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On 20 May 2022, the co-Principal Investigators on an academic collaboration project ‘Arab News Futures’ organised a research symposium on ‘The Future in Arab Media and Cultures’, hosted by the LSE Middle East Centre. The event, one of the first to be held face-to-face at LSE following COVID-19 restrictions, brought together scholars and journalists to explore different facets of the idea of the future as it relates to Arab media and cultures historically and into the present moment.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted academic lives differentially, not the least of which, those who have lost relatives and live with the effects of the virus. For other groups, such as carers and academic parents, the pandemic has brought about a significant disruption to their working lives, but how exactly can this be accounted for? Discussing findings from an app-based momentary assessment of academic parents, Roxanna Nasseri Pebdani, shows how academic parents and especially mothers, have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and suggests ways in which higher education institutions should adapt to this reality.

Since Donald Trump’s defeat in the 2020 presidential election, many commentators have attributed his election loss to his poor handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. In new research, Carlos Algara, Sharif Amlani, Sam Collitt, Isaac Hale, and Sara Kazemian find that this is not the whole story. Comparing changes in Trump’s vote share with COVID-19 mortality rates, they find that Trump performed better in places more badly affected by the pandemic. They argue that Trump’s election-campaign messaging about the negative economic impact of lockdowns and other pandemic-related restrictions likely drove the increased voter support for him in the worst affected areas.

The US lacks a robust pandemic prevention framework. Travis Bean offers an account of pandemic history in America to argue that the COVID-19 pandemic should provide an impetus for constitutional amendment that raises the profile and importance of healthcare more generally. For a pandemic response amendment to pass, a strong media campaign, bipartisan legislative backing, and popular support would be needed. Although difficult to achieve, it may be necessary.

As the world struggled to vaccinate its populations with the Covid-19 vaccine, battling suspicion and prejudice amongst its peoples, how did the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan succeed in vaccinating its population and controlling the spread of the virus so effectively? Kelzang T. Tashi discusses how a combination of a hands-on approach by the king and the government, alongside a strategic use of religious and ritual intervention, made a difference in protecting the people and society.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic took the world unawares, tested the resilience of global health systems, and almost brought countries with ill-equipped health systems to collapse. It brought unprecedented disruptions in the worldwide supply chain that precipitated upheavals in society. Uche Igwe argues that the declining trust among the public towards government institutions and deliberate corruption were among the critical factors that affected the country’s overall response to the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic meant that in the 2020 presidential election, many Americans were able to vote differently by using drop boxes or mail-in ballots. Helmut Norpoth examines whether these different voting methods might have influenced the election’s outcome. He finds that while these methods may have benefitted Joe Biden in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, they were not decisive, only making his electoral victory more comfortable.

As academic conferences and events re-emerge after a period of COVID-19 induced absence, Mark Carrigan, takes stock of the new post-pandemic world of academic meetings and provides four strategies for how academics can productively navigate and build networks in a world of hybrid interactions.

In Driving With Strangers: What Hitchhiking Tells Us about Humanity, Jonathan Purkis argues that the nature of hitchhiking and its place in the world has important things to tell us both about who we are and who we might be. This hopeful book suggests that if we could harness the mutuality and generosity brought to the forefront during the COVID-19 pandemic into a political movement, we might find ourselves hitchhiking again, writes Tim Newburn. Driving With Strangers: What Hitchhiking Tells Us about Humanity. Jonathan Purkis. Manchester University Press. 2021.

Early career researchers have both been the most directly effected by the COVID-19 pandemic and responsible for some of the most innovative responses to it. Reporting on findings from the Harbingers-2 study, Dave Nicholas discusses how the international cohort followed by the study has adapted to an emerging ‘new scholarly normality’.