Nau mai haere mai — Happy New Year and welcome (back) to your weekly newsletter.

I hope your summer break has been restful and refreshing and 2021 has begun well. On the national and international fronts, the year has kicked off with momentous events: in the US with the Capitol riots, the second impeachment of Donald Trump and the inauguration of Joe Biden; here in Aotearoa with a case of a new COVID-19 strain in the community and a sudden halt to nascent travel bubbles.

And it’s still only January.

So, you’ll find plenty to read here and on our home page about these and other issues, and we’ll be updating our coverage regularly to bring you the best analysis, original research and informed opinion as the year unfolds.

In the meantime, there is plenty of summer left and we’re looking forward to being part of yours. Thanks as always for your continued support. Until next time, mā te wā and all the best.

Finlay Macdonald

New Zealand Senior Editor & NZ Editor: Politics, Business + Arts
A Uyghur rally to protest the 71st anniversary of the People’s Republic of China in front of the White House on October 1, 2020. GettyImages

With the US now calling China’s treatment of the Uyghurs ‘genocide’, how should NZ respond?

Alexander Gillespie, University of Waikato

When your 'friend' and biggest trading partner is accused of genocide you can't ignore it. But meaningful change will take more than words.
Shutterstock/Lakeview Images

Why the COVID-19 variants are so dangerous and how to stop them spreading

Michael Plank, University of Canterbury; Shaun Hendy

A variant with a higher transmission rate is much more dangerous than one with just a higher fatality rate.
GettyImages

The viral ‘Wellerman’ sea shanty is also a window into the remarkable cross-cultural whaling history of Aotearoa New Zealand

Kate Stevens, University of Waikato

The whaling story behind 'Soon May the Wellerman Come' reminds us of the crucial connections between Māori and Europeans that shaped early 19th century settlement.
Shutterstock/Liudmyla Guniavaia

Curb population growth to tackle climate change: now that’s a tough ask

Michael P. Cameron, University of Waikato

If we want a liveable future for our grandchildren is it ethical to reduce the number of people being born into that world?
www.shutterstock.com

The big barriers to global vaccination: patent rights, national self-interest and the wealth gap

Ilan Noy, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington; Ami Neuberger, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology

As the eradication of polio and the successful rollout of AIDS treatments have shown in the past, global cooperation in the face of COVID-19 is possible.
AAP

Trumpism doesn’t end with Trump — NZ needs to take a firmer stand against a global threat to democracy

Robert G. Patman, University of Otago

Incoming US president Joe Biden can't mend a broken US democracy alone. Other liberal democracies, including NZ, need to get involved.
Flickr/Stephen Murphy

Expect the new normal for NZ’s temperature to get warmer

James Renwick, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

A new measure of average weather days in New Zealand puts the temperature on the rise, again.
www.shutterstock.com

Trump’s time is up, but his Twitter legacy lives on in the global spread of QAnon conspiracy theories

Verica Rupar, Auckland University of Technology; Tom De Smedt, University of Antwerp

Analysis shows how Trump and Twitter spread QAnon extremism from the US to Europe, and how hard it will be to undo the damage.
www.shutterstock.com

Government funds are not ‘taxpayer money’ — media and politicians should stop confusing the two

Jonathan Barrett, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington

Once paid, tax becomes the property of the government. Pretending otherwise undermines the basic principles of the social contract.

From our foreign editions

Strange costumes of Capitol rioters echo the early days of the Ku Klux Klan - before the white sheets

Kenneth Ladenburg, Arizona State University

For many extremist groups, a primary goal is to spread their ideology. Costumes and uniforms – even ridiculous ones – are a form of spectacle that can garner attention and interest.

How history textbooks will deal with the US Capitol attack

Wendy Wall, Binghamton University, State University of New York; Christian K. Anderson, University of South Carolina; Daisy Martin, University of California, Santa Cruz

The whole world saw the Jan. 6 attack on the US Capitol. How will the textbooks read by America's students describe what took place?

Why the West is morally bound to offer reparations for slavery

Rhoda E. Howard-Hassmann, Wilfrid Laurier University

The turn towards authoritarianism, xenophobia and racism in Western democracies makes it unlikely that former Western slave-trading nations will agree to reparations in the near future.

Hidden in plain sight: The infrastructures that support artificial intelligence

Pascale Lehoux, Université de Montréal; Lysanne Rivard, Université de Montréal

Artificial intelligence is supported by an infrastructure of hardware and software that is growing increasingly present in our lives, yet remains hidden in plain view.

Trump impeachment after leaving office is nothing – in 9th-century Rome they put a pope’s corpse on trial

Frederik Pedersen, University of Aberdeen

The story of the 'Cadaver Synod' tells us that in some cases, even the departed can be held to account.

South African scientists who discovered new COVID-19 variant share what they know

Willem Hanekom, Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI); Tulio de Oliveira, University of KwaZulu-Natal

Scientists have observed that 501Y.V2 has quickly become "dominant" among multiple variants that have been circulating in the South African population.

Is news worth a lot or a little? Google and Facebook want to have it both ways

Tim Dwyer, University of Sydney

The titans of online advertising don't want to be forced into putting a value on linking to news.

An unexpected consequence of climate change: heatwaves kill plant pests and save our favourite giant trees

Gregory Moore, University of Melbourne

As you swelter during this heatwave, it may not be all bad news for our urban and natural environments. Sometimes, positive outcomes arise when and where we least expect them.