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opinion

Springtime for humans! How to gleefully anticipate the coming AI Winter

Historians of technology like to use seasons to guide their understanding of the ebbs and flows of AI. Even if the seasonal metaphor stops short of telling us when Springtime for Humans will arrive, it does offer some guidance.
Sun poking through snow on tree branches

by: Nicholas Agar

opinion

Dolly Parton didn’t ask people to pick a side — that may be her greatest legacy

People don’t need to agree on everything in order to feel connected. Dolly Parton understood that better than most. She spent a lifetime being completely herself, and that gave millions of others permission to do the same.
Dolly Parton performs onstage during MusiCares Person of the Year in 2019

by: Ant Jackson

opinion

Why does Australian law allow adults to hit children?

Laws alone cannot eliminate violence against children, but they do establish the standards we expect as a society. It is time our laws caught up with the principle that every child has the right to grow up free from violence.
A frightened boy sitting in the dark

by: Matt Tyler and Kate Fitz-Gibbon

opinion

What can Australia learn from Indonesia about diversity?

As Australia continues to debate levels of migration, the meaning of multiculturalism, and the nature of belonging, Indonesia offers not so much a model to copy, but a different way of negotiating religious diversity.
A view of Istiqlal mosque with National Monument in the Jakarta

by: Eva Nisa

opinion

Understanding the power of pseudolaw

Pseudolegal claims should not be treated as plausible, but their significance cannot be measured by their (lack of) legal success. Pseudolaw is not just a series of bad legal arguments. It is a response to alienation and distrust.
The Australian maritime flag, sometimes used by sovereign citizen protesters

by: Harry Hobbs and Stephen Young

opinion

Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro and the ethics of opera

Every time Mozart’s opera “The Marriage of Figaro” is performed, we are returned to an ethical world lost from the eve of the French Revolution — but a little historical awareness can bring that world back to life, along with its ethical armature.
Glyndebourne’s production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s ‘Le nozze di Figaro’

by: David Armitage

opinion

What debates over voluntary assisted dying tend to leave out

Years have been spent arguing over whether VAD should be permitted, but more is demanded of practitioners than taking a side over patient choice; rather, are we willing to stand with people even when we cannot endorse their choices?
A nurse touches the hand of a patient in palliative care

by: Christopher Dudfield

opinion

Listening to the abuse women religious have suffered

Religious sisters have made extraordinary contributions to Australian society, yet many have carried their experiences of harm in silence. Their stories deserve to be heard, acknowledged and taken seriously.
A religious sister holds rosary beads

by: Tracy McEwan and Kathleen McPhillips

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Compass

Holy Trouble

As the New York Sisters of Charity prepare to close their order, they have one final mission: to campaign against President Trump's immigration policies and ICE.
Woman with short grey hair in a crowd of protestors screams and opens jacket to show T shirt saying Holy Trouble Maker

Published:

Sandwiched with Sarah Macdonald

Broadcaster Sarah Macdonald is caught in the sandwich generation, juggling work, ageing parents and kids. She meets the growing army of (mostly) women, copping the consequences of a housing and aged care crisis. 
Elderly woman, middle aged woman and man in his 20's on a balcony with water behind them

Published:

The Way We Care

Emily and Lachlan grew up in Australia's state care system. Now they join a growing community of carers and advocates who are reimagining how we care for children.
Head and shoulders shot of young man and woman looking into camera with paper flying around them in front of a bookshelf

Published:

Faith, Power and Modi

Is Hinduism at a crossroads between spirituality and nationalism? Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Australia exposed divisions within the diaspora.

Published:

Listen

The Young Moses

Handel's 'Israel in Egypt' paves the way from Joseph to Moses and the legendary Exodus.
The fresco depicts the life of a young Moses, from regal child, then killing a man, to meeting God is a burning bush.
Duration: 1 hour 59 minutes 59 seconds

Published: Program: For The God Who Sings

The Zen masters of haiku

Haiku poetry is both simple and evocative, largely due to Zen Buddhism.
18-19th century black and white painting of Matsuo Bashō sitting under a tree looking relaxed
Duration: 54 minutes 35 seconds

Published: Program: Soul Search

Getting angry at the system

If I pick up a tree branch and smash your window with it, you're going to be angry, and your anger will rightly be directed at me.
A lively protest advocating for climate justice in a bustling city street
Duration: 36 minutes 33 seconds

Published: Program: Philosopher's Zone

Is Pope Leo really a democratic socialist?

Have democratic socialists in the US bagged the biggest catch of all in Pope Leo?
Pope Leo in gold and white robes holding up a golden goblet, over a stone platform with other silver goblets.
Duration: 28 minutes 36 seconds

Published: Program: The Religion and Ethics Report

Will science ever explain the self?

Neuroscience is now spectacularly good at explaining how brains work.  But there’s one thing it still can’t explain: why having a brain feels like something. Like anything at all!   Philosophers call this the Hard Problem of consciousness.  
Duration: 54 minutes 38 seconds

Published: Program: God Forbid

Did Al Qaeda succeed post 9/11?

Twenty-five years ago – September 11, 2001 – an Islamist terror group emerged from its refuge in Afghanistan to strike down two symbols of America.
Osama bin Laden during the 1990's
Duration: 17 minutes 36 seconds

Published: Program: The Religion and Ethics Report

What response does Jason Arday’s life, and death, morally demand?

It is hard to imagine a series of events more tragic, more unseemly, more emblematic of the performativity and polarisation that dominate our time, than the premature rise, sudden fall and untimely death of Jason Arday.
Jason Arday memorial outside Cambridge University
Duration: 53 minutes 36 seconds

Published: Program: The Minefield

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