A jump to the right

The rise of far-right politics in Australia and across the west is not a rejection of mainstream values but an embrace of an extreme version of them.

From Bin Laden to Bondi

The Islamist terror attacks against America 25 years ago and Bali the year after brought the nation together, but the Bondi massacre seems to have driven Australians further apart.

A browned off land

Australian has flat wages growth, stagnant productivity and dwindling purchasing power at the supermarket so is it any wonder that the only things consistently growing are anger, distrust, and a sense that the economy is either broken, or worse – being run for someone else?

No direction home

A generation locked out of property ownership could face greater financial pressure in retirement, reduced spending power and fewer opportunities to build wealth, says a UNSW economist.

Read for Ukraine

Russia is weaponising language and culture as part of its “Russian World” (Russkii Mir) agenda and its invasion of Ukraine aims to eradicate the concept of Ukrainian culture as well as national identity, so every book by Ukrainian authors bought in the west is an act of defiance against Putin.

Eyes turn to the Pacific

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in Palau’s capital Koror this week for the annual Pacific Islands Forum, and regional security is expected to top the agenda.

The hate machine

Teachers have called out the “manosphere” as a problem in their classrooms and a new study suggests that increasingly hostile attitudes toward women are driving extremism in young Australians

Don’t panic, they’re here to help

Swarms of cyborg cockroaches with cameras and miniature medical injectors could soon deliver supervised emergency care to people trapped in collapsed buildings, caves or other places too dangerous for rescuers to reach.

Chasing the tuna

A UNSW-led partnership is using ocean temperature sensors to help Pacific fishers navigate changing tuna behaviour, while providing vital data for fisheries management and climate forecasting.

Rolling the dice

The advertising fuelled explosion in online and in-person gambling is wreaking immense social harm, so will the Government’s new gambling bill tip the odds back in the community’s favour?

End of night?

The return of the Taliban has brought Afghanistan close to collapse once again but Pakistan’s assault has weakened the regime and internal armed resistance to the Islamist regime is growing.

Why distant wars hit home

Constant social media coverage of global wars has blurred the boundaries between journalism and activism, and encourage people far from the war zones to feel they are intimately affected and involved.