Our editor Nicoletta Enria points you in the direction of a few articles and films guaranteed to make you ponder. Read about the failed L'Oréal diversity campaign, the proudly brandished shield of freedom of speech, and a film which insight into the Syrian refugees in Lebanon who are working on construction sites.

Photo: doubichlou14 (flickr); Licence: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Our editor Isabell Wutz points you in the direction of a few articles guaranteed to make you ponder. Read about the hard choice between voting strategically and per your beliefs in the upcoming French elections, how social media influences our lives, and watch how and where human population developed over the last 200,000 years.

Photo: FICG.mx (flickr); Licence: CC BY 2.0

Our editor Victoria Jordan points you in the direction of a few articles guaranteed to make you ponder. Read about the danger of denial, what truth means today, how countries yearn for the past exceptionalism, and if historical comparisons can help us understand contemporary situations.

Victoria, Editor of Brain & Baby

As much as I wanted to avoid Trump in particular, and the topic of populism in general, in this edition of E&M’s Good Reads, it has been no more escapable in my latest reads that it is in reality, and seems to be constantly lurking in the background of topics I touch upon. But this might actually be positive, because the last thing we need right now is passive acceptance, or even denial, of recent developments in our surroundings in the hopes of making ourselves feel better about the world. (Obviously, that is not to say that we shouldn’t be happy about other things, and smile at the sight of a puppy.)

 Photo: Theophilous Papadopoulos (flickr); Licence: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Our editor Justine Olivier points you in the direction of a few essays and articles guaranteed to make you ponder. Read about how the EU plans to renew itself, the political consequelces of the refugee crisis in Germany  and the risk of Erasmus being a bargaining chip of the Brexit negotiation.  

 Justine, Sixth Sense and Heart editor 

THE RENEWING OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

How to make the European Union appealing again? Does the EU need structural reforms? How to tackle our current security, economic and legitimacy challenges? These are the questions that all leaders of the EU keep mulling over these weeks. Indeed, Brexit, in addition to all the economic and political uncertainty it has brought, has acted as a wake-up call no one can ignore. What's wrong with the EU ? On the day of the referendum results, several European leaders called for substantial reforms. But now is the time for more concrete propositions. This was the aim of the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s State of the Union speech on Wednesday the 14th of September. Juncker made many propositions, including cutting red tape and boosting investment through the completion of the capital markets union. However, these are neither new nor original. As Tim King analyzes in POLITICO, his speech was not as inspiring as it was meant and expected to be. The speech aimed at being reassuring, as Juncker stressed that in spite of its numerous challenges the EU was strong enough and “not at risk”. The Commission President also emphasized that the way forward is through more union. But at a time of increasing skepticism concerning the positive impact of integration and cooperation among Europeans, there is no certainty that Juncker's words were enough rekindle the much-needed faith in Europe.