Arts & Culture
Why do people steal art? 🔊
The recent heist at the Green Vault within the Dresden Castle in Germany has been speculated to be one of the largest art heists in history.
What would a merger between TVNZ and RNZ mean for New Zealand’s media landscape? 🔊
The New Zealand Government is considering significant changes to the configuration of public service media in New Zealand. Although there have been no announcements as to what these changes might be, one option is that TVNZ and RNZ might be disestablished in favour of an entirely new public service media entity.
Turning off the lights: Is the government to blame if Mediaworks’ TV3 shuts down?
Is the government to blame if Mediaworks’ TV3 shuts down? Peter Thompson looks into the crisis at the struggling network.
What impact will Twitter’s political ad ban have on democracy? 🔊
Last week, Twitter announced it would ban all political advertising from the 22nd of November. Founder Jack Dorsey says that political reach should be earned not bought.
Q+A: Scars of the past: What is historical memory and how does it change?
How important is historical memory in politics? What can we learn about how our memories of the past are manipulated to change current and future politics? What can we learn from memory entrepreneurs in places like the former Yugoslavia? How did they try to change understandings about the past to influence the future?
Why do we need journalism?
Journalism is facing a profound financial crisis. Around the world, news outlets are closing, and journalists are losing their jobs. Should we be worried?
History Masterclass: Does Australia have a history of populism? 🔊
In this episode of history masterclass, Malcolm Campbell looks at the history of populism in Australia and poses the question of whether Australia has a history of populism.Â
History Masterclass: How can we understand American populism? 🔊
In this episode of history masterclass, Paul Taillon explores American populism through history and how we can understand it in terms of today’s politics.Â
History Masterclass: Who was New Zealand’s first populist government? 🔊
In this episode of history masterclass, Linda Bryder talks about New Zealand’s first populist government, the Liberal Government which served from 1891 to 1912. To date, it is the longest-serving government in New Zealand history.
Spotify killed the CD star: How has streaming impacted the music industry?
Sam Smith explores how the growth in music streaming has impacted the music industry.
Remapping the order of knowing: The idea of ‘Latin America’ revisited ▶
Is ‘Latin America’ part of ‘the West’? Why ask this question and what do these terms mean for understanding the world today? In this lecture, Professor Walter Mignolo will ask what role the Americas played in forming the colonial matrix of power, introduced by Spain and Portugal in the 16th century.
The gospel of kindness: Animal welfare and the making of modern America â–¶
Janet Davis talks about the historical and political significance of animal welfare advocacy and the profound challenges of global animal protection.
Memes, manifestos, murder: fascist radicalisation online, and how we can stop it â–¶
In a talk given at the University of Auckland, Emmi Bevensee talks about her doctoral research into fascist radicalisation online.Â
Taking issue: is social media good or bad for democracy?
We asked three academics to address the question of whether social media is democratising or eroding democracy.
Black Lives Matter, Otherwise all lives do not matter â–¶
In a lecture given at the University of Auckland, Professor Onwubiko Agozino attempts to demonstrates the theory that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. By treating Black Lives as if they do not Matter, the lives of human beings everywhere are threatened and so all should rally in support of Black Lives in the interest of humanity.
Q+A: Believing the ‘unbelievable’: What are conspiracy theories? How do they flourish?
Post-truth. Alternative facts. Fake news. We are living in a world where conspiracy theories are allowed to flourish. With every mass shooting, terrorist attack, and new political policy announcement it seems like a new conspiracy theory will be dreamt up somewhere both on and offline to explain the reasoning behind an event. But what exactly is a conspiracy theory, why do they flourish, and how dangerous are they?
The meme politics of white supremacy: how does fascist radicalisation happen on the internet?
The devastating anti-Muslim attacks carried out in Christchurch in March this year were part of a trend of disaffected white men, radicalised into fascist politics through social media meme culture according to Emmi Bevensee.
Q+A: Why is the United States so polarised?
What are the fault lines that have fractured politics in America? Julian Zelizer has analysed the historical roots of the present-day political turmoil, divisions, and partisanship in the US for his new book Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974.Â
What is the ‘Alt-Right’?
After the horrendous attacks in Christchurch, many people understandably have questions about the motives and ideology of the alleged attacker. Damon Berry analyses the role the alt-right might have played in the attacks.
Q+A: How are political ideologies labelled?
The political spectrum is often a model that puts political ideologies on a scale of left to right – hence why we hear the term ‘left-wing’ and ‘right-wing’. The terms date back to 1789 and the French Revolution, when radicals sat on the left side of the National Assembly, the aristocracy on the right. But how are political ideologies labelled and how are political spectrums formed?