1. You get generous (and nonetheless slightly frustrating) extracts from the London Review of Books Novel Approaches podcast here https://www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and-videos/podcasts/close-readings/ Try the latest one on Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Kidnapped’ with Andrew O’Hagan, Tom Crewe and Clare Bucknell https://www.lrb.co.uk/podcasts-and-videos/podcasts/close-readings/novel-approaches-kidnapped-by-robert-louis-stevenson

2. This paper by Andy Green & Neil Kaye, The effects of system type and characteristics on skills inequalities during upper secondary education: a quasi-cohort analysis of OECD data, is quite technical but well worth a skim for what it has to say about in-built education system strengths and weaknesses https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02671522.2022.2150884#d1e167 The announcement here in the UK of the new ‘V’ Level exam has prompted people to revisit the paper, in particular to see to which of the four different systems the authors identify the new V Levels might belong:

Type 1 – mainly school-based systems with general academic and vocational provision in different types of institution, and apprenticeships delivered separately (e.g. Finland, France, Netherlands)

Type 2 – predominantly comprehensive school systems, with academic and vocational provision in the same institution (e.g. US, Canada)

Type 3 – relatively equal participation in school-based general education and employment-based ‘dual systems’ (e.g. Germany, Austria)

Type 4 – ‘mixed systems’ with many programmes of variable length and quality but with dominant academic tracks attracting the most qualified applicants (e.g. England, Ireland, Australia).

Types 1 and 3 perform much better and Types 2 and 4 much worse, the authors concluded.

Here’s an explanation of the new exam on the Department for Education’s Education Hub https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2025/10/new-v-levels-and-post-16-qualifications-explained/

and here’s a BBC piece about it https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyzjp5n5kro

3. Amol Rajan is everywhere nowadays on radio and TV. Here’s an episode of his podcast, Radical, with controversial head teacher Katharine Birbalsingh, British Identity: How Schools Can Improve Multiculturalism https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002k4ln

Headteacher Katharine Birbalsingh thinks multiculturalism in Britain has led to an excessive focus on our differences rather than what unites us, but she believes schools like hers can change that by teaching traditional values and British culture. Known for enforcing strict discipline at Michaela Community School in north London, Katharine explains why she promotes unity over diversity. She is also critical of those in power who ignore what she sees as the concerns of “white British people”, which she says breeds resentment towards minorities.

4. First of two from ELT Buzz – thank you! -a  trenchant guest essay from the New York Times by Anastasia Berg, Why Even Basic A.I. Use Is So Bad for Students https://tinyurl.com/336cr9b3

 Last spring, it became clear to me that over half the students in my large general education lecture course had used artificial intelligence tools, contrary to my explicit policy, to write their final take-home exams. (Ironically, the course was titled Contemporary Moral Problems: The Value of Human Life.) I had asked them about some very recent work in philosophy, parts of which happened to share   titles with entirely different ideas in medieval theology. You can guess which topics the students ended up “writing” about. My situation was hardly unique — rampant A.I. cheating has been reported all over the country. But I felt a dread I struggled to express until a colleague articulated the problem in stark terms: “Our students are about to turn subcognitive,” she said. That was it.

5. And, finally, unfairly, and eye-openingly (for most but not all of us), a video, also from ELT Buzz, We Found the Hidden Cost of Data Centers. It’s in Your Electric Bill https://youtu.be/YN6BEUA4jNU  I might be wrong, but I could imagine that the economics of power generation are much the same worldwide as they are in the USA.