By Catherine Greenwood, Lecturer in Digital Marketing, University of Lancashire
This summer, social media was filled with posts declaring that almost anything was “kinda chic”. Repeating outfits was kinda chic. Being overdressed was kinda chic. Doing something unfashionable could, apparently, also be kinda chic.
But can you remember the content of many individual “kinda chic” posts now? Probably not. What is much easier to remember is the format itself: the language, the rhythm, the way an ordinary behaviour or object was reframed…
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By Jonquil Lowe, Visiting Academic, The Open University
The UK’s pension triple lock has only been in place for 15 years. But it’s done the job it was brought in to do, and now it should be scrapped.
So the prime minister is right to want to change it. Because while it’s been widely treated as politically untouchable, the triple lock is very expensive.
That’s not to say it was unnecessary.
At the time that it was introduced in 2011 (by the Conservative-led coalition) to address the problem of pensioner poverty, the state pension was equivalent to only a sixth…
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By Mikaela Kassar, PhD Student in English, McGill University
Phoebe Friesen, Assistant Professor, Biomedical Ethics, McGill University
The controversy over the misuse of Jordan’s Principle has been used to justify cuts to services, when the real problem is a deep, systemic gap in services for First Nations children.
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By Noah Eliot Vanderhoeven, PhD, Political Science, Western University
Polymarket, a U.S.-based prediction-market website, is taking wagers on who will be London, Ont.’s next mayor. There are also markets for Toronto, Windsor and even Stratford.
The past two years have seen commercial prediction markets move from a niche forecasting tool into mainstream finance, allowing users to buy and sell contracts tied to the outcomes of real-world events ranging from elections to economic indicators.
A 2024…
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By Stephen Bartos, Professor of Economics, University of Canberra
John Hawkins, Senior lecturer, Canberra School of Government, University of Canberra
When the federal government released its final budget figures for 2025–26 this week, it prompted a flurry of front-page articles in the conservative press arguing for lower taxes.
The budget figures showed tax revenue in 2025–26 was equivalent to 24.1% of the economy, above the May budget forecast of 23.6%.
Whether we pay too much…
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By Raffaele F Ciriello, Senior Lecturer in Business Information Systems, University of Sydney
Henry Fraser, Law Lecturer, Queensland University of Technology
Kathryn Backholer, Co-Director, Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition, Deakin University
Big AI companies may already know much more about you than you’re comfortable with, even if you’ve never used their services.
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By Bethany Kiss, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Science, The University of Melbourne
Jacinta Humphrey, Senior Research Fellow in Urban Ecology, The University of Melbourne
Sarah Bekessy, Professor, Urban Ecology and Biodiversity, The University of Melbourne; RMIT University
Birds are ingenious when it comes to foraging for nest materials, but in the Anthropocene, this often comes at a cost. Giving them better options is one solution.
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By Sascha Morrell, Lecturer in Literary Studies, Monash University
The rebellious teen narrating J.D. Salinger’s classic novel of arrested development still speaks to us. But should we be listening?
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By Sarah Hellewell, Senior Research Fellow, The Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science, and Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University
Are you logical, detail-oriented or good with numbers? You must be “left-brained”.
Creative, artistic and intuitive? You must be “right-brained”.
Personality quizzes and career advice passed down through generations have many of us thinking we’re powered by one side of our brain that dominates our thinking style and explains our personality.
But is this the truth or fiction? And how did this idea come about?
To find out, we need to go back more than 150 years.
Back to the 19th century
The science behind this idea goes all the…
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By Vaeno Wayne Vigulu, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, Solomon Islands National University
Richard Levy, General Manager Atmosphere and Climate, Earth Sciences New Zealand
Tim Naish, Professor in Earth Sciences, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
Pacific leaders are seeking support for regional climate-finance options that give communities better access and stronger input into global decision making.
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