1. Here’s the recording of a recent Future of English conversation with David Crystal https://youtu.be/64HRT797Lsc One of the easiest (and most engaging) people I ever interviewed: you just light the blue touchpaper and sit back!

And when you next have a week to spare, you can spend it exploring David’s website https://www.davidcrystal.com/GBR/Books-and-Articles

2.  Denisa Kostovicova’s inaugural lecture as Professor of Global Politics at the LSE – War crimes talk: does it help or hinder peace? – is tomorrow, Wednesday 26^th March, at 18:30 UK time. More info and a registration link here https://www.lse.ac.uk/Events/2025/03/202503261830/War-crimes

In her inaugural lecture, Denisa Kostovicova discusses how former opponents engage with the legacy of mass atrocity. War crimes need to be addressed, if peace is to be built. But, in divided societies polarised by violence, war crimes talk can deepen the divisions. Kostovicova draws on her study of post-conflict Balkans and presents lessons for contemporary conflicts. She locates the possibilities for peace in political communication across conflict lines, assesses the risks and considers alternatives, such as arts-based approaches.

3. First of two sent me by Maja Mandekić – Thank you, Maja!

Part 1 of Scam Factories: the inside story of Southeast Asia’s fraud compounds by Ivan Franceschini, Ling Li & The Conversation Digital Storytelling Team https://scam-factories-life-inside.netlify.app/

Ben Yeo is trapped in a scam centre in Cambodia, desperately trying to escape. It’s early 2024 and he’s been here for 30 days. Thirty days since Ben and his wife Moira realised their well-paid new casino jobs were just an elaborate ruse. Now they have to choose: pay their captors a US$20,000 ransom or get to work in the scam compound.

You can read (or listen to) all three parts of the series here https://theconversation.com/scam-factories-the-inside-story-of-southeast-asias-brutal-fraud-compounds-250448

4. And Maja’s second, a piece from The Guardian by James Bailey, What is the meaning of life? 15 possible answers – from a palliative care doctor, a Holocaust survivor, a jail inmate and more https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/mar/22/what-is-the-meaning-of-life-15-possible-answers-from-a-palliative-care-doctor-a-holocaust-survivor-a-jail-inmate-and-more

In September 2015, I was unemployed, heartbroken and living alone in my dead grandad’s caravan, wondering what the meaning of life was. Where was I going to find happiness, or purpose, or meaning? What was the point to all of this?

5. And, finally, a joke from Barry Cryer that has some personal resonance:

A famous comedian visits an old folks’ home to tell them a few jokes. He chats away to them, tells some very good jokes and then his ego gets the better of him. He asks one old lady, “You don’t know who I am, do you?”  She says, “Don’t worry, dear. Matron will tell you.”