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Modern social media platforms are notoriously prudish about the naked body. Expose just a millimetre too much cleavage and you risk having your content taken down. So over-zealous is the moderation that a picture of a 25,000-year-old statue of the Venus of Willendorf once found herself labelled as pornographic. Poor lass.
In an exploration of how we got here – or, equally, how we’ve failed to make much progress at all – art historian Annebella Pollen has been investigating the struggles between censors and nudists in Britain since the 1930s. Seeking to promote their way of life, the movement’s leaders deployed strategic blurring and early photoshop-style tactics in a bid to share all the wholesome fun they were having with the wider public (do enjoy the picture of the game of naked leap-frog included in the article).
Unfortunately, this added an unintended air of naughtiness to the images, which was quite the opposite of the original objective. Cue decades of court battles between the unclothed and the people demanding they put their trousers back on. The rather surprising tactics on both sides make for a very fun weekend read.
While nudists want us to love our wobbly areas, a whole industry thrives on encouraging us to hate them. Social media sites don’t want to show us bottoms, but they certainly like to flog us celebrity diets. In another long view, two nutrition experts trace the origins of our obsession with the eating habits of the rich and famous – all the way back to the Bible.
Omicron: it’s the COVID variant you didn’t want or need, but which now dominates every conversation. Details are only just emerging but our network of experts is here to update you on what we know so far – including how infectious it could be and what we should do about it.
Also this week, albatross marriages on the rocks, how plankton provided the lubricant needed to create the Earth’s mountains, and a joyful new Beatles documentary that will change your perspective on
the band’s final years.
Have a lovely weekend.
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Laura Hood
Politics Editor, Assistant Editor
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© David Hurn/Magnum Photo, Courtesy of Nudism in a Cold Climate (Atelier Editions, 2021).
Annebella Pollen, University of Brighton
A century ago, early British nudists had to fight for the right to publish naked photos – the similarities with social media today are striking.
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Kellogg’s Corn Flakes were developed as part of a movement towards healthy diets.
Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy.com
James Brown, Aston University; Duane Mellor, Aston University
Celebrity diets are nothing new, they were popular centuries ago, a trip through history shows.
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Changing environmental conditions can put stress on coupled-up animals.
Natasha Gillies
Natasha Gillies, University of Liverpool
Warming seas are harming albatross couples’ resilience, leading to higher rates of separation in the seabirds.
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Dominic Wilkinson, University of Oxford; Jonathan Pugh, University of Oxford
How we should manage uncertainty is not a scientific issue but an ethical issue.
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Suresh V. Kuchipudi, Penn State
It’s too early to say whether the newly identified omicron variant is going to overtake delta. But particular mutations in the new strain have researchers deeply concerned.
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FamVeld/Shutterstock
Nathan Abrams, Bangor University
The British Jewish community celebrate Hanukah in a way that borrows traditions from the US as well as Israel.
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The Himalayas.
Liudmila Kotvictchkaia/Shutterstock
John Parnell, University of Aberdeen
Mountains can’t be created without lubricant, and 2 billion years ago that lubricant was graphite produced by the carbon broken down from layers of dead plankton on the ocean floor.
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Linda McCartney/Apple Corps
Mark Goodall, University of Bradford
Get Back shines a light on the love that still existed between the Fab Four.
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Theo Tzanidis, University of the West of Scotland
The social media giant’s co-founder has been distinguishing himself from people like Mark Zuckerberg who seem set to stay in traditional companies.
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Laura O'Brien, Northumbria University, Newcastle
France’s good and great are interred in this crypt.
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Samantha Vanderslott, University of Oxford
What childhood vaccine mandates tell us about their effectiveness at improving uptake.
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Rohan McWilliam, Anglia Ruskin University
What’s behind the appointments to Labour’s front bench?
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Featured events
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— Egham Hill, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — Royal Holloway University of London
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— Egham Hill, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — Royal Holloway University of London
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— Egham Hill, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — Royal Holloway University of London
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— Whiteknights campus, Reading, Reading, RG6 6AH, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of Reading
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