Organic, free-range, fairtrade or vegan: sifting fact from fiction

Making it easier for consumers to assess the ethical credentials of products – through in-store information, accredited labeling systems or apps – would help people make more informed choices about the food they buy.

Happy Christmas to all our readers

Open Forum would like to wish all our readers a happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Family films to watch this Christmas

The holidays are here, the family is around, so which feel-good movies can you watch together to reconnect with something meaningful? Here are ten family films which offer more than the usual Christmas fare.

The curse of identity politics and the case for shared values

Without a continuing trust in shared values we run the risk of being unable to convince people different from ourselves why they might wish to think or feel, let alone vote or act, like we do.

God vs mammon at Christmas

Shops put a lot of effort into Christmas decorations to associate themselves with the celebration and encourage shoppers to spend but is the overt commercialisation of Christmas drowning out its true spirit?

When did being a man become such a difficult task?

Traditional male roles in the workplace and family are increasingly threatened or questioned but men can take responsibility for understanding themselves and their new situation to help forge new definitions of masculinity for the 21st century.

Nostalgia and friends drive our festive food coma

Why do we stuff ourselves so full at Christmas? It’s not just the food we love, but the memories of happy times in the past and the company of family and friends in the present.

Love hurts – On a lifetime of sports fandom

Sport is an integral part of Australia’s DNA, but a love for Lleyton Hewitt, Australia’s last world number one male tennis player, was unusual for even the most die-hard Australian sporting fan.

Putting museum power on the map

A new analysis of the soft power of museums shows how their social influence is shaped by local social-demographic, cultural and economic factors.

Preserving the power of ancient Indigenous oral traditions

The Monash Country Lines Archive is an animation program that records stories in Indigenous languages which are often threatened with extinction.

How Australian cities are adapting to the “Chinese century”

China’s rise as a global power is driving new flows of people, ideas and capital between China and Australia and Australian cities need to adapt to this new geopolitical reality.

Grey nomads, seachangers and bogans – 30 years of the Australian National Dictionary

Do you know someone ‘doing a Johnny Farnham’? Have you played the ‘thongophone’? And how do you think Australia’s ‘koala diplomacy’ is working? These “Australianisms” are contenders for the next edition of the Australian National Dictionary (AND), prove Australian English is alive and well on its 30th anniversary.