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Editor's note
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It’s February, 2019 is actually happening and an election is in the wings. The grace period that follows holidays has ended, and pretty soon you’ll be expected to make important choices, be your best at work and generally pull your socks up. But at this time of year, getting the brain out of holiday mode and into life improvement mode or critical news consumer mode can feel like a lot of hard work. So let’s ease you into it, with a couple of fun and lively episodes of our podcast Trust Me, I’m An Expert. Pop the headphones in, get on with the chores, and let your brain absorb some knowledge.
In our latest episode, Michelle Grattan, Caroline Fisher – a former journalist and political media adviser turned academic – and economist Fabrizio Carmignani share their insights into how to spot the work of a political spin doctor when you see it. Are you ready to find out what the “the vomit principle” is and how MP’s media advisers use it to try to shape the news? It might just be the intel you need to make better choices when voting day rolls around (probably in May).
Or you might want to check in with your new year’s resolutions (remember them?). If you’ve strayed from the plan, try this episode all about what psychology and weight loss research can tell us about how to create and stick to good goals – and whether or not willpower is even real.
Perhaps this is the year you’ll get your sleep issues sorted? Great. Me too. One tip I learned from this sleep-themed episode of Trust Me is that a bit of 3am wakefulness is well within the bounds of normal, and may even be closer to how we slept before the industrial revolution.
You can hear all episodes of Trust Me here (and may I recommend this one from last year about why February is the real danger month for blackouts). If you’ve got some feedback for us on podcasts – topics you’d like us to cover, formats we could try, episode length or insights into how or why you consume podcasts – I’d love to hear about it. Send us an email or find us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Happy listening and have a great weekend.
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Sunanda Creagh
Head of Digital Storytelling
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Top story
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Today, experts reveal the tips and tricks spin doctors use to shape the political messages you’re hearing every day - especially during election campaigns.
AAP Image/Mick Tsikas
Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation; Lucinda Beaman, The Conversation; Dilpreet Kaur, The Conversation
There’s a small army of spin doctors behind the scenes of an election campaign, finessing every utterance so it fits with the overall strategy. Today's episode is all about the art of political spin.
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Ready for all the research-backed tips and tricks for setting a goal and meeting it?
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Sunanda Creagh, The Conversation; Dilpreet Kaur, The Conversation
Today, experts will be sharing with us insights into how to make a change in your life -- big or small -- using evidence from the world of academic research.
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Cities
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Trivess Moore, RMIT University; Aimee Ambrose, Sheffield Hallam University; Graeme Sherriff, University of Salford; Stephen Berry, University of South Australia
Air conditioning changed both building design and people's active management of home temperatures. A return to houses designed for our climate can keep us comfortable and cut energy use and emissions.
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Heather Shearer, Griffith University
Tiny houses aren't for everyone, but most people who live in them are positive about the experience. Yet planning laws still make this way of life harder and less secure than it could be.
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Environment + Energy
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Monique Retamal, University of Technology Sydney; Elsa Dominish, University of Technology Sydney; Le Xuan Thinh; Nguyen, Anh Tuan; Samantha Sharpe, University of Technology Sydney
Since China stopped accepting Australia's recyclable plastic, the majority of exported plastic waste is now going to developing nations in South East Asia.
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Bradley J. Moggridge, University of Canberra; Ross M Thompson, University of Canberra
Neither of the two federal investigations into fish deaths in the Darling River include any Indigenous representation.
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Politics + Society
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Sky Croeser, Curtin University
Even if nothing happens immediately, petitions are one of many ways we can help build long-term change.
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Mark Kenny, Australian National University
A corrosive ageism in Australian politics overvalues the new, while discounting experience. If the US and UK can see the value in older politicians, why can't we?
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Science + Technology
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Zenobia Jacobs, University of Wollongong; Bo Li, University of Wollongong; Kieran O'Gorman, University of Wollongong; Richard 'Bert' Roberts, University of Wollongong
New studies reveal when the Denisovans and their Neanderthal cousins occupied a cave in southern Siberia. It's the only site known to have been inhabited by them and by modern humans.
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Ana-Maria Bliuc, Western Sydney University; Andrew Jakubowicz, University of Technology Sydney; Kevin Dunn, Western Sydney University
Both organised groups and unaffiliated individuals spread racist hate online, but they use different channels, have different goals and use different strategies to achieve them.
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Business + Economy
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Peter Martin, The Conversation
The Conversation has assembled a forecasting team of 19 academic economists from 12 universities across six states. Together, they assign a 25% probability to a recession within two years.
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Adam Karg, Swinburne University of Technology
Foreign interest in American football tells us a lot about what is happening to sport in the 21st century.
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Arts + Culture
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Michelle Smith, Monash University
School stories hold a special place in popular culture. Stories set in Australian schools have often celebrated outsiders and underdogs, in contrast with their North American counterparts.
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Susan Davis, CQUniversity Australia
Wildflower artist Kathleen McArthur led one of Australia's first major conservation battles, over Queensland's Cooloola region. Yet this canny activist is rarely mentioned in most accounts of the campaign.
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Health + Medicine
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Cameron Webb, University of Sydney
Here are some tips to beat the bite of these bloodsuckers for as long as possible.
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Alexandra Hansen, The Conversation
Five out of five experts agree running during pregnancy is OK.
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Education
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Jamie Manolev, University of South Australia; Anna Sullivan, University of South Australia; Roger Slee, University of South Australia
Teachers should seriously reconsider using technology to monitor behaviour because of the negative impact it could have on students.
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Featured jobs
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Featured events
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