The right to vote is likely the most important right and means for change in a democracy. But the electoral process in the US puts up obstacles that make it hard for minority groups to cast their vote: increased paperwork and cost or absurd ID requirements. Stacey Abrams calls for robust voter protections in the US, an elevation of identity politics and engagement in the census.

The fashion industry thrives on consumers wanting to buy new clothes but the manufacture and disposal of clothes places a big toll on the environment. What does it take to make fashion more sustainable? And the positives and negatives of living through this pandemic. Shopping, learning and working from home has its benefits and drawbacks and these experiences will shape our post-Covid world.

We need our economy and lifestyle to be sustainable but sustainability is a contested idea and it's hard for people to change. Rather than waiting for governments to mandate the changes business and local communities are taking the initiative. It requires action at all levels to reach our climate change targets. The pandemic is a crisis but also an opportunity to prioritize sustainability as we rebuild the economy. It's also a time to nurture our ability to respond to the unexpected.

The United States has become a divided country. Racial conflict, income inequality, hyper-partisan politics, and a narcissistic social media culture, now characterise contemporary America, according to author and journalist, Nick Bryant.

How will the global economy recover from this pandemic? Developed countries are scrambling to shore up their economies. So will the environment and developing nations be the losers? Economist Jeffrey Sachs is an advocate for the UN Sustainable Development Goals and head of the Lancet Commission on Covid. He says the pace of the recovery depends on the development of a vaccine and a change to the divisive and fractured nature of global politics.

The COVID-19 crisis has seen international student enrolment at Australian universities plummeting. But international students inject between $30 and 40 billion into our economy. While that loss is not only felt in the educational sector, many universities are not facing drastic cut-backs. International teaching experts consider the necessary provision of quality education and appropriate health and other support systems to bring back international students – even if it’s only online.

Euthanising animals is always a very difficult decision. It’s not even clear cut when your pet is sick: How much treatment is justified? But it gets worse when it comes to ‘performance animals’ for example racing horses and greyhounds or wildlife. How do we navigate through the ethics in this space and the potential conflicts of interest? 

What would happen if we could understand what animals were saying? Harnessing both the surreal and the serious, three authors pose inventive and urgent questions about our place in the world and what it means to be human.

Who hasn't thought the world has gotten faster, noisier, busier, more digitally demanding, and more stressful?  Writer and journalist, Christine Jackman, was a frantically busy communications executive who realised she needed to try and slow down, seek silence, and live a better, calmer life

Political analyst George Friedman looks to the United States’ past to illuminate its present – and predict its future. He tracks the cycles of crisis, order and reinvention of the country and identifies changes to the size and scope of the federal government, the future of marriage and the social contract, shifts in corporate structures, and new cultural trends.

We’re blessed with good quality food in Australia and we’re spoiled for choice . Many people in the world aren’t so lucky. But the environment pays a big price for what we put on our plates. So how can we feed the world and save the environment?

And how can we demand more green space in our cities so we can be closer to nature?