Top UK film and TV production school puts spotlight on students with disabilities

Top UK film and TV production school puts spotlight on students with disabilities

Exclusive: National Film and Television School introduces fully accessible accommodation and bursary scheme at its Beaconsfield campus For a long time, physically disabled students who dreamed of studying at the UK’s most prestigious film and TV production school had nowhere to stay in the local area. And when they commuted, they would encounter hundreds of inaccessible areas on campus. In an industry where just 12% of TV employees are disabled, compared with 18% in the labour market as a whole, something had to change. Continue reading...

Merzsplaining: the chancellor’s overconfidence is unpopular in Germany. But could it be what Europe needs? | Joseph de Weck

Merzsplaining: the chancellor’s overconfidence is unpopular in Germany. But could it be what Europe needs? | Joseph de Weck

Unlike his predecessors, Friedrich Merz projects certainty, even when he’s wrong. Now he must turn words into a deliverable plan The 18th-century philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder is credited in Germany with coining the maxim: “Talk is silver, but silence is golden.” The saying has come to define Germany’s political culture. Olaf Scholz was economical with words and drew mockery for his wooden, monosyllabic replies as the “Scholzomat” or even the “coma chancellor”. Scholz was not entirely different from his predecessor. Angela Merkel grew up in East Germany’s communist dictatorship and learned early that words could be dangerous. She spoke cautiously, almost clinically, in the monotone of a central banker. Every word served a purpose. That was precisely why everyone listened closely. Friedrich Merz, by contrast, is anything but a soporific speaker. The trained lawyer has a sharp tongue and visibly enjoys the sound of his own voice. In this, the conservative chancellor resembles the French president, Emmanuel Macron – another beau parleur . And like Macron, Merz is a know-all. He rarely misses a chance to show his audience how clever he is. Joseph de Weck is a fellow with the Foreign Policy Research Institute Continue reading...