|
|
Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and Jair Bolsonaro all exude positivity. But they are what leadership professor David Collinson calls “Prozac leaders” – commanders who believe their own rhetoric that “everything is going well”, even when that seems to be at odds with the reality.
All three men downplayed the dangerous effects of the pandemic, ignored medical advice and then contracted COVID-19. For Collinson, they each articulated “a hyper-optimistic” male bravado, that cast them as strong men and virile leaders who were invulnerable to the virus.
While Collinson traces the origins of Trump’s positivity, politics professor Matthew Flinders takes an even closer look at Johnson. He concludes that the PM’s need to be loved is preventing him from making tough, unpopular decisions.
Elsewhere we examine why AI will not be able to reach its full potential without a physical body and how the thresholds for effective herd immunity could be lower than predicted.
|
Paul Keaveny
Commissioning Editor
|
|
|
Prime Minister Boris Johnson meets US President Donald Trump at the 74th Session of the UN General Assembly.
Stefan Rousseau/PA Archive/PA Images
David Collinson, Lancaster University
'Prozac leaders' believe their own rhetoric that "everything is going well". But this wishful thinking can quickly contaminate organisations, and has been disastrous during the pandemic.
|
EPSRC prize winning photograph by Alexander James Spence
Mark Lee, Aberystwyth University
How could a software box have a subjective viewpoint of, and in, the physical world that humans inhabit?
|
blvdone/Shutterstock
Pieter Trapman, Stockholm University
People aren't uniform in how they behave – nor in how they spread disease. At a population level, that makes a difference.
|
Politics + Society
|
-
Matthew Flinders, University of Sheffield
A pathological need to please is preventing the prime minister from breaking bad news.
-
Joel Millward-Hopkins, University of Leeds
Flattening inequality between and within countries could allow everyone a good standard of living within a liveable climate.
-
Stephanie Newbold, Rutgers University Newark
A president may transfer power to the vice president if they are no longer capable of carrying out their official role. But there are many unanswered questions about this rarely used process.
-
Paul Whiteley, University of Essex; Harold D Clarke, University of Texas at Dallas
There isn't much political capital in celebrating stock market gains if the real economy is still hurting.
|
|
Arts + Culture
|
-
Abigail Boucher, Aston University; Chloe Harrison, Aston University; Marcello Giovanelli, Aston University
From reading more to re-reading safe favourites, there are early signs that the COVID-19 has influenced how and what we are reading.
-
Maria Power, University of Oxford
The pope's message also highlights Brexit, racism and inequality as 'dark clouds over a closed world'.
|
|
Cities
|
-
Giorgio Locatelli, University of Leeds
A better way of evaluating these projects would be to look at their value and sustainability.
|
|
Health + Medicine
|
-
David Ray, University of Oxford; David Bechtold, University of Manchester; Louise Hunter, University of Manchester
Frequent disruption of our internal 'body clock' is linked to type 2 diabetes and obesity.
|
|
Science + Technology
|
-
Peter Koopman, The University of Queensland
A new finding in mice rewrites the textbook explanation of the male sex-determining gene, Sry. It might also help us better understand how males and females come to be.
|
|
Environment + Energy
|
-
Tom Baxter, University of Aberdeen
Decommissioning offshore structures is expensive and environmentally damaging – so why is it illegal to leave them where they are?
|
|
|
Featured events
|
|
Online, Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9HD, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of Leeds
|
|
Swansea University , Singleton Park, Swansea, Swansea [Abertawe GB-ATA], SA3 3DX, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — Swansea University
|
|
Sustainable Places Research Institute, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Cardiff [Caerdydd GB-CRD], CF10 3BA, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — Cardiff University
|
|
East Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB11PT, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — Anglia Ruskin University
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|