People are hedonists, seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. This view is central to much of psychology and it fits many people’s own sense of why they do what they do. But what about our appetites for spicy foods, hot baths, horror movies, sad songs, BDSM, and hate reading?

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The challenge of writing about war is to take stories and experiences that are almost beyond language and put them down on paper. Take part in an intimate evening showcasing recent work by two extraordinary writers, who will discuss how and why they grapple with writing about the harrowing reality of war.

How did corporations come to possess rights? How did democracy come to be defined as selfish individualism? Or money as free speech? Most people would blame Trump, but the man himself is just a distraction from the deeper and more troubling right wing agenda.

If robots can deliver sex without feelings and intimacy without commitment, what happens to relationships?

If the age of the internet has taught us anything, it is that there is a big difference between appearance and reality.

What was it like to give a voice to ISIS?

What is a former public defender and law professor doing taking LSD?

Is it time to stop sitting on the fence and choose China?

What we don’t understand often looks dangerous, and the barriers of our own anxieties are hard to get over.

A message of hope from World Vision's Chief Advocate, Tim Costello at the 2019 Gandhi Oration.

Are there some ideas which are too dangerous to discuss?