Kia ora koutou, nau mai ki tēnei pānui - welcome to your newsletter.

It’s Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week) and AUT’s senior lecturer in Māori language revitalisation Rachael Ka'ai-Mahuta has written a fascinating examination of the so-called “Korean Wave” and what we might learn from it in Aotearoa. As Rachael explains, for te reo Māori to thrive in the long term, it has to be part of the informal, casual language of teenagers and kids – in other words, we have to make te reo cool through music, movies, TV and pop culture. And of course, you can read the article in te reo Māori too here – see if you can pick up a few new words in the process, I know I did!

This week will also see New Zealand enter the final month of the election campaign. We have some great coverage planned, but we’d also love to hear from you what you would like to know more about - be it policy analysis, specific questions about parties and politicians, or anything else you think one of our experts could look into. You can reply directly to this email and we’ll take it from there.

There’s plenty more to read here and on our homepage, including legal expert Al Gillespie on why the law should be the last resort when tackling disinformation and conspiracy theories, and veterinary health expert Nigel French on how genome sequencing is helping researchers track the spread of infectious diseases other than COVID-19, including some New Zealand would also like to eliminate.

Happy reading and all the best till next time, ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa.

Finlay Macdonald

New Zealand Editor: Politics, Business + Arts
www.shutterstock.com

Making te reo Māori cool: what language revitalisation could learn from the Korean Wave

Rachael Ka'ai-Mahuta, Auckland University of Technology

The state-sponsored pop cultural renaissance of Korea shows how language isn't an obstacle to world domination.
GettyImages

Kia pārekareka te reo Māori: ko ngā akoranga o te Ngaru Kōrea mō te whakarauoratanga o te reo

Rachael Ka'ai-Mahuta, Auckland University of Technology

Ko tā te kāwanatanga Kōrea whakahou i te ahurea o te marea, kei te whakaatu kāore te reo e aukati ana i tō angitu i te pae matawhānui o te ao.
Advance NZ leader Billy Te Kahika speaks at a Wellington protest in August 2020. GettyImages

With the election campaign underway, can the law protect voters from fake news and conspiracy theories?

Alexander Gillespie, University of Waikato

Using the law - or changing it - to stop the spread of dangerous disinformation should be a last resort.
Shutterstock/Gio.tto

COVID-19 is not the only infectious disease New Zealand wants to eliminate, and genome sequencing is a crucial tool

Nigel French, Massey University

From a global cattle disease that can devastate herds to water-borne pathogens causing severe food poisoning, genome sequencing has become an important tool in the control of infectious diseases.
Flickr/

Climate explained: will the tropics eventually become uninhabitable?

James Shulmeister, University of Canterbury

Absolute temperatures are expected to rise more slowly in the tropics than in higher latitudes and polar regions, but the combination of heat and rising humidity will make life more challenging.
Shutterstock/AlohaHawaii

Paid parental leave needs an overhaul if governments want us to have ‘one for the country’

Sarah Duffy, Western Sydney University; Michelle O'Shea, Western Sydney University; Patrick van Esch, Auckland University of Technology

If governments are looking for a post-pandemic "baby boom" to help populations grow, then they should increase the amount and duration of paid parental leave for both mums and partners.
GettyImages

Could academic streaming in New Zealand schools be on the way out? The evidence suggests it should be

David Pomeroy, University of Canterbury; Kay-Lee Jones, University of Canterbury; Mahdis Azarmandi, University of Canterbury; Sara Tolbert, University of Canterbury

Ranking students by academic performance has been condemned as discriminatory and racist, yet New Zealand still leaves it up to individual schools to decide.
Shutterstock/anna sanfeliu gozalvez

Swimming with whales: you must know the risks and when it’s best to keep your distance

Chantal Denise Pagel, Auckland University of Technology; Mark Orams, Auckland University of Technology; Michael Lueck, Auckland University of Technology

Whale breaches and tail slaps look great from a distance. But they can pose a threat if you want to get up close and swim with these giants of the ocean.
Finance Minister and Labour finance spokesperson Grant Robertson: higher tax revenue will be spent on economic recovery. GettyImages

With their conservative promises, Labour and National lock in existing unfairness in New Zealand’s tax system

Jonathan Barrett, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

Both major parties refuse to grasp the nettle of New Zealand's narrow and inherently unfair tax base.

From our international editions

The US presidential election might be closer than the polls suggest (if we can trust them this time)

Simon Jackman, University of Sydney

The polls are predicting a comfortable win for Joe Biden over Donald Trump. But if this election sees the same polling errors as in 2016, Trump’s chances of re-election are higher than we think.

Life on Venus? Traces of phosphine may be a sign of biological activity

Laura McKemmish, UNSW; Brendan Paul Burns, UNSW; Lucyna Kedziora-Chudczer, Swinburne University of Technology

The discovery of phosphine in the acidic clouds of Venus can't be explained by any known chemical or geological processes.

The first step to conserving the Great Barrier Reef is understanding what lives there

Tom Bridge, James Cook University; Andrea Quattrini, Smithsonian Institution; Andrew Baird, James Cook University; Peter Cowman, James Cook University

There are fundamental knowledge gaps around coral in the Great Barrier Reef, including how many species live there and where they're found. Our new study finally starts to fill those gaps.

Big pharma’s safety pledge isn’t enough to build public confidence in COVID-19 vaccine – here’s what will

Efthimios Parasidis, The Ohio State University

Our best shot at ending the pandemic is by achieving herd immunity through widespread use of a vaccine. But that won't happen unless people believe it's safe.

What is a hurricane storm surge, and why is it so dangerous?

Anthony C. Didlake Jr., Pennsylvania State University

How high a storm surge gets depends on both the hurricane and the land.

Demons of the deep state: how evangelicals and conspiracy theories combine in Trump’s America

S Jonathon O'Donnell, University College Dublin

How some evangelicals use spiritual warfare to interpret the presidency of Donald Trump.

How to reverse global wildlife declines by 2050

Michael Obersteiner, University of Oxford; David Leclère, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA); Piero Visconti, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

Wildlife populations have plummeted by 68% since 1970. But we have a plan to turn things around.

Nine myths about Indonesian specialty coffee farmers and development

Angga Dwiartama, Institut Teknologi Bandung; Diany Faila Sophia Hartatri, Pusat Penelitian Kopi dan Kakao Indonesia; Jeffrey Neilson, University of Sydney; Mark Vicol, Wageningen University

Interventions with good intentions aren't always fruitful.

Race-based COVID-19 data may be used to discriminate against racialized communities

LLana James, University of Toronto

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to calls for the collection of race-based data. But the risks of algorithmic discrimination must be addressed.

Urban planning needs to look back first: three cities in Ghana show why

Nate Plageman, Wake Forest University; Jennifer Anne Hart, Wayne State University; Tony Yeboah, Yale University

The patterns of colonial spatial violence that played out in Ghanaian cities echo around the world.