Man Booker Prize 2018: when writers speak we glimpse the human behind the story

Oct 17, 2018 22:03 pm UTC| Insights & Views Life

Novelists are used to staring out of windows, not out at audiences. We write in solitude, and expect our readers to read in solitude. And then, for a few, the phone rings. A publicist has struck lucky with your book. Its...

Government raises glimmer of hope for New Zealand deal on refugees

Oct 17, 2018 22:02 pm UTC| Insights & Views

The Morrison government has sent qualified signals that it might agree to some refugees from Nauru being settled in New Zealand. It says it would be more likely to support the New Zealand option if Labor agreed to pass...

Pik Botha and Namibia: ambiguities and contradictions

Oct 17, 2018 22:02 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics

Roelof Pik Botha, South Africas foreign minister under apartheid, who has died at the age of 86, was a man of contradictions. He could, for example, be charming. But, though a long-serving diplomat, he was often very...

Universities need to take note of the gap between expectations and experience

Oct 17, 2018 22:02 pm UTC| Insights & Views

The student population at South African universities have changed dramatically in the last two decades. Its now much more diverse in terms of age, race, culture, backgrounds, educational experience and academic...

Kenya is planning to privatise prisons: why it's risky and needs careful planning

Oct 17, 2018 22:01 pm UTC| Insights & Views Life

Kenya is taking steps towards privatising its prisons. Gráinne Perkins asked expert Rob Allen, an independent researcher and cofounder of Justice and Prisons, about the benefits and risks of prison...

Why a new national carrier for Nigeria is never likely to get off the ground

Oct 17, 2018 22:01 pm UTC| Insights & Views Business

One of the most vexatious ironies about Nigeria perhaps even an embarrassment is the lack of a national airline. Nigerians are often very piqued to be travelling on airlines owned by smaller less resource-endowed African...

Curious Kids: if you have lots of the thing you're allergic to, does your body get used to it?

Oct 17, 2018 22:00 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

This is an article from Curious Kids, a series for children of all ages. The Conversation is asking young people to send in questions theyd like an expert to answer. All questions are welcome: find out how to enter at the...