The Big Q
Questions - Ideas - Scholarship - DebatesProject for Public Interest Media
Politics & Society
How can we rethink ‘race’ in Aotearoa?
A new column from Dame Anne Salmond challenges the legalistic, one side up against the other approach to race relations and the Treaty of Waitangi of the past 40 years.
How should we remember the Korean War?
Stephen Hoadley cautions New Zealanders to take into account the security risks – and the economic opportunities – presented by the fragile inter-Korean armistice, and to be aware of the shifting power balances of the East Asian region.
How did the U.S. gamble with peaceful nuclear technology in a world of growing nuclear arsenals? 🔊
Following the development of the atomic bomb and its use against Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the United States was confronted about the concerns of the development of nuclear weaponry. But the technology also presumably held peaceful uses ranging from the use of nuclear power for electricity, as well as broad issues from medical research to other commercial uses.
What is the future of the filibuster in U.S. politics? 🔊
The U.S. Senate is a unique legislative body in that it often requires a supermajority of sixty votes in favour of a legislation for a bill to pass. This is due to an historic institution called the filibuster. But the filibuster is not exactly like we think.
How serious is the threat of cyberattacks?
Calling out China for cyberattacks is risky — but a lawless digital world is even riskier.
What is critical race theory? 🔊
In the last six months, several U.S. states have barred the teaching of critical race theory in schools. Critics suggest this campaign is to eliminate discussions of race in classrooms, while others suggest that critical race theory is poorly understood.
Science & Technology
How serious is the threat of cyberattacks?
Calling out China for cyberattacks is risky — but a lawless digital world is even riskier.
What’s the right COVID-19 risk to live with?
As Australia looks toward opening its international borders, new virus modelling provides scenarios that can help us decide what’s the right risk to tolerate.
Why do we have Zoom fatigue and what can we do about it?
Why is it that after studying, working, entertaining and socialising at the computer screen or looking at texts, Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok and responding to notifications on the cellphone, we often feel exhausted (Zoom fatigue) and experience neck, back and shoulder discomfort, or eye irritation?
What can we do about climate change? Here are five ways to tackle the biodiversity and climate change crises simultaneously
There are options for addressing climate change and biodiversity loss together – so called nature-based solutions – which are solutions to societal challenges that involve working with nature.
How can we clean up space?
Space might be the final frontier, but, like all frontiers it’s strewn with junk. Luckily, Professor Guglielmo Aglietti, director of the Auckland Space Institute has a plan.
Is cyber security a people problem?
In an age where personal information is the new oil, chief privacy officers in companies should be as important as chief financial officers. Gehan Gunasekara explains the human dimension to cyber vulnerabilities – and how we can keep safe.
Business & Economics
Taxing the digital economy: what changes can be made? ▶
In this lecture, Craig Elliffe explains the problems with the existing international tax system and its inability to respond to challenges posed by digitalised companies.
What is the dark side of tourism?
We all know Covid-19 has had a major impact on tourism. Professor Andreas Neef says it’s a good time to have a rethink about the type of tourism the world needs.
Will an international tax on tech giants be enough?
Australia and New Zealand are signing up for an international tax on the tech giants — but will it be enough?
How can we increase electric vehicle usage?
Wireless charging stations set in the pavement for vehicles to park over are closer than you think, for both cars and heavy transport vehicles.
Will sustainable cities look like the places we know today?
A sustainable city could look like the ones we know today. It could look like the ones we see in science fiction movies, or it could look like something which none of us has yet dreamt.
Are banks days numbered?
The growth of crypto is confounding critics and forcing central banks like New Zealand’s Reserve Bank to investigate their own digital currencies.
Arts & Culture
How can we rethink ‘race’ in Aotearoa?
A new column from Dame Anne Salmond challenges the legalistic, one side up against the other approach to race relations and the Treaty of Waitangi of the past 40 years.
Is it time Pākehā New Zealanders faced their personal connections to the past?
“It is a long since time we Pākehā confronted the unsettled history of the place in which the “team of five million” lives. Time we were honest with ourselves. Time we ended the forgetting.”
How did the U.S. gamble with peaceful nuclear technology in a world of growing nuclear arsenals? 🔊
Following the development of the atomic bomb and its use against Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the United States was confronted about the concerns of the development of nuclear weaponry. But the technology also presumably held peaceful uses ranging from the use of nuclear power for electricity, as well as broad issues from medical research to other commercial uses.
What is the future of Māori-Pakeha relations?
Instead of seeing Māori ways as an either/or with existing thinking about the world and its governance, Dame Anne Salmond argues it’s time to bring them together for new institutional forms of order for Aotearoa-New Zealand.
What is critical race theory? 🔊
In the last six months, several U.S. states have barred the teaching of critical race theory in schools. Critics suggest this campaign is to eliminate discussions of race in classrooms, while others suggest that critical race theory is poorly understood.
How bad was Māori segregation?
Robert Bartholomew says it’s time to educate about a dark chapter of Māori racial segregation. Because while history may not repeat, it speaks to the present.