Narrative A

Social media age restrictions are a necessary step in protecting children from online harm and poor mental health. Parents are deeply concerned about their children's social media exposure and need government support to navigate these challenges. Australia's nationwide approach ensures consistent protection across all territories.

Narrative B

The proposed restrictions constitute a problematic and blunt approach that could harm rather than protect young people. This policy risks cutting off vulnerable youth from valuable online support communities and educational resources. Age verification measures might also push children toward more dangerous corners of the internet while seeking to evade restrictions.

Nerd narrative

There is a 40% chance the Coalition will win the next Australian federal election, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Pro-establishment narrative

TikTok's connections to Beijing raise significant concerns — especially regarding national security and the safety of our children and teens. After a thorough national security review, Canada made the appropriate decision to shut down the offices of the Chinese social media platform. However, it stopped short of banning the app itself. Instead, Canada is focusing on promoting awareness about cybersecurity and urging its citizens to protect their personal information.

Establishment-critical narrative

Canada has the legal authority to investigate any foreign investment that may pose a risk to national security. However, legal experts have expressed concerns about the lack of transparency in the review process that led to the decision to close TikTok's offices. It would be beneficial for the public interest if the federal authorities could provide clear evidence to support their findings. TikTok is a vital information-sharing platform and such decisions can't be taken lightly.

Pro-China narrative

Allegations regarding security concerns are simply a pretext for the forced sale of a valuable PRC asset. The West's desire to maintain its dominance in the digital realm highlights its unease over China's increasing technological capabilities. By politicizing a social media app, the US and its allies reveal their true intentions — exposing themselves as willing to commit blatant theft to safeguard their own interests.

Nerd narrative

There is a 2% chance TikTok US will be sold to a US entity before 2025, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Pro-establishment narrative

Despite Ukraine's Zelenskyy putting on a brave face, the election of Trump is devastating news for his country, and is a massive gift to Putin and the Kremlin. Trump's insistence on rapidly striking a deal would likely force Ukraine to hand over vast swaths of territory, and mean that it would be non-aligned with NATO, both of which are unacceptable.

Establishment-critical narrative

Irrespective of who won the US election, Ukraine is losing the war and is now losing territory at the fastest rate seen in the conflict. Democratic leadership would have prolonged the war with the provision of more weapons, only increasing the nation's suffering; at least under Trump there's a good chance the conflict will be brought to a speedy close, stopping thousands of Ukrainian soldiers from dying unnecessarily.

Nerd narrative

There's a 50% chance there will be a bilateral cease-fire or peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine by January 2026, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Left narrative

This decision shows confidence in Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves's pro-growth economic plan. While some will inevitably complain, and the UK economy is in dire need of a substantial overhaul, the Labour government has taken its first steps in leading the country back in the right direction and will only benefit from another interest rate cut.

Right narrative

The BoE's analysis is clear progress has been made to reduce inflation, but Reeves's high-cost agenda is at risk of undoing the hard work of the last two years. Given Labour's spending obsession, it is likely that Bailey and the BoE will have to slow down interest rate cuts even further, placing greater financial pain on millions of homeowners and working people.

Nerd narrative

There's a 35% chance that the UK will achieve an average GDP growth rate of 2.5% over the current parliamentary term, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Establishment-critical narrative

While cancer treatments are currently necessary for a lot of people, the most important thing to focus on is how to prevent the next generation of cancer patients. This horrific disease should not be as widespread as it is, and the medical establishment is choosing to prescribe profitable medications rather than focus on the root causes. Our food supply and environment are chock-full of toxins that are destroying human cells. If we got rid of those toxins, we could put a major dent in the cancer epidemic.

Pro-establishment narrative

DNA treatments are the future of cancer therapy, as they precisely target the root epigenetic changes that drive tumor growth without damaging healthy cells. Unlike traditional treatments like chemotherapy, which indiscriminately kills cells, epigenetic drugs can restore normal gene function by reversing harmful DNA modifications. This will make cancer treatment more efficient while also reducing negative symptoms.

Nerd narrative

There is a 50% chance that the average five-year survival rate of all cancers will exceed 95% by May 2051, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Narrative A

Scholz's brand of selfishness is utterly incomprehensible. Germany can't afford a months-long political deadlock. With a flatlining economy, shortage of skilled labor, aging infrastructure, and an unprepared military, Germans need a stable, responsible, and decisive government — one that has a majority in the Bundestag and can act quickly.

Narrative B

Scholz would have liked to have spared Germans this difficult situation, but he was compelled to sack Lindner to prevent damage to the country. Given the surge in support for fringe parties in recent regional polls, an immediate election would throw Europe's largest economy into a prolonged period of uncertainty.

Nerd narrative

There's a 5% chance that the Christian Democratic Union of Germany will announce that it is open to negotiating a coalition with the Alternative for Germany before 2030, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Narrative A

While another monkey escape could sound alarming to people, it's important to know that these primates typically don't travel very far before they're recovered. Alpha Genesis follows effective safety protocols regarding both the treatment of monkeys on the island and how to respond to occasional escapes.

Narrative B

Despite claims from Alpha Genesis, the local police department has noted that this is a fairly common problem for the community. Besides the serious risk of wild primates roaming local towns, facilities like Morgan Island shouldn't exist in the first place, as these poor monkeys are abused through testing. It's no wonder they're trying to escape.

Nerd narrative

There's a 50% chance that the first course on wild animal welfare will be taught at a top university by December 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Democratic narrative

While Biden likely played a role in this loss by not stepping aside earlier, his attempt at unifying the country is important given the Harris campaign's lack of outreach to the working class. People who never would have voted for Trump before — including in hardcore Democrat constituencies like New York City — did so because they cared most about inflation. Democrats have the right policies, but they must stop prioritizing wealthy elites if they want their message to be heard.

Republican narrative

Joe Biden and other Democrats cannot be trusted after they already promised to bring the country together in 2020. Biden campaigned as a working man's man, but once he got into office, he began pushing open borders, vaccine mandates, and other radical social agendas that ordinary people couldn't tolerate. The president's party seems consumed by this nationally unpopular social agenda, so the GOP will be the people's party for the foreseeable future.

Nerd narrative

There is a 95% chance that Republicans will control all three branches of government after the 2024 elections, according to the Metaculus prediction community.

Left narrative

The climate crisis continues unabated as the Earth keeps passing thresholds that will lead to irreversible damage and threaten the future existence of life on Earth. In spite of the dire need for real global cooperation, anti-science populists have actively denied climate change, with US Pres.-elect Donald Trump threatening to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement. We can no longer elect right-wing anti-climate zealots.

Right narrative

The climate lobby is using climate change for political ends by fear-mongering and misleading the public. In fact, evidence has shown that if the world dropped everything to meet the 1.5C goal, the costs would be greater than letting it come to pass and mitigating it. Climate scientists need to focus on real, pragmatic solutions instead of using climate policy as a Trojan horse for societal and economic change.

Nerd narrative

There is a 50% chance that there will be at least 2.92C of global warming by the year 2100, according to the Metaculus prediction community.