Politics
American carnage
Donald Trump and the collapse of the Union

Law and order
The man inside and the inside man
Crime, punishment and indemnities in western Sydney’s gang wars
Indigenous rights
Reconciliation and the promise of an Australian homecoming
What would make an acknowledgement of country more welcome
Issues and policies
Rebuilding the economy means government investment, but not all public spending is equal
Environment
New climate modelling suggests planetary crisis is coming much sooner than previously thought
Music
Fermata: Musical performance in lockdown
What becomes of the communion of classical musicians, composers and audiences during social isolation?
Film
The death of cool: Michel Piccoli, 1925–2020
Re-watching the films of the most successful screen actor of the 20th century
Music
The heat of a moment: Ziggy Ramo’s ‘Black Thoughts’
A debut hip-hop album that calls for a reckoning with Indigenous sovereignty and invites the listener to respond
Books
‘Minor Detail’ by Adania Shibli (trans. Elisabeth Jaquette)
The Palestinian author’s haunting novel about an atrocity committed by Israeli soldiers in 1949
Books
‘The Rain Heron’ by Robbie Arnott
An unsettling near-future tale of soldiers hunting a mythic bird by ‘the Tasmanian Wordsworth’