European railways are often praised for their comprehensive continental coverage, yet it frequently falls short of meeting the evolving needs of the public. This episode of Standard Time discusses public investment and corruption, and how railway systems could transform.
The Serbian student movement symbolizes a generational shift and national renewal. For the first time in years, people are seeing a future for themselves and their children.
Veganism is rising in countries with the most meat-heavy diets, especially amongst the young. How did this change come about? Standard Time dives deep into the meat-free diet and how an agricultural transition could benefit farmers.
The decisive sex-change moment in movies, revealing a dramatic transformation, is far from reality. Transgender people face not only long assessment and surgery waiting lists but also bureaucratic hurdles when reassigning legal gender across countries, undermining their well-being and safety at a delicate time of becoming themselves.
With geopolitical deadlock and the widening of the conflict, prospects of an end to Israel’s destruction of Gaza are as distant as ever. But momentum for a ceasefire, and even statehood, would likely be stronger were Palestinian political factions not themselves still divided.
Second-wave feminist concerns over violence to women led to intense disagreement over pornography. For some, sexually explicit content was inherently abusive. Others explored the potential of what became sex positivity. Vox Feminae charts the emergence of US lesbian BDSM magazines from the late 1970s.
Talk of demilitarization and mobilization divides opinion. Could giving women and other feminized groups more agency in wartime decision-making flip their traditionally passive role, providing relief from trauma and injustice?
In Viktor Orbán’s Hungary, queerness isn’t just marginalized but transformed into a public enemy. Through legal restrictions, moral panics and media messaging, LGBTQ+ people have become the rhetorical stand-in for everything the government deems threatening.
Debate around the cultural sector’s structural inequality often ignores issues of class. Yet behind the success of many practising artists lies an inheritance, allowance or other class privilege. Eight portraits of Belgian artists seek literary revenge, breaking into cultural capital’s invisible economy.
From Bosnia to Afghanistan, the neoliberal peace-building model has compounded conflicts and inequalities by eroding the core function of states. But in Ukraine, the co-optation of the recovery process by private economic interests is being taken to a whole new level.
Nine years ago, a slim majority of UK voters chose to leave the European Union – without a clear plan or the tools to make it happen. Five years after the de facto departure, relations are slowly being repaired, driven in part by the increasingly unpredictable political climate in the United States.
Chasing the ‘Orange feeling’ and its dark side at northern Europe’s biggest music festival.
The University of Amsterdam has become a hotbed of student activism. Campuses have transformed into arenas of protest, debate and artistic expression, uniting students from diverse backgrounds in a shared pursuit of justice and human rights. What position should higher-education institutions take regarding political, religious and cultural opinions on war?
AI has made its way into young people’s lives. What opportunities does it offer, and what threats? And how can policymakers, both nationally and internationally, offer young people tools to deal with AI?
Four months into Trump’s second term and the president’s ICE raids on immigrants, triggering protests in Los Angeles now under troop surveillance, prove that ‘democracy is under assault’. Could a historic courtroom reprimand provide the necessary guidance for a moral reset?