Julie Szego
Julie Szego is an author and freelance journalist.
Doyle's Melbourne, a city that never sleeps
Julie Szego The noise and mess of an all-night city are easily outweighed by the benefits.
Anti-vaccination is based on prejudice and superstition
Julie Szego The movement reflects an underlying disease that makes us susceptible to the notion that truth is an ever-negotiable, relative concept.
Anti-vaccination is based on prejudice and superstition
![Roughly 90 per cent coverage is needed for](http://web.archive.org./web/20160131043033im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/12/16/7087153/Thumbnail1003876112glokizimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.glojrk.png1450434838972.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Julie Szego The movement reflects an underlying disease that makes us susceptible to the notion that truth is an ever-negotiable, relative concept.
Politicians should have taken on the Grand Mufti with intelligent argument
![SMH. Pic from a Press Conference in relation to the Parramatta Shooting of a member of the police force outside the Police Station. The Grand Mufti of Australia Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammed was the main speaker along with other Muslim and Christian Leaders. Photographed at the Bankstown Breakfree International Hotel. Photo: Nic Walker. Date 9th october 2015.](http://web.archive.org./web/20160131043033im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/12/02/7053128/Thumbnail1003339749gk529nimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.gld1wl.png1449121083510.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Julie Szego Australian politicians are ill-equipped for the high-stakes battle of ideas that is needed if we are to tackle radicalisation.
Stay true to the values of the Enlightenment
![Jean-Jacques Rousseau](http://web.archive.org./web/20160131043033im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/11/18/7019325/Thumbnail1002800574gl1in3image.related.thumbnail.320x214.gl1hvi.png1447821151307.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Julie Szego Scrap the feel-good hashtags and memes, France deserves our admiration for its courage.
Xavier snob's bullying contained uncomfortable truths about our education system
![Xavier College is at the centre of a bullying scandal, after students were caught taunting their public school counterparts.](http://web.archive.org./web/20160131043033im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/11/04/6983122/Thumbnail1002273254gkm1wuimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.gkq6zq.png1446684324647.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Julie Szego The Gonski model is imperfect, but it is the best hope we have for a fairer education system.
Playboy gets dressed for a new readership
![FILE - This file photo made June 19, 2004, shows the Playboy logo in Los Angeles. Penthouse magazine corporate parent FriendFinder Networks Inc. said Thursday, July 15, 2010, it will offer $210 million for Hugh Hefner's Playboy Enterprises Inc. despite Hefner's insistence that he does not intend to sell the company. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)](http://web.archive.org./web/20160131043033im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/10/21/6946758/Thumbnail1001721807gkedfmimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.gkedhr.png1445656748458.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Julie Szego In breaking the taboo around female bodies, the magazine helped liberate women as well as men from sexual shame.
Radicalised Muslims joining Islamic State are not just rebels, they are violent Islamists
![Julie Szego](http://web.archive.org./web/20160131043033im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/02/25/6297047/Thumbnail6663434411skz8image.related.thumbnail.320x214.13o7e0.png1416789351522.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Julie Szego The Turnbull government must defiantly confront radicalised Muslims, many of whom are high-achievers buying in to a deadly ideology, not just disengaged hotheads.
Payne’s gain a shake-up call for chronic sexism
![Defence minister Senator Marise Payne during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra.](http://web.archive.org./web/20160131043033im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/09/23/6870949/Thumbnail1000717268gjs228image.related.thumbnail.320x214.gjsudw.png1443241152450.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Julie Szego The women in Malcolm Turnbull’s new cabinet have key jobs and that sends an important signal about changing attitudes.
Tony Abbott's Syria policies are not decent or strong
![A migrant holds two children as they arrived on a dinghy after crossing from Turkey to Lesbos island, Greece, on Tuesday.](http://web.archive.org./web/20160131043033im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/09/09/6833292/Thumbnail1000222887gji4fgimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.gji8x3.png1441845663597.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Julie Szego Of course we must help persecuted Christians, but it can't be to the exclusion of the other groups being subjugated in the Middle East.
When privacy goes out the window and into the Twitterverse
![Marital cheating website Ashley Madison fell victim to hackers.](http://web.archive.org./web/20160131043033im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/08/26/6795986/Thumbnail999734578giiz6aimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.gj7s4y.png1440561762549.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Julie Szego Whether you agree or not, privacy is becoming a thing of the past - just ask the couple whose plane break-up went viral this week.
Donald Trump is too typical of conservative politics
![Julie Szego](http://web.archive.org./web/20160131043033im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2014/07/30/5638233/Julie-Szego-90x60.jpg)
Julie Szego Political discourse is diminished when conservatives continually denigrate women and their demand for respect in public life.
Traditional marriage: a bourgeois bargain for men
![Many people think a solemnised marriage confers conjugal rights on men.](http://web.archive.org./web/20160131043033im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/07/29/6722916/Thumbnail998747172gimn7qimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.gimm90.png1438165014201.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Julie Szego When same-sex marriage is legal, we’ll dump the baggage of an outdated institution.
Going private: top grades or the right milieu?
Julie Szego Until NAPLAN measures all aspects, private schools should stop touting their grades.
Nimbies stymie moves towards fair and sustainable Melbourne
![Traffic congestion at the level crossing on Toorak Road is one of the consequences of urban sprawl as buyers who cannot afford to live near the centre move to the city fringes.](http://web.archive.org./web/20160131043033im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/06/17/6621738/Thumbnail997217045ghpy7mimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.ghptlh.png1434714302626.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Julie Szego Not in My (Expensive) Backyard has become the default position on housing.
Australian citizenship: who really deserves it?
![Julie Szego](http://web.archive.org./web/20160131043033im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2014/07/30/5638233/Julie-Szego-90x60.jpg)
Julie Szego Rewriting the oath of allegiance will do nothing to stop disenchanted young people from joining Islamic State.
It was fun, but bashing the Greens is so last century
![Greens leader Richard Di Natale:](http://web.archive.org./web/20160131043033im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/05/20/6546216/Thumbnail996268461ggv6xyimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.gh5hnx.png1432959070188.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Julie Szego The Greens can rightly claim the moral high ground for their campaign against metadata retention and in other policy areas.
Private schools and their bankrupt propaganda
![Julie Szego](http://web.archive.org./web/20160131043033im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2014/07/30/5638233/Julie-Szego-90x60.jpg)
Julie Szego Rather than take the pressure off the public system, private schools do the exact opposite.
Julie Bishop's head covering sends the wrong message to Iranian leaders
Julie Szego Julie Bishop's decision to wear a head covering in Iran, even though she didn't need to, exposed a lack of moral courage.
Extreme voices shout down sensible debate
![Rally against racism protesters clash with Reclaim Australia protesters at Federation Square.](http://web.archive.org./web/20160131043033im_/http://images.theage.com.au/2015/04/08/6422587/Thumbnail981803901mg20qimage.related.thumbnail.320x214.1mgch2.png1428532175771.jpg-90x60.jpg)
Julie Szego We must wage war against anti-Muslims and Islamists but, intellectually, we can’t do the equivalent of walk and chew gum at the same time.