Assorted Talks

Marijuana: the myths and misconceptions

The New York Times and the Holocaust
In her acclaimed book "Buried By The Times", Laurel Leff has analysed The New York Times's coverage of the Holocaust and reveals some of the motivations behind the way the newspaper covered the genocide.

Land rationing
Wendell Cox is the world's best known critic of urban consolidation. He's looked at housing prices relative to income in six countries, and says Australia has some of the highest there are. In fact there's a strong link between high house prices and land rationing, which forms the basis of urban consolidation. And if that isn't radical enough, Cox also says public transport almost never lives up to the claims made for it, and we should be building more freeways.

In the mind of the child soldier

Coping by cutting
The incidence of self harm is rising and there's a search for understanding and solutions. Princess Di admitted to it. As many as 1 in 5 young people are likely to deliberately hurt themselves to release internal tension and pressure. What is it, and how can parents handle it?

Mount Erebus plane crash
Arthur Marcel teaches at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane and is interested in systems analysis. On 29 November 1979, Air New Zealand flight 901 crashed into Mt Erebus in Antarctica. Arthur Marcel takes us through some of the events leading up to the crash and has a few questions for modern navigators

Do Animals Think?
Do animals think? is the title of Dr Clive Wynne's book in which he sets out his views on anthropomorphism and animal consciousness. Are they conscious in the way we are conscious? And, if not, what does consciousness mean for an animal?

Sceptical and Spooked
Inveterate sceptic, Will Storr, takes on poltergeists and Electronic Voice Phenomena to test his philosophical atheism

Looting History

Engineering wonders: tunnels and bridges

Small Answers to Big Questions (recommended for Tyler Cowan fans)
Tolstoy, Dostoevsky and Chekhov are giants of world literature, and we explore their extraordinary work and legacy, through ideas of romantic love, social progress, radical politics and religious faith

Medieval Women Mystics: Julian of Norwich
Holed-up in solitary confinement, Julian of Norwich is England's most famous 14th Century anchoress

Parole boards
Who decides if a criminal should be allowed out of jail before the end of their prison sentence?

Facing the evidence - part one
According to US estimates, only one in two patients receives the healthcare they should receive according to the evidence. One in ten patients receives care that isn't recommended and which is potentially harmful. In the first part of this series about getting health professionals to practice with evidence, Associate Professor Alex Barratt takes a close look at the catastrophic errors that have occurred when evidence has been ignored, and why evidence based practice is still not being implemented in consultation rooms near you. More links here

Language play: play for real
The influential English literacy expert Margaret Meek Spencer on the role of language play in children's linguistic development

War by Other Means
Trade is the lifeblood of the global economy - and it depends on rules decided in tough negotiations behind closed doors