• Health

    Preventing the next pandemic


    Open Forum |  March 28, 2024


    Could protecting one group of people from disease, and exposing another to it, be the best way to prevent as many deaths as possible and reduce the impact of a future pandemic?


  • Culture

    Among the narcissus


    Marguerite Johnson |  March 28, 2024


    The vain, self obsessed Narcissus is among the best-known figures from Greek mythology, and his story and fate have continued relevance today in an age of social media and self-obsession.


  • Human Interest

    Conspiracy thinking


    Darel Cookson |  March 28, 2024


    Conspiracy theories are often assumed to appeal to people of limited education, but Intelligence doesn’t make you immune, it’s all a question of your thinking style.


Latest Story

  • The pathologization of normality?

    Nick Haslam     |      July 22, 2020

    Concerns that normality is being medicalised by the inflation of psychiatric diagnosis criteria appear overblown – but some conditions do need scrutiny.

  • Australians at increasing risk of arbitrary arrest abroad

    Rachel Gray     |      July 22, 2020

    International travel remains off the agenda for most people, but two UNSW academics have expanded on the Australian government’s warning Australians could be ‘at risk of arbitrary arrest’ in China, Iran, Vietnam and other oppressive nations.

  • The lack of leadership on climate change

    Mark Beeson     |      July 22, 2020

    Climate change is the quintessential, implacable and, by this stage, possibly unstoppable threat we all face. The consequences of failing to recognise this unambiguous reality are spelled out in Anatol Lieven’s new book.

  • In defence of the humanities

    Sophie Mayo     |      July 21, 2020

    In part one of a three-part series, GAP research assistant and Arts Graduate Sophie Mayo weighs in on the HASS fee-increase debate, in defence of the humanities.

  • Protected cropping and resilience of the food supply chain

    Oula Ghannoum     |      July 21, 2020

    The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the vulnerability of our current food chains, and strengthened the argument for “protected cropping” systems in our farms and urban areas to ensure food production and supply.

  • Skills for the future

    Tim Harcourt     |      July 21, 2020

    The new JobTrainer program should give school leavers the experience, confidence and aptitude necessary for economic recovery post-coronavirus.

  • Look before you leap to a republic

    Max Thomas     |      July 20, 2020

    Revived calls for a Republic of Australia ignore the fact that it could prove less functional than our constitutional monarchy, making democratic change all the more difficult to achieve.

  • The rise and fall of TikTok

    Fergus Ryan     |      July 20, 2020

    With its back to the wall, the company behind the highly successful TikTok app is throwing everything it can at stave off further bans around the world, given fears over user privacy and its links to the Chinese Communist Party.

  • Do tougher sentences deter crime?

    Ben Knight     |      July 20, 2020

    It’s easy to think that the threat of punishment will simply dissuade someone from doing the wrong thing. But it turns out that deterring would-be criminals by instilling doubt or fear of the consequences is more tale than truth. 

  • Turn on, tune in, lockdown

    Julia Vassilieva     |      July 19, 2020

    Working alongside each other, broadcast media, social media, citizen science and individually-produced footage rapidly established a distinctive “visual economy” for screen representations of COVID-19.

  • A room made of leaves

    Kerrie Davies     |      July 19, 2020

    The newest novel from the author of The Secret River is an imagined diary, detailing the ‘true’ story of Elizabeth Macarthur.

  • Fighting climate change could tackle Australia’s job crisis

    Victoria Tichá     |      July 19, 2020

    Business leaders can mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change by generating thousands of jobs in renewable energy and building more sustainable communities.