The Solutionists, with Mark Scott

When Professor Jioji Ravulo speaks at conferences overseas, he knows one piece of information about his work will shock just about everyone. He tells them that in some parts of Australia, children as young as 10 years old can be charged as adults for particular crimes.

As predicted, jaws drop. 

Meanwhile, some politicians insist that Australia needs to be even tougher on youth crime, despite the evidence Jioji a...

Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death worldwide – thankfully, we’re getting better at treating it, and more people than ever are surviving major events like heart attacks. But it’s a double-edged sword: with more people living for longer with cardiovascular disease, our hospital system is overburdened.  

Cardiologist Dr Clara Chow says this imbalance is only going to get worse, bec...

Our bodies have an innate ability to tell the time – it evolved so that we were inclined to rest when it was safe, and were keener on travelling or hunting and gathering when food was plentiful. The sun and our body’s ability to perceive its light kept our internal clocks ticking along consistently.  

But today, many of us spend most of our days indoors, and much of our nights in artificial light. We’ve ...

Growing food is one of our most fundamental human activities, and it’s the core puzzle underlying our societies. As more people are freed up from farm work, our societies grow and we need yet more food.  

Today, that tricky equation also includes robots. Australia faces a labour shortage in the agriculture sector for a variety of reasons, and the already razor-thin margins on many farms are only growing sharper. Ent...

Can you be friends with someone who doesn’t know you exist?

It’s a legitimate question for members of fandoms – groups of people brought together by a shared passion for an artist, sports team, celebrity or piece of media. At the centre of these groups is a parasocial relationship: a one-sided connection with a public figure. If you’ve heard the term before, it probably hasn’t been in a positive light....

Your biology’s been hacked.

Your naturally evolved appetite would allow you to eat exactly the right amount of food every day, except that most of us live in highly industrialised food environments today.

Two of nutrition’s most productive scientists explain how we ended up here, and how you can eat healthier in an imbalanced food environment.

~~~

Why don’t animals need calorie trackers?

Baboons don’t know t...

Loneliness is becoming more common, and it’s making us sick. But why? Professor Melody Ding studies loneliness from a public health perspective, and she wants us to design communities where everyone has access to a flourishing social life.

~~~

There have never been more people living on the planet than now. And yet loneliness has become a major health concern worldwide – it’s serious enough that the World Health O...

What makes a childhood good? Every parent wants their kids to be safe, and for their childhoods to set them up for a productive and fulfilling adulthood. But what about the childhood itself? How do we make sure every child in Australia gets to truly be a kid? Universal childcare might be the answer... 

~~~

Do you ever wish you could be a kid again?  

Remember the freedom of childhood – no job, no responsibiliti...

The widespread problem of substance abuse has plagued humans throughout history. It robs potential, ruins lives. Yet nothing we’ve tried has ever solved addiction. Professor Michael Bowen wants to change this. He went looking for a solution not in the human body, but in the brain. 

And what he’s found could change the way we treat addiction forever. 

~~~

Addiction – substance abuse – is a wicked pr...

Social media connects us to friends and family, and gives us an unprecedented window to the wider world. But how much do we really know about how social media, and the barons who run these platforms, shape our views and our communities? Former newspaper editor and current Meta advisor Alan Rusbridger sheds light on the question of whether social media is strengthening democracy – or strangling it. 

Social media is now an...

It’s in the name, sure... But is AI really ‘intelligent’? Does it ‘think’? What do you know about how these tools were made, who owns them now, and who determines the way they work? How can you turn AI to best advantage in business and personal spheres? 

Now that AI’s on the tip of everyone’s tongues and offered as a service by almost every company you encounter, it’s time to exa...

THE SOLUTIONISTS SUMMER THROWBACK: Heatwaves are an invisible killer, and they’re becoming more common.  

With another scorching summer already upon us, you need to know how to keep you and your family cool when temperatures soar. In this episode, originally published in 2023, heat expert Ollie Jay gives you a tour of his groundbreaking thermal ergonomics lab and teaches you how to stay safe during a heatwave. 

Who gets to tell the story of Australia?  

This is the question always at the forefront of Michael Dagostino’s mind. Michael’s the Director of Museums and Cultural Engagement at the University of Sydney, meaning he oversees its famous Chau Chak Wing museum. The museum houses tens of thousands of objects, all of which tell a story.  

But how does an object tell a story? And how does the way we collect and house them affect that stor...

Where do your values come from? What do you care about, and why?  

If you're one of the growing number of non-religious people in Australia, you might find this question pretty hard to answer... Politics and philosophy professor Alexandre Lefebvre says that if this sounds like you, you might be living by a philosophy you didn't even know you had.  

Alex believes liberalism could be the source of your very soul. It isn't just about ...

Why’s it so hard to be healthy? Why does everyone recommend a Mediterranean diet? Is diet or exercise more important? Is intermittent fasting actually useful?  

When the entire world’s collective knowledge is at your fingertips, why’s it still so difficult to answer the kinds of questions we’ve been asking for millennia? Nutrition and longevity expert Luigi Fontana says it’s because nutrition isn’t as simple as we’d like to think. ...

Why doesn’t anyone seem to trust journalists anymore? Or politicians? Or anyone, really? Are we all becoming paranoid, or has our trust been broken by those we lent it to?  

Lenore Taylor’s the editor-in-chief of The Guardian Australia and the host of the Guardian’s Full Story podcast. Lenore jokes that journos have always been about as trusted as used car salesmen, but she’s worried facts don’t mean what they used to anymore.  

Le...

There’s no one else on the planet just like you. So why do you take the same medicine as everyone else when you get sick?  

Professor David James is an expert is obesity and diabetes, and he says the current medical system isn’t good enough. But as researchers and clinicians learn more about how our genetics work, a better path is beginning to clear.  

David explains how your genetics and environment interact with one another and i...

Deanna D’Alessandro is the director of the University of Sydney’s Net Zero Institute... So why does she want it dissolved?  

“In 2051, my goodness, I hope we do not need the Net Zero Institute,” she says. “We should have solved this problem by then.” 

So what needs to happen in the meantime? Deanna shares the personal connection to the planet that sparked her passion for climate science, and explains how and why the Net Zero Instit...

“When I say what I do for a living, most women have a story,” says Rae Cooper. “Women have a way of being able to understand what it is pretty easily. I think men find it a little bit more... academic.”  

Rae Cooper is Professor of Gender, Work and Employment Relations at the University of Sydney. She says Australia hasn’t come nearly far enough in the fight for gender equality at work, and there’s a few reasons why.  

You’ll also ...