Good morning. Instinct told me we should avoid this story. Europe is on fire, Gaza is besieged and Donald Trump remains in control of the world’s largest nuclear arsenal.Allegations against British sociologist Jason Arday of CV-zhuzhing and plagiarism in his PhD thesis (“An exploration of peer-mentoring among student teachers’ to inform reflective practice within the context of action research”) felt rather parochial by comparison.Then there’s the context: 41-year-old Arday was a Black Cambridge professor. It’s hard to believe pure academic rigour motivated his initial accusers or those now engaging in vitriolic DEI-bashing. Others rushed to defend Arday – a well-rehearsed reaction learned from a cycle of bad-faith, culture-war attacks. Many of us simply aren’t sure what to say.And yet … Arday’s case has proved inescapable this week; the fallout now prompting a far-reaching debate about academia, hiring practices, inequity and structural racism; the standards and expectations of Black people in public life.Today, we explore all this, with the help of Guardian columnist and the Long Wave writer Nesrine Malik. That’s after the headlines.Five big stories
US news | A federal judge has temporarily halted an order requiring Donald Trump to turn over detailed financial information about his business empire to the BBC as part of an ongoing libel lawsuit.
