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History & The Arts
Is Adele's decision to keep 25 off Spotify going to change the music industry?
Adele has sold shedloads of her new album - and kept it off streaming services. But she might be fighting a losing battle...
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History & The Arts
The legacy of the Victorian prison treadmill
Professor Rosalind Crone examines the dark history of the penal treadmill and asks what lessons we can learn for prisons today.
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History & The Arts
Writing Poetry
Poetry is a delicate and intricate art form, practised by many people but rarely mastered. In this album, poets Jackie Kay, Paul Muldoon, W.N. Herbert and Jean Breeze talk about their respective approaches and attitudes to poetry. They explore many aspects of their craft, from the initial spark of inspiration and rewriting to more technical ...
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History & The Arts
Swallows and Amazons
Find out about the real children and the books behind Swallows and Amazons.
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Education & Development
Do music lessons help with children's other classes?
There's been research which suggests picking up an instrument can improve children's educational performance across the board. But is there really any proof?
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Science, Maths & Technology
Light: Wave-particle duality
One of the most confusing concepts in physics, wave-particle duality is unlike anything we see in the ordinary world.
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History & The Arts
Some merits of Manchester
In Manchester, William is struck by the city's dignity - and woollen socks.
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History & The Arts
World-Changing Women: Alexandra Kollontai
Alexandra Kollontai, inspired by Marxist ideals, became a member of the revolutionary government and led a campaign to help women working in the appalling textile factories. Read her story here...
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Health, Sports & Psychology
Heroes and villains: the presentation of the outlaw in early twentieth-century American folk music
This article will consider how the figure of the outlaw is presented in early twentieth-century American folk music. What is constant, and what changes? What lies behind these strands of imitation and innovation?
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History & The Arts
The Enlightenment
The free course will examine the Enlightenment. To help understand the nature and scale of the cultural changes of the time, we offer a 'map' of the conceptual territory and the intellectual and cultural climate. We will examine the impact of Enlightenment on a variety of areas including science, religion, the classics, art and nature. Finally, ...
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History & The Arts
Discovering music through listening
This free course, Discovering music through listening, will introduce you to the musical elements used by musicians to create a piece of music: pulse, tempo, metre, harmony, structure, texture, timbre and dynamics. You'll learn how to identify the different musical elements by taking a particular approach to listening to the music, known as ...
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History & The Arts
Religion Today
Religion is a powerful force in today’s world, as almost any newspaper or news broadcast will make clear. Inextricably linked with nationalism, popular culture, social norms and the lives of individuals, it touches almost every area of public and private life. This course examines many of the most exciting and controversial issues in religion ...