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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

0:54:19

Should revenge have any place in our politics?

The Minefield ·

2024/10/23

There is something undeniably satisfying about revenge. When we feel we have been aggrieved, harmed or humiliated, it is natural to want payback. In ancient Greece, to inflict such an injury was conceived of as incurring a debt — and the only way to make the perpetrator “whole” was to have the injury repaid in kind.The paradox — as Socrates, Sophocles and Euripides all knew — is that revenge, though it is desired, is never satisfying, because it gives rise to a perpetual cycle of

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0:53:22

Can democracy survive the perfect storm of...

The Minefield ·

2024/10/16

Just weeks before a US presidential election, a combination of political mendacity, the perverse incentives offered by social media platforms, and opportunism on the part of content creators/consumers, have come together to form a perfect storm.The tragic irony is that the devastating consequences of these forces have become apparent in the aftermath of two hurricanes which hit the American south-east in quick succession.With state and federal elections around the corner, and

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0:54:08

What is “populism” – and what kind of problem does it...

The Minefield ·

2024/10/09

After the election of Donald Trump in 2016 and the outcome of the Brexit referendum, “populism” became the catch-all diagnosis for everything the ails democratic politics. But its polemical use has tended to obscure rather than clarify the meaning of the term.

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0:53:30

What is it that makes “negative gearing” such a...

The Minefield ·

2024/10/03

The policy of negative gearing — which gives the owners of investment properties an unlimited ability to deduct losses from their overall taxable income — has come to symbolise the disparity between the different ways Australians see home ownership: for some, it is a means of wealth creation; for others, it represents the ever-receding promise of shelter, stability, security.It is unsurprising, then, that the policy would evoke such strong feelings whenever it re-enters public

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0:53:18

“Truths that lie too deep for taint”: Wilfred Owen’s...

The Minefield ·

2024/09/25

The war poetry of Wilfred Owen refuses the comfort of hollow consolation in response to the mass loss of life — it also urges the sacrifice of the kind of bellicose pride that sees nothing but territorial gain and national self-interest, and is prepared to offer up the lives of the young to these ends. In a time of heightened violence and bloodshed, Waleed Aly and Scott Stephens – along with acclaimed concert pianist and award-winning writer Simon Tedeschi – attempt to recover the

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0:53:38

Can modern politics avoid propaganda?

The Minefield ·

2024/09/18

With the US presidential election on the horizon, to say nothing of a number of Australian elections, our airwaves, news sites and social media feeds are filled with political rhetoric.Many of us have come to accept political rhetoric — with its obfuscations, generalisations, exaggerations and outright evasions — as the price of doing business with democratic politics.Is there a meaningful difference anymore between political rhetoric and propaganda? What disciplines and

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0:54:12

Will Australia’s proposed cap on international...

The Minefield ·

2024/09/11

Given the dependence of many Australian universities on international student fees, a significant drop in enrolments with no corresponding increase in government funding will likely yield a decline in the quality of teaching and research, a reduction in academic staff, and a precipitous tumble down the world university rankings. This would do considerable damage to Australia's fourth largest "export". If the forecasts are accurate, why would the federal government embark on

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54:05

Festival of Dangerous Ideas: Is Australia breaking?

The Minefield ·

2024/09/04

One of Australia’s greatest strengths has been the remarkable diversity of its multicultural society. But is this also a potential source of weakness? In this live recording at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas, Waleed Aly and Scott Stephens, along with guest Stan Grant, explore the internal and external forces that risk undermining our sense of social unity.

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53:57

“Freedom!”: Why can’t US politics agree on the...

The Minefield ·

2024/08/28

Even for a nation obsessed with the concept of “freedom” — or perhaps it would be better to say, concepts, not all of them easily reconciled, some of them utterly incommensurable — the prominence it was given during the recent Democratic National Convention was arresting.It was as though the Democratic Party vaulted the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush alike — both of which used “freedom” as a mantra, a talisman, a point of vital differentiation over against

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53:24

Coleman Hughes, “colourblindness”, and the...

The Minefield ·

2024/08/21

In democracies with a history of racial injustice, are “colourblindness” and recognition of a “common humanity” — which were at the heart of the moral philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr. — desirable as expressions of our commitment to justice as equality?

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53:48

“We live in a society!”: Seinfeld’s “Bizarro” comedy...

The Minefield ·

2024/08/14

When the first episode of Seinfeld went to air in 1989, it faced stiff competition from a packed field of American sitcoms. By its finale in 1998, the “show about nothing” had redefined the sitcom genre and conquered comedy. Critical to its success was the unlikely alchemy of the four central characters — their navigation of the interpersonal conflicts and petty irritations of New York City life, and their heedless disregard for conventions of morality.That was the trick: the

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53:21

“I don’t want to join any club that would have me as...

The Minefield ·

2024/08/07

Humour can often be a response to the sense of being ill-at-home in society — perhaps even ill-at-home in the world. But whether it takes the form of fatalism or self-deprecation, all such forms of ironic self-distancing have a sting in the tail.

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54:01

“Time now for just a bit of fun”: Shaun Micallef on...

The Minefield ·

2024/07/31

In one form or another, comedy often proceeds from a certain exaggeration of life — exaggerated bodily movements, or facial expressions, or scenarios, or reactions. These exaggerations have an unreality to them, but still maintain an uncanny relationship to more “normal” life. Put another way: sometimes comedy is just plain silly, the art of relishing the fun of suspending our expectations and upending our social conventions.What is happening when performers give free reign to the

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53:34

“And now for something completely different”: Why do...

The Minefield ·

2024/07/24

Immanuel Kant called laughter a form of the disappointment of the understanding — which is to say, surprise — for which the body then compensates: “Whatever is to arouse lively, convulsive laughter must contain something absurd … Laughter is an affect that arises if a tense expectation is transformed into a nothing.”But surprises, it turns out, come in many shapes and sizes — from a slip or a fall, to a near-miss when you expected an accident, to an uncanny coincidence where you

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53:49

Political violence — why is it so corrosive to...

The Minefield ·

2024/07/17

The attempted assassination of former US President Donald Trump, while undeniably shocking, was not altogether surprising. It was just the latest blow in a steady drumbeat of political violence that has only grown louder over the last decade.This reflects the fact that political violence is “in the air”, and is increasingly being regarded by many Americans — and citizens of nations around the worlds — as a justifiable response to political disagreement.What does it take for such

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53:21

“There’s a crack in everything”: Is absurdity central...

The Minefield ·

2024/07/10

Comedy happens when something occurs that makes visible just how futile are our most earnest efforts, and how superficial are our solemnities, our moments of greatest seriousness and decorum — hence the deep connection between comedy, absurdity and tragedy.

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53:35

In a bespoke and individualistic age, are we losing a...

The Minefield ·

2024/07/03

Because our lives are increasingly tailor-made, we are constantly seeking ways of distinguishing ourselves from others. What is being lost through is our sense of a humanity whose inherent vulnerability to misfortune, malfeasance and violence makes us dependent on one another.

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54:01

Beatlemania at 60: Why was the band so popular before...

The Minefield ·

2024/06/26

The Beatles composed their best music in the years after 1965 — so what could account for the ecstatic response the band received in the United States and Australia in 1964? Why were they “big” before they were “good”?

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53:59

Right verdict, wrong case? The political dangers of...

The Minefield ·

2024/06/19

On 30 May 2024, after two days of deliberation following a five-week trial and hearing the testimony of 22 witnesses, a jury of 12 New Yorkers found former President Donald Trump guilty of 34 felony charges. But do the facts of the case brought against him, and the overriding fact it was brought in an election year, present insurmountable political risks?

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54:30

Is it wrong to “rank” works of art?

The Minefield ·

2024/06/05

Apple Music recently released its list of the “100 Best Albums”. It was, without question, a clever marketing technique — but one that raises the problem of whether it’s appropriate to rank works of high human achievement in the first place.

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345 results

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