First, this is most amusing, but the life calendar bit at the end makes a pretty powerful point. Maybe keeping the ultimate deadline in mind will help me get to the pool twice each week...

Francis Fukuyama comments on his seminal thesis fifteen years after its publication. This is an old article (published in 2007) but the observations and predictions are still interesting.

This infographic outlines the mental health impacts of poverty, and how these impacts make it difficult for someone in poverty to improve their life position.

Over the next few months, the Atlantic is putting together a series of superb photo collections that overview ten selected themes from the First World War. It's hard to decide which is the most fascinating. The images are from a range of archives, and some are being published for the first time. From giant horn-shaped listening devices to medic hounds and soldiers flying over trenches in kites(!), this is a fascinating collection!

And here they are! Courtesy of the Washington Post. If you like infographics, you'll love these. For my IB classes, there are maps relating to events you study in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Timothy Snyder outlines the findings put forward in his widely acclaimed book Bloodlands (2010). Snyder argues that Hitler's regime was responsible for more deaths than Stalin's, contrary to the thesis that had been widely held since WWII. Snyder's findings, based on research materials that only came to light after the end of the Cold War, have changed the way we view both regimes, and the history of the mid-twentieth century as a whole.

This wide-ranging overview of the historiography on the causes of the First World War will support your IB essay writing on the subject. Produced by the BBC, with links to their World War One centenial page. Enjoy!