thing we can probably all agree on: giving feedback is often as hard as receiving it. Sometimes it’s worse. Like that old cartoon of the martinet father disciplining his child — this is going to hurt me more than it’s going to hurt you. Sticks and stones, etc. Except that isn’t true. Words hurt. Sometimes just as much as physical pain. The cognitive problem is that our brains, in a desperate attempt to protect us from psychological or social harm, run an internal narrativ

For a long time, I tried to avoid being swept along in the hysteria of BBC's The Traitors . Having finally relented, I am now, predictably, slightly obsessed with the show that manages to turn a group of broadly respectable and intelligent participants into a rabble-rousing band of thirteenth-century peasants, accusing each other of witchcraft at the smallest provocation. Still, if I had to choose any human being in the world to deliver me bad news, it would be Claudia Winkle

The Haudenosaunee Confederacy is an alliance of (now) six Indigenous nations in northeastern North America: the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and (later) Tuscarora. They call themselves the People of the Longhouse  — a metaphor for communal living and shared governance, built around unity, peace, and respect for tradition. Their oral constitution is known as the Great Law of Peace. It is one of the most enduring systems of consensual governance in human history. B

Unfair Dismissal Rights (expected 01 January 2027) ​ At present employees need two years’ service to bring a claim for “ordinary” unfair dismissal. The Employment Rights Act 2025 reduces that qualifying period to six months ’ continuous service. This change is expected to take effect on 1 January 2027. Protection from automatically unfair dismissal (for example whistleblowing) remains a day-one right. ​ Fire and Re-Hire (expected October 2026) ​ The practice commonly describe