In the news: 20 February – 6 March 2025

A round up of recent media coverage about the University, our graduates, staff and students.

The announcement that post-psychiatric therapy notes written by the late journalist Joan Didion are to be published has raised questions around the ethics of posthumous publishing, as discussed by experts in The Observer, including UON’s Dr Rod Rosenquist. The news was reported by other outlets, including Yahoo! UK Style.

Netflix aired a new drama – Toxic Town – about the Corby steelwork land contamination scandal. Follow-up articles and a podcast from BBC Online featured the recollections of some of the affected people, including Senior Lecturer Dr Lewis Waterfield and Subject Lead Martyn Wyres. The news was also picked up internationally, including Yahoo! News.

The University has new Therapies and Public and Professional Healthcare courses coming up. The Northampton Chronicle & Echo features an article about this and other good news about Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Podiatry degree programmes.

Journalism student Ben Grundy went through Tuesday’s headlines with BBC 5 Live’s Dotun Adebayo. Ben picked a Daily Mail headline that quotes Donald Trump saying he “won’t put up with Zelensky any longer”. Listen again (starts at 3hrs and 51mins).

Dr Anthony Stepniak, Senior Lecturer in Media & Cultural Theory, joined some of his students on BBC Radio Northamptonshire to talk about last night’s Oscars. Listen again (starts at 1hr and 55mins).

Anthony’s comments about a ‘living portraits’ exhibition at Delapre Abbey his students were commissioned to create feature in Northants Life.

A local church’s Open Day on Saturday 8 March will focus on the ‘Women of The Holy Sepulchre’ and how they may or may not have shaped it. The event was created by UON Dr Siobhan Hyland, historian at the Centre for Historical Studies, who is quoted in the Northampton Chronicle & Echo.

The University has welcomed new T-Level courses at Northampton College, news welcomed by UON Assistant Director of Marketing Steven Hamer and reported by UK News Group, Further Education News and the Daventry Express.

Senior Lecturer in Journalism Kate Ironside gave her thoughts on whether UK politicians should stand up to US President Donald Trump to BBC Radio Three Counties. Listen again (starts at 1h3 and 39mins).

UON Professor of Child Health and Medical History, Andrew Williams, has been part of research to uncover the identity of an anonymous patient who was the first child to be amputated, nearly 250 years ago at what was Northampton Infirmary. The story was published by BBC News Online  and the Chronicle & Echo.

The University announced several new Degree Apprenticeship programmes, as reported by Business Times Northamptonshire.