THE NATION REVIEWED

Just 15 years ago on trams and trains people buried their heads in books, newspapers and periodicals, searching for the precious little information they contained, or stared out the windows at a world going past that without Wikipedia they could not begin to understand. People knew very little then.

In the Monthly Comment, Don Watson finds that technology and bureaucratic jargon are no substitute for the traditional practice of teacher-to-student education. These days modern smartphones act as a kind of handheld oracle; however, Watson implores teachers to assert their place in the classroom and in the development of the human mind – in human language.

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Plus, in “Work and Play”, Christine Kenneally walks through the gates of Melbourne Zoo to gawk at its 150-year history; in “Island Rising”, Fiona McGregor explores the rare treasures of Cockatoo Island; in “The Sitting Act”, Charlotte Wood has her portrait painted; and in “The Baskerville Case”, Ashley Hay digs up a story on the feral chickens of Norfolk Island.

THE MONTHLY ESSAYS

Financial capitalism suffered a dreadful collapse in 2008 and the economies of the United States and Europe were devastated. Powerful voices called for the rich to pay more taxes to help rebuild. The odd thing was that the most resonant voices were those of the rich themselves.

In “Left Behind”, Peter Hartcher asks why no left-wing political parties, in Australia or elsewhere, have been able to capitalise on the widespread dissatisfaction with the economic status quo in the wake of the GFC. Wealthy investment banker Mark Carnegie – Australia’s Warren Buffet – is leading the charge to turn out the pockets of those who can afford it and build a sovereign wealth fund. But is anybody listening? 

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“Hysterical comments about pink body bags need to be dealt with robustly. A dead or wounded soldier should not be judged on the basis of their sex but on their service and sacrifice on behalf of the nation.” – Lieutenant General Peter Leahy

In "The Lady Killers", Anne Summers examines the attitudes of army and defence personnel facing new legislation that will remove the current restrictions on women's roles in the ADF. The battle against the boys' club of combat, who aim to cast doubt on women's ability to be effective on the front line, is slowly being won.

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“Cory Bernardi wants to be some sort of conservative warrior but he’s not up to it intellectually,” says a Liberal associate. “In reality he’s like the kid in the playground who pulls his pants down so everyone will look at him, but he has no idea how he’s embarrassing himself in the process.”

In “All About Cory”, Sally Neighbour ventures into the strange world of South Australian senator and would-be “right-wing macho man” Cory Bernardi. Taking his talking points from the lunatic fringe of the US Republican Party, and benefiting from the patronage of Nick Minchin and Tony Abbott, Bernardi is a politician worth keeping an eye on.

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Plus, in "CanDo?", Nick Bryant tracks the energetic campaign of Queensland's prospective premier, Campbell Newman; in "The Stars My Destination", Luke Davies visits the 100 Year Starship Symposium in Florida; and in "The Life Not Lived", Peter Robb meets literary don Ian Donaldson and reflects on his own youth as an itinerant scholar.

FICTION – SUMMER READING SPECIAL

“Whirlpool” by Cate Kennedy; “The Orange-bellied Parrot” by Nicholas Shakespeare; “At the Condamine Crossroads Motel” by Janette Turner Hospital; “Three Boys” by Sonya Hartnett; and “This Helplessness” by Steven Amsterdam.

ARTS & LETTERS 

Throughout the years of apartheid and their aftermath, William Kentridge was struggling to reconcile his own creative impulses with his privilege, his underlying sense of existential absurdity, and the brute fact of injustice all around him. 

In "No Script, No Storyboard", Sebastian Smee reviews the political art of South Africa's "marvellously free-wheeling" William Kentridge, whose exhibition William Kentridge: Five Themes comes to Australia in early 2012. While his stop-motion animated films, printmaking, and sculpture built from kitchen utensils can appear style-less and gauche, Kentridge's work is steeped in humanity.

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It was lonely in that house. At the same time, the ghost of Patrick White was everywhere. In his study the armchair was as if he had just risen from it. I could swear that there was still a depression of the famous author’s backside in its striped cushion.  

In "No One Comes To See Me Now", Debra Adelaide recollects the time she spent making a bibliography of Patrick White's library at the home he shared with Manoly Lascaris. The eccentricities and idleness of Lascaris, the uncomfortable house with its "clutter of emptiness", and the hollow routine of the housekeeper and gardener suggested a household living in thrall to a memory.

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Plus, in “Treasure in the Attic”, Robert Forster looks back on the golden age of singer–songwriters; and in “An Auteur Planet”, Peter Conrad reviews Pedro Almodóvar’s The Skin I Live In and Lars von Trier’s Melancholia.