The price of life

What does a human life cost – and is it ethical to price it? Jenny Kleeman asked a hitman, philanthropists and a life insurer to find out.

The perils of regulating free speech

The Federal government has withdrawn its misinformation bill, not least because regulating speech in a democracy will always be an ethical minefield

Generation angst

Far from bringing people together, Jonathan Haidt’s new book “The Anxious Generation” argues that ubiquitous smartphones are divorcing young people from their friends and family, while attention grabbing apps are eroding their ability to think for themselves.

The identity trap

Yascha Mounk’s new book skewers the fashionable but flawed paradigm of post-Marxist identity politics which splits people into social groups to stoke conflict and revel in ‘oppression’.

Standing up for women’s rights and academic freedom

Holly Lawford-Smith’s brave and principled defence of women’s rights and female identity has raised the ire of activists in Melbourne but mob action, no matter how strident and vociferous, should not be allowed to shut down rational debate and destroy academic freedom.

The ethical new normal

Our lives have changed in unprecedented ways over the last two years of pandemic restrictions, challenging us to think differently about the power of government, science and what we owe each other.

Conspiracy theories and cancel culture

A poisonous pincer movement of bizarre conspiracy theories from the right and stultifying cancel culture from the left are threatening liberal democracy.

Is cancel culture stifling open debate?

150 high-profile authors, commentators and scholars have signed an open letter in Harper’s magazine claiming that “open debate and toleration of differences” are under attack.by a new ‘cancel culture’ dominated by dogma, coercion and ideological conformity.