Your personal data is the currency of the digital age

By Guillaume Desjardins

The commodification of the internet in the early 1990s brought western societies into the digital age and has changed the way consumers interact with commercial enterprises. The digital industry companies have one thing...

Netflix's 'Cuties' ignites the wrong debate on young girls' sexuality

By Rebecca Sullivan

The outrage over Cuties, the feature-length debut by Franco-Senegalese filmmaker Mamouna Doucouré, says a lot about how poorly we discuss youth sexuality. The film, originally called Mignonnes in French, is meant as...

How good governance can stop 'bro behaviour' at toxic companies

By Michael Parent Et Al

In 2019, the board of directors of McDonalds Corp. took the unusual but bold and moral decision to dismiss its CEO Steve Easterbrook after he revealed hed had a consensual relationship with a co-worker. McDonalds had a...

Unemployment support will be slashed by $300 this week in Australia. This won't help people find work

By Bruce Bradbury Et Al

This week, support to unemployed Australians will be dramatically reduced. In April, the new Coronavirus Supplement roughly doubled the level of benefits for unemployed people on the JobSeeker payment and a range of...

Celebrity, money and power: TVs obsession with the Murdoch family dynasty

By Nick Richardson

Of all the words written about Rupert Murdoch, boring is not one of them. The media mogul has been the object of fascination for six decades, after he followed his father Sir Keith in to the newspaper business. Family...

Athlete activism or corporate woke washing? Getting it right in the age of Black Lives Matter is a tough game

By Jessica Vredenburg Et Al

So-called brand activism is evolving fast. When Colin Kaepernick first knelt during the US national anthem in 2016, professional football turned its back on him. Now, consumer and sports fan expectations are forcing brands...

Depression and dementia in the age of COVID-19: Two sides, one coin

By Donald Weaver

Every seven seconds, someone in the world is diagnosed with dementia. A typical case that I often see in my practice is as follows: A 76-year-old woman has a two-year history of progressive worsening of short-term memory...

This is why the fight over the Supreme Court could make the US presidential election even nastier

By Jared Mondschein

As the two sides in US politics begin jockeying for position following the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the similarities to the 2016 presidential election are striking. That year, the fierce...

The Olympics strive for political neutrality. So, how will they deal with surging athlete activism?

By Michelle O'Shea Et Al

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has long tried to insulate itself from politics in society, but wider issues have always been a part of sport - including the Olympics. Sometimes political statements have been...

In war-torn Syria, the coronavirus pandemic has brought its people to the brink of starvation

By Mehmet Ozalp

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may have successfully warded off a nine-year rebellion against his government, but he is being tested with economic turmoil and civilian protests amid the coronavirus pandemic and looming...

Why we need a global citizens' assembly on gene editing

By Nicole Curato Et Al

Developments in gene editing are often met with moral panic. Every new announcement raises outrage over the audacity of scientists playing God. The existence of mutant mosquitoes and designer babies are often framed as...

50 years ago Milton Friedman told us greed was good. He was half right

By Richard Holden

The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed for lack of a better word is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its...

Recycling isn't enough — the world's plastic pollution crisis is only getting worse

By Stephanie B. Borrelle

Plastic production and consumption has snowballed since large-scale production began in the 1950s. In 2020, an estimated 24 million to 34 million tonnes of plastic waste will enter the worlds lakes, rivers and oceans. That...

Good nutrition can contribute to keeping COVID-19 and other diseases away

By Grayson Jaggers

The connection between the pandemic and our dietary habits is undeniable. The stress of isolation coupled with a struggling economy has caused many of us to seek comfort with our old friends: Big Mac, Tom Collins, Ben and...

Federal Reserve hopes years of zero rates will spur inflation – but there are risks

By Richard S. Warr

In a healthy economy, prices tend to go up a process called inflation. While you might not like that as a consumer, moderate price growth is a sign of a growing economy. And, historically at least, wages tend to go up...

NFL concussion lawsuit payouts reveal how racial bias in science continues

By Matt Ventresca Et Al

The first week of the 2020 National Football League (NFL) season occurred amid a growing social justice movement in professional sport. While other athletes protested police violence and honoured Black victims, the NFL...

How employers can help workers become more dedicated and engaged — new research

By Rweyemamu Ndibalema

Whatever your occupation, you may have noticed that some of your colleagues are energetic and passionate about their job, while others appear bored and disinterested. The difference between them is known as employee...

AI called GPT-3 can now write like a human without thinking like one

By Guillaume Thierry

Since it was unveiled earlier this year, the new AI-based language generating software GPT-3 has attracted much attention for its ability to produce passages of writing that are convincingly human-like. Some have even...

How the decline in Chinese tourists around the world has hit the luxury sector

By Xiaoqing Chen Et Al

Large groups of Chinese visitors have become a pillar of the global tourism industry. Coronavirus has not only put paid to this enormous source of income for major cities and sights around the world, it is having a massive...

Australian government extends COVID health initiatives at $2 billion cost

By Michelle Grattan

The government is extending the COVID health measures for a further six months, until the end of March, in its latest acknowledgement that pandemic assistance will be needed on various fronts for a longer period. The...

Brexit: Ireland's land bridge to the continent boosts air pollution in the UK

By John Bryson Et Al

A no-deal Brexit could cost up to 5,000 jobs in Irelands fisheries, but its not just access to the UKs coastal waters that the country is hoping to hold on to in any post-Brexit arrangement. Perhaps more important to...

Journalism makes blunders but still feeds democracy: an insider's view

By Anton Harber

Anton Harber, the veteran South African journalist, editor and journalism professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, has a new book out. So, For the Record: Behind the Headlines in an Era of State Capture is a deep...

Shots fired in the Himalayas: a dangerous development in the China-India border standoff

By Stephen Peter Westcott

In the midst of all the stories about Chinas oppression in Hong Kong and Xinjiang and its expulsion of foreign journalists, a recent clash on its border with India may pose the greater threat to Asian security. For the...

Relax, losing access to China won't make us the 'poor white trash of Asia'

By John Quiggin

In another round of the increasingly bitter exchanges between China and Australia, a columnist for Chinas Global Times, Yu Lei, suggested that a further decoupling from China will make former Singapore Prime Minister Lee...

Breaking the law over Brexit: how the UK is playing dirty in EU talks

By Simon Sweeney

The UK government seems to be doubling down on threats to leave the European Union without a deal unless the EU gives in on issues of state aid and fisheries. These two concerns are as important in Brussels as they seem to...

Coronavirus: why aren’t death rates rising with case numbers?

By Danny Dorling

It is a conundrum. For much of the past two months, many people have been convinced that mortality associated with COVID-19 would rise as the number of people testing positive with the disease increased. But this has not...

US-China decoupling and coronavirus: why 2020 upheaval won't kill globalisation

By Niccolò Pisani

The sudden stop of the global economy in 2020 has brought to everyones attention the interconnectedness of supply chains across countries and continents. Add to this the mounting tensions between the US and China, with...

What BTS breaking Billboard 100 means for pop as the industry knows it

By Kim-Marie Spence

K-pop supergroup BTS made pop history on August 31 when it became the first Korean group to have a number one single on the Billboard Hot 100 with their first wholly English-language single Dynamite. The song topped...

Neuralink: brain hacking is exceptionally hard, no matter what Elon Musk says

By Andrew Jackson

If thoughts, feelings and other mental activities are nothing more than electrochemical signals flowing around a vast network of brain cells, will connecting these signals with digital electronics allow us to enhance the...

Why the UK government is paying social media influencers to post about coronavirus

By Elvira Bolat

Social media influencers are often seen as lazy freelancers who make a living being paid to pretend they like products. But these celebrities are more than just marketing vehicles. If used properly, they can be effective...

China's leaders are strong and emboldened. It's wrong to see them as weak and insecure

By Saul Eslake

Theres an emerging view that Chinas belligerent approach and torching of diplomatic relationships with the wider world is a sign of insecurity and weakness; that its economic growth is unsustainable; and that everyone in...

Beyond long-term care: The benefits of seniors' communities that evolve on their own

By Catherine Donnelly Et Al

The global COVID-19 pandemic has shown Canadians that we need to think differently about how we support older adults. The media and all levels of government have focused heavily on long-term care, and rightly so. However,...

Now we'll need $100-$120 billion. Why the budget has to spend big to avoid scarring

By Brendan Coates Et Al

Australia is in for a long and damaging economic slump, unless governments inject substantially more fiscal stimulus. The July budget update forecast that unemployment would hit 9.25% in coming months. The Treasury...

Comic-Con@Home: Virtual comics event declared a failure by industry critics, but fans loved it

By Benjamin Woo Et Al

With the vast majority of North Americas thousand-plus fan conventions cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual conventions (called cons) have been a bright spot for fans in an otherwise bleak year. Although...

How behavioural science can help us understand human behaviour during a pandemic

By Benjamin (Ben) Voyer

When the day comes that the Covid-19 pandemic recedes, one of things that will remain with us is witnessing our fellow humans irrational and sometimes extreme behaviour and perhaps our own as well. These included...

Why businesses embrace populists and what to do about it: lessons from Hungary

By Gabor Scheiring

The coronavirus crisis has revealed the weaknesses of some populist leaders such as Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil or Donald Trump in the US, yet others are emerging stronger than ever. And they have some unlikely...

Smart speakers have overcome privacy fears to give new sales power to Amazon and Google

By Greig Paul

With everyone spending so much time at home during the pandemic, smart speakers such as the Amazon Echo and Google Nest ranges have had a golden opportunity. In their latest attempt to make the devices as relevant as...

Government algorithms are undermining democracy – let's open up their design to the people

By Mhairi Aitken

Algorithms appear to be in retreat in the UK for now. Not only did national governments recently U-turn over their use of algorithms to assign the grades of school leavers, but numerous local authorities have also...

As concerns mount over integrity of US elections, so does support for international poll monitors

By Timothy Rich

With the U.S. presidential election approaching, Americans face a daunting set of challenges as they prepare to vote. Many voters fear the coronavirus will force them to risk their lives at the polls. Yes, voting by...

Coffee, coronavirus and the uncertain future of high street cafe culture

By Jennifer Ferreira

Before coronavirus hit, the UK had a thriving coffee shop culture, with around 26,000 coffee shops across the country. But by the end of March 2020 many coffee shops were closed, or only open for takeaway. Up to 92% of...

Portland and Kenosha violence was predictable – and preventable

By Cynthia Miller-Idriss

The U.S. reached a deadly moment in protests over racial injustice, as back-to-back shootings in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 25 and 29 took the lives of three people and seriously injured...

How the government can drive medical innovation amidst the pandemic

By Jeffrey Clemens

The current COVID-19 pandemic, the largest public health crisis in a century, threatens the health of people across the globe. The U.S. has had the most diagnosed cases surpassing 6 million and more than 180,000...

TikTok suicide video: it's time platforms collaborated to limit disturbing content

By Ariadna Matamoros-Fernández Et Al

A disturbing video purporting to show a man committing suicide is reportedly doing the rounds on the popular short video app TikTok, reigniting debate about what social media platforms are doing to limit circulation of...

If reducing harm to society is the goal, a cost-benefit analysis shows cannabis prohibition has failed

By Alexander Gillespie

The case for a referendum on New Zealands cannabis law was already urgent in 2015 when the supposedly more pressing issue was whether we should change the flag. As I argued at the time, prohibition had failed and was...

Coronavirus nanoscience: the tiny technologies tackling a global pandemic

By Josh Davies

The world-altering coronavirus behind the COVID-19 pandemic is thought to be just 60 nanometres to 120 nanometres in size. This is so mind bogglingly small that you could fit more than 400 of these virus particles into the...

Nearly a century ago, a QAnon-like conspiracy theory propelled candidates to Congress

By Sophie Bjork-James

Marjorie Taylor Greenes Republican congressional primary win in Georgia ensures, in all likelihood, that the heavily Republican district will be represented by a QAnon conspiracy theorist in the 117th Congress. But...

Foreign agriculture investments don't always threaten food security: the case of Madagascar

By Wegayehu Fitawek Et Al

Large-scale land acquisitions have been increasing in developing countries following the 2007/8 high food price crisis. Countries with limited agricultural potential, like Gulf states, have been driving foreign...

How social media are levelling Kenya's political field -- and lessons learnt

By John Ndavula

Social media have opened up spaces for political candidates to engage with voters in more direct ways compared to traditional forms of campaigns such as rallies, billboard advertising, and the legacy media. Social media...

Ant Group: why America is missing out on the biggest IPO in history

By Daniel Broby

The US capital markets are being shunned by the largest initial public offering in history. This is an indirect result of the recent China-baiting by US politicians, led by Donald Trump. Ant Groups US$200 billion (168...

How foreign countries can help Indonesia's economy recover from COVID-19 downturn

By Eko NM Saputro

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the Indonesia economy. The latest data showed minus 5.32% economic growth in the second quarter. To recover from this downturn, Indonesia needs every assistance available,...