The Minefield
By ABC listen
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Category: Philosophy
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Subscribers: 852
Reviews: 1
Episodes: 239
Jul 18, 2020
Description
In a world marked by wicked social problems, The Minefield helps you negotiate the ethical dilemmas, contradictory claims and unacknowledged complicities of modern life.
| Episode | Date |
|---|---|
|
“There’s a horse loose in a hospital”: What John Mulaney gets right about (non-)political comedy
|
Jul 09, 2025 |
|
What is “content” doing to our sense of value?
|
Jul 02, 2025 |
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Can the cinematic genius of “Jaws” overcome its problematic legacy?
|
Jun 25, 2025 |
|
Israel/Iran: What are the ethical and legal limits of self-defence?
|
Jun 18, 2025 |
|
Where to now for conservative politics in Australia?
|
Jun 11, 2025 |
|
The moral problem of monstrous artists, with Anna Funder: Live from the Sydney Writers’ Festival
|
Jun 04, 2025 |
|
“Progressive patriotism” — is it an idea whose time has come?
|
May 28, 2025 |
|
Why is our response to humanitarian crises so complicated — and inconsistent?
|
May 21, 2025 |
|
Is it only “joy” when it’s shared?
|
May 14, 2025 |
|
Australian voters have spoken — do we know what they said?
|
May 07, 2025 |
|
Is disillusionment a feature of democratic politics, not a bug?
|
Apr 30, 2025 |
|
What are we doing when we vote?
|
Apr 23, 2025 |
|
Can Australia’s federal election escape the shadow of Donald Trump?
|
Apr 16, 2025 |
|
AI in education — is it a technology to be feared, or a tool to be taught?
|
Apr 09, 2025 |
|
Are we on the brink of a world without books? On Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451”
|
Apr 05, 2025 |
|
Ramadan: Is hope a flimsy emotion, or can it grow from devastation?
|
Mar 26, 2025 |
|
Ramadan: Is optimism a virtue, or a form of moral evasion?
|
Mar 19, 2025 |
|
Ramadan: Should we try to live without fear, or learn to face it together?
|
Mar 12, 2025 |
|
Ramadan: Is despair always detrimental, or can it give rise to hope?
|
Mar 04, 2025 |
|
Are “firewalls” the best way to counteract the appeal of the far-right?
|
Feb 26, 2025 |
|
How hate speech in healthcare tears at something sacred in our common life
|
Feb 19, 2025 |
|
The School of Sport: Bob Murphy and the centrality of connection
|
Feb 12, 2025 |
|
The School of Sport: Craig Fitzgibbon and the burden of responsibility
|
Feb 05, 2025 |
|
The School of Sport: Lydia Williams and the virtue of vulnerability
|
Jan 29, 2025 |
|
The School of Sport: Madison de Rozario and the importance of pride
|
Jan 22, 2025 |
|
The School of Sport: Why does sport bring out the worst in some athletes?
|
Jan 15, 2025 |
|
Is Australia breaking?
|
Jan 08, 2025 |
|
What's behind the mass appeal of live music events?
|
Jan 01, 2025 |
|
The ethics of "Groundhog Day"
|
Dec 25, 2024 |
|
Are we losing a sense of "the common"?
|
Dec 18, 2024 |
|
The necessity of withdrawing
|
Dec 11, 2024 |
|
What are we doing when we give gifts?
|
Dec 04, 2024 |
|
Bonus episode: Can democracy be saved with decency? A public lecture by Scott Stephens
|
Dec 03, 2024 |
|
“The Godfather, Part II” — a parable of corruption and fall
|
Nov 27, 2024 |
|
Is a “digital duty of care” enough to protect young people from social media’s harms?
|
Nov 20, 2024 |
|
How much control should corporations have over the speech of their employees?
|
Nov 13, 2024 |
|
The return of Donald Trump — do we know what it means?
|
Nov 06, 2024 |
|
Is the concept of “evil” worth retaining?
|
Oct 31, 2024 |
|
Should revenge have any place in our politics?
|
Oct 23, 2024 |
|
Can democracy survive the perfect storm of disinformation?
|
Oct 16, 2024 |
|
What is “populism” – and what kind of problem does it pose?
|
Oct 09, 2024 |
|
What is it that makes “negative gearing” such a divisive tax policy?
|
Oct 03, 2024 |
|
“Truths that lie too deep for taint”: Wilfred Owen’s war poetry in our blood-soaked present
|
Sep 25, 2024 |
|
Can modern politics avoid propaganda?
|
Sep 18, 2024 |
|
Will Australia’s proposed cap on international students do more harm than good?
|
Sep 11, 2024 |
|
Festival of Dangerous Ideas: Is Australia breaking?
|
Sep 04, 2024 |
|
“Freedom!”: Why can’t US politics agree on the meaning of its most basic principle?
|
Aug 28, 2024 |
|
Coleman Hughes, “colourblindness”, and the contentious politics of race
|
Aug 21, 2024 |
|
“We live in a society!”: Seinfeld’s “Bizarro” comedy of morals
|
Aug 14, 2024 |
|
“I don’t want to join any club that would have me as a member”: How funny is irony meant to be?
|
Aug 07, 2024 |
|
“Time now for just a bit of fun”: Shaun Micallef on the importance of being silly
|
Jul 31, 2024 |
|
“And now for something completely different”: Why do surprises provoke laughter?
|
Jul 24, 2024 |
|
Political violence — why is it so corrosive to democratic life?
|
Jul 17, 2024 |
|
“There’s a crack in everything”: Richard Fidler on the art of absurdity
|
Jul 10, 2024 |
|
In a bespoke and individualistic age, are we losing a sense of “the common”?
|
Jul 03, 2024 |
|
Beatlemania at 60: Why was the band so popular before they were even great?
|
Jun 26, 2024 |
|
Right verdict, wrong case? The political dangers of Trump’s felony conviction
|
Jun 19, 2024 |
|
Is the rise of the far right in Europe inevitable? It’s complicated
|
Jun 12, 2024 |
|
Is it wrong to "rank" works of art?
|
Jun 05, 2024 |
|
Is international law powerless in the face of conflicts like Gaza?
|
May 29, 2024 |
|
If chatbots are polluting the commons of human communication, what are the moral consequences?
|
May 22, 2024 |
|
What are the ethical, and legal, limits of protests at Australian universities?
|
May 15, 2024 |
|
The decency of everyday life — are unwritten rules enough to sustain a good society?
|
May 08, 2024 |
|
What will endure? The ethics of “Groundhog Day”
|
May 01, 2024 |
|
After the stabbings in Sydney — Grief? Anger? Revenge?
|
Apr 24, 2024 |
|
What’s fueling the tension between the courts and the media?
|
Apr 17, 2024 |
|
What would the moral obligation to avoid civilian deaths look like in Gaza?
|
Apr 10, 2024 |
|
Ramadan — the rediscovery of society
|
Apr 03, 2024 |
|
Ramadan — the importance of friendship
|
Mar 27, 2024 |
|
Ramadan — the discipline of solitude
|
Mar 20, 2024 |
|
Ramadan — the necessity of withdrawing
|
Mar 13, 2024 |
|
Q+A on “the wisdom of crowds”
|
Mar 06, 2024 |
|
How much credence should we give to “the wisdom of crowds”?
|
Feb 28, 2024 |
|
When is it right to call some act – or someone – “evil”?
|
Feb 21, 2024 |
|
From Beyoncé to Taylor Swift — what’s behind the mass appeal of live music events?
|
Feb 14, 2024 |
|
What is the harm in “deepfakes” — and what are they doing to democracy?
|
Feb 07, 2024 |
|
How can trust be cultivated in a time of pervasive suspicion?
|
Jan 31, 2024 |
|
What do we lose by succumbing to conspiracy-mindedness?
|
Jan 24, 2024 |
|
In a screen saturated age, is literacy under threat?
|
Jan 17, 2024 |
|
What do we lose when we lose the capacity for boredom?
|
Jan 10, 2024 |
|
Goya’s “Saturn” and its moral challenge
|
Jan 03, 2024 |
|
Politics, farce ... and Fawlty Towers
|
Dec 27, 2023 |
|
What are playlists doing to our ability to listen to music?
|
Dec 20, 2023 |
|
Dickens’s philosophy of generosity: Revisiting “A Christmas Carol”, 180 years on
|
Dec 13, 2023 |
|
How much should we expect from the state?
|
Dec 06, 2023 |
|
Should drivers of electric vehicles be taxed more to use the roads?
|
Nov 29, 2023 |
|
What is social cohesion, what cultivates it, and what undermines it?
|
Nov 22, 2023 |
|
What is the moral case for a ceasefire in Gaza?
|
Nov 15, 2023 |
|
What’s behind the anger? On Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Own”
|
Nov 08, 2023 |
|
Do we know what the result of the Voice referendum means?
|
Nov 01, 2023 |
|
Is it time to reconsider Australia’s bipartisan commitment to “stopping the boats”?
|
Oct 25, 2023 |
|
Some deaths matter more to us than others — but should they?
|
Oct 18, 2023 |
|
Can young people stay politically engaged without becoming disillusioned with democracy?
|
Oct 11, 2023 |
|
Travel is bad for the climate — but what if it’s also bad for us?
|
Oct 04, 2023 |
|
What’s the point of blame? When is it right to forgive?
|
Sep 27, 2023 |
|
Can democracy withstand the strategic use of online confusion?
|
Sep 20, 2023 |
|
In a critical age, are we losing the ability to say why we love what we love?
|
Sep 13, 2023 |
|
Facing the darkness: The moral challenge of Goya’s “Saturn devouring his son” (1823)
|
Sep 06, 2023 |
|
When is a referendum an unethical way of resolving a political question?
|
Aug 30, 2023 |
|
Should climate change make us rethink the ethics of nuclear energy?
|
Aug 23, 2023 |
|
1 May 1956: Was Elizabeth Anscombe right to charge Harry Truman with murder?
|
Aug 16, 2023 |
|
8 September 1974: Was Gerald Ford right to pardon Richard Nixon?
|
Aug 09, 2023 |
|
Is there any benefit to boredom?
|
Aug 02, 2023 |
|
Does AI pose a threat to human life — and if so, what kind?
|
Jul 26, 2023 |
|
Are cluster munitions a “lesser evil” in the war in Ukraine?
|
Jul 19, 2023 |
|
Why do we distance ourselves from our age?
|
Jul 12, 2023 |
|
What does it take to address a “wicked problem” like political corruption?
|
Jul 05, 2023 |
|
What are playlists doing to our ability to listen to music?
|
Jun 28, 2023 |
|
How to respond responsibly to the “cost of living crisis”?
|
Jun 21, 2023 |
|
Does the Voice to Parliament undermine Australia’s political traditions?
|
Jun 14, 2023 |
|
“Succession” — from tyranny to tragedy
|
Jun 07, 2023 |
|
Are Labor’s “stage three” tax cuts unjust and unethical?
|
May 31, 2023 |
|
Is Stan Grant’s decision the result of a broken media?
|
May 24, 2023 |
|
What is the human cost of success? Revisiting HBO’s Succession
|
May 17, 2023 |
|
What is the phenomenon of “bigness” doing to human agency?
|
May 10, 2023 |
|
Is loneliness a problem that can be solved?
|
May 03, 2023 |
|
Martial virtues, military conditioning, and moral damage
|
Apr 26, 2023 |
|
“An eye that cannot weep” — What does compassion demand of us?
|
Apr 19, 2023 |
|
“Knowledge that does not benefit” — On the uses and abuses of information
|
Apr 12, 2023 |
|
“A soul that will not be satisfied” — The problem of human restlessness
|
Apr 05, 2023 |
|
“A prayer that is not heard” — The dangers of ego-centric speech
|
Mar 29, 2023 |
|
“A heart that cannot humble itself” — The virtue of intellectual humility
|
Mar 22, 2023 |
|
Should Fawlty Towers’ farcical vision of Britain be “rebooted”?
|
Mar 15, 2023 |
|
What does the failure of Robodebt tell us about the government’s “duty of care”?
|
Mar 08, 2023 |
|
What does it mean to be a moral parent?
|
Mar 01, 2023 |
|
Should early childhood education be compulsory?
|
Feb 22, 2023 |
|
Sports betting: Is it corrupting what it means to be a fan?
|
Feb 15, 2023 |
|
What is generative-AI doing to our capacity to write — and think?
|
Feb 08, 2023 |
|
What does it mean to be “literate” — and is it under threat?
|
Feb 01, 2023 |
|
What’s at stake in this year’s constitutional referendum?
|
Jan 25, 2023 |
|
What’s the point of political comedy?
|
Jan 19, 2023 |
|
The ethics of shame
|
Jan 12, 2023 |
|
Is anger corrosive to the moral life? A conversation with Christos Tsiolkas
|
Jan 05, 2023 |
|
Purification and the Moral Life: Disciplining the Eyes
|
Dec 29, 2022 |
|
The Art of Living: Jane Austen's "Emma"
|
Dec 22, 2022 |
|
Bonus episode: The 2022 Simone Weil Lecture on Human Value
|
Dec 21, 2022 |
|
Should you avoid disagreements this Christmas or welcome them?
|
Dec 15, 2022 |
|
The ethical demands of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (1967)
|
Dec 08, 2022 |
|
Is jealousy a moral emotion, or an immoral one?
|
Dec 01, 2022 |
|
Is fashion remaking our bodies?
|
Nov 24, 2022 |
|
Is civility a moral obligation in a democracy?
|
Nov 17, 2022 |
|
Queen at Live Aid, 1985
|
Nov 10, 2022 |
|
Disruption or continuity: What does climate change demand?
|
Nov 03, 2022 |
|
Sports, sponsorship and solidarity
|
Oct 27, 2022 |
|
What are the moral limits of compromise?
|
Oct 20, 2022 |
|
Can Twitter be reformed, or should it be abandoned?
|
Oct 13, 2022 |
|
Live from the Festival of Dangerous Ideas: Is contempt corroding democracy?
|
Oct 06, 2022 |
|
How should the West respond to the threats of a wounded Putin?
|
Sep 29, 2022 |
|
Can sport teach us anything about the shape of a fair society?
|
Sep 22, 2022 |
|
Was Queen Elizabeth a “political” figure?
|
Sep 15, 2022 |
|
Is nostalgia necessarily a bad thing?
|
Sep 08, 2022 |
|
What do we owe our work?
|
Sep 01, 2022 |
|
How much should we care about Scott Morrison’s “secret ministries”?
|
Aug 25, 2022 |
|
How much polarisation can a democracy withstand?
|
Aug 18, 2022 |
|
The ethics of shame
|
Aug 11, 2022 |
|
Can constitutional recognition be an act of patriotic pride?
|
Aug 04, 2022 |
|
Should voice assistants use the voices of our loved ones?
|
Jul 28, 2022 |
|
What's the point of political "diversity"?
|
Jul 21, 2022 |
|
Does standpoint epistemology undermine democratic politics?
|
Jul 14, 2022 |
|
The Art of Living: Jane Austen's "Emma"
|
Jul 07, 2022 |
|
Persuasion — is it possible, or even desirable?
|
Jun 30, 2022 |
|
Is Julian Assange entitled to a “free speech” defence?
|
Jun 23, 2022 |
|
What’s the point of political comedy?
|
Jun 16, 2022 |
|
What would a First Nations Voice mean for Australia?
|
Jun 09, 2022 |
|
The ethical dilemmas of crowd-funding platforms
|
Jun 02, 2022 |
|
What is the significance of Australia’s federal election?
|
May 26, 2022 |
|
How do you solve a problem like housing affordability?
|
May 19, 2022 |
|
Is it ethical to be ambivalent?
|
May 12, 2022 |
|
Sovereignty, security, and the Solomon Islands
|
May 05, 2022 |
|
Purification and the Moral Life: The Ethics of Hunger and Eating
|
Apr 28, 2022 |
|
Purification and the Moral Life: Disciplining the Eyes
|
Apr 21, 2022 |
|
Purification and the Moral Life: Chastening Speech
|
Apr 14, 2022 |
|
Purification and the Moral Life: Transforming Desire
|
Apr 07, 2022 |
|
Is anger corrosive to the moral life? A conversation with Christos Tsiolkas
|
Mar 31, 2022 |
|
Live from WOMADelaide: Should children get the vote?
|
Mar 24, 2022 |
|
What's at stake in the conflict in Ukraine?
|
Mar 17, 2022 |
|
What’s worse in politics — lying or hypocrisy?
|
Mar 10, 2022 |
|
"Succession" — A Theatre of Cruelty
|
Mar 03, 2022 |
|
Does Australia have a concept of “solidarity”?
|
Feb 24, 2022 |
|
Was the Religious Discrimination Bill destined to fail?
|
Feb 17, 2022 |
|
How essential is compulsory voting to Australia’s democratic culture?
|
Feb 10, 2022 |
|
Are we suffering from too much moral language?
|
Feb 03, 2022 |
|
Novak and Boris — why have they elicited such strong public emotions?
|
Jan 27, 2022 |
|
Why don’t we talk more about class?
|
Jan 20, 2022 |
|
What are we doing when we "quote"?
|
Jan 13, 2022 |
|
Emojis: Universal language, or harbinger of an age of moral illiteracy?
|
Jan 06, 2022 |
|
Should journalists stay away from social media?
|
Dec 30, 2021 |
|
Is "opinion" doing more harm than good?
|
Dec 23, 2021 |
|
“Prestige television” and the moral life
|
Dec 16, 2021 |
|
Should wealthy nations be procuring booster doses?
|
Dec 09, 2021 |
|
The ethics of “sh*t-stirring”
|
Dec 02, 2021 |
|
Melbourne’s protests — last gasp or harbinger of things to come?
|
Nov 25, 2021 |
|
The ethics of political U-turns
|
Nov 18, 2021 |
|
Why don’t we talk more about class?
|
Nov 11, 2021 |
|
Should we enjoy sports that ruin athletes' lives?
|
Nov 04, 2021 |
|
What are we doing when we “quote”?
|
Oct 28, 2021 |
|
How much should we care about climate change?
|
Oct 21, 2021 |
|
Persuasion — is it possible, or even desirable?
|
Oct 14, 2021 |
|
Has the pandemic shown the unassailability of utilitarianism — or its inherent limitations?
|
Oct 07, 2021 |
|
Has democratic politics become too contemptuous of everyday life?
|
Sep 30, 2021 |
|
Should we avoid humiliating the unvaccinated?
|
Sep 23, 2021 |
|
From Abu Ghraib to Nakhon Sawan — why does torture persist?
|
Sep 16, 2021 |
|
Australian politics – is the divide geographical, not ideological?
|
Sep 09, 2021 |
|
Should journalists stay away from social media?
|
Sep 02, 2021 |
|
Was US failure in Afghanistan inevitable?
|
Aug 26, 2021 |
|
The ethics of dobbing
|
Aug 19, 2021 |
|
How much dissent is permissible in a public health emergency?
|
Aug 12, 2021 |
|
Can national shame lead to political change?
|
Aug 05, 2021 |
|
The ethics of space tourism
|
Jul 29, 2021 |
|
Myanmar — what are the limits of political violence?
|
Jul 22, 2021 |
|
Is COVID-19 bringing the worst out of Australian politics?
|
Jul 15, 2021 |
|
Is nihilism compatible with the moral life?
|
Jul 08, 2021 |
|
Has justice been done to George Floyd?
|
Jul 01, 2021 |
|
What's so bad about laughter?
|
Jun 24, 2021 |
|
What are we doing when we make promises?
|
Jun 17, 2021 |
|
Are there ethical limits to vaccination incentives?
|
Jun 10, 2021 |
|
Aged care: How do we honour our obligations to the elderly?
|
Jun 03, 2021 |
|
Is it ever OK to abandon your team?
|
May 27, 2021 |
|
What are the conditions of co-existence in Israel-Palestine?
|
May 20, 2021 |
|
Fatigue – the emotional cost of the moral life?
|
May 13, 2021 |
|
Neglected Practices: Solitude
|
May 06, 2021 |
|
Neglected Practices: Fasting
|
Apr 29, 2021 |
|
Neglected Practices: Not-Knowing
|
Apr 22, 2021 |
|
Neglected Practices: Attentiveness
|
Apr 15, 2021 |
|
What should become of the office?
|
Apr 08, 2021 |
|
Can politics bring about the change women are demanding?
|
Apr 01, 2021 |
|
Has COVID-19 undermined our commitment to civility?
|
Mar 25, 2021 |
|
Does climate change challenge our concept of moral responsibility?
|
Mar 18, 2021 |
|
What “justice” can an independent inquiry deliver?
|
Mar 11, 2021 |
|
Emojis: Universal language, or harbinger of an age of moral illiteracy?
|
Mar 04, 2021 |
|
Facebook and the news: should the divorce be permanent?
|
Feb 25, 2021 |
|
What can our experience of art tell us about the moral life?
|
Feb 18, 2021 |
|
What democracy needs to survive
|
Feb 11, 2021 |
|
Is “opinion” doing more harm than good?
|
Feb 04, 2021 |
|
Was Twitter right to suspend Trump?
|
Jan 28, 2021 |
|
Is "cancel culture" really constricting free speech?
|
Jan 20, 2021 |
|
What is AI doing to the moral life?
|
Jan 13, 2021 |
|
After the fires, are we invited to moral community with trees?
|
Jan 06, 2021 |
|
Ordinary vices: Impatience
|
Dec 30, 2020 |