In "The Outsider", John Birmingham investigates the billionaire behind the Seven Network, Kerry Stokes, who rose from an impoverished childhood to become a media magnate. While Seven is gaining the edge on the Nine Network in the TV ratings, Stokes's determination to beat his rivals in the C7 case threatens his empire.

In "Truth, Death and Diplomacy in East Timor", Mark Aarons assesses the recent report of the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation. The report's findings provide stark evidence of successive Australian governments' failings over East Timor, and show the inaccuracies of the so-called Jakarta lobby's claims.

In "The Middle-Class Steeplechase", Malcolm Knox writes to his children, explaining the difficulties of choosing between public and private education. He contemplates the social and familial pressures — the "guilt and fear" — involved in the choice, and wonders whether private education has become just another form of consumerism.

In The Nation Reviewed, Mungo MacCallum looks at the strange, bitter world of Australia's political factions: how they value unquestioning loyalty over independence, how they reduce policy to mere populism, and how they have made the federal Labor Party unelectable. There's also Clive James on motor racing, Edward Scheer on TV's crying game, Chloe Hooper on the only Aboriginal art museum in the US, and Gideon Haigh on the managerial infiltration of club cricket.

In Arts & Letters, Justin Clemens looks at the Museum of Contemporary Art's Mike Parr retrospective. Parr, one of Australia's foremost contemporary artists, creates works that are intellectually rigorous, aesthetically challenging and often wryly amusing. Plus, there's Peter Craven on MJ Hyland's new novel, Owen Richardson on David Cronenberg's A History of Violence, Dennis Altman on opera in Adelaide, and Robert Forster on Augie March's latest album.