Notebooks

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The original women in STEM

Women played a vital role in the early history of botany - let's not reduce their contribution to kitsch romance.

Francesca Peacock March 17, 2021

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In search of Proustian little moments that make life worthwhile

As Proust noted, our incremental memories of the world are the foundation of our lives – but where have they gone?

Alastair Benn March 12, 2021

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The lost art of listening

It is a commonplace saying that we must listen more. But in our noisy world it takes a lot of skill and energy.

Tobias Jones March 12, 2021

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Life in Venice

Online exhibitions have nothing on the living art of Venice. Seeing its Renaissance beauty again is pure joy.

Agnès Poirier March 5, 2021

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Tender is the night

Across our cities and towns, night’s natural darkness is giving way to the glare and dazzle of LED lighting – but to embrace it wholeheartedly is to risk losing more than ominous s..

Clive Aslet March 2, 2021

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Champagne supernova

Audacious dynamism and uninhibited creativity defined the music scene in the party-hard 90s – the last decade when outsiders could become bona fide rock n’ roll stars.

Sylvia Patterson February 27, 2021

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Italia 1990s: footballing glory turned to dust

The beautiful game seemed made for the Italy of wild hair, baggy shorts and Euro-optimism. But did the glory days of Series A ever really exist?

Tobias Jones February 27, 2021

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Yugoslavia and the ghosts of nationalism

The breakdown of Yugoslavia in the 1990s shattered optimism in liberal democracy and transnational cooperation. History did not end – it continued.

Tim Marshall February 26, 2021

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Abba and engineering: how Swedish music took over the world

Pop became Sweden's biggest cultural export in the 1990s when the hit machine went into overdrive. The roots of it lie in the 1970s and the Swedish love of manufacturing.

Johan Hakelius February 24, 2021