Expert Request – Friday 21 March
If you are interested in writing an article for a request below, please email the contact listed in the request to find out more. Please note, article requests are fulfilled on a first-come, first-served basis. You can pitch an article directly to The Conversation via the detail listed here.
| 1. Environment + Energy: How can a fire at a single substation cause Heathrow Airport to close? Is there any sort of backup generation or alternative grid for significant infrastructure like this? Should there be? We’re looking to speak to an energy system resilience (or similar) expert to for a quick Q&A article explaining how the grid works and what its weak points might be.
Timescale: ASAP/today | Contact: Will de Freitas 2. World: The Trump administration is now openly criticising “unelected judges” for ruling against a variety of executive orders. It also appears that Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, defied a court order to halt a deportation flight to Venezuela. We’d like to talk with an expert in US constitutional law about a possible argument about the challenge to the rule of law in America that this represents. Timescale: ASAP/early next week | Contact: Jonathan Este 3. Health + Medicine: One if four adults in America is misusing their stimulant prescription medicine (prescribed mainly for ADHD) according to a new study. What is the situation in the UK? Timescale: early next week | Contact: Clint Witchalls 4. Arts + Culture: We are looking for an expert to explore whether Snow White is one of the most outdated fairy tales and whether it can ever be changed substantially enough for modern audiences? This is pegged to the new live-action remake, which is being critically panned. Could it have been good? Timescale: ASAP | Contact: Naomi Joseph 5. Arts + Culture: We are looking for an expert to respond to the news that an ancient Mesopotamian clay tablets discovered in Iraq reveal intricate details of how empire was governed. Timescale: ASAP | Contact: Naomi Joseph 6. Science + Technology: We’re looking for an expert who could be interviewed for a quick Q&A article about the Heathrow airport shutdown and how the airport recovers from it. Timescale: ASAP | Contact: Paul Rincon 7. Arts + Culture: We’re looking for an expert to attend the premiere of Cosmic Rhapsody at London’s Barbican, a new 42-minute orchestral work by Manu Martin, tackling the ideas of humanity’s future and saving Earth’s climate crisis through space exploration. The performance will be on May 5 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Jean-Yves Thibaudet. Must be available to attend and to write a quick turnaround piece. Timescale: early May | Contact: Anna Walker |