The Empress Dowager, Cixi, led China for the best part of 50 years, from 1861 till her death in 1908, modernising the then medieval country. She did so at a time when women had no formal mandate to rule. While Cixi was capable of ruthlessness, writer, Jung Chang says the last hundred years have been most unfair to her. Jung Chang discusses Cixi, modern China and her relationship to her homeland.

Ginger Meggs – he is an Australian celebrity. Famous in over 30 countries and entertaining adults and children alike for 100 years now. The cartoon character Ginger Meggs started out as a newspaper strip. But now he has an Instagram account, lives on merchandises and even got a movie. One 

has to go with the times, right. Especially, if you want to draw attention for another century.

What can be done about the deepening divisions in society? Individualism is increasing, as is the gap between rich and poor. And, the emphasis on self-made success can further alienate the disadvantaged.

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.