Over the previous week the Australian Federal Government has gone from banning 9,000 Australians from returning from India, because of the COVID-19 situation there, to planning for repatriation flights from India (beginning in mid-May). They have gone from an entirely inappropriate response to a crisis to a barely acceptable response as a consequence of social […]

Why so many voters are becoming disillusioned with democracy is an important question that requires a comprehensive and cohesive answer. When I noticed that Anne Applebaum and Ian Bremmer had recorded a conversation about disillusioned voters and contemporary authoritarianism, I was very interested to hear what they had to say. Within their wide-ranging conversation they […]

I just listened to The Signal’s episode on Australia’s COVID-19 vaccination programme. The Australian media has been discussing the slow rate of our rollout for days, and this episode of The Signal was the most concise and cohesive explanation I have heard so far. By the standards of Australian media, The Signal is always thoughtful, […]

In a recent episode of the Finding Genius podcast, Richard Jacobs and I discussed what might happen next in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. I began from the position that the global vaccination program won’t be perfect, but will gradually get the job done, and that drug companies will be able to update their COVID-19 […]

Finding Genius Podcast www.findinggeniuspodcast.com/podcasts/a-unique-perspective-on-respon ses-to-and-consequences-of-covid-19-around-the-world/ How have governments around the world differed in their responses to COVID-19? How have various countries been impacted by the lockdowns? Tune in for the answers, and to learn: . How “building citizens to build a nation” has become less practiced in countries around the world, and how this might […]

During the final fifteen minutes of the Clean Recovery Forum in Adelaide, the audience and panellists engaged in an important discussion about what citizens in a democracy need to do to get the outcomes society prefers. The classic line from Joseph de Maistre was mentioned, “every nation gets the government it deserves,” and then the […]

In late January I was speaking to one of my former students who is three years into her post-university life. We were catching up on what we have both been doing and the conversation was bubbling along in the normal way it tends to with my former students: a relaxed combination of friendly banter and […]

On the morning of February 18th 2021, the Australian people woke up to find that no Australian news content can be posted or shared in their Facebook news feeds. Tim and I decided to make a little video about the opportunity this gives everyone to take responsibility for their news intake. Listen and subscribe to […]

We recently recorded an episode of Blind Insights about David Graeber’s book, Bullshit Jobs, with returning guest Jessica Freund. If you already know what a Bullshit Job is and are intending to read the book, then definitely skip chapters 3 to 5, as they are unnecessarily repetitive. What Graeber has to say about where Bullshit […]

I was pleased to be a returning guest with Richard Jacobs on the Finding Genius Podcast. We discussed the professionalisation of modern militaries, the difference between tactical and strategic ability, the need for cognitive adaptability, the changing nature of war, the difficulty of balancing ethics and effectiveness in combat, and the implications of winning in […]