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The Minefield

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ABC

In a world marked by wicked social problems, The Minefield helps you negotiate the ethical dilemmas, contradictory claims and unacknowledged complicities of modern life.

#239

What can we learn about politics from Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s ‘Good and Bad Government’?

It is one of the casualties of democratic politics that citizens rarely remain indifferent... more

10 Dec 2025

54 MINS

54:36

10 Dec 2025

#238

The ethics of life-writing: Memoirs may be popular, but can they be truthful?

In the world of book sales, what “romantasy” is to fiction, autobiography/memoir is to non... more

03 Dec 2025

54 MINS

54:37

03 Dec 2025

#237

What will we lose if translation becomes wholly automated?

It feels like, for so much of this year, in one form or another, we’ve been trying to coun... more

26 Nov 2025

54 MINS

54:46

26 Nov 2025

#236

‘Adult time for violent crime’? What commitments should guide society’s response to youth crime?

Earlier this month, in response to a disturbing rise in youth crime in Melbourne, Victoria... more

19 Nov 2025

54 MINS

54:36

19 Nov 2025

#235

Will weight loss drugs entrench cultural expectations about body size?

Ever since 2023, a class of GPL-1 based drugs — which for two decades were used to treat t... more

12 Nov 2025

54 MINS

54:51

12 Nov 2025

#234

Is the experience of beauty slipping away in an age of frictionlessness, speed and AI slop?

The availability of increasingly powerful generative AI tools has radically altered [the ... more

05 Nov 2025

54 MINS

54:36

05 Nov 2025

#233

Protests are a democratic right that can go wrong — how much should they be restricted?

For the last two years, there has been a steady drumbeat of protests — sometimes weekly, s... more

29 Oct 2025

54 MINS

54:24

29 Oct 2025

#232

When democracy abandons decency — with George Packer

For the second time this year, millions of people have taken to the streets of cities and ... more

22 Oct 2025

54 MINS

54:08

22 Oct 2025

#231

Learning to inhabit silence — with Stan Grant

There is no doubt that silence can be a form of cowardice: a refusal to speak up or speak ... more

15 Oct 2025

54 MINS

54:36

15 Oct 2025

#230

What role should emotion play in the fraught politics of immigration?

The politics of immigration has returned in recent months — and returned with a depth of f... more

08 Oct 2025

54 MINS

54:45

08 Oct 2025

#229

The ‘fascism’ paradox — with Jason Stanley

In a remarkable column from 1944, George Orwell bemoaned the sheer range of social and pol... more

01 Oct 2025

53 MINS

53:55

01 Oct 2025

#228

Mailbag — we answer your questions

This week is the first ever “Minefield Mailbag”, where Waleed and Scott try to respond to ... more

24 Sep 2025

54 MINS

54:56

24 Sep 2025

#227

Why Charlie Kirk’s assassination is a test for democracy — and of our decency

It would be hard to overstate the significance of Charlie Kirk within the conservative mov... more

17 Sep 2025

54 MINS

54:58

17 Sep 2025

#226

Bonus episode: Jane Austen’s enduring charm

In August, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh from [The Bookshelf] (https://www.abc.net.au/li... more

15 Sep 2025

54 MINS

54:26

15 Sep 2025

#225

What are we doing when we let someone ‘save face’?

Whether it is in geopolitics or in social and personal relationships, the overweening desi... more

10 Sep 2025

54 MINS

54:42

10 Sep 2025

#224

The threat that AI poses to human life — with Karen Hao

There is something undeniably disorienting about the way AI features in public and politic... more

03 Sep 2025

54 MINS

54:36

03 Sep 2025

#223

Are there inherent limits on what should be said in public debate?

In the middle of August, the Bendigo Writers Festival found itself at the centre of a fire... more

27 Aug 2025

54 MINS

54:36

27 Aug 2025

#222

If AI causes widespread job losses, is a Universal Basic Income the solution?

This week the federal government’s much-anticipated, and just as hyped, [Economic Reform ... more

20 Aug 2025

1 HR 03 MINS

1:03:59

20 Aug 2025

#221

Should childcare be offered by for-profit providers?

In March, an ABC [Four Corners investigation] (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-17/bet... more

13 Aug 2025

58 MINS

58:00

13 Aug 2025

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#239

What can we learn about politics from Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s ‘Good and Bad Government’?

#238

The ethics of life-writing: Memoirs may be popular, but can they be truthful?

#237

What will we lose if translation becomes wholly automated?

#236

‘Adult time for violent crime’? What commitments should guide society’s response to youth crime?

#235

Will weight loss drugs entrench cultural expectations about body size?

#234

Is the experience of beauty slipping away in an age of frictionlessness, speed and AI slop?

#233

Protests are a democratic right that can go wrong — how much should they be restricted?

#232

When democracy abandons decency — with George Packer

#231

Learning to inhabit silence — with Stan Grant

#230

What role should emotion play in the fraught politics of immigration?

#229

The ‘fascism’ paradox — with Jason Stanley

#228

Mailbag — we answer your questions

#227

Why Charlie Kirk’s assassination is a test for democracy — and of our decency

#226

Bonus episode: Jane Austen’s enduring charm

#225

What are we doing when we let someone ‘save face’?

#224

The threat that AI poses to human life — with Karen Hao

#223

Are there inherent limits on what should be said in public debate?

#222

If AI causes widespread job losses, is a Universal Basic Income the solution?

#221

Should childcare be offered by for-profit providers?