Good Weekend

Stephanie Wood

Stephanie Wood is a senior writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and Good Weekend.

Photo: istock

The great pretender

When Stephanie Wood met a man online, the romance that ensued was blissful and rosy. Then the excuses.

Jackie Falzon and her son, Frankie. She remembers gasping for breath and sobbing in terror.

Dying for breath

Nine dead. Thousands fighting to breathe. One evening in Melbourne last spring, a storm turned into a freak health emergency.

One of the last of Australia’s Greek-Australian-run milk bars; the Olympia’s dilapidated shopfront speaks of a bygone era.

Milk money

A dusty and decrepit cafe serves as a bizarre living museum that tells the story of Australia’s decades-long love affair with the milk bar.

Eye on the prize: Biologist Jürgen Otto.

Spider Man

Is this the cutest spider in the world? Jurgen Otto thinks so. Stephanie Wood reports.

"No one else could have done what Sarah did in The Killing Season."

The inquisitor

Sarah Ferguson is a formidable force in Australian journalism. She also loves Keats and her husband's cooking.

Franz Scheurer shows off his fish semen dish.

Ram's balls for brekkie

Offal aficionado Franz Scheurer gives the morning fry-up a bizarre twist with meals that many wouldn't eat, yet thousands want to view on his daily Instagram feed.

"I'd just like to ask, 'Why?' "

Old and abused

No life, especially one spent on Struggle Street, should have such a cruel end. Stephanie Wood tells the story of two pensioners who fell prey to their children's abuse.