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The Latest Breaking News from The Conversation Weekly

Taung child: the controversial story of the fossil discovery that proved humanity’s common origins in Africa – podcast

One hundred years ago, a paper was published in the journal Nature that would radically shift our understandings of the origins of humanity. It described a fossil, found in a lime mine in Taung in South Africa, which became known as the Taung child skull.

The Conversation

‘I thought about escaping every day’: how survivors get out of Southeast Asia’s cybercrime compounds – Scam Factories podcast, Ep 3

Every day that he was locked up in a scam compound in Southeast Asia, George thought about how to get out. “We looked for means of escaping, but it was hard,” he told The Conversation.

The Conversation

‘Your life becomes a nightmare’: how scam operations exploit those trapped inside – Scam Factories podcast, Ep 2

A few weeks after Ben Yeo travelled to Cambodia for what he thought was a job in a casino, he found himself locked up in a padded room. “It’s a combination between a prison and a madhouse,” he remembers. He was being punished for refusing to conduct online scams.

The Conversation

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‘It seemed like a good job at first’: how people are trafficked, trapped and forced to scam in Southeast Asia – Scam Factories podcast, Ep 1

Scam Factories is a podcast series from The Conversation Weekly taking you inside Southeast Asia’s brutal fraud compounds. It accompanies a series of articles on The Conversation.

The Conversation

Why the US return to tariffs and protectionism ‘reeks of hypocrisy’ – podcast

When Donald Trump imposed sweeping tariffs during his first term as US president, it sparked a trade war with China. As the Trump administration ratchets up its threat to tax imports from its allies and economic rivals alike, the world is bracing for another wave of costly economic disruption.

The Conversation

Decentralised social media offers an alternative to big tech platforms like X and Meta. How does it work? Podcast

When Elon Musk acquired Twitter in 2022, many users looked for alternatives, fuelling a wave of online migration from the social media platform. Musk says he’s using Twitter, now named X, to champion free speech and that “cancel culture has been cancelled”. But his closeness to Donald Trump and his…

The Conversation

Where support for Germany’s far-right AFD is growing and why – podcast

Germany is holding an election on February 23 and the contest is attracting an unusual amount of attention. That’s because the far-right Alternative for Germany (AFD) is polling in second place on 20% of the national vote.

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How close are quantum computers to being really useful? Podcast

Quantum computers have the potential to solve big scientific problems that are beyond the reach of today’s most powerful supercomputers, such as discovering new antibiotics or developing new materials.

The Conversation

How wildfire, humans and a warming climate led to the extinction of California’s big mammals 13,000 years ago – podcast

Firefighters in Los Angeles continue to battle devastating wildfires that have killed at least 27 people and left thousands of homes destroyed. A new fire also provoked evacuation orders north of the city.

The Conversation

Silicon Valley’s bet on AI defence startups and what it means for the future of war – podcast

From Gaza to Ukraine, today’s war zones are being used as testing grounds for new systems driven by artificial intelligence. Billions of dollars are now being pumped into AI weapons technology, much of it from Silicon Valley venture capitalists.

The Conversation

How the world fell in love with plastic without thinking through the consequences – podcast

Every year, 400 million tons of plastic are produced worldwide, and every year, approximately 57 million tons of plastic pollution is created. And yet in November, the latest round of negotiations on the first legally binding international treaty on plastics pollution ended without an agreement.

The Conversation

Brain implants, agentic AI and answers on dark matter: what to expect from science in 2025 – podcast

In a special episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast to start 2025, we’ve brought together three science editors from The Conversation’s editions around the world to discuss what to look out for in the world of science and technology in the coming year.

The Conversation

Death penalty: how Zimbabwe reached the point of abolition – podcast

Zimbabwe is on the cusp of abolishing the death penalty after its Death Penalty Abolition Bill was approved by the Senate on December 12. The bill is now sitting on the desk of Zimbabwe’s president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, a known opponent of the death penalty, waiting for his assent. Once it…

The Conversation

Why distrust in powerful politicians is part of a functioning democracy – podcast

Surveys suggest that in many western democracies, political trust is at rock bottom. Scandals, corruption, faltering economies, conspiracy theories and swirling disinformation are all playing their part. But is it really such a bad thing for people living in a democracy to distrust their government?

The Conversation

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From grieving orcas to opposums playing dead: how animals respond to death – podcast

It was a story that pulled at the heartstrings. In 2018, an orca called Tahlequah was seen dragging the corpse of her newborn baby calf for 17 days, over 1,000 miles along the coast of North America. Eventually, Talequah let the baby go (happily, she’s had another baby since), but…

The Conversation

As Amazon workers prepare to strike on Black Friday, the story of one warehouse in the UK that pushed to unionise – podcast

Amazon workers in 20 countries are expected to strike or protest on Black Friday, pushing the company to respect their rights and commit to more action on the climate. The protests are coordinated by the Make Amazon Pay campaign, run by a global umbrella body of trade unions and workers’…

The Conversation

Fifty years after the discovery of Lucy, it’s time to ‘decolonise paleoanthropology’ says leading Ethiopian fossil expert – podcast

On November 24 1974, renowned American paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson spotted “a piece of elbow with humanlike anatomy” poking out of a rocky hillside in northern Ethiopia. It was the first fossil of a partial skeleton belonging to “Lucy”, an ancient female hominin who took the story of human evolution back…

The Conversation

Why Canada’s decision to lift a ban on cod fishing in Newfoundland after 32 years is so controversial – podcast

For generations, cod fishing was a way of life in Newfoundland and Labrador, the easternmost province in Canada. But in 1992, after cod stocks in the north Atlantic plummeted, the federal government imposed a moratorium on cod fishing. It was to last for 32 years until it was lifted in…

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The Conversation

Stories of gangsters who’ve left their life on the streets behind – podcast

What happens when a gangster leaves their life on the street? How do they transition to something new? In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, we find out through the life stories of two people who joined gangs as young men and came out the other side.

The Conversation

Fear, hope and the economy: what is motivating Americans as they decide who to vote for – podcast

Amid deep political polarization and extreme campaign rhetoric, the U.S. presidential election on November 5 is likely to be decided by a small number of voters in swing states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan. But why is it so close?

The Conversation

How we solved the mystery of the pink sand on South Australia’s beaches – podcast

Take a walk along a beach in parts of South Australia, and you may come across unusual patches of pink sand. When a team of geologists began analysing samples of this mysterious sand to find out where it comes from, their search took them back through time to a previously…

The Conversation

Victor Ambros on the team effort behind his Nobel-prize winning discovery of microRNA – podcast

Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun were awarded the 2024 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine for their discovery of microRNA, tiny biological molecules that tell the cells in our body what kind of cell to be by turning on and off certain genes.

The Conversation

What Israel and its neighbours want now as all-out war looms in the Middle East – podcast

The Middle East is perilously close to all-out war. In the year since the October 7 Hamas-led attacks on Israel, millions of people have been displaced from their homes in Gaza, Israel, the West Bank and now Lebanon, and tens of thousands killed.

The Conversation

HIV prevention: why a new injectable drug could be such a breakthrough – podcast

A new drug to prevent HIV infection is showing hugely promising results in clinical trials when injected every six months.

The Conversation

Himpathy: the psychology of why some people side with perpetrators of sexual misconduct – podcast

In 2018, the Australian philosopher Kate Manne coined the word “himpathy” to describe what she called “the inappropriate and disproportionate sympathy powerful men often enjoy in cases of sexual assault, intimate partner violence, homicide and other misogynistic behavior”.

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