While cuts to benefits and the new universal credit system have caused many problems in the UK, their negative effect on women is especially problematic, Fran Bennett writes.

On this Policy Forum Pod, we’re going on a voyage of discovery to seek out answers about how to encourage and support innovation and create more equal societies.

Policy Forum has marked its fifth birthday with a fresh look, new layout, and a renewed focus. But the site’s commitment to showcasing the best analysis of the region’s policy challenges remains, Quentin Grafton and Martyn Pearce write.

It’s half-time in Japan’s year of sporting mega-events. With the Rugby World Cup behind it and the 2020 Olympics ahead, the sponsorship frenzy that has gone alongside those events carries a lesson for the world – Japan is still a commercial powerhouse, Simon Chadwick and Paul Widdop write.

Australia is not doing enough to encourage innovation, but investment in education and support for those institutions that do innovate can create a fairer and more prosperous society, Joshua Gans and Andrew Leigh write.

On this special Policy Forum Pod, our Great Green Debate dream team returns to the arena to field the remaining questions from our live-event audience, tackling the politicisation of climate change, how communities can make a difference, and the role of peaceful disruptive protest in changing policy.