Counterpoint

Could mental illness be more than dysfunction? How do animals gain and hold power? What does water want and why are rewilding inverterbrates?

Has American life become stupid? If it has what does it have to do with Twitter and Facebook? Why are more and more Chinese moving to the countryside? Superheroes, they have been around forever so why are the cureent movies getting a bit of h

Hey you, yes you, you're wonderful. Yes, you really are. Does trashy media rot your brain? Diversity is all the rage but is it worth it and are we really better than animals?

Can we lighten our mental load by being cheerful? What is oikophobia and why might it be dangerous? Are inventors  disrupters? Do they need to be? Would you take a placebo? What if it actually worked? 

Tackling key social, economic and cultural issues in Australian life, challenging assumptions.

Is the European Union still united? Does it matter? Why do Buddhists kill and is there any hidden meaning behind the giving and receiving of gifts? Did you know that moving endangered species might actually save them?

Can we compare the propaganda of culture in Stalinist Russia to today?  Why do social media followers resemble birds and can a flood ever be a good thing. Plus the sand battery and how it may just transform clean energy

Why aren't there more women in power in China? How we can use anxiety to our advantage and why all invasive species aren't bad....except the cane toad.

Is Russia on the verge of collapse? It's our life, shoudl it also be our death? What should we do with any excess masks and gloves and COVID-19 in animals - we give it to them.

Why did Putin really invade Ukraine? For Russia or for himself? How much influence has America had over China? They've certainly embraced social media and influencers but to what extent? 

Are we really going through an energy transition or has the use of coal actually increased over recent years? Why is ASEAN so divided right now? What is behind the glittery facade of A.I. and why have some creatures remained unchanged for millions and millions of years?

What happens in the school run by Britain's strictest head teacher?  Here's a hint...ssshhhh. AI can be the stuff of nightmares but did you know it can also write a book, just put it in a couple of lines and it will write a story based on what you asked for. Perhaps in the language of Shakespeare or maybe Austen. What's better being strong r being shrewd. In the animal world that difference matter...

Are Australian cities in decline and if they are is it because of COVID-19 or bad planning decisions? Are we in an environmental paradox with mining for car batteries? W hat happened when India introduced some cheetahs and just how sacred are cows in India? 

Has the invasion of Ukraine created an opportunity for revitalising the West? Are the United States and China living through a gilded age? Is the rush for electric cars ruining the environment and is doing good things is good for you, isn't it? 

How will China balance it's no-limit friendship with Russia in light of events in Ukraine? ESG is the new business buzz but what does it mean and how will it work?  Plus what did kids play with in ancient times and why might fish poo help with coral bleaching? 

How are Russian sanctions viewed in Russia and what role does luck play in war and life? Plus how do we know what we don't know and how do we know we need to know it?

One of the tensions in the world right now is wether or not China will invade Taiwan. If that did happen two immediate risks would be '(a) potential disruptions to digital flows from vulnerable submarine cables with landing stations in Taiwan and (b) the delay or disruption of container shipments in the Taiwan Strait, South China Sea, and East China Sea'. reminds us that 'Taiwan has an outsized ro...

What does God smell like? Maybe violets or perhaps freshly made coffee? Why do we have to die and why were we all moved by the images the James Webb telescope? Also rewilding, bringing the bison and other large animals back to where they belong.

Are there really reasons to be cheerful? Maybe or maybe not but smile, it's infectious! Are liberalism and conservatism different sides of the same coin? Does nudge theory work and how can our animals cross the road without being hit by a car?

Do you know how fabulous you are? How truly wonderful your existence is? Take a moment and bask in the wonder that is you. Then have a think about innovators, do they have to be disruptive and even if they do, are they actually, more than anything else, clever marketing people? Is ageing a disease and why tree planting projects aren't always a good thing.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where to next for democracy and autocracy divide in Europe? What happens when Chinese female students go home after studying abroad. Do we really need to do hard things more often and what do the tn lids have to say about that? 

It doesn't always seem as if China is a part of the real world. Usually, it is seen as representing a different 'other' to us. Why is that? Are you a tolerant person and what does that even mean? Is being tolerant more difficult than being indifferent? When did Australian children get to read about Australian fairy rather than European ones filled with Kings and Queens  and castles? 

Is Russian oil in decline, and if it is, is it the result of the war with Ukraine? One of the distinguishing features of the invasion of Ukraine was the amount of people willing to take up arms to defend their homeland. Would you be prepared to do the same? The 'Plant Destroyer' is here to stay and would be better off thinking of ourselves as Earth's Aunties' and Uncles?

China's rapidly evolving social media industry is being used to influence audiences within and beyond it's territory. How invasive is it and can anything be done? There used to be a bit of a digital regime in Asia, what happened to it? Plus can Indigenous knowledge of fire and the land be called science? How could it not. And might the genetics of ancient tress be the thing that saves them?

In 1990 Boris Yeltsin gave a speech in Kyiv to announce that Ukraine was free at last. What happened? The crises we face today are global in nature and more frequent, do we need a global approach to fix them? Does trashy media really rot your brain? People have being say that it does ever since the invention of the printing press but is it true? Plus the fascinating history and hopeful survival of...