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

EVERY four years, each Olympic flame starts its life in a parabolic mirror in Greece, lit by reflection of the sun.
The curved sides of the mirror reflect light to the same point, intensifying the light so brightly that it can cause the torch to catch alight.
The same phenomenon was responsible when the concave face of a London skyscraper, nicknamed the “Walkie-Talkie,” concentrated the sun’s heat onto a luxury car parked below, melting parts of its metal and glass exterior.

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

