Does Australia have a moral obligation to do more to help Afghanis? It’s unclear how many of the 38-million people of Afghanistan face insecurity, food shortages, service failures and other hardships. Canada has promised 20 000 refugee visas, six times Australia’s initial allocation.

Marc Lewis took every drug imaginable over a 15-year period. He knows drugs can make you feel good, and he experienced the desperate lows of addiction. He's been drug free for over 30 years and is now a neuroscientist. So, what do the drugs he took actually do to your brain?  How is the brain responsible for addiction?

Marc Lewis took every drug imaginable over a 15-year period. He knows drugs can make you feel good, and he experienced the desperate lows of addiction. He's been drug free for over 30 years and is now a neuroscientist. So, what do the drugs he took actually do to your brain?  How is the brain responsible for addiction?

Surgeon Anand Deva saw so many patients with tardily treated skin cancers or chronic wounds that he began trying to change the system. He created clinics where people can access all of their treatment providers on the same day in the same place. It’s called integrated care. And along with genomics and big data, it could be part of Future medicine.

Iran is often synonymous with rogue behaviour on the world stage, but there is also another, rarely seen side to this nation. Iranian American journalist Tara Kangarloub is telling the people’s story, showing what life in Iran is really like – beyond the many times hostile headlines in the mainstream media and optics of foreign policy.

Australian governments have spent billions of dollars fighting gendered violence. But the grim statistic persists – on average one woman is killed by an intimate partner every week. How many people understand violence sits on a continuum that can start with rigid stereotypes and sexist jokes? How can campaigns against gendered violence be more effective?

Words matter, and they have power. If they didn’t, writers and poets wouldn’t be persecuted and imprisoned for what they had written. Around the world, citizens are banned from saying and writing certain things. And we can all think of well-chosen, or well-written, words that have helped inspire and liberate people. Paul Barclay speaks with three prominent Australian writers.

There are around 7000 languages in the world. But about half of them are endangered or nearly extinct. Some languages are spoken only by a handful of people. Like Ongota in Ethopia or Lemerig on Vanuatu. Losing a language also means losing cultural heritage. Find out on Big Ideas, how languages can be revitalised and why historically, there has been a focus on the decline rather than the future of minoritised languages.

The recent AUKUS security pact reaffirms Australia’s long held commitment to the United States. They’ve been in a formal alliance since 1951. On the 70th anniversary of the countries’ first Treaty - ANZUS - former Prime Ministers John Howard and Julia Gillard explained why they support it.

Many of us spend years building up our skills and climbing the career ladder. When we earn more money, does it make us happier? Perhaps the ancient Greeks were right – living a virtuous life is the key to feeling good. What about positive thinking and gratitude, do they work?