Oxford University Press's
Academic Insights for the Thinking World

Cover of Warsaw Tales. Stories selected and translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones. Edited by Helen Constantine.

Warsaw Tales: An interview with Olga Tokarczuk

Ever since I first read “Che Guevara” in Olga Tokarczuk’s short story collection Playing Many Drums (2001), I have wanted to translate it. So, when I was asked to compile Warsaw Tales, it was one of the first stories to come to mind.

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3D Cover image of Dogwhistles and Figleaves

Dogwhistles: 10 examples of disguised messages

Dogwhistles are one of the most discussed methods for politicians to play on voters’ racial attitudes in a stealthy manner, although they come in handy for manipulation on other topics as well. The key to a dogwhistle is this hiding of what’s really going on. Broadly speaking, a dogwhistle is a bit of communication with an interpretation that seems perfectly innocent—but which also does something else.

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Cover image of "Between Borders" by Tobias Brinkman

The great Jewish migration from Eastern Europe

In 1899 a young Jewish woman published a harrowing account of her journey through Germany in 1894, based on Yiddish letters she had written during the journey. Maryashe (Mary) Antin’s travelogue “From Plotzk to Boston” stands out as one of the few detailed contemporary descriptions of a migrant journey from the Russian Empire to America. In the spring of 1894, when she was thirteen years old, Maryashe, together with her mother and sisters, left her hometown of Polotzk in northern Russia to join her father, who had moved to Boston in 1891.

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Title cover of "Origin Uncertain: Unraveling the Mysteries of Etymology" by Anatoly Liberman

Honoring Ernest Weekley

This is the second and last post on Ernest Weekley, an excellent scholar and engaging writer. The “installment” a week ago dealt with the history of Standard English through the eyes of the inimitable Mrs. Gamp.

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What can we expect to see in the 2024 Parliament? [long read]

Labour’s landslide electoral win may not have been unexpected, but few expected to see quite so many historic firsts arise from it. For the first time in over fifty years, a governing party with a majority in the elected House has been replaced by another party with a majority.

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Title cover of "Origin Uncertain: Unraveling the Mysteries of Etymology" by Anatoly Liberman

Ernest Weekley and standard English

Many people who are interested in word origins know Ernest Weekley’s English etymological dictionary. I am sorry that we cannot post his photo: for some mysterious reason, all his portraits on the Internet are copyrighted. He wrote many excellent books on English words.

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Cover of "The Power of Black Excellence" by Deondra Rose

20 HBCU graduates that have shaped America [slideshow]

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are dedicated to empowering students and alumni with the tools to drive significant civic and cultural change. Through their intentional focus on leadership, advocacy, and excellence, HBCU graduates have made remarkable strides in political, legal, cultural, and artistic fields.

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Book cover of "A Danger Which We Do Not Know" by David Rondel

Iris Murdoch on how to lose yourself in nature

Anxiety is the most frequently diagnosed mental health problem in the world today. The handful of psychiatric treatments for anxiety that nowadays dominate the field are well known. But it’s worth remembering that philosophy also has a long and illustrious history as a form of anti-anxiety therapy.

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Front cover of "Rethinking Unjust Enrichment"

Rethinking unjust enrichment

Restitutionary claims are pertinent to our daily interactions and commercial dealings. These claims arise in many scenarios including: improperly collected taxes, mistaken payments, disputes between cohabitants, payments on another person’s debt, mistaken improvements on another person’s property, and provision of unrequested services.

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Cover of "Faith: A very Short Introduction" by Roger Trigg

Religious faith in contemporary society

The idea that religious beliefs claim truth is an unpopular position in Western societies. Any religion can sometimes be out of step with whatever the current secular consensus about moral priorities is.

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Title cover of "Dangerous Crooked Scoundrels: Insulting the President from Washington to Trump" by Edwin L. Battistella, published by Oxford University Press

Some very unique redundancies

One of the quirkier features of the English syntax has to do with the simple word all. All is a quantity word, or quantifier in the terminology of grammarians and logicians. It indicates an entirety of something.

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Cover of "Informers Up Close: Stories from Communist Prague" by Mark A. Drumbl and Barbora Hola

Informers: secrets, truths, and dignity

Over 100,000 individuals acted as secret informers reporting to state security police in Czechoslovakia during the Communist years. The contents of all their reports were saved in extensive police files. Similar dynamics occurred throughout all of Eastern Europe.

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