Australians Are Quietly Losing Their Right to Free Speech
In September, more than half of Australia’s environmental scientists working for the federal and state governments reported that they had been "prohibited from communicating scientific information” to the general public. Research on climate change, the extinction of animal species and pollution was all being suppressed. Despite the potential for scientific research to shape national elections, ...
‘People are Working Harder than Ever’ – Jonas Altman, Shapers – Book Review
A few weeks ago, I had the chance to interview Jonas Altman, author of the newly released Shapers: Reinvent The Way You Work and Change the Future. Altman, based in Canada, has done a remarkable job of dissecting where we are as a society. Jobs, he argues, are stuck in a holding pattern: people are ...
The Ethics of Brain Implants
Brain implants are such a risky technology that we should consider banning them before they get released. If not, we risk losing a freedom we take for granted every day, our freedom of thought. On August 28, Neuralink, a company founded by Elon Musk, revealed a working prototype of a brain implant in a demonstration ...
An Intellectual History of Our Troubles with Technology
We often evaluate new technologies based on old standards. How should we update our evaluative tools for the digital age? Our troubles with technology have mythical origins. In the Phaedrus, Plato recounts the tale of the Egyptian god Theuth, who once tried to sell the invention of writing to Thamus, the king of the gods: ...
What COVID Teaches Us About Big Tech (The Blog Post the Government Made Me Take Down)
In April, I published the following blog post here on my personal blog New Intrigue and on the Oxford Political Review. A few months later, I was told to take down the post or get fired from my then job as a public servant in the Australian Federal Government. Although the post had no criticism ...
The Oxford Political Review: An Interview with Brian Wong
I had the chance to sit down and have an interview with Brian Wong, the founder of the Oxford Political Review. Our chat took us on a wild journey through modern media, digital platforms, online polarisation and the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. I was left wondering... is there hope for online media after all? Thanks for ...
The Philosophy of Byung-Chul Han
In the 1980s, there were a series of writers who challenged the way people thought of the then-growing popularity of colour television and news media. I have written before about Neil Postman, and his fear of our world becoming a 'trivial society' and Marshall McLuhan, who warned us that 'the medium is the message'. (Technology ...
Sydney in Lockdown
Bondi beach is an icon. It’s one of the first places people visit when they tour Sydney. It’s known to be busy at all times. In mid-winter, you can find people jogging along its famous cliff walk, trailing along the edge of the sea. Today, the beach is closed. The cliff walk is closed. The ...
It Ends in Suits (How Law Firms Buy the Best Students)
It's 2016 and I'm at a networking event run by one of the major law firms in Sydney, Australia. Around me, canapés are being served by waiters in tuxedos. They ask me if I would like the salmon tartar. I politely decline. It's a formal event, so I am dressed in my one and only ...
Australia’s Bushfire Crisis
It is difficult to talk about the current bushfire crisis facing Australia with anything close to the objectivity required of a journalistic article. As my home, I have struggled to come to grips with the scope of the disaster that has occurred here. For a long time, we have had the benefit of sitting on ...
