I'm in two minds about cancelling New Year's events at Bondi Beach. We can't just glibly celebrate as if nothing happened. But it's also an opportunity to frame it as an act of defiance: 'Take back Bondi Beach'. Reclaim it as a place of peace and joy, not terror.

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Horrific news coming out of Bondi. Hoping everyone is safe.

Every person, regardless of faith, culture, politics or identity, deserves to feel safe in Australia.

Now, more than ever, we need to reach out to others and connect over our common humanity, regardless of our differences.

This Reddit thread in which cave men explain economic principles affecting monetary policy is the best thing I've read all day www.reddit.com/r/AskEconomi...

The apps and websites I use seem to constantly make small changes to appearance and functionality. Just when I normalise one change, it's disrupted.
I recently realised how emotionally destabilising this can be. How it contributes to the feeling of a world in constant flux.
Or is it just me?

Genuine question: What's more important in creating a better world: social or economic justice?

If you had to pick one to throw your energy into, which would it be?

In a highly polarised world, when should we talk it over, and when should we fight?

For my Melbourne-based friends, I'll be hosting a conversation on the limits of civility on 19 March with the amazing Dr Karen Jones. I'd love to see you there!

sophiaclub.co/event/the-li...

If you can't bend a system to your will, break it. Then step in to remake it to benefit yourself. Call it chasing "deregulation" or "efficiency" and it might just work.

Why is religious morality obsessed with sex? And why it is equally obsessed with regulating what people can (and can't) wear?

To find out, listen in to this conversation I had on God Forbid on ABC radio about religion, nudity and sex.

www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

Are we at an historical inflection point? Perhaps one tilting away from liberalism towards something more autocratic/oligarchic? Sure feels like it. But we probably won't know until a it's a decade too late.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Amongst the absurdity of Trump's openly expansionist remarks re Greenland, Canada and Panama - we're forgetting that this is actually the norm for powerful states over the course of human history.
It's been an anomaly to have an undisputed world power that *hasn't* sought expansion.

Morality isn't black and white. It's a toolkit that evolves and adapts to the way we live. And we need to adapt fast!

At least, that's what I argue in this rich conversation I had with Courtney Boag at Anthrōprospective. You can watch here:
anthroprospective.com/In-Conversat...

Is it ever justified to kill the CEO of a company that is causing vast amounts of harm to vulnerable people?

Had a great chat with Josh Szeps about just this on the latest Uncomfortable Conversations podcast uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/p/the-case-f...

Insightful piece by Alexandre Lefebvre on how liberalism should respond to the drubbings it's received in recent elections.

His service: "keep striving for a country built for everyone, and don’t talk down to those who think differently."

www.abc.net.au/religion/ale...

Today we're launching an ambitious campaign to ask the govt to fund the creation of a new independent Australian Institute of Applied Ethics.

If you care about ethics, integrity and building trust, all you need to do is pledge your support via the link below.

ethicsinstitute.au

Name a problem - climate change, inequality, affordable housing, mental health, etc - we already know how to solve them. We are bursting with solutions.

So ask yourself: why they are still unsolved? Then ask: who is blocking the solutions?

The only real problem left to solve is power.

One of the phrases I most dread seeing: "please join the discord to follow this project".

Discord has a role for ephemeral communications, like instant messaging and VoIP. It's incredibly poorly suited for more lasting content, like updates, patches, tech support. Yet it's taking them over.

I'm genuinely interested in what is truly motivating people to vote No in the Voice referendum. Problem is, most reasons I've seen smack of being post-hoc justifications for some deeper unrevealed motivations to vote No.

Anyone have concrete insights or sources regarding these deeper motivations?

Are trigger warnings different in kind to content warnings (PG, R, etc), or only applied in different contexts?