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A 2024/2025. tanévi
Országos Középiskolai Tanulmányi Verseny
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Are Gen Z a bunch of lazy layabouts who refuse to work?

Not in my experience.

We all like to bash on generations that aren’t our own. It’s fun! Millennials laugh at
boomers for their leather phone cases that double as wallets. Gen Z say millennials are cringe.
Boomers say millennials are whiny wokie-cokies who spent all their money on avocado toast
so now can’t buy houses. Millennials accuse Gen Z of being too… cool? Young? Using
TikTok? Unfortunately, these accusations just add weight to the ‘millennials are cringe’ theory.
For a while, millennials were the go-to punching bag in the media, inspiring ire from a
different politician or columnist every other week. That’s in large part because millennials were
the most visible on media. We’re (yes, I’m a millennial, and yes, I’m embarrassed) the internet
generation, the first to be able to broadcast our growing up on social media, so there was plenty
of material to use.
But now, Gen Z have grown up and they’re the targets. And among the usual topics they’re
criticised about - being too woke, dismantling norms, having bad attention spans - work is, of
course, a big one; which makes sense, as the older half of Gen Z are now fully embedded in the
workforce.
Some of the stereotypes of Gen Z at work: they don’t want to work, they’re difficult to
work with, they’re always banging on about mental health, they refuse to ever work late, they’re
stubborn, they talk a lot about boundaries, they won’t attend meetings at lunchtime, they do
silly email sign-offs (slay), they have pronouns in their bio, and - the big, overarching one -
they’re lazy.
The thing about generational stereotyping is that it comes from somewhere… and often
parts of it are true. Millennials, for example, can’t afford to buy houses and do indeed like
avocado toast (but are those things related?). It’s true that Gen Z talk more about boundaries
and stick to those boundaries harder than the generation before them, and it’s true that Gen Z
don’t want to do certain types of work. But none of this is down to laziness or a lack of ambition.
The Gen Z people I’ve worked with and managed have not had a lack of ambition. If
anything, they’ve been more forthright about their goals than the norm. When I’ve interviewed
Gen Z-ers for roles, they’re the ones who have asked about progression from the get-go. In our
one-to-ones, they talk about long-term goals and what they want to get out of their current job
before moving up or moving on. If they can’t see a way to get further, they want out. Stagnation
is not for them.

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There have been some Gen Z people I’ve interacted who appear to be the opposite; they
talk about not wanting to work at all and make jokes about overthrowing the government. But
this isn’t down to laziness, but disillusionment. Those ‘lazy’ Gen Z are the ones spending their
weekends at protests and running campaigns. They’ll quiet quit their jobs, but be selling clothes
on Vinted to make a profit. They might not want to work their way up a ladder, but they’ll have
visions of entrepreneurship.
The stereotypes about Gen Z refusing to join an early meeting or one that takes place over
their lunch break are, in my experience, true, but again, that’s not remotely down to laziness.
Instead, it’s a recognition that those much-spoken about boundaries are important. They’ve seen
the stress and overwhelm experienced by the burnt-out, people-pleasing generation of
millennials, who side-hustled and girlbossed their way right into despair. And they’ve seen how
pointless it all is. Gen Z have seen that working late and skipping breaks doesn’t get you further;
you’ll just be taken for granted, your hard work rewarded with more work and not enough pay,
and still at risk of sweeping redundancies. They’ve recognised that productivity is not simply
hours worked, but the efficiency of those hours; they know that time away from work matters,
and so their boundaries are sacred. They also know that life is not just about work; that work
absolutely can be meaningful, but so can other things.
Again, I wonder if that’s a hangover from the millennial workforce, who were told over
over to pay their dues and be grateful for opportunities. Gen Z saw that toiling away is rarely
rewarded, and that putting up with unfair working practices and toxic bosses does nothing but
make you miserable. Gen Z are very justice-minded (you can see that in their high rates of
activism), and that extends to the workplace. They question everything: why do we have to
work a five-day week? Why does being a boss entitle someone to shout? Why can’t a junior
member of staff bring an idea to the table? They care about a workplace’s values and ethics,
and if the workplace isn’t delivering, they’re very willing to either quiet quit or be out of there
entirely.
I understand why Gen Z makes other generations bristle. The generations before them think
‘well, I had to go through it, so do they’, and to be fair, the constant questioning of the system
can get frustrating when you’re a middle manager who’s just trying to get stuff done. But I
think rather than calling Gen Z lazy, getting angry about their boundaries, or resenting them for
having it ‘easier’, other generations can learn how to best work with Gen Z, and learn from
them, too. We can take the nudge to make our workplaces better, join them in leaving work on
time, and consider meaning beyond our 9-5. We can appreciate Gen Z the way they are, making
use of their unique qualities within work. We can all be a little bit more Gen Z; munching
avocado toast in rented homes we can’t afford, but doing so at 8am, rather than joining a
meeting outside of our working hours.

https://workingonpurposenewsletter.substack.com/p/are-gen-z-a-bunch-of-lazy-layabouts

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‘We’re not criminals’: what Just Stop Oil’s poster girls told me

Now convicted, the two students were defiant when they spoke to Damian Whitworth after
their soup antics

Whatever you think of Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland’s decision to throw soup at one
of the world’s most famous paintings, it is undeniable that their act of eco-protest has had an
unusual cut-through.
The two Just Stop Oil activists are likely to be given jail terms in September after being
found guilty of criminal damage for throwing the contents of two tins of tomato soup over
Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers in the National Gallery in London.
When I met them a few days after the incident, which made headlines around the world in
October 2022, they were far from contrite and planning further protests. And, perhaps because
of Plummer’s pink hair, they were immediately recognisable.
As the two students left the café in southeast London where we had been talking, staff and
customers gave them astonished looks. “Oh my God, I’ve just realised who they are,” said one
of the female baristas, as if she’d just clocked Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. “Sidcup is a good
place to lie low,” added one of her customers.
Plummer and Holland, both 22, were told by Judge Christopher Hehir at Southwark Crown
Court last week to be “prepared in practical and emotional terms to go to prison”. The same
judge earlier this month sentenced five JSO activists to jail terms of between four and five years
for protests that brought part of the M25 to a standstill over four days in 2022.
Plummer has already been jailed for six months for her part in a slow march in London,
and when I spoke to the two women they were familiar with custody cells after their arrest for
the soup throwing and breezily sought to put a positive spin on the experience. “I bring my
university reading into jail cells with me because I’ve got time to study,” said Holland, who
was studying English literature and creative writing at Newcastle University at the time.
“They’re not pleasant places to be, but in a custody cell you get hot food, shelter, clean
clothes, warm blankets; things that aren’t guaranteed if we keep on hurtling towards climate
catastrophe. Millions in the global south have already lost these things to climate disaster,” said
Plummer, who studied social anthropology at Soas, University of London.
Plummer said she felt “empowered” after throwing the soup at Sunflowers. “I felt like I
was seizing back power from the systems that are hell-bent on destroying us and destroying
everything we know and love. I felt like I was grabbing power over my future because right
now we’re being denied our right to a future.”
She has become the “poster girl” for JSO, involved in several protests and stunts. The pair
warned then that their attention-grabbing at the National Gallery was the start of an escalation
of protests by Just Stop Oil, which is trying to disrupt airports during the holiday season,
including Gatwick where several activists were arrested yesterday.
Throwing the soup caused outrage around the world. Some of the disgust dissipated once
it became clear that the painting had a glass cover and the work was undamaged. But
nevertheless there was widespread feeling that vigorously thrusting a can of soup so close to
one of the country’s greatest art treasures was pretty idiotic.

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Judge Hehir said they “came within the width of a pane of glass of destroying one of the
most valuable artworks in the world”. The frame of the painting was damaged in the attack.
Copycat incidents have included pumpkin soup being thrown at Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona
Lisa in the Louvre in Paris in January this year.
Plummer and Holland said they wanted to do something that would deliver a visual jolt.
“It was a very shocking action,” Holland said. “We did this to shock people because once people
were shocked at what we did, we wanted them to start asking themselves: where should that
shock truly be directed?”
The Sunflowers is “so iconic”, Plummer chipped in. They needed to get people’s attention,
they claimed, to try to engage them on the peril facing those affected by climate change,
including people displaced by floods in Pakistan, suffering from famine in Somalia and dying
from the heatwave we had in Britain that summer. “Two young girls throwing soup at a painting
has gotten people talking about it more than these millions of lives that have been destroyed
due to climate catastrophes,” Plummer said.
They may have been exaggerating, but it is probably true that more people were aware of
their stunt than the tragedy developing in Somalia. However, targeting one of the world’s most
famous paintings caused enormous upset and I wondered why they targeted a genius who found
a whole new way to show us the natural world that he loved.
“That painting was protected by glass,” Plummer said. “But the fact is millions of people
in the global south aren’t protected. As young people our own futures aren’t protected. That
shock reaction is because it is something beautiful, and you have that feeling of wanting to
protect something beautiful, something valuable, of not wanting to see it be destroyed. Where
is that sentiment when it’s our planet? When it’s our environment? When it’s people whose
lives are being destroyed?”
This is where a lot of people will part company with Just Stop Oil. People do care about
the planet. It is possible to sympathise with the view that climate change is not being tackled
with sufficient urgency while taking a hardline stance on soup in art galleries. Isn’t the danger
for those who throw soup, glue themselves to walls and endlessly block traffic that their actions
alienate their audience?
“I completely understand people’s frustrations against us,” Holland said. “But the fact of
the matter is, as a result of our action, people are talking about not just what we did, but about
the demands that we are conveying as Just Stop Oil.”
Were they? Or were they just talking about the outrageousness? “Well, this isn’t a
popularity contest. We’re trying to make change. Martin Luther King was the most hated man
in America when he was alive. The suffragettes weren’t popular,” Plummer said.
Some of the comment on Just Stop Oil has been that “posh” people with plummy accents
are disrupting the lives of less privileged people. Everyone, regardless of class, gender or
ethnicity, would be affected by the climate crisis and so it is unifying, Holland argued.
“I don’t have to work three jobs to feed my kids or pay my heating bills, which means that
I can dedicate time towards fighting for the people that don’t have the means to fight right now
and are being hit hardest,” Plummer said.
She went to St Mary’s Ascot, an expensive boarding school, and Tatler magazine, always
attuned to its readers’ world view, headlined its story on the attack: “St Mary’s Ascot alumna

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charged with criminal damage for Van Gogh stunt.” Did Plummer laugh at that? “I did.
Especially as I didn’t go to St Mary’s for very long. I went there for three years.”
Her involvement with Just Stop Oil began after she became frightened about the future and
felt hopeless. “I’ve tried all the other things. I’ve gone on marches, I’ve signed petitions, I’ve
written to MPs, I’ve made the individual lifestyle changes I feel like I can make.
“I’m vegan. I haven’t bought any first-hand clothes for four years, but it doesn’t make any
meaningful change. We have to use these tactics now because we don’t have any time to waste.
Our generation doesn’t have the luxury of sitting on the sidelines.”
She has lost one other luxury. Her bail conditions included that they cannot enter museums.
“Shame,” Plummer said. “I do love art galleries.”
Soon, the judge’s warning suggests, it won’t just be museums that will be beyond the reach
of Plummer and Holland. In the immediate aftermath of the National Gallery incident, Plummer
claimed there had been, in addition to the criticism, an outpouring of support.
“A lot of people realise that this is a proportionate response to the criminality of the
government,” she said of the soup throwing. “We’re scared little kids trying to fight for our
future. What we did was not a criminal act. We’re not criminals.” Unfortunately for them, a
court has now decided otherwise.

https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/celebrity/article/just-stop-oil-interview-phoebe-plummer-i-felt-
empowered-after-throwing-soup-at-the-sunflowers-pspfvbs9r

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Screen time can have surprising benefits for kids—when done right

Not all screen time is created equally. Experts explain why quality matters more than
quantity and how parents can rethink their rules for devices.
A young child watches cartoons on a laptop at home. New research shows it’s not just
about how much screen time kids use—it’s about what they watch, how they watch, and why
it matters.
Parenting in the digital age can feel like navigating a maze of opinions and advice. Strict
device limits or outright bans often dominate conversations about screen time, leaving families
overwhelmed by conflicting guidelines on what’s appropriate for children of different ages.
But here’s the thing: the issue isn’t as simple as setting a timer and walking away. Studies
reveal that the quality of what kids watch, play, and interact with often matters more than the
quantity of their screen time.
A 2022 article published in Frontiers in Psychology found that watching screens can have
detrimental or beneficial effects on development, depending on content and context,
underscoring that not all screen time is equal.
So, could a more nuanced approach to screen time—focusing on quality over quantity and
mentoring over monitoring— better serve families? Here’s what the experts say.

It’s not just a numbers game

The traditional focus on duration often misleads families into thinking screen time
management is about limiting minutes.
“By zeroing in on duration, families are led to believe that managing screen use is a simple
numbers game,” says Katie Davis, author of Technology’s Child: Digital Media’s Role in the
Ages and Stages of Growing Up and co-director of the UW Digital Youth Lab. Instead, she
encourages parents to “consider what children are doing on their screens, who they are
interacting with, and how the experience makes them feel.”
Keena McAvoy, a digital wellness educator and co-founder of DMV Unplugged, adds,
“Boundaries can be missing with simplistic screen time guidelines. For example, a 5-year-old
watching a 45-minute long-form story on their iPad in the living room while their parent cooks
dinner nearby is a much-preferred experience for a growing brain than a 5-year-old accessing
YouTube shorts alone in their bedroom for 45 minutes.”
This numbers-focused mindset can also unfairly vilify technology, says Regan Vidiksis, a
senior researcher at EDC’s Center for Children and Technology. She adds that the conversation
often overlooks the many positive uses of screens and media, including opportunities for
creativity, learning, and connection.

Making screen time meaningful

Parents and caregivers can make screen time a tool for growth and connection by
thoughtfully integrating it into family life. Rather than imposing rigid rules, Davis suggests
families “weave screens into the fabric of daily routines in ways that enhance, rather than detract
from, shared experiences and individual growth.”

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For instance, a 2022 study highlights how video games, in the right context, can improve
problem-solving skills, hand-eye coordination, and cognitive development in children.
With proper guidance, children can use technology to explore their interests, connect with
diverse communities, and advocate for causes—all without becoming tethered to screens.
“Technology is just another medium in their lives and something that they need to learn to
develop healthy habits around, with the support of their families and other media mentors,”
Vidiksis says.
A 2023 Common Sense Media survey showed this when children ages 11-17 described
ways of adding friction to their phones to try to use them more intentionally. “Conversations
about digital habits, co-engagement in activities, and providing context for what children see
and do online are critical aspects of fostering healthy technology use,” Davis says.

Practical tips for a balanced digital life

Creating a balanced digital life starts with curating quality content and setting realistic
expectations. McAvoy recommends that parents “delay their children’s access to
algorithmically controlled technology products (social media, YouTube shorts, TikTok) for as
long as possible” to help their developing brains. Instead, look for apps, games, and shows that
encourage creativity, critical thinking, and active engagement over passive consumption.
Several experts say Common Sense Media is a great resource for seeing how different digital
media options measure up.
Beyond curating content, parents should also look at creating a balanced lifestyle for their
families. Screen time should complement, rather than replace, childhood activities like outdoor
time, physical activity, in-person social interaction, hobbies, and sports as much as is practical.
Parents may consider creating certain times of day or situations where screen time is off-
limits to find a balance that works for their family. Or create public digital spaces around the
home. Whatever you decide, the rules and expectations should be clear and explicit, says
Vidiksis. She adds that the rules should also be reasonable and easily modified according to
life’s circumstances. After all, screen time itself is not implicitly bad, and not all screen time is
equal.
Ultimately, the goal is not to eliminate screens but to guide children toward a positive
relationship with technology. “Parents should ask themselves: Is my child’s technology use
self-directed and fostering growth? These qualities matter far more than the number of minutes
logged on a device,” Davis says.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/screen-time-children-family

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'The baddies reflect the worries of today': How TV spy thrillers are booming in an age
of distrust

From Netflix mega-hit The Night Agent to Apple TV+'s beloved Slow Horses, tales of
secret agents and sinister plots are becoming ever more popular again. That's because they
resonate with the times.
If you've sat down to watch a new TV series recently, there's a high chance that it has
involved murders, sinister plots, cover-ups, moles, and at least one secret service agent trying
to get to the bottom of it all.
In recent months on the small screen, we've had an update of 1970s novel The Day of The
Jackal, about the cat-and-mouse game between an assassin and an MI5 operative, and series
four of Apple TV+'s brilliant comedy-drama about underdog agents, Slow Horses. There's been
The Agency, the US adaptation of the French thriller Le Bureau des Légendes, and the slick
London-based Netflix show Black Doves. And last week saw the premiere of both the second
series of the conspiracy-laden The Night Agent, which was a huge hit on Netflix first time
around, and new Apple TV+ series Prime Target, with season two of Netflix's The Recruit
coming before the end of the month. There are so many spy thrillers on television at the moment
that you might start to question if you're the only person in the world who's not an undercover
agent.
Of course, the popularity of spy thrillers on TV is nothing new – they have long been a
staple for broadcasters and streamers, much of which is down to the wealth of espionage
literature. Spy novels first came into being at the beginning of the 19th Century, reflecting
distrust around political and military conflicts of the time – see James Fenimore Cooper's 1821's
The Spy: A Tale of the Neutral Ground, which explored tensions during the American
Revolution and fears about Patriots being British spies.
Jumping forward in time, the genre really began to flourish during the 20th Century
when two World Wars, followed by the Cold War, plus the creation of national intelligence
agencies in the UK and US, provided fertile inspiration. In the Cold War period, British authors
such as John le Carré and Len Deighton were big-hitters with celebrated works such as Tinker
Tailor Soldier Spy and The Ipcress File, while Ian Fleming created the blueprint for all future
secret service agents with his James Bond series. Come the 80s and 90s, meanwhile, US spy
novelist Tom Clancy became a global phenomenon with his Jack Ryan series.
Now, more than 200 years since popular spy-based literature was first printed, the appetite
for spy thrillers has never been stronger. In the UK, the market for espionage novels grew a
remarkable 45% in a year to £9.7 million ($12 million) in 2024, according to Nielsen BookData.
Philip Stone, head of publisher account management at Nielsen BookData, tells the BBC that,
as well as it being boom times for the crime genre as a whole, such a huge uplift in sales of spy
thrillers in particular is "in part due to the success of the adaptation of Mick Herron's Slough
House series" – the basis for Apple TV+'s Slow Horses.
Given the big ratings for some of the spy shows on TV – season one of The Night Agent
was Netflix's seventh most-watched show ever, with 98.2 million views – it's clear, too, that it's
not only readers but viewers who are heavily invested in tales of double-crossing, whistle-
blowing counter-surveillance. But why is the genre having a particularly successful resurgence
right now?

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How spy fiction reflects reality

With all their murky goings on, spy dramas could be resonating with viewers as they reflect
on the unpredictable and unstable world we live in now; where truth is obscured by
disinformation and where trust in governments, authorities and other establishments is at an all-
time low. In the UK, a record high of 45% of people quizzed by the National Centre for Social
Research in their 2024 survey said they "almost never" trust governments of any party to place
the needs of the nation above the interests of their own political party. In the US, it's a similar
story, with a 2023 Gallup poll revealing just 8% of the public had a "great deal" of confidence
in Congress, while a 2024 Pew Research Center study found only 22% of US adults said they
trust the federal government to do the right thing just about always or most of the time.
Joseph Oldham, lecturer in communication and mass media at the British University in
Egypt, and author of 2017's Paranoid Visions: Spies, Conspiracies and the Secret State, tells the
BBC that there are parallels between the current spy thriller boom and other eras where the
genre has especially thrived, such as the run-up to World War One, pre-World War Two and
the early Cold War. "What I think these moments in history have in common with each other,
and indeed with our present moment, is the background sense of great geopolitical tensions
between major global powers running out of control, either with war looming directly ahead or
with the threat of apocalypse constantly hanging in the background, and with the tensions
getting displaced on to proxy wars and espionage."
People's levels of suspicion of those around them are also at a high – a University of Oxford
study found that 27% of respondents believed that there was a conspiracy against them – and
conspiracies are a repeated theme in this new selection of shows, such as The Night Agent –
not, incidentally, to be confused with Le Carré's The Night Manager, which is set for a second
and third series almost a decade after the Emmy-winning BBC adaptation in 2016.
Netflix's The Night Agent is a paranoia-stoked thriller focused on the White House in
which, to borrow from horror film parlance, the call is coming from inside the house. Adapted
from a novel by Matthew Quirk, season one saw low-rank FBI agent Peter Sutherland (Gabriel
Basso) working to expose who in the presidential office was behind a staged "terrorist" bomb
on the Metro, and series two places him on the run when the information he has gleaned from
a mission is compromised, because of a leak in the CIA. Meanwhile Prime Target – featuring
The White Lotus's Leo Woodall as mathematician Edward Brooks – features similar
machinations, when Edward finds himself hunted by unknown, sinister forces after he comes
close to finding a pattern in prime numbers that holds the key to every computer in the world.
From a psychological perspective, however, people can be drawn to such shows because
of the reassurance they in the end offer, cutting through the murk of geopolitics to unmask the
real villains, and eventually making clear who is "good" and "bad". "Spy dramas appeal because
of the escapism and adrenaline rush they offer, along with the pleasure of following the hero's
journey, but one important element is how they fulfil our strong desire to resolve ambiguity and
uncertainty. When we do, reward systems in our brain are activated," says Dr Justin Spray, a
chartered member of the British Psychological Society, and filmmaker. "The shows also appeal
to our curiosity about the unknown and forbidden, but in a world that is becoming increasingly
complex and polarised they also allow us to safely navigate – and seek an understanding of –
issues of national and global significance."

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How the genre is being shaken up

Not that today's spy shows can't sometimes find a funny side to espionage too. Whereas
'00s and '10s secret services thrillers like Spooks, Homeland and 24 played the drama extremely
seriously, some contemporary spy series like Killing Eve, Mr & Mrs Smith and Black Doves
have felt stylistically and tonally very different, folding in a fresh irreverence, self-deprecating
characters and a black humour that is not usually found in this type of television, and that feels
geared towards a younger audience.
Additionally, they've been notable for their moral ambiguity – so while characters like
Killing Eve's Villanelle (Jodie Comer), The Day of The Jackal's The Jackal (Eddie Redmayne)
or Black Doves' Sam Young (Ben Whishaw) are hired assassins, there’s something alluring
about them that even, perversely, has the viewer rooting for them, as the lines between
hero/villain become blurred yet again.
As for the real, big-time villains at play, "It's interesting to note that the baddies in these
stories have changed to reflect the worries of today", says Spray, noting that whereas before the
genre flourished because of "fears of the actions of the superpowers in the '50s, the plots now
reflect concerns such as the climate crisis and human trafficking – [and] a rich vein, of course,
is our distrust of our own governments."
More specifically, Oldham is interested in how the powers that spies answer to has changed
in some of these shows. "Traditionally, spy fiction has typically been about agents working for
the state or the government, whether that's James Bond or George Smiley; or it's a paranoid
conspiracy story where they're being hunted down and persecuted by the government. But in
something like Black Doves, our main characters all work for this private intelligence service
[the eponymous Black Doves], and they spend a lot of the story not actually knowing who they
are serving. These are characters who are separate from the institutions of state, and this seems
to speak to the privatisation of so much of public life, and the sense that governments seem
increasingly ineffectual in the face of these capitalist concerns."
This "privatisation" of the spy world in Black Doves was just one unique aspect to this
stylish original series, written by Joe Barton, which saw the renegade assassin and spy duo of
Whishaw's Young and Helen Webb (Keira Knightley) rallying together against unknown forces
to find out who killed Helen's lover, as they realised that they could equally be dispensed, even
by those who employ them. It has been another big Netflix hit, and unusually a second series
was commissioned by the platform before the original had even streamed.
These faceless, private companies who try to control the chaos can also be seen in Killing
Eve with The Twelve – 12 anonymous people who order assassinations from Eve – or in Mr &
Mrs Smith, with the mysterious computer system called HiHi who organises the missions and
the killings, leading some fans to wonder if HiHi is actually AI. That would certainly be an
interesting and very timely conspiracy theory to explore in the second series, which has been
given the greenlight, with Mark Eydelshteyn (one of the stars of the Oscar-tipped Anora)
playing one of the leads this time around.
All told, given the huge numbers that these modern espionage stories are pulling in for all
the streamers – and the sheer amount of novels written and sold in this genre – it doesn't take a
secret agent to uncover that we're going to continue to see many more stories of deception and
covert operations on TV.
And while these shows might only offer outlandish, flight-of-fantasy solutions for complex
geo-political issues, they're a comfort to many, nonetheless. "There's a lovely quote from
[cultural historian] Michael Denning who says 'the secret agent returns agency to a world that
seems less and less the product of human action'," Oldham says.

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20250124-why-tv-spy-thrillers-are-booming-right-now

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The seven travel trends that will shape 2025

As you start to look at the year ahead, have you thought about how you will be travelling?
The world's travel firms – from Airbnb to Booking.com – have.
Their predictions, gathered from survey data, user behaviour and forward bookings,
function as an annual showcase for new ideas in the industry, from identifying future hotspots
to considering how and why we will explore the world in the upcoming year.
"People are drawn to trends because they offer a sense of structure and understanding in an
increasingly complex and fast-paced world," explains Jenny Southan, CEO of Globetrender,
the world's leading travel trend forecasting agency. "When it comes to travel, trends provide
clarity and a roadmap for how to engage with the world around us.
For cultural futurist Jasmine Bina, CEO of Concept Bureau and an experienced analyst of
consumer behaviour, they are a signifier of our deepest longings. "Travel trends are a window
into what people really desire when the rules of everyday life are suspended," she says. "Right
now, what they really want is to feel transformed."
While the travel industry has largely returned to pre-pandemic levels, economic
uncertainty, the ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East and the change of presidency in
the US is making 2025 feel anything but predictable.
"You could say that perhaps we are looking for new anchors," says Bina. "Travel trends
like stargazing, holiday romance, nostalgia tourism, sleep tourism, digital detoxes and so on
show us that people are searching to be reconnected to something bigger than themselves."
Southan agrees. "Trends create a shared narrative – a sense of collective discovery – where we
are all participants in a global dialogue about what matters," she says. "Whether it's the allure
of off-the-beaten-path destinations or the desire to 'travel with purpose', trends provide us with
an anchor, making it easier to understand where we fit within the broader landscape of global
travel."
Here are some of the top trends forecasted for 2025, as predicted by some of the world's
leading travel brands and tour operators.

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1. Noctourism

Noctourism – nocturnal + tourism – encompasses nighttime travel experiences, from late-

opening museums to bioluminescent beaches to northern lights watching. Solar activity is going
to be at its highest for decades in 2025, sending higher than average numbers of charged
particles to interact with the Earth's atmosphere, creating dramatic aurora viewing
opportunities. Award-winning UK travel firm Trailfinders tips Finnish Lapland and Norway's
Lofoten Islands, plus Svalbard and Iceland as prime destinations to see them. Noctotourism
interacts neatly with what's always been a key tenet of the travel industry: fostering connection
with the wider world.

2. Calmcations

Calmcations – holidays purely focused on creating a sense of tranquillity – continue to be

popular for 2025. Noise is in particular focus, following a report from the World Health
Organisation that rates noise pollution, particularly from traffic, as the second most important
cause of ill health in Western Europe.
Havila Voyages has created "quiet escapes" along the Norwegian coast that offer a chance
to step away from the clamour of everyday life, featuring sound monitoring stations and a live
noise forecast that compares the output in decibels against cities including New York, Paris and
London. Alternatively, Unplugged offers tech-free cabins in the UK and Europe with a mission
"to help the always on switch off"; while brand new retreat Majamaja in the Helsinki
archipelago comprises of a series of architect-designed off-grid cabins that allow you to
reconnect with nature. It's all a sign that right now, the escapism of travel includes escaping
technology.

3. Travel meets AI

We can expect to see technology start to play a larger role in trip planning: travel tech
company Amadeus found that almost 50% of its customers are planning to prioritise generative
AI through 2025. The survey also noted, however, that many travel firms are still not quite sure
how to use the technology; they could take inspiration from flight-free holiday firm Byway,
which has created its own proprietary AI engine to take the complexity out of timetables and
multi-country travel, solving a significant problem when it comes to European travel.
Other firms, including Tripadvisor, are employing generative AI to help build itineraries
for trips, while a growing number of airports are ditching paper tags and using the technology
to sort baggage more efficiently. At Hyatt hotels, an AI-powered bed can monitor your heart
rate, movement and blood pressure to offer more comfort and a better night's sleep.
But it's not all positive for technology. According to research from ABTA association of
travel agents and tour operators, a Gen Z traveller is now almost as likely to be flicking through
a holiday brochure for travel inspiration as browsing the internet for ideas, hinting that the trend
towards tech is not universal.

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4. The return of the holiday romance

Going hand in hand with the rise in digitisation has been a rise in digital burn out,
particularly when it comes to relationships. According to a 2024 Forbes Health survey, 79% of
Gen Z feel exhausted from online dating. How to solve the problem? A travel trends report
from Globetrender and Amadeus includes a section on meeting new people in real life as one
of its five key predictions for the year.
Whether you have a holiday romance or not, it's easier than ever to find a trip where
friendship can blossom with increasing numbers of group and solo travel opportunities. G
Adventures and Flash Pack are just two firms offering expanded options for solo travellers
seeking social adventures.

5. Off-the-beaten-track goes mainstream

After significant overtourism issues in 2024, off-the-beaten-track destinations are on the

rise. As Byway notes in their travel trends of 2025, "people want to travel where they're
welcomed wholeheartedly". The firm cites "destination dupes" – holiday locations that are
similar to popular hotspots – as a trend to watch, where travellers may swap the likes of
Cornwall for Norfolk, for example.
Other key destinations for the year are a little more off the traditional tourist map.
Trailfinders names Uzbekistan as one of their top places to visit; while luxury tour operator
Scott Dunn is tipping East Africa's islands, thanks to new hotel openings in Zanzibar and
Madagascar and a new luxury yacht experience in the remote Aldabra islands.
At Airbnb, the top 20 hot destinations for 2025 include Milton Keynes and East Sussex.
Their list was drawn from data including trending searches and wish-listed cities on the site. It
also includes Rome, Tokyo and Milan, all cities that suffered from overtourism in 2024,
showing that the issue is far from over.

6. Coolcations and off-season safaris

For those used to holidaying in southern Europe, the question has moved from "where's
hot?" to "where's not". As temperatures in traditional summer holiday hotspots around the
Mediterranean continue to break records, climate change is having an increasing influence on
where we travel. Scott Dunn saw a 26% increase in bookings to Finland and Norway in 2024
and expects to see more tourists heading to northern Europe where summer temperatures are in
the mid 20s.
Seasonal change is not just affecting beach goers; it's also having an impact on those
travelling to see wildlife. Peak safari travel month has shifted from December to March at Scott
Dunn, thanks to shifting climate patterns and affordability. Climate change is a reality, and the
industry and travellers are catching up to it.

7. Nostalgia travel

Will '90s music icons Oasis and Eminem follow Taylor Swift's lead and disrupt the travel
industry in 2025? The pop star is credited with boosting travel and tourism around the world

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during her Eras tour, which concluded in December 2024. While music tourism is a rising trend,
Eminem and Oasis' revival tours also speak to something else: the rise of nostalgia tourism.
Globetrender calls the trend "New Heydays" and notes that as millennials enter middle age,
the holidays they loved as children will get a reboot. It expects to see adult summer camps in
the US, a rise in interest in Eurocamp (camping holidays in continental Europe) and all manner
of retro pop ups, like the Polly Pocket Airbnb of 2024, grow in number. It's perhaps an indicator
that we want a little respite from uncertainty and are seeking a retreat to the more comfortable
world of our childhoods.

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