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No, You're Not Entitled to Your Opinion: And 49 Other Essays That Got the World Talking
From its early days as an unknown start-up, The Conversation published landmark essays such as Patrick Stokes's 'No, you're not entitled to your opinion', which saw the organisation grow into an important and valued part of the news media. It has since expanded to eight regions around the world and is published in four languages.Contained within this ten-year anniversary collection are the essays that put The Conversation on the contemporary slavery, how Jesus wasn't white, how long sex usually lasts, and the close friendships birds form with people.There are timeless thought pieces and analysis of some of the biggest news events of recent times - the election of Donald Trump, Brexit, coronavirus and the #MeToo movement - as well as insights into why bad moods are good for you and why tests won't help kids who are poor spellers. These pieces chart not only the course of one media organisation but also the world over the past decade.Contributors CoxMichelle GrattanRaimond GaitaTim FlanneryJudith BrettPatrick StokesDenis MullerAlison WhittakerPeter EllertonFrank BongiornoAlice GormanRobyn J WhitakerClare CorbouldJennifer PowerLeah RuppannerMichelle ArrowAndrew WhitehouseXanthe Mallett
- GenresNonfiction
312 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 28, 2021
10 people are currently reading
116 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 25, 2021
This is a collection of academics as journalists celebrating the University sponsored facts only online newspaper, The Conversation's 10th year. It began in Melbourne and has spread across the world. These essays are not long, some quirky, some philosophical and some humorous, plus more, but all so well written. And so factual and dependable. Michelle Grattan's essay is a great summary of the disruption of the new digital world.
December 28, 2024
While I enjoy The Conversation's articles, as a book they felt a bit shallow and out of date.
June 27, 2022
2.5
The conversation is a very well-loved website, especially in Australia and I genuinely do enjoy reading articles they post in my free time. When I saw this book at my local bookstore I had to buy it knowing that while I may not love every article written, I'm likely to enjoy the vast majority. I picked this book up with the intention of reading it quickly and recreating the experience of mindlessly reading BuzzFeed articles, except with some scholar and expertise and the book definitely achieved that goal.
As expected, there were some articles I loved here, and some that I was not engaged with at all. It would be impossible for the editors to comprise 50 essays into an anthology that every single person who reads the book will adore. I really loved parts IV and V, however, parts I, III, III, VI and some of VII were not articles I would ever click on. Unfortunately, I felt neutral about the vast majority of the essay chosen, loved a handful, and really did not enjoy a handful, hence my middle-range rating of 2.5. It's slightly confusing because there are some articles that The Conversation has published online that are so much more engaging, entertaining, and impactful than some of the articles included in this collection; however, I can recognise my opinion, interests, and perspectives are well, mine. What I find interesting and fascinating is obviously different to what most other people will be interested in and fascinated in.
I think the biggest thing that got in the way was the constant political views mentioned throughout the collection. I think that of course, the Conversation does an amazing job at delivering political and scientific information to the general population in a very accessible and effective way. I guess from this collection I wanted some of their more nuanced articles that I may not read in my day-to-day life during my free time. Part IV: On Health and Life was definitely my favourite section because the articles were kind of weird and I learned information that I never would have thought to google, but that really interested me.
Maybe it's unfair for me to expect this book to deliver exactly what I wanted. Someone else may have loved all the historical articles and the political and social commentary, however, these articles constantly appear on my news feed and friends' shared stories anyway and I kind of wanted a break from the serious and quite frankly disturbing news that is emerging currently.
On a positive note, I read this in 2 days, which is a vast improvement from the 6 months it took me to finish my previous book and was an excellent book to 'cleanse my reading palate.' I don't regret reading this, it just did very little for me.
The conversation is a very well-loved website, especially in Australia and I genuinely do enjoy reading articles they post in my free time. When I saw this book at my local bookstore I had to buy it knowing that while I may not love every article written, I'm likely to enjoy the vast majority. I picked this book up with the intention of reading it quickly and recreating the experience of mindlessly reading BuzzFeed articles, except with some scholar and expertise and the book definitely achieved that goal.
As expected, there were some articles I loved here, and some that I was not engaged with at all. It would be impossible for the editors to comprise 50 essays into an anthology that every single person who reads the book will adore. I really loved parts IV and V, however, parts I, III, III, VI and some of VII were not articles I would ever click on. Unfortunately, I felt neutral about the vast majority of the essay chosen, loved a handful, and really did not enjoy a handful, hence my middle-range rating of 2.5. It's slightly confusing because there are some articles that The Conversation has published online that are so much more engaging, entertaining, and impactful than some of the articles included in this collection; however, I can recognise my opinion, interests, and perspectives are well, mine. What I find interesting and fascinating is obviously different to what most other people will be interested in and fascinated in.
I think the biggest thing that got in the way was the constant political views mentioned throughout the collection. I think that of course, the Conversation does an amazing job at delivering political and scientific information to the general population in a very accessible and effective way. I guess from this collection I wanted some of their more nuanced articles that I may not read in my day-to-day life during my free time. Part IV: On Health and Life was definitely my favourite section because the articles were kind of weird and I learned information that I never would have thought to google, but that really interested me.
Maybe it's unfair for me to expect this book to deliver exactly what I wanted. Someone else may have loved all the historical articles and the political and social commentary, however, these articles constantly appear on my news feed and friends' shared stories anyway and I kind of wanted a break from the serious and quite frankly disturbing news that is emerging currently.
On a positive note, I read this in 2 days, which is a vast improvement from the 6 months it took me to finish my previous book and was an excellent book to 'cleanse my reading palate.' I don't regret reading this, it just did very little for me.
October 9, 2023
This was a nice collection of essays that ranged across a broad number of topics. Some were better researched and presented than others, but most of them were thought provoking. I could wish that some of the more interesting topics were better supported with evidence rather than just assertions. That felt particularly ironic given the title of the anthology.
I did come away feeling a little depressed though. Maybe because so many of the articles/essays are talking about the climate crisis, racism, sexism, death, disaster etc. That's a systemic issue with news, but it still made the experience less enjoyable.
It's also a shame that I didn't get around to reading this in a more timely manner as I think it would have been more interesting fresh. The topics are sort of timeless, but some of them are not. Or, worse, the fact that they still feel relevant is then depressing because you would have hoped we'd moved on by now. But alas.
Overall, an easy, interesting read with a couple of standouts and a couple of flops. Light mental exercise.
I did come away feeling a little depressed though. Maybe because so many of the articles/essays are talking about the climate crisis, racism, sexism, death, disaster etc. That's a systemic issue with news, but it still made the experience less enjoyable.
It's also a shame that I didn't get around to reading this in a more timely manner as I think it would have been more interesting fresh. The topics are sort of timeless, but some of them are not. Or, worse, the fact that they still feel relevant is then depressing because you would have hoped we'd moved on by now. But alas.
Overall, an easy, interesting read with a couple of standouts and a couple of flops. Light mental exercise.
August 26, 2022
It’s a little tricky to review a collection of essays that range so many topics, but I enjoyed this overall. Maybe 3.5🌟 because some were too short to really suck me in. Highlights included the essays on spelling, Haiti, and being hangry.
December 13, 2022
Enjoyable, but many of these articles aren't as hard-hitting or ground-breaking as the editors think they are. Then again, one could be cynical and state that if common sense is ground-breaking then we're in trouble.
February 5, 2022
A most satisfactory book. The essays provided much varied food for thought and consideration.
I hope that in just a few years The Conversation will, put out another such book.
I hope that in just a few years The Conversation will, put out another such book.
November 13, 2025
I thend to pick an article a day from the emailed version. The unfiltered collection became a bit of a woke onslaught but saved by some individualy fascinating acticals.
September 8, 2022
The Conversation always delivers when it comes to sharing scientific, academic and research findings at a news level of comprehension and interest. This selection shows some of the best timeless and time relevant pieces from the last 12 years. I couldn't applaud their authors more. I doubt any reader will fully agree with every political and social essay in this piece and that's a good, healthy thing. The fact checking is rigorous and should be awarded.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews