Every seven to eight years or so, a major global weather event occurs – El Niño. Caused by a natural rise in oceanic temperatures in the eastern Pacific Ocean, El Niño triggers extreme drought and severe flooding across many parts of the world, but particularly in poorer countries.

During my summer field research, I traveled to the Maasai Mara, the Kenyan half of the incredible Serengeti-Mara ecosystem, and the home of the Maasai ethnic group.  For many of us, this probably evokes a sense of timelessness, and a society untouched by the ‘evils of modernity’. It is also one that many National Geographic documentaries and glossy tourist brochures continue to perpetuate. However, it is but a small sliver of the reality there, like looking at one pixel of an entire photograph; beautiful, perhaps, but incomplete.

In this article I discuss some fascinating trends: tinier homes, changing family living arrangements, and more open and egalitarian work spaces in the US. I will ask, are we seeing - in the actions of the Millennial Generation – evolving use of space, as well as attitudes to consumption and to family and private life? 

Talking about gender and identity has become nearly mainstream practice, a stepping-stone in the course of getting to know someone. Sex, gender, and sexuality no longer align in a straightforward fashion with roles becoming prescribed essentially at birth.

This evening the 87th Academy Awards - replete with glitz and glamour - will be watched by expectant viewers from across the globe. But what do the Oscars really tell us about the world in which we reside? In this collaborative piece, the best and brightest of IANS staff talk about representation, popular culture, politics and at points - and somewhat refreshingly - an unashamed love of film. Unlike the members of the Academy, we did not reach a consensus!