Australian politics, society & culture

Share
A serious problem. Source
The Monthly Today
A serious problem
Predictions have a bad habit of coming back to bite you
Sean Kelly

A love of the past

‘Mischka’s War’ is a historian’s honest attempt at preserving both love and objectivity
Emily Gallagher

Risky business

‘American Made’ provides more subversive smarts than you’d expect from a Tom Cruise vehicle
Harry Windsor
Vox

True love in Nauru

Two gay refugees face an unwelcoming community and an uncertain future
Abdul Karim Hekmat

Blurring the lines

‘The Silent Eye’ is the latest of Amiel Courtin-Wilson’s films to resist easy categorisation
Lauren Carroll Harris
Arts & Letters / Music

Torch songs

Lana Del Rey gets a little happier on ‘Lust for Life’
Anwen Crawford

Writing to remember

Alzheimer’s drives the narrative of Rachel Khong’s ‘Goodbye, Vitamin’ but it isn’t the novel’s focus
Jessica Au

Most Popular

  1. Vox
    Lessons from camels
    A ten-day camel trek through the South Australian outback. With your parents.
    Robert Skinner
    Lessons from camels. © Juniors Bildarchiv GmbH / Alamy
  2. The Monthly Today
    A serious problem
    Predictions have a bad habit of coming back to bite you
    Sean Kelly
    A serious problem. Source
  3. A super con
    Why compulsory superannuation benefits the financial industry and the rich at the expense of everyone else
    Warwick Smith
  4. Vox
    True love in Nauru
    Two gay refugees face an unwelcoming community and an uncertain future
    Abdul Karim Hekmat
  5. The Nation Reviewed
    Sex and Secrets in Public Parks
    The Beat Goes On
    Sonya Hartnett
    Sex and Secrets in Public Parks. Illustration by Jeff Fisher

Politics

Canberra needs a watchdog. Illustration
Comment
Canberra needs a watchdog
Who is keeping an eye on our federal politicians?
Richard Denniss
Success dogged him. Image of Alfred Deakin
Arts & Letters / Books
Success dogged him
Judith Brett’s ‘The Enigmatic Mr Deakin’ is a skilful portrait of Australia’s second prime minister
Mark McKenna
Tents in the city. Illustration
The Nation Reviewed
Tents in the city
The controversy over Martin Place’s homeless community became a political power struggle
Michael Dulaney
Leader’s block. Source
Leader’s block
How can Turnbull overcome the Coalition’s ongoing poll woes?
Mungo MacCallum


More



Society

A beautiful chaos. Illustration
The Nation Reviewed
A beautiful chaos
The Artful Dodgers Studios is a haven for young artists and musicians
Jaye Kranz
The Nation Reviewed
Hump day
The descendants of Australia’s “Afghan” cameleers get together in remote South Australia
Sam Vincent
The crankhandle of history. Image of Alice Springs
The Monthly Essays
The crankhandle of history
Thirty years on, what should we make of Bruce Chatwin’s song to the songlines?
Richard Cooke
Title fight. Image of Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest
The Monthly Essays
Title fight
The people of the Pilbara take on Australia’s great philanthropist
Paul Cleary


More



Culture

A certain madness. Image of Samuel Beckett
Arts & Letters / Books

A certain madness

Beneath the surface comedy of Samuel Beckett’s ‘Watt’ lies a metaphysical quest to know the unknowable
JM Coetzee
‘Whipbird’ by Robert Drewe. Cover of Whipbird
Noted

‘Whipbird’ by Robert Drewe

Hamish Hamilton; $32.99
Louise Swinn
‘Home Fire’ by Kamila Shamsie. Cover of Home Fire
Noted

‘Home Fire’ by Kamila Shamsie

Bloomsbury; $22.49
Helen Elliott
Noted

‘Forest Dark’ by Nicole Krauss

Bloomsbury; $24.99
Stephanie Bishop
Arts & Letters / Film

The script changed

James Gray’s ‘The Lost City of Z’
Shane Danielsen
Arts & Letters / Books

Sly late style

JM Coetzee’s ‘Late Essays: 2006–2017’
Barry Hill

In search of the ecstatic at Supersense

Sophia Brous assembled another magnificently eclectic program for her festival’s second outing
Jenny Valentish

In search of another narrative

With ‘Taboo’, Kim Scott sketches out a new way of accepting our histories, and imagining our future.
Shannon Burns

Bannon, Trump and ‘Devil’s Bargain’

Joshua Green chronicles Steve Bannon’s rise to prominence – and offers an insight into what he might be capable of now
Elle Hardy


More



Environment

Not-so-Tasmanian tiger. Illustration
The Nation Reviewed
Not-so-Tasmanian tiger
The thylacine is thought be extinct. Might it still be found in mainland Australia?
Anthony Ham
The Nation Reviewed
Foresters of the skies
The grey-headed flying fox faces a perilous nightly journey
Arnold Zable
Country needs people. Image of Yarrkalpa – Hunting Ground, Parnngurr Area, 2013
The Monthly Essays
Country needs people
Mapping and minding shared lands
Kim Mahood
Nature 2.0. Illustration
The Nation Reviewed
Nature 2.0
Saving Australia’s smallest freshwater fish
Nicole Gill


More



Economics

Grandfathering the Australian dream. Image of a broken key
The Monthly Essays
Grandfathering the Australian dream
House prices, insecure work and growing debts … Who can afford a stake in today’s society?
Richard Denniss
The shorter working week can work
It’s time to take the four-day work week seriously
Emma Dawson
Arrested development. Image of James Packer
The Monthly Essays
Arrested development
James Packer has been down, but he’s not out
Richard Cooke
The new black. Image of a restaurant
The Monthly Essays
The new black
The overworked, underpaid, cash-in-hand worker is becoming increasingly common
Ann Arnold


More


×
×