• Culture

    The many lives of Yukio Mishima


    Alexander Howard |  January 14, 2025


    Yukio Mishima is remembered as much for the absurd theatricality of his death as his outstanding literary achievements, but, on the centenary of his birth, he remains one of the most compelling and controversial figures of post-war Japan.


  • Health

    The drinks don’t work


    Open Forum |  January 14, 2025


    Retirees show more signs of depression than older people still in work, according to a major US study, but while binge drinkers are more likely to be depressed, those who drink in moderation have fewer depression symptoms than people who don’t drink at all.


  • International

    War – What is it good for?


    Robert Wihtol |  January 13, 2025


    Veteran American journalist Bob Woodward’s latest book “War” examines the current spate of conflicts around the world and highlights the worrying implications of Donald Trump’s simple minded narcissism in dealing with them.


Latest Story

  • Anatomy of a fall

    Open Forum     |      January 13, 2025

    Fall-related injuries in Australia’s residential aged care could be costing the health system $325 million annually according to a new study by the University of Queensland study.

  • Flow state

    Maria Skyllas-Kazacos     |      January 13, 2025

    Flow batteries are a cross between a conventional battery and a fuel cell and can store energy generated by wind or solar power back to the grid for up to 12 hours – two or three times longer than their lithium-ion peers.

  • Gradually, then suddenly

    Michael Pezzullo     |      January 11, 2025

    Ernest Hemingway observed in The Sun Also Rises that bankruptcy occurs gradually and then suddenly, and this should also be treated as a rule of geopolitical affairs.

  • Pacific security in 2025

    Blake Johnson     |      January 11, 2025

    2025 will be a big year for Pacific security as Pacific island nations grapple with upcoming elections, disaster recovery, watching the situation in New Caledonia and navigating geopolitical tensions.

  • Albanese hits the campaign trail

    Gregory Melleuish     |      January 10, 2025

    Anthony Albanese has hit the campaign trail ahead of the forthcoming Federal election, although the election date has not been announced and no sitting Prime Minister has won re-election since John Howard.

  • China’s ‘airborne cruiser’

    Bill Sweetman     |      January 10, 2025

    China’s new large strike aircraft may be the first of a new class of plane which extends its threat across Asia and the Pacific.

  • AI in the workplace

    Talitakuum Ekandjo     |      January 9, 2025

    AI “assistants” promise to increase worker productivity by handling repetitive tasks, but what do people think about them in practice?

  • Battling the blob

    Maria Pia Dunne     |      January 9, 2025

    The internet is overrun by bots designed to spam and imitate us and it’s time to fight back.

  • The golden age of the gaffe

    Frank Bongiorno     |      January 8, 2025

    Though trivial in themselves, a politician’s “gaffe” can hint at much greater political failings, but the media’s eagerness to pounce on missteps rather than analyse policy substance may be a bigger problem.

  • Tales of Taiwan

    John West     |      January 8, 2025

    Taiwan has evolved from its autocratic origins to rank as the most democratic nation in Asia, as well as the most economically dynamic, but these attributes have increased China’s determination to crush the former and absorb the latter, the same motivations as Russia’s disastrous invasion of Ukraine.

  • You make your own luck

    ANU Editorial Board     |      January 7, 2025

    If it is to avoid having its luck run out, Australia needs a reform agenda suited to the structure of the Australian economy and its new position in the world.

  • Water world

    Open Forum     |      January 7, 2025

    2024 was another year of record-breaking temperatures, driving the global water cycle to new climate extremes and contributing to ferocious floods and crippling droughts, according to a new report led by The Australian National University.