Read our academics’ articles in The Conversation
The Conversation Australia and New Zealand is a unique collaboration between academics and journalists, and a publisher of research-based news and analysis which you can read for free.
You can access our academics The Conversation articles from throughout 2024 below, with their expertise spanning Humanities, Social Sciences, Music, Business, Law, Economics and Education.
July
Friday essay: ‘like being hungry’ – loneliness afflicts nearly 1 in 3 Australians. It can be devastating, but can spark creativity or change - Dr Carol Lefevre, School of Humanities
AIDS, trauma – and joy: how artist Brent Harris captures the intensity of emotion beneath humour - Emerita Professor Catherine Speck, School of Humanities
June
Sue me, if you can. How laws that prevent directors being sued make firms less likely to recall potentially dangerous products - Professor Arvid Hoffman, Associate Professor Chee Cheong, and Professor Ralf Zurbrugg, Adelaide Business School
Trying to save money? Our research suggests paying in cash – while you still can - Lachlan Schomburgk and Professor Arvid Hoffman, Adelaide Business School
‘Only disconnect’ – in Caledonian Road, Andrew O'Hagan depicts Britain’s great unravelling - Professor Andrew van der Vlies, School of Humanities
One issue proved key to the opposition’s stunning success in India’s election: caste politics - Associate Professor Priya Chacko and Anand Sreekumar, School of Social Sciences
Victoria is raising minimum rental standards – it’s good news for tenants and the environment - Professor Emma Baker, School of Social Sciences
It’s now possible to invest in bitcoin on Australia’s largest stock exchange. Is the currency going mainstream? - Marta Khomyn, Adelaide Business School
May
Psychological drama, wilderness reality and everyone’s favourite dog: the best of streaming this May - Dr Joy McEntee, School of Humanities
‘Make me a sandwich’: our survey’s disturbing picture of how some boys treat their teachers - Dr Samantha Schulz, School of Education
Will Solomon Islands’ new leader stay close to China? - Priestly Habru and Claudina Habru, School of Social Sciences
Changing native vegetation laws to allow burning on private land is good fire management - Gabriel Crowley, School of Social Sciences
April
I hope publishers will be brave': older women are often erased in fiction – but in 2 new Australian novels they take centre stage - Dr Carol Lefevre, School of Humanities
Searing glory holes, a shapeshifting cat and outback UFO tours: what we're streaming this April - Dr Jessica Ford, School of Humanities
Myrtle rust is lethal to Australian plants. Could citizen scientists help track its spread? - Rebecca Paxton, School of Humanities
Critics can’t decide if Andrew Scott’s Ripley is mesmerising or charmless – just as Patricia Highsmith wrote him - Dr Joy McEntee, School of Humanities
With democracy under threat in Narendra Modi’s India, how free and fair will this year’s election be? - Associate Professor Priya Chacko, School of Social Sciences
Water theft laws and penalties in the Murray-Darling Basin are a dog’s breakfast. Here’s how we can fix them - Associate Professor Adam Loch (School of Economics and Public Policy), Dr Mark Giancaspro (Adelaide Law School), and Michael Croft (Adelaide Law School)
Johannesburg in a time of darkness: Ivan Vladislavić’s new memoir reminds us of the city’s fragility - Dr Bronwyn Law-Viljoen, School of Humanities
March
Art of the moment: experiencing Marina Abramović and Laurie Anderson at the Adelaide Festival - Emerita Professor Catherine Speck, School of Humanities
Vanity, money and ‘angry masculine impastos’: Liam Pieper’s Appreciation is a mordant tale of a tragically flawed artist - Dr Georgia Philipps, School of Humanities
‘I wanted to stop … but I also wanted to pull’. 1 in 50 people have trichotillomania – a new memoir unpacks compulsive hair-pulling - Jane Turner Goldsmith, School of Humanities
Announcing Kate Middleton’s cancer diagnosis should have been simple. But the palace let it get out of hand - Dr Victoria Fielding and Dr Saira Ali, School of Humanities
February
Black comedy, political drama and a documentary about a cult: what we’re streaming this February - Dr Jessica Ford, School of Humanities
Consulting firms provided low-quality research on crucial water policies. It shows we have a deeper problem - Professor Sarah Wheeler, School of Economics and Public Policy
Sovereignty is sacred: in Timor-Leste’s remote Oecusse Enclave, a border dispute threatens to open old wounds - Dr Michael Rose, School of Social Sciences
‘I was who I wasn’t’: McKenzie Wark’s memoir of late transition envisions a less gender-restrictive world - Dr Anna Szorenyi and Cambrey Payne, School of Social Sciences
Voluntary assisted dying is different to suicide. But federal laws conflate them and restrict access to telehealth - Dr Michaela Okninski, Adelaide Law School
January
Climate change and nature loss are our biggest environmental problems - so why isn’t the market tackling them together? - Associate Professor Patrick O'Connor and Dr Anthelia Bond, School of Economics and Public Policy
Tenderness and technical mastery: Anne Michaels’ poetic novel Held expands the possibilities of historical fiction - Dr Georgia Phillips, School of Humanities
J.M. Coetzee’s provocative first book turns 50 this year – and his most controversial turns 25 - Professor Andrew van der Vlies, School of Humanities
Australia’s ranking in global anti-corruption index remains steady – but shows we cannot be complacent – Emeritus Professor Adam Graycar, School of Social Sciences