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The Conversation

Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton shake hands in a TV studio

Second leaders’ debate is a tame affair befitting a ‘deeply uninspiring’ campaign

Election Diary: there were a couple of ‘moments’ in second Albanese-Dutton encounter

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

Election Diary: there were a couple of ‘moments’ in second Albanese-Dutton encounter
We compared the Labor and Coalition’s income tax proposals to see who benefits most
Wallet with cash
Half way through the campaign, how are the major party leaders faring?
Half way through the campaign, how are the major party leaders faring?
Labor and the Greens likely to gain Senate seats at the election

Adrian Beaumont, The University of Melbourne

Labor and the Greens likely to gain Senate seats at the election
Poll shows Australians hate Trump policies and have lost trust in US, but still strongly believe in alliance

Poll shows Australians hate Trump policies and have lost trust in US, but still strongly believe in alliance

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

Back view of man lying down read to enter hyperbaric chamber.

From wound healing to ‘the bends’, hyperbaric oxygen therapy is an important treatment – if done safely

A century after its discovery, scientists capture first confirmed footage of a colossal squid in the deep
Gif of squid swimming
This election, disinformation is swirling on Chinese social media. Here’s how it spreads
A smartphone with three Chinese social media apps glitching
Homelessness – the other housing crisis politicians aren’t talking about
A homeless person in an orange sleeping bag on a footpath
Russia has long had interest in Indonesia. Australia must realise its partners may have friends we don’t like

Matthew Sussex, Australian National University

Russia has long had interest in Indonesia. Australia must realise its partners may have friends we don’t like

Federal election 2025

Why the Coalition’s tone-deaf diss track was bound to hit all the wrong notes

Why the Coalition’s tone-deaf diss track was bound to hit all the wrong notes

Safe seat syndrome? Why some hospitals get upgrades and others miss out
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese puts newborn baby Amber down into a crib while visiting mother Harsimranjeet Sidhu at the maternity ward during a visit to Midland Hospital on Day 3 of the 2025 federal election campaign, in Perth
Social media is the new election battleground. Is embracing influencers smart, risky or both?
Social media is the new election battleground. Is embracing influencers smart, risky or both?
Amid the election promises, what would actually help ‘fix’ the housing crisis? Here are 5 ideas
A residential house on a street glitching out
Why is it so hard for everyone to have a house in Australia?
Aerial view of rows of houses in a suburban street
Full election coverage

Australia's policy challenges

More bulk billing is fine. But what the health system really needs this election is genuine reform

More bulk billing is fine. But what the health system really needs this election is genuine reform

Stephen Duckett, The University of Melbourne

Cutting migrant numbers won’t help housing – the real immigration problems not being tackled this election

Peter McDonald, The University of Melbourne

Cutting migrant numbers won’t help housing – the real immigration problems not being tackled this election
Post-election tax reform is the key to reversing Australia’s growing wealth divide
Post-election tax reform is the key to reversing Australia’s growing wealth divide
A fair go for young Australians in this election? Voters are weighing up intergenerational inequity
A fair go for young Australians in this election? Voters are weighing up intergenerational inequity
Australia urgently needs to get serious about long-term climate policy – but there’s no sign of that in the election campaign
Australia urgently needs to get serious about long-term climate policy – but there’s no sign of that in the election campaign
Read the whole series

More top stories

Politics with Michelle Grattan: Warwick McKibbin on trying to model economic certainty in uncertain times

Politics with Michelle Grattan: Warwick McKibbin on trying to model economic certainty in uncertain times

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

‘De-extinction’ of dire wolves promotes false hope: technology can’t undo extinction
A white wolf puppy on a dark blanket.
Students are neither left nor right brained: how some early childhood educators get this ‘neuromyth’ and others wrong
A young child plays with wooden figures.
If we must bring back extinct species, let’s focus on the giant herbivores
Woolly rhino looks at wombat
Pagan loaves, Christian bread, a secular treat: a brief history of hot cross buns
Hot cross buns
3 in 4 meth users relapse – outcomes could improve if treatments considered the drug’s effect on impulsive behaviour
A person wearing a hoodie smoking drugs out of a glass pipe in an underground tunnel
Election Diary: for a few hours, it seemed possible the Russians might be coming

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

Election Diary: for a few hours, it seemed possible the Russians might be coming
Trump’s trade war puts America’s AI ambitions at risk
A glitched image of the United States flag superimposed over the country.
Yoko Ono, ‘the first female punk rocker’, is an artist of benevolent magic

Christine Feldman-Barrett, Griffith University

Yoko and John, Yoko singing into a microphone passionately, John and Yoko in bed
Two koalas sleeping in a gum tree, with young trees in the background

Allowing forests to regrow and regenerate is a great way to restore habitat

Child holds a wooden gun

I was a child soldier – here’s what it’ll take to protect young lives in conflict zones

Renting a home in Australia means handing over too much sensitive info. It’s a national security risk
A yellow and black sign on a street that says open home with an arrow pointing to the right.
US-China trade war leaves NZ worse off, but still well placed to weather the storm – new modelling
US and Chinese banknotes
Would looser lending rules help more people buy a house – or just put them at risk?
A for sale sign in front of a house
What’s the difference between Easter egg chocolate and regular chocolate?
Foil covered Easter eggs
A painting depicts an ancient battle scene.

The Thucydides Trap: Vital lessons from ancient Greece for China and the US … or a load of old claptrap?

A construction of lab equipment and plants

A weird phrase is plaguing scientific papers – and we traced it back to a glitch in AI training data

Why does Putin insist Ukranians and Russians are ‘one people’? The answer spans centuries of colonisation and resistance
Why does Putin insist Ukranians and Russians are ‘one people’? The answer spans centuries of colonisation and resistance
Trainwrecks and triumphs: the 10 best books about the political campaign trail, chosen by experts
A collage of book covers
Focusing on a child’s strengths can transform assessments – and help them thrive after an ADHD or autism diagnosis
A child hugs their mother
Trump’s tariffs rollercoaster is really about Republican unity
Trump’s tariffs rollercoaster is really about Republican unity
Cambodia’s haunted present: 50 years after Khmer Rouge’s rise, murderous legacy looms large
A young man looks over a pile of weapons.
Why the Mormon church is on an expansion project, with 2 secretive new temples planned for Australia
Why the Mormon church is on an expansion project, with 2 secretive new temples planned for Australia
‘Cross-border commuters’: the women who risk the dangerous crossing between Venezuela and Colombia each day
Traffic on the border between Colombia and Venezuela.
The Family Court could better protect Indigenous women and children, but there are barriers in the way
The metal exterior of a building with an Australian coat of arms
More top stories

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New research

New study finds no evidence technology causes ‘digital dementia’ in older people
Elderly woman wearing a floral blazer on a video call on her phone.
Drug pollution in water is making salmon take more risks – new research
A small fish.
Do Inuit languages really have many words for snow? The most interesting finds from our study of 616 languages
Do Inuit languages really have many words for snow? The most interesting finds from our study of 616 languages
Could changing your diet improve endometriosis pain? A recent study suggests it’s possible
A woman holds a bowl of healthy food.
More new research

World

A desire for chaos is driving some Americans’ support for Elon Musk
An American flag, half of which is in flames.
Ecuador: can freshly re-elected Daniel Noboa govern a country in crisis?
Daniel Noboa speaks after election results show him being re-elected as president of Ecuador.
In trade war with the US, China holds a lot more cards than Trump may think − in fact, it might have a winning hand
Two men in suits stand and point.
Owners are officially no longer responsible for tourism accidents on their land in NZ – but they never really were
tourists walking on White Island in 2010.
More world

Sport

Traded like assets, expected to be loyal: the unique double standard of being an Australian footy player
West Coast's Oscar Allen leads his team out for an AFL game in 2024.
Get big or die trying: social media is driving men’s use of steroids. Here’s how to mitigate the risks
A muscular man looks at himself in the mirror.
Step length, a devastating finish and ‘springs in his spikes’: the science behind Gout Gout’s speed
Gout Gout powers through the finish line during a 200m event
Not just the stadium: what Brisbane Olympic organisers are planning for
The planned athletes village within the RNA Showgrounds as part of new infrastructure for the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.
More sport

Australia's quarter-century of change

In 2000, Australia was defined by the Olympics, border politics and reconciliation. So what really has changed?
In 2000, Australia was defined by the Olympics, border politics and reconciliation. So what really has changed?
25 years into a new century and housing is less affordable than ever
A composite image of housing with a computer error message
Australia may no longer be ‘deputy sheriff’, but its reliance on the US has only grown deeper since 2000
A composite image of two 2000s computer windows with men in suits in them
Despite some key milestones since 2000, Australia still has a long way to go on gender equality
A composite image of a computer search window with Julia Gillard on YouTube
Read the whole series

Scam factories series

‘We could hear the screams until midnight’: life inside Southeast Asia’s brutal fraud compounds
A man looking out a window
From empty fields to locked cities: the rise of a billion-dollar criminal industry
Satellite photos of scam compound being built over 4 years.
Are they victims, perpetrators, or both? For scammers, freedom comes at a cost
Balconies of scam compound in Southeast Asia.
Scam Factories: three-episode podcast series
Listen
A row of apartment blocks with a red coloured sky in the background and the text 'Scam Factories' in front

Climate

Reality check: coral restoration won’t save the world’s reefs
A diver holding recording device checks a coral (_Acropora tenuis_ and _Acropora muricata_) 'rope' nursery in a 15m lagoon in the Maldives
Torrential rains created devastating inland seas in outback Queensland. Soon, they will fill Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre
flooding outback queensland
The 2025 budget has few savings and surprises but it also ignores climate change
The 2025 budget has few savings and surprises but it also ignores climate change
Rain gave Australia’s environment a fourth year of reprieve in 2024 – but this masks deepening problems: report
waterway and red dirt australia from above.
More climate coverage

Podcasts

Politics with Michelle Grattan: Hugh White on what the next PM should tell Trump and defending Australia – without the US
Listen
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Hugh White on what the next PM should tell Trump and defending Australia – without the US
How AI could influence the evolution of humanity – podcast
Listen
Illustration of evolution of humanity from primates to an unknown future with a blue light.
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Kos Samaras on polls and the people who’ll decide this election
Listen
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Kos Samaras on polls and the people who’ll decide this election
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Barbara Pocock on the Greens’ policy priorities
Listen
Politics with Michelle Grattan: Barbara Pocock on the Greens’ policy priorities
All episodes of Politics with Michelle Grattan
All episodes of The Conversation Weekly

Reviews

Big Girls Don’t Cry is a powerful, heart-wrenching, and comical celebration of Indigenous resilience and survival
Review
Production image: three young women sit on a bed.
‘Morocco made us innocent’: the many selves of Robert Dessaix
Review
‘Morocco made us innocent’: the many selves of Robert Dessaix
No one knows why the nine-year-olds are dying. Chris Flynn’s novel invites us to question existence itself
No one knows why the nine-year-olds are dying. Chris Flynn’s novel invites us to question existence itself
New NZ TV series Happiness gives us an engaging musical peek behind the amateur theatre curtain
Three people on stage in a Trojan Horse musical.

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Most read this week

1.
In trade war with the US, China holds a lot more cards than Trump may think − in fact, it might have a winning hand

Linggong Kong, Auburn University

In trade war with the US, China holds a lot more cards than Trump may think − in fact, it might have a winning hand
2.
Our ancestors didn’t eat 3 meals a day. So why do we?

Rob Richardson, Auckland University of Technology and Dianne Ma, Auckland University of Technology

Our ancestors didn’t eat 3 meals a day. So why do we?
3.
This chart explains why Trump backflipped on tariffs. The economic damage would have been huge

James Giesecke, Victoria University and Robert Waschik, Victoria University

This chart explains why Trump backflipped on tariffs. The economic damage would have been huge
4.
The ‘monogamy superiority myth’: new research suggests unconventional relationships are just as satisfying

Joel Anderson, La Trobe University

The ‘monogamy superiority myth’: new research suggests unconventional relationships are just as satisfying
5.
Here’s a simple, science-backed way to sharpen your thinking and improve your memory

Ben Singh, University of South Australia and Ashleigh E. Smith, University of South Australia

Here’s a simple, science-backed way to sharpen your thinking and improve your memory
6.
A century after its discovery, scientists capture first confirmed footage of a colossal squid in the deep

Kat Bolstad, Auckland University of Technology

A century after its discovery, scientists capture first confirmed footage of a colossal squid in the deep

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Events

Migration Capstone Assessment Preparation Program (MCAPP) - short course with UTS Open

University of Technology Sydney

Migration Capstone Assessment Preparation Program (MCAPP) - short course with UTS Open
Future of Disinformation

Melbourne Connect

Future of Disinformation
Beyond tweaks: confronting the economic elephants in the room.

Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation

Beyond tweaks: confronting the economic elephants in the room.
More events