The Minefield

The debate over the Religious Discrimination Bill has exposed a tension at the heart of the liberal vision of a pluralistic society, in which citizens commit to living together despite their profound disagreement over matters of highest importance. What happens when disagreement becomes a cause of harm?

The practice of compulsory voting, along with the two other pillars of Australia’s electoral system — preferential voting and non-partisan election administration — have kept Australian democracy remarkably stable over the past hundred years. But just how much can we rely on these formal elements of Australian democracy to safeguard Australia’s democratic culture?

The misuse of moral language in public debate is nothing new. But in our social-media saturated age, this misuse has taken on a distinct and rather perfidious form. Morally weighted language is regularly used to grant excessive or abusive claims, and personal or categorical insults, an air of moral seriousness. This kind of language marks the end of conversation. Are we better off without it?

Victoria McGeer, a Senior Research Scholar at Princeton University and Professor of Philosophy at Australian National University, joins the discussion on the intense public emotions surrounding Novak Djokovic and Boris Johnson. They dive into how these feelings can distort or clarify moral judgments. The conversation explores the ethical dilemmas of Djokovic's visa saga, public reactions to perceived injustices, and the broader implications of emotional turmoil in society during the pandemic. It's a thought-provoking exploration of admiration, disdain, and the complexities of fairness in public sentiment.

It’s become a sad commonplace in our time to hear the lines along which democratic societies are now divided. What is often absent, however, is mention of class. Why? Do Korean films like Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, or Hwang Dong-hyuk’s smash hit Squid Game, have anything to teach us? Atlantic staff writer George Packer joins us.

How might we avoid bad faith quotations, served up in vain interests, and locate ourselves, our hearers, our readers, in a community of mutual interest and intellectual wonder — not so much using quotations, as exposing ourselves to their provocation?

Sam Schpaul, a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Sydney, dives deep into the intriguing world of emojis and their role in modern digital communication. The conversation critiques emojis as both simplifying and complicating emotional expression. Schpaul highlights how societal shifts influence emoji meanings while pondering their impact on interpersonal relationships. The hosts also discuss the rise of short-form media and digital distractions, advocating for a return to authentic conversations in a distracted world.

Margaret Simons, a seasoned journalist and former director of the Centre for Advanced Journalism, dives into the pressing issues facing journalism in the age of social media. She discusses the ethical dilemmas of journalists balancing active engagement and impartiality, exploring how social media blurs lines between credibility and celebrity. Simons highlights the mental health implications for journalists and urges a reevaluation of practices as integrity is threatened by the pursuit of virality, calling for accountability amid this shifting landscape.

Opinion writing plays a disproportionate role in our media eco-system: it drives online traffic, fuels emotion, feeds the forces of polarisation, and promotes an incapacity to understand one another. But is there a different way to think about opinion?

One of the most notable cultural changes to have taken place over the past two decades is the emergence of “prestige television” — which is to say, television as the visual equivalent of literature, and with similar ambitions. What has this shift done to our moral sensibilities, or to our understanding of the shape and demands and limits and possibilities of the moral life?