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Happiness without freedom, or freedom without happiness
Sheila Fitzpatrick | March 16, 2024This year is the centenary of Russian writer Yevgeny Zamyatin’s dystopian novel We – a major influence on George Orwell’s dystopia 1984 and a seminal work of science fiction.
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It happened one night – 90 years ago
Alexander Sergeant | March 16, 2024Frank Capra’s cynical romantic fable, It Happened One Night, celebrates its 90th anniversary this year and is well due a critical revisit.
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Political bees and talking pigs
Julia Kindt | March 15, 2024The differences and similarities between humans and (other) animals fascinated ancient philosophers and story tellers, and are still a point of scientific and moral contention today.
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How to have better arguments
Sherry Landow | March 15, 2024Taking steps to fine-tune our argument style can help clarify our thoughts, increase positive debate, reduce anger and emotion, and help us reach a common understanding of the truth more often.
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Retail music
Open Forum | February 25, 2024Rasta reggae great Bob Marley died of cancer at just 36 years old, and those that profit from his estate have been shamelessly raking in money on the back of his name and revolutionary image ever since.
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Come and get it
Jodi McAlister | February 25, 2024A fresh and intimate portrait of desire, consumption and reckless abandon, Kiley Reid’s second novel “Come and Get It” is a tension-filled story about money, indiscretion, and bad behavior.
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Myth and religion
Alan Stevenson | February 24, 2024Religions have been the repositories and interpreters of myths and sacred stories and the creators of rituals to express them, but as religions become institutionalised or associated with secular political power, they are all too often distorted for self-serving purposes.
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Lionel Messi: The man who fell to Earth in Hong Kong
David Rowe | February 10, 2024When Lionel Messi failed to take the field in a pre-season exhibition football (soccer) match in Hong Kong, the furious reaction exposed the risks of staging celebrity-centred sports events without the main act.
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We are the stories we tell about ourselves
Alan Stevenson | February 1, 2024Myths of gods and monsters and legends of great and heroic deeds have played a vital role in shaping and passing on cultures around the world, and remain important in what they can tell us about human nature today.
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Celebrate our values on Australian Day
Justin Bassi | January 26, 2024The very existence of Australia Day is becoming controversial, but we can all unite around a holiday to celebrate the democratic values we all share.
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In praise of Walter Benjamin
Jamie Roberts | January 14, 2024Though he died by his own hand over 80 years ago, the works of German-Jewish intellectual Walter Benjamin still offer vivid insights into our modern age.
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The culture of narcissism
Nick Haslam | January 12, 2024Almost half a century ago, the American historian Christopher Lasch excoriated a range of social trends which contemporary writers are rediscovering today.