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Money & Business
Why do call centre staff use your name all the time, Chris?
Chris, if you've had to deal with a call centre you might have noticed they use your name a lot. Do you know, Chris, why they do this? Well, Chris, The OU's Anna Kristina Hultgren has investigated. Putting you through now, Chris.
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Health, Sports & Psychology
How is Khat adding to the food crisis in Yemen?
Yemen is already suffering from conflict. Now, in the chaos, khat farming is growing - redirecting resources from much-needed food production.
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Health, Sports & Psychology
Can high blood pressure protect the over-80s from dementia?
New research apparently contradicts what we thought we knew about blood pressure and dementia. Cheryl Hawkes explains why we might all want to stick in the Goldilocks Zone.
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Languages
Sylvia Plath and the linguistics of depression
Could the type of language people use reveal something about their state of mind? A close reading of Sylvia Plath's journals suggest it might be possible.
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Society, Politics & Law
Why are synthetic drugs such a problem for the UK's prisons?
Spice, and other synthetic drugs, are spreading through UK prisons at a rate that the authorities are struggling to respond to. The OU's David Scott explains why.
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Education & Development
Free School Meals: An OpenLearn reading list
The provision of a hot meal at lunchtime to pupils is often at the heart of political debate. We dip into some of the research around the subject.
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Health, Sports & Psychology
Why is Mongolia a good place to die?
A campaigning doctor has helped make Mongolia a better place to die than many much wealthier nations. Andrew North met her to find out how.
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Society, Politics & Law
Timeline: Marx, Nietzsche and Freud
Explore the lives and works of Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud with our interactive timeline.
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Languages
How can your accent put your life at risk?
Stories from Australia and the US reveal how dangerous it can be when listeners fail to take people seriously because of their accented English.
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Health, Sports & Psychology
Ads of our time – are teens susceptible to food ads in digital media?
The OU's Dr Mimi Tatlow-Golden discusses what psychology can tell us about teens’ susceptibility to food ads in digital media.
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Society, Politics & Law
How can authorities plan for an unexpected terrorist tactic?
Parliament’s security is under review following the attack in Westminster. But, when pedestrians could be hit next to Big Ben, there may be more to review than the protection of the building alone. Patrick Dunleavy asks whether our approaches to security are as effective as they could be, considering the constantly shifting terrorist methods. He...
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Money & Business
Care for the elderly
Peter Bloom looks at the main contemporary challenges for elderly care.