The Big Q
Questions - Ideas - Scholarship - DebatesProject for Public Interest Media
Politics & Society
When will New Zealand stop honouring this genocidal dictator?
Absent-mindedly paying tribute to murderous Turkish dictator Mustafa Kemal Atatürk is a stain on this country’s integrity. It’s time we did something about it, writes Maria Armoudian.
How did America’s youth get the right to vote?
In an extract from her new book “Let Us Vote: Youth Voting Rights and the 26th Amendment,” Jennifer Frost outlines the path towards youth voting rights in the United States.
Is AUKUS just ANZUS without New Zealand?
ANZUS without NZ? Why the new security pact between Australia, the UK and US might not be all it seems.
Abortion: What is the future of Roe v Wade in the United States? 🔊
Recently, Texas passed a law outlawing abortion after roughly six weeks. The US Supreme Court did not overturn this law, culminating in a series of phases intending to overturn a women’s reproductive right to access an abortion as enshrined in the landmark US Supreme Court case Roe v Wade.
Is surreptitious policing a problem in Aotearoa? ▶
In this talk, Professor Scott Optican examines the criminal justice system’s response to significantly inculpatory evidence generated by surreptitious policing.
What makes a terrorist? ▶
From the power of love shown after the Christchurch terror attacks, to why you should use the story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff to teach children about terrorism, Professor Peter O’Connor explains the intricacies of terrorism like you’ve never heard before.
Science & Technology
How much of the world’s energy comes from fossil fuels and could we replace it all with renewables?
How are fossil fuels formed, why do they release carbon dioxide and how much of the world’s energy do they provide? And what are the renewable energy sources that could replace fossil fuels?
Could fungi help in the development of new antibiotics?
The world is desperate for new antibiotics, and New Zealand’s unique fungi are a source of promising compounds.
How can we sustain Aotearoa’s wildlife? ▶
In this seminar hosted by the University of Auckland Faculty of Science, experts across several disciplines share their knowledge of how we can help sustain Aotearoa’s wildlife into the future.
Is our COVID tracer app data protected enough?
New Zealand is introducing mandatory record keeping to help contact tracers. But is the data protected enough?
Human genome editing – are we ready? ▶
In this talk, Senior Lecturer Hilary Sheppard illustrates how CRISPR can be used to fix disease-causing broken genes in adult cells.
COVID: What should we be doing for Māori and Pacific peoples?
Covid-19 is hitting our Māori and Pacific communities disproportionately hard. So how can we improve clear, targeted messaging on vaccination?
Business & Economics
The future of work and COVID – be wary of the Emperor’s new clothes?
How will New Zealanders ‘work’ in 2040 and beyond? How do we make sense in the present day of the societal, economic and environmental pressures that will impact work in the future?
What does a post-neoliberal future look like?
From taming Big Tech to competing with China, Western governments are abandoning free-market policies.
Covid: why are people so vaccine-hesitant? ▶
As Aotearoa rolls out its Covid vaccine response, although uptake is high, there remains a few who are either vaccine-hesitant or refuse to want the vaccine. Why are people so vaccine-hesitant?
How can we get New Zealanders out of their cars?
To get New Zealanders out of their cars we’ll need to start charging the true cost of driving.
Is COVID causing a rise in digital nomads?
Nomads have historically been seen as a threat, but several countries around the world are now actively seeking to attract this growing digital legion through new remote work visas.
Is TikTok breaching your privacy?
TikTok is hugely popular. But its latest decision to capture unique digital copies of your face and voice is a cybersecurity threat to your identity and privacy.
Arts & Culture
When will New Zealand stop honouring this genocidal dictator?
Absent-mindedly paying tribute to murderous Turkish dictator Mustafa Kemal Atatürk is a stain on this country’s integrity. It’s time we did something about it, writes Maria Armoudian.
The atom splitter: What is Ernest Rutherford’s legacy?
It’s the 150th anniversary of the birth of New Zealand’s most celebrated scientist, Ernest Rutherford. Richard Easther acknowledges the man who brought us the insight that our world is made of atoms.
How did America’s youth get the right to vote?
In an extract from her new book “Let Us Vote: Youth Voting Rights and the 26th Amendment,” Jennifer Frost outlines the path towards youth voting rights in the United States.
ANZUS at 70: What next for the alliance?
Together for decades, the US, Australia and New Zealand now face different challenges from China.
Why did QAnon become so widespread? 🔊
Conspiracy theories have marked American politics throughout the nation’s history. The most recent popular conspiracy centres around a shadowy figure who posts online under the pseudonym Q.
How global was the First World War? ▶
In this public lecture, Professor Maartje Abbenhuis argues for the necessity of integrating the experiences and perspectives of neutral, non-belligerent and subject communities in the history of the First World War, which is still so often cast as ‘Europe’s War’.