THE MONTHLY ESSAYS

"The atomisation of all media, thanks to the irreversible shift from the old, hard, analogue means of communication to ephemeral digital versions, is a process only accelerated by the global recession. Much power is at stake, both commercial and cultural, as once-dominant media empires face the threat of annihilation. And since these empires are empires of the mind, it is natural that we grasp for metaphor when trying to understand their fate. But whether the appropriate metaphorical image to be applied is the arrival of moveable type – which was truly paradigm-changing – or, say, the emergence of commercial radio – which was not – remains an unsettled question."

In "Mash-up", John Birmingham writes of the transformative power of new media forms, not only to drastically reconfigure our everyday consumption, but also to completely remould the commerce and power-dynamics of media ownership. He chronicles significant events in recent media history to reveal a dramatic change of pace: a single commercial decision can render long-time media fiefdoms powerless in the "evolutionary hothouse" environment of the internet. With typical acuity, Birmingham focuses his discussion on the besieged "Clan Murdoch".

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"In Australian politics [Paul] Kelly is the ultimate insider. He retains this privileged position by remaining permanently within reasonably close proximity to power. During the Keating years, Kelly was close to Labor. During the Howard years, he was close to the Coalition. But not only has Kelly internalised, at different times, the world views of both Keating and Howard, instinctively he also understands that if he should ever become a systematic and forthright critic of an Australian government – if, that is to say, he should ever become an outsider – he would forfeit his most valuable asset."

In "The Insider", Robert Manne reflects on the successes and failings of Paul Kelly's new book, The March of Patriots. Manne acknowledges the work as "impressive and important" and suggests that it may well become the definitive account of Australian politics of the period from the beginning of Keating's prime ministership to Howard's decisive third election victory. However, Manne criticises the parochial and simplifying nature of many of Kelly's contentions, particularly in relation to the origins and development of the major political ideologies of the era. Both a critique and a counterpoint, Manne's essay offers readers a compelling insight into the contrasting outlooks of two of our most significant political commentators.

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"The impression I received at The Australian Club was that its denizens were not hungry for power but for solitude. The website for the club's Melbourne branch offers 'a destination for those seeking to escape the strain of modern life'. That says a lot, I think. Men go there not to conspire, but to escape. It's just a bit weird that half of the human race – wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, friends – can be seen as part of 'the strain of modern life'."

In "In Retreat", Malcolm Knox scrutinises the nationwide decline of a once-respected and now widely maligned social institution: the gentlemen's club. Knox offers readers a chance to re-appraise these supposed enclaves of social power in light of his suggestion that their abiding appeal may not be, as you would expect, in the access they are presumed to grant to spheres of influence.

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"Singing voices disclose and perhaps elicit deep truths about the characters of their owners. We can control the voices we speak with because they originate in the throat; the singing voice comes from ulterior regions, and doesn't find it so easy to tell lies ... it expresses what might be called the soul, or perhaps the id, of the singer. A voice as altitudinous as Sutherland's – higher than anyone else's, swelling as it soared rather than chirping or pecking at those impossible notes – clearly had a competitive edge, a determination to over-top all comers."

In "Curtain Call", Peter Conrad commemorates the astonishing career of Australia's celebrated opera singer Dame Joan Sutherland. Through a combination of review, reminiscence and anecdotal character portrait, Conrad reveals the robust majesty of "this most truly astral of stars". By celebrating Sutherland – from her career-making introduction to Covent Garden half a century ago to her final role as the title character in Lucia di Lammermoor at the Sydney Opera House in 1990 – Conrad succeeds in revivifying the legacy of her performance.

THE NATION REVIEWED

"As I write, 11 members of the ADF have now been killed in action in Afghanistan. As this toll has mounted, something important has changed in the nature of Australia's engagement in this war. Their deaths are no longer exceptional and unexpected. They have become the normal and expected consequence of the government's policy choices."

In the first Monthly Comment, Hugh White assesses Australia's military engagement in Afghanistan. In clear, nuanced prose he reveals why, for the Rudd government, this situation has become intractable, and throws into relief the factors that have really dictated our ongoing commitment to the operation. White compellingly argues it is time that the burden of grief carried by the families and friends of soldiers sacrificed to the campaign counted in government decision-making.

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"The [30/90] rule affords local publishers sufficient economic security to take the considerable risks inherent in publishing books, and thereby to make available works by both little-known Australian writers and more recognised ones ... The 30/90 rule does this, while barely causing any delay in the importation of overseas published books into Australia and usually with little or no price disadvantage to the consumer."

In the second Monthly Comment, Elliot Perlman implores the prime minister to reject the Productivity Commission's proposed changes to the legislation governing parallel imports. In his open letter, Perlman argues that the 30/90 rule must be upheld if the Australian publishing industry is to remain viable and support the diverse talents of Australian authors. A clarion call, Perlman's letter outlines what is at stake – for the publishing industry and for the nation's narrative culture.

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"'I was a little doubtful, when I started, about the applause being necessary,' Judge Dive confides later over lunch in his chambers. 'But you only have to be here for a day when you see how much they glow with pleasure when they receive it. I think they've probably never had any positive reinforcement in their lives before.'"

In "Purgatory", Leigh Sales documents the proceedings of the Drug Court of NSW, where a rehabilitative approach to the sanctioning of offenders is proving greatly successful. We are introduced to the court's senior judge, the approachable Roger Dive, as well as a string of offenders, who appear before the court at various stages of the difficult process of overcoming addiction.

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Plus, in "Dance with Me, Baby", Clare Press spends an afternoon clubbing with toddlers; in "Socratic Dialogues", Alan Saunders discusses life over lattes at a Sydney philosophy café; in "Death Notice", Benjamin Law investigates the demise of newspaper classifieds; and in "Bad Behaviour", Gay Bilson ponders the etiquette, and ethics, of serving meat to vegetarians.

ARTS & LETTERS

"What distinguishes Gillard most from other women who have gone a long way in Australian politics is that she genuinely loves power. Possessing it works as a big political multiplier for her: the more power she gets, the better she performs and the more she accumulates as a result. She is always 'on' politically and people respond to that certainty. They like a woman who is comfortable with power and its deployment."

In "The Other Biography", Christine Wallace critiques Jacqueline Kent's The Making of Julia Gillard. Armed with inside knowledge from researching her own upcoming Gillard biography, Wallace contends that Kent has failed to breach the defences of Gillard's tightly controlled public persona or to adequately probe Gillard's political philosophy. Both a corrosive assessment of a literary rival and a revealing sketch of the deputy prime minister, Wallace's essay is essential reading for those interested in Australian politics and biography alike.

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"[David] McComb's lyrics operated on one level; the poems sink mineshafts and go down further. He's laid bare, and perhaps the hesitation he showed in his life about their publication – '"Rock Star Publishes Slim Volume of Poetry" has such a shitty ring to it,' he once said – may have to do with the sense of self-exposure, and the hurt they may have given to those close to him – those 'well-loved'."

In "Beautiful Waste", Robert Forster reviews a posthumous collection of poetry by David McComb, the songwriter and lead singer of Perth rock band The Triffids. Within its pages, McComb is revealed to have been an accomplished poet, and the feverish imagery and sense of "Perth noir" found here serve to highlight the tragedy of his premature death. In this review, Forster acknowledges a musician too long neglected by the Australian mainstream.

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"For all of her justified indignation about inequalities and injustices, Roy offers no positive vision of what Indian democracy should look like. There is instead a strange and hyperbolic fatalism, driven by the belief that democracy may well turn out 'to be the endgame for the human race'."

In "Feral Howl", Tim Soutphommasane questions the political substance of Arundhati Roy's Listening to Grasshoppers. The book, which is an anthology of essays and satire written by Roy since her 1997 receipt of the Booker Prize, offers a sustained attack on the political and economic injustices being wreaked within her homeland. But for all the passion Roy pours into her critique of Indian democracy, Soutphommasane argues, her lack of penetrating analysis at times reduces her words to indistinct noise. 

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Plus, in "C'est La Vie", Sebastian Smee appraises the charms and conceits of Edmund Capon's essay collection, I Blame Duchamp; and in "Tasmanian Devils", Luke Davies reviews Jonathan auf der Heide's Van Diemen's Land, a haunting account of Australia's most notorious cannibal, Alexander Pearce.

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There's also Zora Simic on Anna Goldsworthy's memoir about her musical coming-of-age, Piano Lessons; Louis Nowra on Gerald Murnane's long-awaited novel, the idiosyncratic Barley Patch; and Shane Maloney on Frank Sinatra's fiery 1974 encounter with then-president of the ACTU, Bob Hawke.