1. Thanks to my colleague Skinder for this one: Chimamanda Adichie’s speech at the opening of the Ethnographical Gallery  of the Humboldt Forum in Berlin last week. I’m not sure the Humboldt team quite got what they bargained for in this most eloquent questioning of their gallery’s right to exist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1Cxhq0gF6E Do try to find time to listen – twenty minutes very well spent.

Here’s a good piece from artnet exploring some of the issues https://news.artnet.com/art-world/humboldt-opens-controversial-museums-2011360

And here’s a TED talk by Chimamanda Adichie that nearly 29 million people have watched, The Danger of a Single Story https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en

2. A very rich resource from the History of Language Learning and Teaching (HoLLT) project for anyone interested in the history of our profession https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/CLAS/Research/Modern-languages-research-groups/Learning-from-the-past/Language-Teaching-Learning-from-the-Past.aspx

There are short (ten-minute) introductory videos on each of the five units: Differentiation and diversity; What does it mean to teach culture?; Grammar: “The art of speaking well”?; Target language and (m)other tongue use; Making the case for languages – Policy and advocacy

3. Leiden University have pulled off quite a coup with the first webinar in their new series on Language Policy and Practices in the Global North and South at 12:00 UK time next Wednesday, 6^th October – Bernard Spolsky, no less, eighty-nine-years-young, talking on Can language repertoires be managed? PDFs of the abstract of his talk and the full series programme below, and registration for the whole series of webinars here https://universiteitleiden.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5Atf-CrrDIpHtTalMQ7CV6Kbm9DRFJtOmPh

“In spite of valiant efforts by activists and linguists”, says Professor Spolsky, “it seems that language is no more easily managed than climate and disease”.

4. On which note, here’s a story about a school in London whose leadership might benefit from listening to Professor Spolsky next Wednesday https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/sep/30/oh-my-days-linguists-lament-slang-ban-in-london-school

5. And, finally, another good ‘un from Skinder: Kefaya and Elaha Soroor perform Jama Narenji https://youtu.be/gM60A7YK5mg