Despite its association with totalitarian societies of the left and right, indoctrination is also a common feature of societies that describe themselves as free: those where the coercive powers of the…
Most people associate Cabramatta with crime and drug dealing, but the reality is much has changed since the 1990s.
AAP
In a world of 24/7 news cycles and prejudice masquerading as insight, it is often very difficult to communicate the deeper analyses based on social science research.
Surprising then that a program based…
Celebrities Jay-Z and Beyonce called their newborn child Blue Ivy. But can the rest of us get away with less orthodox names?
AAP
American rock band Modest Mouse’s song Black Cadillacs (2004) has a particularly wonderful opening:
And it’s true we named our children /
After towns that we’ve never been to
Inside a song filled with…
Curtis Stone and Normie Rowe in a Coles ad that has attracted the ire of a fake Chopper Read.
It is a very 21st century story. A Twitter account purporting to be that of noted Australian criminal Mark Brandon “Chopper” Read takes offence to an ad featuring ageing singer Normie Rowe and uses his…
Australians willingly helped their neighbours when it was needed during the Queensland floods of 2011.
Flickr/RaeAllen
Neighbours are a source of growing aggravation in Australia and we are lodging more official complaints about each other than ever before. Excessive noise or odour, inadequate levels of property maintenance…
Australian actor Hugh Jackman is the subject of persistent speculation about his sexuality.
AAP/Tracy Neary
Straights, gays, and those vacillating somewhere on the periphery, have equally demonstrated a penchant for the game. Sitting back, stroking one’s chin and speculating on sexuality. Who’s gay? Who’s confused…
The upcoming SBS documentary Scarlet Road follows sex worker Rachel Wotton and her relationships with her disabled clients.
Health care, fair trials and education are things we readily accept as human rights.
Unlike fresh air and food, we can actually live without school or a due process trial for a whole lot longer than without…
"Hipsters" are mocked at the moment, but do we even know who they really are?
Wikimedia Commons/Jack Newton
The term “hipster” has become increasingly prominent in Australia’s urban lexicon this year. Even the Sydney Morning Herald has caught on, writing about “Hipster Housing”, featuring a young bespectacled…
Being unable to afford one substantial meal a day and pay for home insurance are indicators of poverty.
Flickr/27147
Poverty is about more than just a lack of income. Those who experience it face unacceptable restrictions on their material and social wellbeing. Research can no longer focus on defining a poverty line…
Women should be allowed to have fun, without the media judging them.
AAP/Jack Tran
Wilding, a word seldom used outside of sociology, describes compounded acts of immorality. Of teenagers, apparently, running amok. In packs usually, with rage and ribaldry in their eyes.
I was thinking…
