239 episodes

In a world marked by wicked social problems, The Minefield helps you negotiate the ethical dilemmas, contradictory claims and unacknowledged complicities of modern life.

The Minefield ABC listen

    • Society & Culture
    • 4.7 • 1K Ratings

In a world marked by wicked social problems, The Minefield helps you negotiate the ethical dilemmas, contradictory claims and unacknowledged complicities of modern life.

    Ramadan — the importance of friendship

    Ramadan — the importance of friendship

    If Thoreau regards withdrawal and solitude as means by which we learn to escape self-deception, then they may well be little more than preparation for the moral demands friends make of one another.

    • 53 min
    Ramadan — the discipline of solitude

    Ramadan — the discipline of solitude

    Solitude is neither alone-ness nor idleness. It is strenuous and takes practice. Solitude does not simply happen in the way that isolation or loneliness does — it must be inhabited.

    • 53 min
    Ramadan — the necessity of withdrawing

    Ramadan — the necessity of withdrawing

    Are periodic bouts of withdrawal from life’s urgent demands and heated debates necessary to regain a sense of our shared humanity, and to renew the commitments that sustain the moral life?

    • 54 min
    Q+A on “the wisdom of crowds”

    Q+A on “the wisdom of crowds”

    Waleed Aly, Scott Stephens and philosopher Stephanie Collins field questions from a live studio audience on crowd-behaviour, conformity and the importance of dissent.

    • 53 min
    How much credence should we give to “the wisdom of crowds”?

    How much credence should we give to “the wisdom of crowds”?

    Ever since Plato, “crowds” have been associated with irrationality, emotivism, conformism, short-term thinking, and herd-like behaviour. But what if it turns out that crowds are collectively more intelligent than their individual members?

    • 52 min
    When is it right to call some act – or someone – “evil”?

    When is it right to call some act – or someone – “evil”?

    What are we trying to convey when we reach for a word like “evil”? Is it something about a person’s actions or character? Is it what they do or the manner in which they do it?

    • 53 min

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5
1K Ratings

1K Ratings

Claire Fischer ,

Keeps me thinking hard

Seeing one or two controversial reviews here .. seems Aussies still have this anti-intellectualism attitude in Australia .. I love that I don’t always get it at first but this podcast makes me think HARD and contemplate .. great brain food for the mind ! How can you not love Waleed’s soothing voice ..?

SimonAlfref ,

Funny and wise

A huge fan. Need an episode on the virtues of Prog rock. Really enjoying the “Not quite a book club” specials. Great fun.

Piisdoft ,

Ideas bank fest.

If you like listening to the self-appointed smartest men in the room, you’ll love this intelligentsia banker festival between two blokes who are so high on their own supply, they need a parachute from their superior intellectual altitude. It’s precocious, pretentiousness all the way to 11.

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