Editor's note

If, like British MPs, you’re keen to take an Easter break from Brexit, why not turn your attention to the world’s biggest democratic exercise. With 900m registered voters, India’s election is such a big undertaking that voting takes place in phases over five weeks. Voting got underway on Thursday and the results will be announced on May 23. To learn more about what’s at stake, download the first episode of India Tomorrow, a seven-part series from our podcast The Anthill. In part one, fake news and the battle for information, we hear about what motivates online trolls who spread misinformation. You can subscribe to The Anthill wherever you get your podcasts from, find out what episodes are coming up over the next month, and sign up to our special Anthill newsletter. Happy listening.

Theresa May has returned from another bruising encounter with the EU27, this time with the news that she didn’t get the short Brexit delay she asked for at Wednesday’s late night summit. The events of the past few weeks have left many wondering if she is the worst prime minister of modern times. A look back over the past decades does, however, throw up some other strong contenders for the title. Does anyone, for example, remember a chap called David Cameron?

About a third of UK households live in houses that date back 80 years or more and many of them still have original features that can tell us a lot about how families lived before World War II. Even those houses that have been refurbished can still tell us a lot about the social history of the area and the personal history of the people who lived there. It’s a great way of remembering that history is as much about ordinary people as it is about monarchs and battles.

Climate change is such a huge issue that many people feel powerless in the face of the awesome challenges that preventing an ecological catastrophe will involve. But by setting your own example, by not flying perhaps, you not only reduce your own footprint but you may also influence those around you to follow suit. And it’s surprising how even little things could help change the future.

This week we also followed Israelis as they went to the polls, we read about why one of France’s greatest writers is only now becoming world famous and we learned who really owns our digital possessions. Meanwhile from our colleagues around the world, here’s a study of twins that helps us find out how going into space could age us and, from South Africa, how Cyril Ramaphosa is rebuilding trust in the ANC.

Have a great weekend.

Jonathan Este

Associate Editor, Arts + Culture Editor

Election campaign items for sale in Delhi. Jagadeesh NV/EPA

India Tomorrow: a podcast series from The Anthill – episode guide

Indrajit Roy, University of York; Annabel Bligh, The Conversation

Listen to academics from around the world in this seven-part podcast series on India ahead of the 2019 Indian elections.

EPA

Is Theresa May the worst prime minister of modern times? Here are her rivals for the title

Richard Toye, University of Exeter

No one is saying she has done a stellar job, but other prime ministers have made mistakes like May.

Illustration of ‘Axminster’ linoleum, in ‘Catesby’s one-piece linola squares’, Catesbys Colourful Cork Lino (1938). BADDA 181, courtesy of the Museum of Domestic Design & Architecture, Middlesex University, www.moda.mdx.ac.uk

Houses through time: some homes can reflect a century of social change

Deborah Sugg Ryan, University of Portsmouth

Some houses are like a time capsule of social history that can tell us how living standards, and fashions, have changed over the years.

Song_about_summer / shutterstock

Climate change: yes, your individual action does make a difference

Steve Westlake, Cardiff University

Global problems need global solutions. But what you do personally can shift what's seen as 'normal'.

tommaso79/Shutterstock

Do we really own our digital possessions?

Rebecca Mardon, Cardiff University

When you buy a film, eBook or song, you might assume that you own it outright, but that's not always the case, meaning companies may have a right to take it back from you.

Are space twin Scott and Earth twin Mark no longer identical? Robert Markowitz/NASA

Does a year in space make you older or younger?

Susan Bailey, Colorado State University

Before sending humans to Mars or the moon, scientists need to understand what long-term space living does to the human body. Now results are coming in from the Kelly brothers in the TWINS Study,

 

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