Read our academics’ articles in The Conversation - 2025

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 2025 below, with their expertise spanning Humanities, Social Sciences, Music, Business, Law, Economics and Education.

August

• Shark tales, a sinking city and a breathless cop thriller: what to watch in August - Associate Professor Ben McCann (School of Humanities)

July

• Aamir Khan’s big screen comeback, Sitaare Zameen Par, features an all-star neurodivergent cast – a Bollywood first - Yanyan Hong (School of Humanities)
• ‘I’m going to send letters’: the deadline for Trump’s ‘reciprocal’ trade tariffs is looming - Professor Peter Draper, Kumuthini Sivathas, and Dr Nathan Gray (School of Economics and Public Policy)
• Ken Henry urges nature law reform after decades of ‘intergenerational bastardry’ - Dr Phillipa McCormack (Adelaide Law School)
• What does Australian law have to say about sovereign citizens and ‘pseudolaw’? - Madeleine Perrett and Dr Mark Giancaspro (Adelaide Law School)
• After 70 years, twisted gothic thriller The Night of the Hunter remains as disturbing and beguiling as ever - Associate Professor Ben McCann (School of Humanities)

June

• Girl power and girl bosses might be ‘feminist’ – but we can’t consume our way to equality - Dr Jessica Ford (School of Humanities)
• In the trade wars, there are lessons for the US from Brexit. Australia and our trading partners should take note - Professor Peter Draper (School of Economics and Public Policy)
• Jack Ball wins the Ramsay Art Prize among a who's who of Australian young contemporary artists
  - Emerita Professor Catherine Speck (School of Humanities)
• It took more than a century, but women are taking charge of Australia’s economy – here’s why it matters - Associate Professor Duygu Yengin (School of Economics and Public Policy)
• Cape York deserves World Heritage status – and Queensland may need it to become a global leader in tourism - Dr Ania Kotarba (School of Humanities)

• As the federal government fumbles on nature law reform, the states are forging ahead - Dr Phillipa McCormack (Adelaide Law School)

May

• Feuding mob families, mind control and a murder at the White House: what to watch in May - Dr Jessica Ford (School of Humanities) 
• Friday essay: at 42, my mother discovered her half-sister. Would her childhood have been bearable if they grew up together? - Heather Taylor Johnson (J.M. Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice)
• Australia can no longer take a ‘business as usual’ approach to the US. On security, it's time for courage and confidence - Professor Joanne Wallis (School of Social Sciences)
• Europe’s worst mass murder since World War II happened at Srebrenica. Gretchen Shirm’s novel witnesses the war crimes trial - Jane Turner Goldsmith (School of Humanities)
• The US and China have reached a temporary truce in the trade wars, but more turbulence lies ahead - Professor Peter Draper and Dr Nathan Gray (School of Economics and Public Policy)
• A not-so-modern epidemic: what 17th-century nuns can teach us about coping with loneliness - Associate Professor Claire Walker (School of Humanities)
• How a dogged researcher tracked down the original Sentimental Bloke – and found a different man to C.J. Dennis’s loveable larrikin - Dr Philip Butterss (School of Humanities)

April

• A child killer, parenting struggles and ‘innies’ running wild: what to stream in April - Dr Jessica Ford (School of Humanities) 
• Val Kilmer’s macho action figures held a melancholy just below the surface - Dr Aaron Humphrey (School of Humanities)
• No, that’s not what a trade deficit means – and that’s not how you calculate other nations’ tariffs - Professor Peter Draper and Vutha Hing (School of Economics and Public Policy)
• Friday essay: in an uncertain world, ‘green relief’ offers respite, healing and beauty - Dr Carol Lefevre (School of Humanities)
• Amid the election promises, what would actually help ‘fix’ the housing crisis? Here are 5 ideas - Professor Emma Baker (School of Social Sciences)
• Why healthy eating may be the best way to reduce food waste - Dr Trang Nguyen, Jack Hetherington, and Professor Patrick O'Connor (School of Economics and Public Policy)
• When 'equal' does not mean 'the same': Liberals still do not understand their women problem - Emerita Professor Carol Johnson (School of Social Sciences)
• Why film and TV creators will still risk it all for the perfect long take shot - Kristian Ramsden (School of Humanities)

March

• More than two-thirds of organisations have a formal work-from-home policy. Here’s how the benefits stack up - Aeson Luiz Dela Cruz (Adelaide Business School)
• Uncertainties, mysteries, doubts: Madeleine Watts takes an elegiac road trip through the American southwest - Dr Georgia Phillips (School of Humanities)
• Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: a cult self-help book encourages detachment – but is that what we need? - Jane Turner Goldsmith (School of Humanities)
• Children of Paradise is the greatest film to come out of France, even 80 years on - Associate Professor Ben McCann (School of Humanities)
• ‘They eat snacks during class and swing on chairs’: the worrying, sexist behaviour of some young men at uni - Associate Professor Samnantha Schulz (School of Education)
• Who gets to be political in Australian art? - Emerita Professor Catherine Speck (School of Humanities)
• How Jia Zhangke's film Caught by the Tides uses 20 years of footage to capture a changing China - Thomas Moran (School of Humanities)
• We found a new wasp! Students are discovering insect species through citizen science - Professor Patrick O'Connor and Dr Trang Nguyen (Centre for Global Food and Resources)
• Muito antes dos debates identitários, Epicuro construiu uma filosofia inclusiva - Thomas Moran (School of Humanities)
• Should Australia increase its defence spending? We asked 5 experts - Featuring Professor Joanne Wallis (School of Social Sciences)
• Nerve-wracking twists, remarkable stardom and jet-black comedy: the 5 best films of the 2025 French Film Festival - Associate Professor Ben McCann (School of Humanities)
• Wage theft is now a criminal offence in NZ – investigating it shouldn’t be left to the police - Irene Nikoloudakis (Adelaide Law School)
• Protecting salmon farming at the expense of the environment – another step backwards for Australia’s nature laws - Dr Philippa McCormack (Adelaide Law School)

February

• Ne Zha 2: the ancient philosophies behind China’s record-breaking new animated film - Yanyan Hong (School of Humanities)
• A defence treaty with PNG might seem like a ‘win’ for Australia. But there are 4 crucial questions to answer - Professor Joanne Wallis (School of Social Sciences)
• It’s the biggest Egyptian tomb discovery in a century. Who was Thutmose II? - Dr Ania Kotarba-Morley
• Is reality TV ‘harmful’? We asked 5 experts – including an ex-reality TV participant - Dr Jessica Ford (School of Humanities)

January

• In Our Evenings, Alan Hollinghurst takes an elegiac look at class, sexuality and race in post-Brexit Britain - Professor Andrew van der Vlies (School of Humanities)
• Sleeping on beaches and staying social: how Australians kept cool in heatwaves before modern technology - Mandy Paul (School of Humanities)