Man

• Over the course of the relationship, we see Priscilla grow from girlhood to womanhood.
• On the surface, the story of Elvis and his wife Priscilla has all the qualities of a modern fairy tale.
• She becomes queen to the “King of Rock and Roll” and they live happily ever after in their Memphis palace.
• Coppola’s biopic in fact exposes the dark heart of this fairytale.

The lens of #MeToo

• The audience watches as Priscilla matures under the shadow of Elvis’ controlling influence.
• The #MeToo feminist landscape has shaped the story Coppola tells about Elvis and Priscilla.
• The Twitter hashtag #MeToo was popularised in 2017 to expose the widespread abuse of women in Hollywood by the film producer Harvey Weinstein.
• Priscilla is the latest in a cycle of post-#MeToo feminist retellings that offer a more sympathetic take on women in the spotlight.

Power and abuse

• The film makes a comment about how powerful men are able to abuse their positions.
• Coppola’s script emphasises the unequal power dynamic between Elvis and Priscilla, including the age difference.
• The film shows how a toxic blend of fame, wealth and status draws people into Elvis’ orbit and, in turn, how his star power allows him to behave in ways that are rarely challenged by those around him.

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Harriet Fletcher does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• They knew each other, were both supporters of libraries with successful legal careers, and were politically active.
• Both men claimed that they felt truly British – but from their shared identity they arrived at violently opposing conclusions.

Parallel paths

• The stories of Martin Howard and Stephen Hopkins begin as mirror images of each other, including growing up in Rhode Island.
• He served as Overseer of the Poor, Smallpox Inspector, and in the Rhode Island General Assembly.
• In the early 1760s, their paths might have seemed closely aligned.
• Howard’s and Hopkins’ reactions to these laws marked a key phase of division between them, and across colonial North America.

Dueling pamphlets

• Hopkins supported the loose coalition of organizations collectively known as the Sons of Liberty who campaigned against imperial taxation.
• A close read of the pamphlets published by Howard and Hopkins in the mid-1760s shows they both invoke their common Anglo-American heritage – but only one would eventually come to the conclusion that it was necessary to sever that link.

• To him, that included the right to have a voice in Parliamentary deliberations about colonial taxation, because he lived in Britain’s North American colonies.
• But in Howard’s view, this did not include a right to vote in Parliamentary elections: Not all British people could vote, even if they lived in Britain.

A split based on shared identity and values

• It was a revolution, but those who sought to break from Britain did so as a way of preserving their British identity.
• This seeming contradiction helps illustrate why groups of people who shared Anglo-American identity and heritage fought on both sides of a violent war to preserve their divergent views of that identity and heritage.

Abby Chandler does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• You’ve sorted entertainment and snacks for your passengers and have squeezed all your holiday luggage in the car.
• You’re now ready to head off for your road trip – one hour after you meant to leave.
• Here’s why, what this does to your risk of being injured, and how to plan your road trip to minimise that risk.

1. You think you’ll get there faster

• In fact drivers overestimate how much time they save by driving faster.
• In a study where global positioning systems were fitted to willing participants’ cars, on average drivers saved only two minutes travel time each week by driving faster than the speed limit.

2. You take risks, not just while driving

• Repeat offenders are more likely to be men, younger or previously involved in a crash.
• This is because these personality traits are linked to risky behaviours generally, and not just behind the wheel.

3. You and your friends think speeding’s OK

• Drivers who usually speed see this as socially acceptable and have friends or family who also speed.
• They think speeding is socially acceptable, and the chances of being caught or having a crash are low.

4. You’re reacting to what’s happening today

• Another important contributor to speeding is what’s happening at the time, and how drivers feel about it.
• Speeding may also be part of an aggressive driving style, an aggressive reaction to frustrating driving situations, or something that happened before the driver got in the car.

Speeding’s risky (even just a little over the limit)

• However, even putting your foot down just a little bit jeopardises you and your passengers’ safety, as well as the safety of others on the road.
• That is when, just before the crash, one vehicle was driving 20km/h or more above the speed limit.

How to avoid speeding this summer

If you’re planning a road trip this summer, you can:
You can also find ways to manage frustration or anger that can lead to speeding:
Possibly my favourite strategy is to remember that someone is waiting for you and they want you to arrive safely.
Amanda Stephens does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• Ukraine advances, Ukraine overcomes the path.
• He said: “Ukrainians will cope with any energy shortage as they have no shortage of resilience and courage.
• We defeated the darkness.” He took time to thank the Ukrainian people, talking up the country’s unity in the face of existential threat.
• A refugee or a citizen?” The cold hard fact is that 2023 ended badly on the battlefield for Ukraine.
• As late as the beginning of December Russia announced it was calling up another 170,000 troops.

• In the meantime, a raft of new economic measures will increase the tax burden on ordinary Ukrainians, while at the same time radically reducing public spending.
• Read more:
  Ukraine war increasingly seen as 'fought by the poor’, as Zelensky raises taxes and proposes strict mobilisation laws

• You can also subscribe to our fortnightly recap of expert analysis of the conflict in Ukraine.
• James Horncastle, of Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, meanwhile, believes that while Ukraine has suffered setbacks over the past six months or so, it can still prevail.
• And then works out exactly what it will take in terms of western military aid to achieve that initial goal.

Do they know it’s Christmas?

• Accordingly Ukrainians celebrated Easter and other important religious festivals and saints days at different times as well.
• But in May 2023, the Ukrainian government took the decision to adopt the revised Julian – what we know as the Gregorian – calendar.
• As Hann reports, the old religious calendar survived the Soviet era, but has now been swept away by decree from Kyiv.