Following a 40-year fascination with the political situation in Afghanistan, Professor William Maley AM has released his third book on the country, Transition in Afghanistan: Hope, Despair and the Limits of Statebuilding. The book explores the difficult task of statebuilding after severe disruption, and seeks to identify what has gone wrong and why.

‘Frankenstein stories’ have changed a lot since Mary Shelley published Frankenstein: Or, The Modern Prometheus 200 years ago.

Rather than being an unalloyed and unstoppable threat, the ethics of Machine Learning (ML) offer the world an opportunity to make progress on challenging ethical problems.

Cultural and media representations of sex work often purport to educate the public about a pressing social concern. And increasingly, such depictions are linked to non-profit fundraising, anti-trafficking and prostitution legislation and humanitarian intervention.

As the Financial Services Royal Commission unfolds, many of the stories tell of customers whose trust has been abused, even exploited. I will explain why trust is fundamental to financial services, reflect on how we got to this sorry state, and offer thoughts on the way forwards.

When we imprison people, we remove them from society – the razor wire marks a boundary between ‘us’ and ‘them’.

Painting amongst other things, an exhibition at the Drill Hall Gallery, examines how contemporary painting might be encountered within an expanded field.

The coaster on the cover of this edition is a novel way of showing climate change data.

Ningaloo Reef might be famous for its whale sharks and stunning seascape but for ANU researchers, the real star of the show is seaweed. Tabitha Carvan reports.

Unexpected partnerships across the University campus are producing innovative and successful collaborations, as Evana Ho writes.

ANU archaeologist Dr Catherine Frieman recently excavated an untouched Bronze Age barrow near the town of Looe in south-east Cornwall. The project was a huge success, with the discovery of an intact 4000-year-old human cremation. Her 14-day dig was the first time such a site in the area had been excavated to modern archaeological standards. Here she reflects on a typical day in the field, when the team discovered a jar that is definitely not prehistoric.

The University has a vast collection of Indigenous art, as Jane Faure-Brac reports.

She has devoted her career to plant science and won worldwide recognition for her research. Natalia Bateman-Vargas reports.

Isabel Mudford, BA (Hons) ’16, reflects on the success of a retreat to build networks among young queer people.

Where do you start if you're trying to invent an engaging method to visualise climate change data? Ross Peake reports.

You can enjoy the best stories from across the ANU community wherever you are. Scroll through the ANU Reporter website to watch videos, listen to audio and read bonus stories, such as these:

The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, is an annual meeting of some of the most influential people in the world. From CEOs and heads of state to social entrepreneurs and academics from leading universities, the meeting brings together diverse individuals and organisations to discuss global challenges and make concerted efforts at ‘improving the state of the world’.

When Barnaby Joyce resigned as deputy Prime Minister in February 2018, people listening to his speech reported their bemusement at a term he used, as Australian National Dictionary editor Dr Amanda Laugesen, BA (Hons) ’97, PhD ’01 explains.

Dr Brian Wimborne recounts the ups and downs of a musical genius.

A haunting display of abstracts relates the loss of many friends, as Simon Jenkins reports.

Two researchers are investigating if a new invention can help diabetes patients, as Colleen Bell reports.

The Chifley Library’s collection will grow in new directions to replace the books lost in the deluge in late February, as Professor Marnie Hughes-Warrington writes.

A research project in Australia and Sweden is trying to understand how bogong moths perform incredible feats of navigation. Kate Prestt reports.

Old-fashioned forms of mapmaking have been important to how nations interact, as Professor Rory Medcalf writes.
