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PODCAST

The Minefield

In a world marked by wicked social problems, The Minefield helps you negotiate the ethical dilemmas, contradictory claims and unacknowledged complicities of modern life.

society & culture philosophy

All Episodes

53:36

What does it take to address a “wicked problem” like...

The Minefield ·

2023/07/05

The newly formed National Anti-Corruption Commission faces both unrealistic expectations and a potentially fraught political climate. Professor A.J. Brown joins Waleed and Scott to discuss how it can restore popular faith in democratic politics.

en

54:13

What are playlists doing to our ability to listen to...

The Minefield ·

2023/06/28

Platforms like Spotify have transformed the way people listen to music through their use of recommendation algorithms and customised playlists designed to cater to either a particular activity or a particular mood.

en

53:18

How to respond responsibly to the “cost of living...

The Minefield ·

2023/06/21

The tendency over the past four decades has been for governments to try to shield their populations from energy shocks and their associated “cost of living” crises — but is such a response truly sustainable?

en

52:51

Does the Voice to Parliament undermine Australia’s...

The Minefield ·

2023/06/14

The proposed Voice to Parliament is particularly susceptible to two arguments: that it violates the principle of equal citizenship; and that it will enshrine a divisive form of “identity politics” in Australian public life. Whether these arguments hold depends on our understanding of the meaning of democratic equality.

en

53:40

“Succession” — from tyranny to tragedy

The Minefield ·

2023/06/07

The final season of HBO’s prestige television series Succession confirms that the various characters’ willingness to betray, deceive, manipulate and enact an unrelenting cruelty upon one another has all but assured that, in the end, everyone loses.

en

53:55

Are Labor’s “stage three” tax cuts unjust and unethical?

The Minefield ·

2023/05/31

It’s been a long time since a policy adopted by the federal government has presented such a knot of party-political, parliamentary, social and ethical problems — Professor Miranda Stewart joins Waleed Aly and Scott Stephens to try to untangle it.

en

54:08

Is Stan Grant’s decision the result of a broken media?

The Minefield ·

2023/05/24

At the end of Monday’s Q+A, Wiradjuri man and journalist Stan Grant stated: “We in the media must ask if we are truly honouring a world worth living in.” Why aren’t more taking him seriously?

en

52:56

What is the human cost of success? Revisiting HBO’s...

The Minefield ·

2023/05/17

As the fourth and final series of the HBO television show “Succession” approaches its finale, Waleed Aly and Scott Stephens revisit the first three seasons. Why does this show matter? What does it tell us, despite its opulence and obscenity, about what is of greatest value in human life?

en

53:31

What is the phenomenon of “bigness” doing to human...

The Minefield ·

2023/05/10

We live in an era dominated by vast digital platforms, what David Auerbach calls “meganets” – the sheer volume of data they trade in and numbers they produce seem to render them unassailable, irresistable.

en

53:35

Is loneliness a problem that can be solved?

The Minefield ·

2023/05/03

Hyperconnectivity has coincided with an epidemic of loneliness — but is loneliness simply part of the human condition? Samantha Rose Hill joins The Minefield to discuss whether we can counter its harmful effects while nurturing genuine solitude.

en

53:46

Martial virtues, military conditioning, and moral damage

The Minefield ·

2023/04/26

Can soldiers be trained to kill their fellow human beings without that training doing irreparable damage to the moral lives of the soldiers themselves?

en

54:01

“An eye that cannot weep” — What does compassion...

The Minefield ·

2023/04/19

In the final episode of our Ramadan series, we explore the roots of our occasional heedlessness when confronted by the plight and pleas of another person: What could make us callous to their suffering, and how should we respond?

en

53:39

“Knowledge that does not benefit” — On the uses and...

The Minefield ·

2023/04/12

In the fourth instalment of our Ramadan series, we discuss whether “knowledge” which is wielded in a way that demeans others, or which is accumulated as a form of vanity, can really be considered beneficial?

en

53:53

“A soul that will not be satisfied” — The problem of...

The Minefield ·

2023/04/05

For this third show in our Ramadan series, we’re asking what it is about the human condition that seems to drive it to perpetual discontentment? What is the virtue of repose, and when does “contentment” become indolence or conformity, a chronic lack of curiosity?

en

53:34

“A prayer that is not heard” — The dangers of...

The Minefield ·

2023/03/29

Ego-centrism is a form of inattentiveness, a failure to be responsive to the moral reality of another person. In this second instalment in our Ramadan series, we explore how such inattentiveness can corrupt our words and actions.

en

00:00

“A heart that cannot humble itself” — The virtue of...

The Minefield ·

2023/03/22

What does it mean to be intellectually humble? How might such humility be cultivated? What are its benefits — both to ourselves and to those around us?

en

00:00

Should Fawlty Towers’ farcical vision of Britain be...

The Minefield ·

2023/03/15

Now that John Cleese has announced that the iconic series will return, it’s worth examining what made Fawlty Towers a masterpiece — and whether its interaction with the political climate of the 1970s had anything to do with it.

en

00:00

What does the failure of Robodebt tell us about the...

The Minefield ·

2023/03/08

What made the Online Compliance Initiative — better known as the Robodebt scheme — so egregious is the way it was designed to treat those purported to be “welfare cheats” with utter contempt.

en

00:00

What does it mean to be a moral parent?

The Minefield ·

2023/03/01

Even though we rarely frame it in these terms, it is hardly inappropriate to refer to the relationship between a parent and a child as a moral relationship. Professor Luara Ferracioli joins Waleed Aly and Scott Stephens to explore the nature, and limits, of that relationship.

en

00:00

Should early childhood education be compulsory?

The Minefield ·

2023/02/22

There are good political and philosophical reasons for seeing free and equal access to early childhood education as an expression of our shared commitment to justice.

en

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