Premium summer big reads: The scandal that rocked Oxford University

Christ Church College in Oxford has been shaken by a management dispute. Photo / 123RF

The New Zealand Herald is bringing back some of the best stories of 2019 from our premium international syndicators, including The New York Times, Financial Times, The Times of London and Harvard Business Review.

This afternoon we look at the scandal that rocked the elite Oxford University, social media's role in global protests, why women have more trouble sleeping than men, the bizarre Biosphere experiment and trekking through Mordor.

Scheming spires: The incredible scandal at Oxford University

In December 2017 the dean of the Oxford college of Christ Church emailed one of the people who set his salary. He was already among the best paid clerics in the Church of England but he felt overworked.

From such exchanges has arisen one of the most embarrassing and expensive debacles in the university's recent history.

Henry Mance and Madison Marriage of The Financial Times look at the acrimonious management dispute that has shaken the institution's grandest college.

A view of the public entrance of the 'Meadow Buildings', one part of Christ Church College at the University of Oxford. Photo / Getty Images

Leaderless rebellion: How social media enables global protests

The mass protests that have broken out during the past year share important characteristics. They are usually leaderless rebellions, whose organisation and principles are not set out in a little red book or thrashed out in party meetings, but instead emerge on social media.

The Financial Times explores how from Hong Kong to Chile activists have used technology to stay ahead of the authorities.

A protester with his face covered up attends a rally in Hong Kong. Photo / AP

The gender sleep gap: Why women can't sleep

How did you sleep last night? For one in every two women sitting around the breakfast table the answer will be: badly.

Many experts agree that women are sleeping consistently worse than men, yet few people are talking about it.

Louisa McGillicuddy of The Times reports on the silent epidemic of sleep deficits in women, and why they pay a greater emotional sleep tax than men.

A survey showed more than half of women rate their sleep quality as bad or very bad. Photo / Getty Images

The lost history of one of the world's strangest science experiments

Biosphere 2 was a 3-acre complex containing a miniature rainforest, a mangrove, a desert and a coral reef — along with seven people who had been sealed inside for a month.

On April 4, 1994, Abigail Alling and Mark Van Thillo broke opens the doors and effectively ended one of the strangest experiments in the history of science.

Carl Zimmer of The New York Times looks at the strange world inside the Biosphere 2.

Biosphere 2 sits in the desert near Oracle, Arizona in this 1991 photo. Photo / AP

Iceland: Bonding on the perilous trail through Mordor

Sebastian, my oldest child, has grown up reading fantasy novels and watching Lord of the Rings, so this is how I sold it: We were going to Mordor.

It was, of course, something of a conceit. I like hiking and acidic mud pits as much as the next man, but what I really wanted was time with my son.

As his son gets older and more independent, Jake Halpern seizes on the chance to keep their relationship relevant.

On the Laugavegur Trail in southern Iceland, the author and his 11-year-old son hiked through rugged mountain passes, lunar landscapes and freezing rivers. Photo / Bara Kristinsdottir, New York Times