Going backwards and forwards - decolonising, AI, fleets and Phar Lap

Are we living through an age of distraction and if we are what cause it? How to have a difficult conversation and how to make a decision. 

When talking about African history why do we use the term precolonial? The limits of libertarianism and why men are so unhappy right now. We are electric, so are plants and animals.

Has the censorship of words gone too far? Cold blooded animals are in trouble, can a fruit fly save them? What was life like for medieval babies? Concrete built the world and now its slowly destroying it. 

Does social media really rot your brain? Why is stopping the use of coal so difficult. Australian women scientists have had a rotten deal over the years and naming plants and animals after people, good idea or not? 

What is optimistic nihilism and why is it all the rage? How do animals gain and keep power? Just how powerful is water and why are we rewilding invertebrates?

What should Indonesia do with the vast amount of nickel it produces every year? Why the Enlightenment still matters and the history of telling time. Plus would you consider serving an Australian brush turkey at Christmas lunch? 

Just how difficult and dangerous is decolonisation? Is A.I. hysteria out of control and does Australia need a bigger merchant fleet? Plus the wonder that was Phar Lap.

Has Xi Jinping made a big mistake when it comes to women in China? A year out from the US election what matters to people in Japan and Australia? It's a very big mistake to not be doing more to protect giant sequoias and it's also a mistake to blame rats for the plague. 

If you are taking the penalty kick in soccer which way would you go? What happens to your body after a year in space and just how dirty did operating theatres used to be? What's your idea of Utopia and who have you left out?

Why does a Dubai Sheikh want to take control of vast amounts of land across Africa, and how will 2000 rhinos be rewilded in the next 10 years? Why do our young people not feels safe and is it possible to have a moral change of heart?