In “The Outcast of Camp Echo”, Alfred W McCoy, a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and the author of A Question of Torture, examines the punishment of David Hicks at Guantanamo Bay, the key US base in the War on Terror. Hicks, an Australian citizen, has survived years of sensory deprivation and torture, yet the Howard government steadfastly refuses to request his release.

In “What About Me?”, Anne Manne investigates the Look-at-Me! phenomenon: the new narcissism. Ranging across popular and scientific sources, she argues that the current culture’s obsession with a self always on display, judged by appearances alone – and with no regard for the care of others – is dangerously flawed. This is a must-read essay for anyone interested in contemporary society.

In “Beattie’s Babylon”, John Birmingham interviews Peter Beattie. The premier of Queensland and the senior Labor leader in Australia, Beattie is a master of no-bullshit soundbites and an extraordinarily popular politician – until recently, at least. With government crises proliferating, Beattie’s vision of New Queensland – of transforming the state into a subtropical Silicon Valley – is in serious trouble.

In The Nation Reviewed, Don Watson reflects on successive Australian governments’ attitudes towards Suharto-era Indonesia and the East Timor problem. There’s also Chloe Hooper on the most rare and miraculous of lilies, Simon Leys on the mysteries of time, Malcolm Knox on the hype surrounding soccer in Australia, and James Kirby on the boom in uranium-technology investment.

In Arts & Letters, Clive James catalogues the mutation of English, finding ample evidence that a decline in the teaching of spelling and grammar is having disastrous effects. There’s also James’s hilarious poem “Windows is Shutting Down”. Plus, Owen Richardson finds few highs in Neil Armfield’s Candy, Maria Tumarkin is thrilled by Peter Carey’s Theft, and Edward Scheer reviews a production of The Goat.