Latest Story
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Into the agora
Sara Kells | December 14, 2025Athenians understood that democratic speech was both a right and a responsibility, and that the quality of public life depended on the character of its citizens.
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Where did all the hobbits go?
Nick Scroxton | December 14, 2025A diminutive sub-species of humans nicknamed ‘hobbits’ mysteriously disappeared 50,000 years ago but a new study has revealed that climate changes may have contributed to their extinction.
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How short-form videos harm young minds
Katherine Easton | December 14, 2025Young people can spend hours a day scrolling an endless stream of short form videos on Tik Tok and other platforms, many of which are disguised adverts or AI slop, ruining their attention spans and stealing their childhood to benefit the billionaire moguls running tech platforms which aim only to monopolise attention and ruthlessly monetise it.
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GAP 2025: A Year of Reinvention
Catherine Fritz-Kalish | December 13, 2025Global Access Partners, the publisher of Open Forum, continues to adapt its activities and processes in response to changing circumstances, economic pressures and national priorities.
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AI through the ages
Michael Falk | December 13, 2025Why are investors so keen to give billions to new firms building AI systems which generate next to no revenue? The allure of replacing every human job with a machine is one answer, but another might be the fact that AI is literally a mythical technology with deep roots in Western culture tapping people’s potential power of creation.
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80% of Australian adults support the social media ban
Open Forum | December 13, 2025With Australia’s social media ban coming into force, a new survey from Monash University has found that almost four out of five Australian adults support the Australian government’s social media ban for children under 16.
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Easing the slow grief of dementia
Roger Chao | December 12, 2025The growing burden of dementia in Australia’s ageing population is also borne by those who care for them, and the nation’s army of family caregivers deserves recognition and support as well.
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Australia’s $2.3 billion green boondoggle
Rohan Best | December 12, 2025Australia’s $2.3 billion green energy program is funding oversized batteries and blowing out in cost
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What Robert McNamara learned from the war
Robert Wihtol | December 12, 2025Relying on newly disclosed diaries and letters, and recent interviews, in McNamara at War, Philip and William Taubman paint a fresh picture of this controversial figure, disclosing his professional and personal vulnerabilities. They also provide valuable insights into the lessons that McNamara took away from Vietnam.
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The game blame
Samson Nivins | December 11, 2025Long hours spend playing video games and scrolling social media have both been blamed for lowering the attention spans of young people, but research suggests social media has the most pernicious effect, underlining the value of Australia’s new ban on social media accounts for children.
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Making the most of work meetings
Willem Standaert | December 11, 2025Business meetings reflect an organization’s culture, power dynamics, and implicit priorities and can suppress rather than encourage ideas, but well-run meetings can also become spaces of co-construction, respect, and collective innovation.
