July 2021

Essays  Right arrow

Immigration

On the chain

A Victorian abattoir dispute shone a light on a system designed to exploit migrant workers’ hopes and ambitions

On the chain
To be free

Books

To be free

The Booker Prize–winning author on the need to write against the dogmas of conformity

Blood lies

Blood lies

An African Australian’s DNA nightmare as faulty science keeps his family separated

The Nation Reviewed  Right arrow

Image of vaccination centre, Melbourne

COVID-19

JabSeeker

The disordered national vaccine rollout reveals systemic flaws in our politics

Illustration by Jeff Fisher

Environment

Planetary defence

A court ruling that the environment minister owes children a duty of care to prevent climate harm has far-reaching implications

Illustration bu Jeff Fisher

Society

Supply and command

The young captain of HMAS Supply is transforming navy culture

Illustration by Jeff Fisher

Environment

Burning questions

A wildlife sanctuary in the Great Sandy Desert is studying how Indigenous fire management can protect biodiversity

Vox  Right arrow

The Vox Owl

The coast road

A daughter’s cross-border journey of memories and grief during the pandemic

Arts & Letters  Right arrow

Image of fish traps, Darling River, NSW, 1938

Books

Transforming the national imagination: The ‘Dark Emu’ debate

Peter Sutton and Keryn Walshe’s ‘Farmers or Hunter-gatherers?’ challenges ideas of progress championed by Bruce Pascoe

Still from ‘Nine Days’

Film

Life in isolation: ‘Nine Days’ and ‘Bo Burnham: Inside’

A comedian’s isolated self-examination is more profound than Edson Oda’s confused film about what makes a good life

Noted  Right arrow

Cover of ‘The Five Wounds’

Books

‘The Five Wounds’ by Kirstin Valdez Quade

A young down-and-out man in a New Mexico village seeks transcendence in a ceremonial role as Jesus, in this debut novel

Image of Richard Bell’s ‘Embassy’, 2013

Art

‘Richard Bell: You Can Go Now’

The MCA’s retrospective of the influential activist-artist provides a fluent deconstruction of white supremacy

In Light of Recent Events  Right arrow
Cartoon
How I suffered the mother of all clusterfucks
In light of recent events