The bank that likes to say yes 

The ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ is now the UK’s sixth largest lender helping people to get on the housing ladder. However, research by LSE London for the Family Building Society suggests it operates in a very unbusinesslike way, with many families finding it difficult to talk about money. Read the full story 

Media trouble  

National news agencies in many European countries are facing significant financial, political and operational pressures, and must innovate and diversify if they are to survive new research has found. Read the full story

What to expect from the post-pan-Arab media 

In the conflict environment of the Middle East, the need for commercially viable independent news media is greater than ever, argues Jessica Watkins. But is the age of pan-Arab media drawing to a close? Read the full blog image: The Al-Jazeera broadcast centre in Doha, Qatar. Source: Al-Jazeera, Flickr

Trump's reinstatement and expansion of the global gag rule has harmful effects for women 

LSE's Ernestina Coast and Nicky Armstrong, with Yana van der Meulen Rodgers (Rutgers University), explain why Trump's decision will be both ineffective and harmful to women, men and children around the world. Read the full blog

Should we fear the rise of the far right?   

The latest episode of LSE IQ features LSE’s Simon Hix and Marta Lorimer, as well as Matthew Feldman of the Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right and Sara Khan, Britain’s first counter-extremism commissioner. Listen to the podcast

The Ballpark 

This episode looks at Missouri's political landscape and why its Senate race was so heated in this midterm cycle. Listen to the podcast