This year’s Bristol Radical History Festival focused on the persistent threats of racism, xenophobia and, of course, our radical collective resistance to it across Ireland and Britain, reports LYNNE WALSH

IN the 19th century, London used to be a haven for measles, with millions catching the disease. Karl Marx and his family were among them: in May 1854 they all got measles, the three Marx children aged between six and nine probably having picked it up at school.
Today, rates of measles in London are vanishingly low compared to the 1850s. However, last week on July 14 a report from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) stated that London is at risk of a large measles outbreak in the near future.
Models predict that measles could spread in a London outbreak of 40-160,000 people, potentially causing dozens of deaths and the hospitalisation of thousands.

A maverick’s self-inflicted snake bites could unlock breakthrough treatments – but they also reveal deeper tensions between noble scientific curiosity and cold corporate callousness, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
Science has always been mixed up with money and power, but as a decorative facade for megayachts, it risks leaving reality behind altogether, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT

