Stasiland now
Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the author of ‘Stasiland’ reveals the ongoing power of the former East German regime, not just in politics and business but also in shaping perceptions of victimhood in unified Germany
The Monthly | Australian politics, society & culture
The Latest
The prevention state: Part four
In the face of widespread criticism of strip-searches, NSW Police offers a candid defence of preventative policing: You are meant to fear us.
On the PM’s catastrophically inept response to Australia’s unprecedented bushfires
A Pentecostal PM and climate change
Does a belief in the End Times inform Scott Morrison’s response to the bushfire crisis?
The prevention state: Part three
As authorities try to prevent crimes that haven’t happened, legislation is increasingly targeting people for whom it was not intended.
The prevention state: Part one
Governments and police are trying to pre-empt danger with legislation. But when the risk is terrorism, there are limits to what is possible.
The prevention state: Part two
Risk has overtaken wealth as the organising principle of society. But the powers being granted police are not always based on real threats.
The Monthly Essays
Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the author of ‘Stasiland’ reveals the ongoing power of the former East German regime, not just in politics and business but also in shaping perceptions of victimhood in unified Germany
On the West’s Trump-led exit from the wreckage of the Middle East
The America’s Cup winged keel and the transformation of a nation
Were systemic racism and unconscious bias among police officers behind the death in custody of Tanya Day?
The Nation Reviewed
Australia’s political leaders have lost their bearings in a changed world
An unprecedented twist in the Walkley Award–winning story of the David Eastman murder case
At the Menergy retreat, men tackle anger, address emotional resilience and dance like wild women
GOMA’s ‘Water’ exhibition brings an Icelandic stream indoors in Brisbane
Crowds cheer on the destructive prowess of Pot Head and Wanda at the Robowars National Championship
Vox
Collected thoughts on writers seeking permission to write, Eurydice Dixon, the Nobel for Murnane and dealing with errant chooks
Arts & Letters
Don’t look back in anger: Liam and Noel Gallagher
As interest in Oasis resurges, talking to the combative brothers recalls their glory years as ‘dirty chancers, stealing riffs instead of Ford Fiestas’
Damascene subversion: Christos Tsiolkas’s ‘Damascus’
The literary storyteller’s latest novel wrestles with the mythology of Christianity’s founder, Paul the Apostle
Agents of chaos: Peter Pomerantsev’s ‘This Is Not Propaganda’
The Russian expat journalist wonders if democracy can survive the internet, as social media is used to promote feelings over facts
Bodak moment: Pop’s decade of superstars
Cardi B delivered the song of the decade as a new league of superstars overcame the significance of bands
Noted
‘Japan supernatural’ The Art Gallery of NSW’s examination of Japan’s centuries-long artistic traditions depicting the spirit world and the macabre
‘The Topeka School’ by Ben Lerner The American author’s latest novel canvasses the seething hate speech of the burgeoning alt-right and white-boy rap battles in the Midwest
