Tolerance.ca
Director / Editor: Victor Teboul, Ph.D.
Looking inside ourselves and out at the world
Independent and neutral with regard to all political and religious orientations, Tolerance.ca® aims to promote awareness of the major democratic principles on which tolerance is based.
Human Rights Observatory
Smouldering myeloma: Lauren Laverne’s diagnosis explained
By Justin Stebbing, Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University
Lauren Laverne’s diagnosis has put smouldering myeloma in the spotlight – a blood condition doctors watch closely but don’t rush to treat.The Conversation (Full Story)
When a teenager makes the ‘stupid choice’, their brain is working exactly as designed
By Evelyn Svingen, Associate Professor in Criminology, University of Birmingham
If a young person trusts the system to deliver a just outcome, their brain’s urgent need for retribution is dialled down.The Conversation (Full Story)
Sold as brides, lost at sea: The trafficking of stateless Rohingya girls
By Zulker Naeen
Marriage has become a migration route for Rohingya refugee girls, as brokers exploit families’ hopes of overseas grooms, turning promised reunions into trafficking journeys driven by deception, coercion, and profit. (Full Story)
We set 10,000 traps in search of a rare native mouse. Here’s what we found
By Meg Edwards, Senior Lecturer in Wildlife Science, University of Southern Queensland
Abby Dennien, PhD Candidate, Wildlife Ecology, University of Southern Queensland
It’s 5am when we crawl out of our tents.

The catbirds are calling and the night sky is fading to dawn, as we prepare to head into the bush. We’re surrounded by the towering eucalypts of southeast Queensland in search of a small, native mouse called the pookila.

Also known as the New Holland mouse (Pseudomys novaehollandiae), the pookila is about the size of a small chocolate bar, weighing less than 20 grams. These mice spend their nights foraging…The Conversation (Full Story)
Homer’s Odysseus was never a perfect hero. Christopher Nolan’s film understands this
By Seth Robinson, Lecturer in Creative Practice and Public Humanities, The University of Melbourne
Homer’s The Odyssey has long been held up as a powerful example of “the hero’s journey” – a narrative structure that has dominated storytelling for millennia.

The epic poem follows the story of Odysseus, a hero celebrated for his intelligence, determination and cunning, while also being deceitful, hubristic and, at times, murderous. He is a flawed hero; one we might even view as problematic in a modern context.

Today, the hero’s journey appears across popular texts, films and media franchises,…The Conversation (Full Story)
Why engagement with Myanmar’s junta is risky without proof of life for Aung San Suu Kyi
By Htwe Htwe Thein, Associate Professor in International Management, Curtin University
Southeast Asian leaders say direct diplomacy with Myanmar is the only way to end the five-year civil war. Opponents of the military regime aren’t convinced.The Conversation (Full Story)
What boom in international students? The total number living in Australia is lower than before the pandemic
By Peter Hurley, Associate Professor and Director, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University
Melinda Hildebrandt, Education Policy Fellow, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University
Sarah Pilcher, Director, Peter Noonan Policy Impact Program, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University
The most recent data shows the total number of international students living in Australia is slightly lower than what it was before lockdowns.The Conversation (Full Story)
How was the first language formed?
By Eloise Stevens, Host, The Conversation's Curious Kids podcast, The Conversation
Gemma Ware, Head of Audio, The Conversation UK, The Conversation
Nine-year-old Eva was watching an episode of the children’s show Horrible Histories about the stone age recently when a question popped into her head. The cave men were speaking a broken form of English, but Eva thought that didn’t sound right and she wondered: how was the first language formed?

She joined our host Eloise to get some answers from anthropologist April Nowell on The Conversation’s Curious Kids podcast.