May 2008
POLITICS
Obama!: What he must do to win
Noel Pearson
According to Steele, white guilt became a potent force in American culture and politics because, following the civil-rights victories of...
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CULTURE
Sir Henry Parkes & Henry Lawson
At 22, Henry Lawson was dirt poor, painfully shy and deaf as a post. His first few poems had garnered considerable praise but writing was "...
More ...CULTURE
‘Miracles of Life’ by JG Ballard
Chris Womersley
In the same way that Gabriel Garcia Marquez downplays elements of the fantastic in his work, JG Ballard's autobiography demonstrates...
More ...SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
‘The Story of Forgetting’ by Stefan Merrill Block
Zora Simic
Abel is a hunchbacked recluse pushing 70. Basic tasks and a bottomless mourning for his lost family mark his days. A real-estate boom makes...
More ...CULTURE
Unbridled: Laurent Tirard’s ‘Molière’
Luke Davies
The French actor Romain Duris first came to attention in Tony Gatlif's Gadjo dilo (1997), in which he played the elfin Stéphane, who...
More ...ENVIRONMENT
Committed: JEN Veron’s ‘A Reef in Time’
Julian Cribb
Five times in the history of life on Earth, the corals have perished. Each time they have taken millions of years to return or evolve anew...
More ...CULTURE
The Uncorking: Mark Seymour’s ‘Thirteen Tonne Theory’
Robert Forster
The best description of Hunters and Collectors' music, especially in their first incarnation, comes from their percussionist, Greg...
More ...CULTURE
In the Giant Green Cathedral: Tim Winton’s ‘Breath & surf writing’
Malcolm Knox
"I can never remember my best waves," said Mick Fanning, of Coolangatta, when he became the world surfing champion last year....
More ...POLITICS
John Button, 1933–2008
James Button
It was exciting growing up around Dad. He brought the heady outside world into our house. The phone was always ringing; visitors were...
More ...SOCIETY
Digging: A moral equivalent to Anzac Day
Don Watson
In countries like our own it seems possible that, relative to lifestyle, life has less meaning than it used to. Life is for people...
More ...POLITICS
Not All Black & White: Inside New Zealand’s social laboratory
Craig Sherborne
If you think Australia and New Zealand are peas in a pod, you are mistaken.In social justice, New Zealand has, for most of its modern...
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SOCIETY
Lies, Damned Lies
Charles Firth
My mum has been lying to me. It's either her or Telstra, and I always take Telstra at its word, so it must be Mum.This month marks the...
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SOCIETY
Organic Matter
Robyn Davidson
One of the great things about getting older is that all the anxieties you once had about death and decline (and some of us have had them...
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SOCIETY
Hiraeth
Toni Jordan
By the time the Sunday service is half over, the traffic is just a murmur. During the week you can't hear yourself think at this end of...
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POLITICS
Razor-Gang Blues
Gideon Haigh
They think well of Kevin Rudd at the National Library of Australia. For all his posturing as Mr History, John Howard only visited the...
More ...POLITICS
Comment: 2020 Hindsight
Robert Manne
When my university offered to nominate me to attend the 2020 Summit, I accepted at once. Given that I had recently edited a book of ideas...
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The Shortlist Daily
7 February 2012
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