One year of Donald Trump

Editor's note

It’s a year today since Donald Trump became the unlikely 45th president of the United States, and what a year it’s been. As Kumuda Simpson writes, whether it’s on immigration, tax, foreign relations, climate change or pretty much any other topic, Trump has been deeply divisive and combative – and has not yet made America great again.

And check out our new podcast Essays On Air, where we read you the best writing from Australian researchers. In today’s episode, Michael Adams’ deeply personal piece questions whether Australian efforts to manage brumbies may be an act of hubris.

Amanda Dunn

Section Editor: Politics + Society

Politics + Society

After a year in office, Donald Trump has done many things, but has not made America great again. Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

Trump's first year in office: bizarre and sometimes alarming

Kumuda Simpson, La Trobe University

The 12 months since Donald Trump unexpectedly took office have proffered constant shocks to the system in which the occupants of the White House remind us they are not playing by the rules.

Desire, behaviour and identity are distinct, and do not always overlap. AAP/David Moir

The term 'LGBTI' confuses desire, behaviour and identity – it's time for a rethink

Dennis Altman, La Trobe University

'LGBTIQA+' is a term often employed to be inclusive – but it runs the risk of being so inclusive it loses all meaning.

Cities

In Nagoro, in Tokushima Prefecture, one resident has made around 300 dolls to replace villagers who are no longer around. Roberto Maxwell/flickr

When a country’s towns and villages face extinction

Brendan F.D. Barrett, RMIT University

Across Japan, towns and villages are vanishing as the population ages and young people move to the cities. How the country manages this holds lessons for other developed nations facing a similar fate.

When a house is better sealed, the quality of ventilation becomes more critical. Mile Atanasov/Shutterstock

We can't afford to ignore indoor air quality – our lives depend on it

Steve Atkinson, Deakin University

Our health depends on the quality of air indoors, where most of us spend 90% of our time. The easiest solution is to open a window, but what if that's not an option?

Health + Medicine

Waking up to this every morning would surely give you more will to live. Unsplash/jonathan daniels

Four ways having a pet increases your lifespan

Janette Young, University of South Australia

Pet owners will often swear their beloved pooch or moggie does wonders for their wellbeing, and now we have empirical proof.

Our veins only appear blue through the skin, they’re actually red. from www.shutterstock.com

I've always wondered: why do our veins look blue when our blood is red?

David Irving, University of Technology Sydney

Blood is red, but our veins are blue. Or are they?

Education

The problem doesn’t appear to be with the relevance of qualifications and skillsets to employment, but rather with the scarcity of employment. Shutterstock

The problem isn't unskilled graduates, it's a lack of full-time job opportunities

Shirley Jackson, University of Melbourne

The government claims university degrees are failing businesses, but analysis of the latest graduate outcome and employer satisfaction surveys tells us the problem is with underemployment.

The surveyors start out with almost 100,000 graduate contacts, of whom less than 10% provide their supervisor’s details and of those supervisors, less than half participate in the survey. Shutterstock

Surveys are not the best way to measure the performance of Australian universities

Tim Pitman, Curtin University

An administrative link between a graduate's education and taxation records already exists, and it could be used to give us more accurate and detailed longitudinal analyses of graduate outcomes.

Environment + Energy

Aerial view of the Sydney Football Stadium, which is to be rebuilt, and Sydney Cricket Ground. Questions of stadium design to deal with extreme heat are becoming more urgent. AAP

We need to 'climate-proof' our sports stadiums

Paul J Govind, Macquarie University

The Australian Open tennis and the recent Ashes Test cricket series show why our sporting stadiums need to be "climate-proofed" to deal with extreme heat.

At present, 15% of Australians experience food insecurity while 40% of food is discarded before it reaches the market. reuters

Hunger in the lucky country – charities step in where government fails

Carol Richards, Queensland University of Technology

Despite Australia being considered the 'lucky country', 15% of us still experience food insecurity. Meanwhile, 40% of edible food is thrown away before it even reaches the market.

Arts + Culture

The painting Group of Natives of Tasmania, 1859, by Robert Dowling. Wikimedia

Explainer: the evidence for the Tasmanian genocide

Kristyn Harman, University of Tasmania

That colonial wars were fought in Tasmania is irrefutable. More controversially, surviving evidence suggests the British enacted genocidal policies against the Tasmanian Aboriginal people.

Ongoing controversy around wild horses in Australia encompasses debate about their impact and their cultural meaning, argues Michael Adams. Marcella Cheng/The Conversation NY-BD-CC

Essays On Air: The cultural meanings of wild horses

Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation

Today's episode of Essays On Air explores how humans have related to horses over time and across the world, and asks: is it time to rethink how we 'manage' brumbies in the wild?

Business + Economy

US President Donald Trump is trying to head off Xi Jinping’s trade deals in East Asia. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

In the economic power struggle for Asia, Trump and Xi Jinping are switching policies

Giovanni Di Lieto, Monash University

Trump is trying to shape the US as a power in Asia and block China in the process, using techniques familiar to Beijing.

shutterstock. Shutterstock

Comic contracts and other ways to make the law understandable

Camilla Baasch Andersen, University of Western Australia

Most Australians don't read terms and conditions or other contracts, so lawyers are experimenting with comics, graphics and other ways to make them more understandable.

Science + Technology

A statue of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in Moscow, Russia. Shutterstock/VLADJ

Looking up a century ago, a vision of the future of space exploration

Alice Gorman, Flinders University

In the early 20th century a Russian scientist – regarded as the father of rocketry – made some novel predictions on where we would be in space in the 21st century. So how accurate was he?

More than 120 million copies of Minecraft have been sold. Mojang AB

Minecraft teaches kids about tech, but there’s a gender imbalance at play

Jane Mavoa, University of Melbourne; Marcus Carter, University of Sydney

New research uncovers how Australian children actually use Minecraft – shedding light on what devices they use, the social nature of play and a reality check on claims of gender-neutrality.