Culture

Praised by the ancient Greek giants Homer and Euripides for its superb quality nearly 3,000 years ago, Cyprus’ Commandaria is the world’s oldest recorded and named wine. Despite its rich heritage, the sweet wine has struggled to find its niche in the global market. Now a number of micro-wineries in this east Mediterranean island nation...

What happened yesterday is a blur. The plate of drugs is still on the coffee table, but there’s not even a hint of a hangover. Inhibitions disappeared completely last night, and sexual pleasure seemed limitless. For many, this is the promise of chemsex, but behind the allure of freedom and fun there hides a reality...

“It’s the birthrates. It’s the birthrates. It’s the birthrates,” echoed the introduction line in the manifesto of the Christchurch shooter who killed 51 people in a mosque in 2019. His claim was that white people are being “replaced” by other races and won’t survive without action. A few years later, the same obsession with birth...

The Bible’s lex talionis – “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot” (Exodus 21:24-27) – has captured the human imagination for millennia. This idea of fairness has been a model for ensuring justice when bodily harm is inflicted. Thanks to the work of linguists, historians, archaeologists and anthropologists, researchers know...

How many children use Tik Tok against the rules? Most, study finds  As the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether Congress can ban Tik Tok, new research highlights the health risks that top social media platforms pose to children.  Most 11- and 12-year-olds use Tik Tok and other social media despite the platforms’ age restrictions, and many...

Consumers of content about serial killers watch and read it to experience intense emotions that are often lacking in everyday life and to understand the reasons that drive people to commit crimes. However, such content does not contribute to increased aggression. These conclusions were drawn by sociologists from HSE University. The results of their study...

The 2016 gang rape known as “La Manada” (The Wolf Pack) caused major social mobilisation, attracted a great deal of media attention and even led to legal changes. UPV/EHU researcher Samara Velte, back then a journalist for Berria newspaper, has produced a scientific analysis of the discourses that arose around that sexual assault, and argues that...

In the acknowledgments of her 2024 novel “All Fours,” Miranda July explains that she was inspired by a series of conversations about “physical and emotional midlife changes” with several women close to her. “And while there is almost no trace of these actual conversations in the book,” she adds, “they made writing it more necessary.”...