In the Democrats' bitter race to find a candidate to beat Trump, might...
She's sitting third on the list of Democratic nomination contenders, but might Elizabeth Warren ultimately be the person to beat Donald Trump?EPA/AAP/Craig LassigConservative former congressman Joe...
View ArticleHow the impeachment inquiry might affect Trump's 2020 re-election chances
As the impeachment inquiry gathers pace in the US, Donald Trump is likely to keep doubling down on his opponents.AAP/EPA/Chris KleponisThe next 13 months will see American politics completely dominated...
View ArticleYes, the Iowa caucuses had major glitches, but the results may not even...
Pete Buttigieg has emerged as a surprise frontrunner at the Iowa caucuses. AAP/EPA/Gary HeThe apparent technical glitches that held up results from the Iowa caucuses for hours unleashed a stream of...
View ArticleIn the wake of bushfires and coronavirus, it's time we talked about human...
AAP/Lukas CochThe term “human security” was first adopted by the United Nations Development Program in 1994. We speak far less of it now than we did then. Yet the cataclysmic events of this year should...
View ArticleDeaths and desperation mount in Ecuador, epicenter of coronavirus pandemic in...
Coffins await burial at the Jardines de Esperanza cemetery in Guayaquil, Ecuador, April 10, 2020. Eduardo Maquilon/Getty ImagesDead bodies are lying at home and in the streets of Guayaquil, Ecuador, a...
View ArticleWatching Hamilton today – musical drama can be radical, just don't believe...
Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune/TNSWhen Disney releases a film version of the musical Hamilton on July 3, it will be 11 years since Lin-Manuel Miranda performed an early number at a White House evening...
View ArticleWinning the presidency won't be enough: Biden needs the Senate too
On November 3, Americans will vote not only for president, but for all members of the House of Representatives, a third of the Senate and a long list of state and local positions.While the names of...
View ArticleEven if Biden has a likely win, leading a deeply divided nation will be...
AAP/AP/Carolyn KasterLet’s assume Joe Biden narrowly wins the electoral college, and the Trump team lodges a series of court challenges to overturn results in Michigan and Pennsylvania, possibly...
View ArticleThe Labor Party has long struggled over a position on Israel and Palestine....
After the brutal conflict in Gaza flared yet again in the past month, and the end of Benyamin Netanyahu’s 12 years as prime minister of Israel, attention is again focused on the apparently intractable...
View ArticleThere's a strong case to be made for constitutional monarchies. But there's...
AAP/AP/Frank AugsteinThe basic defence of constitutional monarchies came from the British writer Walter Bagehot 150 ago. He argued for a separation between the ceremonial and the actual holders of...
View ArticleThe Good Fight: exhilarating entertainment and a grim warning of what the US...
Christine Baranski and Audra McDonald in The Good Fight.Scott Free Productions, King Size Productions, CBS All AccessOur writers nominate the TV series keeping them entertained during a time of...
View ArticleWith the 95-year-old queen told to rest, the question arises: what would life...
Most of us have known no other British sovereign than Queen Elizabeth II. The much-loved and admired 95-year-old rarely shows signs of vulnerability, but in recent days that has changed.After an...
View ArticleThe republic debate is back (again) but we need more than a model to capture...
Chris Jackson/AP/AAPThe Australian Republic Movement has just released their preferred model for a republic. It would see Australia’s parliaments nominate candidates for head of state, who would be put...
View ArticleDeals, golf with Trump, and little introspection: Joe Hockey goes to...
Joe Hockey visiting Parliament House, 1 December 2020.Lucas Coch/AAPPerhaps unfairly, the image most of us have of Joe Hockey comes from his time as federal Treasurer, when he was photographed smoking...
View ArticleLa Boite Theatre gives us a rollicking, queer and very Australian adaptation...
La Boite/Morgan RobertsReview: An Ideal Husband, directed by Bridget BoyleAn Ideal Husband was first performed in January 1895. Less than two months later Lord Queenberry left his infamous card...
View ArticleJared Kushner's memoir is a self-serving account of a hero's triumphs but...
Jared Kushner is not the first presidential son-in-law to have held high office. President Woodrow Wilson leaned heavily on his talented and experienced Treasury Secretary, William McAdoo, who just...
View ArticleThere's a growing gap between countries advancing LGBTQ+ rights, and those...
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong joined 50,000 people to march in support of queer rights across the Sydney Harbour Bridge for World Pride in early March. A week earlier,...
View Article'A combination of deficiencies': the 'disastrous' Morrison government dissected
Almost a year after the victory of the Albanese government, the defects of its predecessors are increasingly obvious. The competence and teamwork of the current government underline the weaknesses of...
View ArticleRomantic comedies, Japanese reality television and New Zealand true crime:...
We have never been more spoilt for choice when it comes to what we can watch on (streaming) television. But the downside of this gluttony of riches is the sheer overwhelm that can come from having to...
View ArticleUniversalism or tribalism? Michael Gawenda's memoir considers what it means...
Brücke-Osteuropa, Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsAt one point in this book, journalist Michael Gawenda claims “only progressive, secular reviewers are chosen to review books about Jews.” So I need...
View ArticleRoald Dahl, time-bending crime, and queer pirate comedy: the best of...
October has somehow slid into November and pretty soon, the silly season will be upon us. Before the madness hits, however, there’s still time to get some serious streaming study under your belt, so...
View Article10 books to help you understand Israel and Palestine, recommended by experts
Apeirogon/The Age of CoexistenceRecommended by Ghassan Hage, Professor of Anthropology and Social Theory, University of MelbourneI recommend two much-needed books in the present time. Despite the Gaza...
View ArticleBest books of 2023: our experts share the books that have stayed with them
The Conversation, Pexels/ShutterstockWe asked 20 of our regular contributors to nominate their favourite books of the year. Their choices were diverse, intriguing and sometimes surprising. Whether...
View ArticleLeft is Not Woke: a philosopher's plea for universalism and 'progress' is a...
Photo by Clay Banks on UnsplashSome years ago I was surprised to come across a person whose politics I knew to be conservative at a Greens fundraiser. When I asked him why he was there, he said he...
View ArticleBlack comedy, political drama and a documentary about a cult: what we’re...
Binge/ABC/Paramount+/The ConversationAs the new year gets going and we’re all looking towards evenings on the couch again to unwind after work or school, there is again a glut of shows to choose from....
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