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Politics with Michelle Grattan: Zoe McKenzie on everything that went wrong and whether a gender quota could help the Liberals

The Liberal party is still reeling from their 2025 election defeat, it now turns to the future of the party. We’re joined by Liberal Zoe McKenzie...

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The Conversation

Michelle Grattan

How a dogged researcher tracked down the original Sentimental Bloke – and found a different man to C.J. Dennis’s loveable larrikin

After more than 100 years, the mystery of the man who inspired this famous comic verse novel has been solved.

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The Conversation

Philip Butterss

PCOS affects 1 in 8 women worldwide, yet it’s often misunderstood. A name change might help

Polycystic ovary syndrome affects many parts of the body, not just the ovaries.

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The Conversation

Helena Teede

Antarctica’s sea ice is changing, and so is a vital part of the marine food web that lives within it

When sea ice forms later, the communities of tiny algae that live within it change too. Detecting these early signals now could help us adapt to a...

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The Conversation

Jacqui Stuart

Behind the wellness industry’s scented oils and soothing music are often underpaid, exploited workers

A new report recommends changes to the popular and growing wellness industry to protect workers from mistreatment and exploitation.

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Rawan Nimri

The body as landscape: how post-war Japanese dance and theatre shaped performance in Australia

From the surreal imagery of butoh to Suzuki’s dreamlike approach to theatre, post-war Japan’s performance styles have inspired numerous Australian...

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The Conversation

Jonathan W. Marshall

X-rays have revealed a mysterious cosmic object never before seen in our galaxy

The object doesn’t resemble any known type of star or system in the Milky Way.

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The Conversation

Ziteng Wang

Can your cat recognise you by scent? New study shows it’s likely

If your cat spends a very long time sniffing something, it means the thing is unfamiliar.

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The Conversation

Julia Henning

Parents of autistic children are stressed. Here’s what they want you to know

Parents of autistic children have much higher levels of stress than parents of children with other disabilities. And it’s not just about the autism...

latest 6

The Conversation

Trevor Mazzucchelli

Knife crime is common but difficult to investigate. Robots can help

Using robots to simulate stabbings can enhance forensic accuracy – and the pursuit of justice.

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The Conversation

Paola A. Magni

From working class pubs to sold-out stadiums: how darts has become a major international sport

You may have seen darts’ crazy, costume-wearing fans in a packed stadium and wondered ‘how did the sport get so big?’

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The Conversation

Joshua Mcleod

After a chaotic 6 months, South Koreans will elect a new president – and hope for bold leadership

South Korea has been in turmoil since former President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law and was impeached. Can the next leader bring the country...

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The Conversation

Alexander M. Hynd

Sexual health info online is crucial for teens. Australia’s new tech codes may threaten their access

Draft rules to restrict ‘age-inappropriate content’ may also affect essential information about sex and sexual health.

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The Conversation

Giselle Woodley

Sudden arrivals: NZ ambulance crews describe what it’s like when babies are born out of the blue

Ambulance staff face a unique and demanding situation when attending unplanned out-of-hospital births. New research shows just how crucial training...

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The Conversation

Vinuli Withanarachchie

30 years ago Australia confronted its Stolen Generation past – then the Howard government blew it

The landmark Bringing them Home inquiry was a chance to come to terms with the past. But the key recommendations of apology and compensation were...

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The Conversation

Anne Maree Payne

This rare alpine frog is fighting against a lethal fungus – by breeding faster and faster

For a small frog, the alpine tree frog (Litoria verreauxii alpina) packs a lot of surprises. For one, this tree frog lives in snowy gullies and...

yesterday 10

The Conversation

Laura Brannelly

AI models might be drawn to ‘spiritual bliss’. Then again, they might just talk like hippies

When multibillion-dollar AI developer Anthropic released the latest versions of its Claude chatbot last week, a surprising word turned up several...

yesterday 10

The Conversation

Nuhu Osman Attah

Girls with painful periods are twice as likely as their peers to have symptoms of anxiety or depression

Around half of teenage girls experience moderate to severe period pain. The mechanical force of the uterus contracting and inflammatory chemicals...

yesterday 10

The Conversation

Subhadra Evans

Australia could tax Google, Facebook and other tech giants with a digital services tax – but don’t hold your breath

Tech giants like Google, Facebook and Netflix make billions of dollars from Australian users every year. But most of those profits are not taxed...

yesterday 10

The Conversation

Fei Gao

James Bradley’s thrilling, unsettling crime novel is set in a flooded Sydney in 2050

James Bradley is a brilliant writer of fiction, nonfiction and poetry. His recent book Deep Water (2024) is an elegiac essay in response to the...

yesterday 10

The Conversation

Catherine Mckinnon

One couple, two apartments, different surnames for the children: how ‘two places to stay’ is shaping families in China

During fieldwork in cities in China I came across a new marital practice, locally described as liang-tou-dun, literally “two places to stay”. A...

yesterday 10

The Conversation

Xiaoying Qi

Being monitored at work? A new report calls for tougher workplace surveillance controls

Australian employers are monitoring employees, frequently without workers’ knowledge or consent, according to a new report. And when workers do...

yesterday 10

The Conversation

Joo-Cheong Tham

‘No support, no housing, no job’ – the vicious cycle pushing more women into prison

For too many women, prison is “as good as it gets”. New research based on interviews with 80 female prisoners in Western Australia reveals most of...

yesterday 30

The Conversation

Hilde Tubex

From surprise platypus to wandering cane toads, here’s what we found hiding in NSW estuaries

Rivers up and down the north coast of New South Wales have been hammered again, just three years after devastating floods hit the Northern Rivers...

yesterday 20

The Conversation

Maarten De Brauwer

View from the Hill: Liberals and Nationals patch things up and announce a shadow ministry

Two Victorian Liberal women, Jane Hume and Sarah Henderson, have been dumped and a key numbers man has been promoted from the backbench to the...

yesterday 3

The Conversation

Michelle Grattan

There’s a new COVID variant driving up infections. A virologist explains what to know about NB.1.8.1

As we enter the colder months in Australia, COVID is making headlines again, this time due to the emergence of a new variant: NB.1.8.1. Last week,...

yesterday 10

The Conversation

Lara Herrero

Australia must not become complacent to China’s aggression in the South China Sea

Last week, Chinese coast guard vessels rammed and shot water cannon at Philippine ships in the South China Sea. The incident was well within the...

yesterday 4

The Conversation

Jennifer Parker

Green light for gas: North West Shelf gas plant cleared to run until 2070

In a decision surprising very few people, Australia’s new environment minister Murray Watt has signed off on an extension for the gas plant at...

yesterday 5

The Conversation

Samantha Hepburn

‘Not a saint’: Florence Nightingale, heroic founder of modern nursing, is humanised in a new novel

Florence Nightingale is often described as the founder of modern nursing. She was immortalised in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s 1857 poem, Santa...

yesterday 10

The Conversation

Caitlin Macdonald

Australia has elected its youngest senator. With Gen Z wielding more political power, is it a sign of things to come?

It’s been 30 years since Natasha Stott Despoja became the youngest woman ever elected to the Australian Parliament. A 25-year-old Sarah...

yesterday 20

The Conversation

Philippa Collin

Raining one week, dusty the next – how did a dust storm make it all the way to rainy Sydney?

Much to the surprise of Sydney-siders, a dusty haze settled over the city on Tuesday morning after a week of heavy rain. Satellite images reveal...

yesterday 10

The Conversation

Tegan Clark

‘Chaotic, sometimes dangerous places’ – why successful rehab for prisoners on remand will be hard to achieve

Last week’s budget allocated NZ$472 million in new funding to deal with a growing prison population caused by greater use of prison remand and...

yesterday 3

The Conversation

Devon Polaschek

Nobel laureate Brian Schmidt is ‘scared’ about Australia’s research capacity – this is why

On Wednesday, Nobel laureate Brian Schmidt and economics professor Richard Holden gave a joint address to the National Press Club in Canberra....

yesterday 3

The Conversation

Brendan Walker-Munro

Is Vladimir Putin’s indiscriminate bombing of Ukrainian civilians ‘crazy’? It’s more a sign of impatience

United States President Donald Trump was “not happy” with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, this week. For three consecutive nights, from...

yesterday 4

The Conversation

Mark Edele

Discovering new NZ music in the streaming age is getting harder – what’s the future for local artists?

New Zealand Music Month turned 25 this year, and there’s been plenty to celebrate – whether it be Mokotron’s Taite Prize-winning Waerea, Lorde’s...

yesterday 2

The Conversation

Oli Wilson

Is it OK to leave device chargers plugged in all the time? An expert explains

How many chargers do you own? We’re surrounded by rechargeable electronic devices – mobile phones, laptops, smart watches, headphones, e-bikes and...

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The Conversation

Glen Farivar

From strip searches to sexual harassment, Australian policing has long been plagued by sexism

This month, a woman bravely testified in court she was subjected to a “degrading and humiliating experience akin to sexual assault” at the hands of...

previous day 10

The Conversation

Michael Cain

How can I improve my running? 5 top tips for every runner, from a biomechanics expert

Humans and our ancestors have been running for millions of years. Back then, it helped us capture – or avoid becoming – prey. Now, we do it to keep...

previous day 10

The Conversation

Anthony Blazevich

Faces you hear? Dolphin ‘signature whistles’ may transmit more than just identity information

Like us humans, many animals rely on social interactions to survive and thrive. As a result, effective communication between individuals is...

previous day 8

The Conversation

Ekaterina Ovsyanikova

Financial literacy is about more than personal responsibility – wealth and inequality should be part of the new curriculum

Financial literacy will become a core element of the New Zealand social sciences curriculum for Year 1-10 students from 2027. But what is being...

previous day 10

The Conversation

Jennifer Tatebe

Hate over love: conservative influencers have brought angrier anti-abortion politics to Australia

After two decades of abortion decriminalisation across Australian states and territories, there has been a sudden surge of anti-abortion activity...

previous day 10

The Conversation

Prudence Flowers

Earth is heading for 2.7°C warming this century. We may avoid the worst climate scenarios – but the outlook is still dire

Is climate action a lost cause? The United States is withdrawing from the Paris Agreement for the second time, while heat records over land and sea...

previous day 10

The Conversation

Sven Teske

Most car-ramming incidents aren’t terrorism – but they’re becoming more common and crowds need better protection

Hundreds of thousands of Liverpool Football Club fans packed the centre of Liverpool on Monday to celebrate the club’s English Premier League...

previous day 3

The Conversation

Milad Haghani

Labor gains a Senate seat from the Liberals in South Australia, while Jacqui Lambie is re-elected

Buttons have been pressed to electronically distribute preferences for the Senate in South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory. Labor...

previous day 3

The Conversation

Adrian Beaumont

The fast-tracking of Brisbane’s Olympic infrastructure plans could backfire

Brisbane was awarded the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games nearly four years ago under a reformed host selection process. The process aims to...

previous day 6

The Conversation

Millicent Kennelly

Is the cure to loneliness live music? Here’s what a review of 59 studies tells us

Among the rising tide of loneliness and disconnection, live music is proving to be more than just a good time; it’s a powerful antidote. Whether...

previous day 2

The Conversation

Nikki Rickard

Korean pear juice, IV drips, vitamin patches: do these trendy hangover cures actually work?

We’ve all been there. The pounding headache, relentless nausea, and the kind of tired no amount of coffee can fix. Hangovers are a reminder that...

previous day 3

The Conversation

Blair Aitken

6 ways live music could help combat the loneliness epidemic

Among the rising tide of loneliness and disconnection, live music is proving to be more than just a good time; it’s a powerful antidote. Whether...

previous day 10

The Conversation

Nikki Rickard

A 1980s cost-of -living crisis gave Australia a thriving arts program – could we do it again?

The cost-of-living crisis is hitting the arts hard. Artists struggle to survive on poverty wages and audiences are getting priced out. This...

previous day 10

The Conversation

Izabella Nantsou

Rather than blaming carbon, Paul Hawken argues we should recognise its role in animating life. This way, we can heal the planet

Paul Hawken’s Carbon is about a decade in the making. Perhaps the book’s long gestation is why it feels so familiar, Other recent carbon-centred...

previous day 10

The Conversation

Ruth Morgan