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Below are a number of articles I’ve written for the for the press. For a list of my academic articles and book chapters, please see my university webpage.

How the pandemic exposed the shortcomings of populist leaders, Australian Financial Review, 22 July 2020.

Telling the Story of Climate Crisis, Writers Rebel, 25 June 2020.

We know why politicians tell lies; here’s how they tell lies, Booklaunch, Summer 2020, Issue 8, p. 3.

The Language of Protest: political demonstration in the age of Covid-19, OU News, 11 June 2020.

The Special Adviser’s Tale, or Political Storytelling in the Time of Covid, Cambridge Core, 5 June 2020.

Tech had weaponised political storytelling, Wired, July/August 2020, pp. 27-8.

Language Skills: Post-Brexit Immigration Policy, EAL Journal, Spring 2020, p. 75.

How politicians plunder history for persuasive purposes, LSE American Politics and Policy blog, 30 January 2020.

Get Brexit Done: Why storytelling is so important for electoral success, Diggit Magazine, 20 December 2019.

What conspiracy theories have in common with fiction – and why it makes them compelling stories, The Conversation, 18 December 2019.

The serious business of emojis, emag, Issue 86, December 2019, pp. 4-6.

Emoji aren’t just symbols. They’re an ever-evolving digital language of emotion, Digital Trends, 5 November 2019.

Is inflammatory language really a direct threat to the wellbeing of society? Politics Means Politics, 1 October 2019.

Recent trends in political lying: a brief primer, OpenLearn, 16 September 2019.

Do emojis pose a threat to the future of language? Cambridge Core, 18 July 2019.

Words Matter: Power, Politics and the Study of Language, emag, Issue 83, February 2019, pp. 34-5.

Political blowjobs, or The power of expletive-filled number plates, Strong Language, 11 August 2018.

Fake News and Digital Literacy (with Caroline Tagg), Social Science Matters, 31 July 2018.

Critical digital literacy is vital for education today (with Caroline Tagg), OU News, 25 July 2018.

How Brexit is driving a rise in the language of everyday racism, English and Creative Writing, 22 June 2018.

The Obscure Rhetorical Technique That Explains Everything You Need To Know About Post-Truth Politics, Huffington Post, 30 May 2018.

Popularity of ‘Donald’ plunges as ‘Melania’ rises: how names accrue social meaning, The Conversation, 24 May 2018.

Facebook and a fractured society: How online communication is changing friendship and politics (with Caroline Tagg), emag, Issue 79, February 2018, pp. 48-50.

The Role Of Information Literacy In The Fight Against Fake News (with Caroline Tagg), Information Literacy Group, 15 February 2018.

Political Discourse on Social Media (with Caroline Tagg), Social Science Matters, 30 October 2017.

Weaponising blandness: how khaki chinos and Taylor Swift became symbols of the alt-right, Prospect Magazine, 21 September 2017.

Linguistic diversity and ‘cosmopolitan bias’, Language on the Move, 18 September 2017.

Does poor spelling really mean Donald Trump isn’t fit to be president? The Conversation, 12 September 2017.

Statue Wars: Competing Narratives in the Public Landscape (with Korina Giaxoglou) Sociological Review, 24th August 2017.

Why Do Statues Become Touchstones For Political Struggle? The Huffington Post, 18 August 2017.

Why does everyone in Star Wars speak English? Babel, 20, 1 August 2017. Republished in Diggit, 14 August 2017.

The dystopian smile behind The Emoji Movie, The Huffington Post, 1 August 2017.

Brexiteers and Broflakes: how language frames political debate, OpenLearn, 28 July 2017.

What can emoji teach us about human civilization? OpenLearn, 17 July 2017.

The real reason you can’t quit Facebook? Maybe it’s because you can judge your friends(with Caroline Tagg), The Conversation, 12 July 2017.

Wrestling With The Truth – Trump And The Power Of Performance Politics, The Huffington Post, 3 July 2017.

How sexist is the urban environment? (with Korina Giaxoglou) OpenDemocracy, 31 May 2017.

Would a common language have helped Europe?, The New European, 19 April 2017.

How Brexit Is Giving Rise To A New Wave Of Language Wars, The Huffington Post, 5 April 2017.

What Theresa May’s letter on Brexit was really saying, The Washington Post, 30 March 2017.

What effect is social media having on the way we mourn global tragedies? (with Korina Giaxoglou) OpenLearn, 28 March 2017.

Street protests and the creative spectacle (with Frank Monaghan) Diggit Magazine, 20 March 2017.

Is Donald Trump really giving a voice to the voiceless? The Huffington Post, 17 March 2017.

The whimsical world of emoji swearing, Strong Language, 14 March 2017.

Five Properties Of Creativity, And How They Can Help With The Writing Process, Writers & Artists, 9 March 2017.

Can emojis play a part in debates about our national identity?, The New European, 9 March 2017.

How emoji are changing the shape of everyday English, OpenLearn, 8 March 2017.

How ‘Fake News’ Became Trump’s Favourite Insult, The Huffington Post, 1 March 2017.

A Clockwork Orange: ultraviolence, Russian spies and fake news, The Conversation, 23 February 2017.

Lies, damned lies, and executive orders: the power of words and the Trump presidency, Diggit Magazine, 17 February 2017.

The truth and ‘alternative facts’: Language is always subject to change, The Independent, 31 January 2017.

Les langues elfiques de Tolkien, plus populaires que l’espéranto, Libération, 30 January 2017.

How online diversity is shaping political debate (with Caroline Tagg), TLANG, 27 January 2017.

Why the solution to ‘fake news’ is education, not technology, OU News, 12 January, 2017.

Why J.R.R. Tolkien’s tradition of creating fantasy languages has prevailed, Newsweek, 11 January, 2017.

Fake news: the solution is education, not regulation (with Caroline Tagg), Times Higher Education, 29 December 2016.

The world’s words of the year pass judgement on a dark, surreal 2016, The Conversation, 22 December 2016.

A century after his death, a Japanese literary giant is returning as an android – here’s why, The Conversation, 7 December 2016.

The filter bubble isn’t just Facebook’s fault – it’s yours (with Caroline Tagg), The Conversation, 5 December 2016.

Written evidence to parliamentary select committee on ‘fake news’ (with Caroline Tagg, December 2017); Oral evidence to parliamentary select committee on ‘fake news’ (with Caroline Tagg, 23 January 2018); Supplementary evidence to parliamentary select committee on ‘fake news’ (with Caroline Tagg, February 2018).