Latest Story
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Standing in front of a painting I didn’t understand
Roger Chao | February 8, 2026Public art galleries offer a rare forum in which contemplation and ‘slow thinking’ are encouraged. Encounters with art, no matter how new or strange or challenging, remain a precious opportunity to engage with ourselves, our nation and each other.
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Could the madness of Donald Trump revitalise the rules-based order?
Jolyon Ford | February 8, 2026America’s withdrawal from international bodies and agreements might compel democratic powers to strengthen their commitments in response, given the collective threat they face from countries like China, Russia and – apparently – the USA interested only in conquest and power.
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Six of the best
Caitlin Macdonald | February 8, 2026Six Australian podcasts approach the world of books in very different forms but all contribute to audio has ironically become such an important medium for contemporary reading.
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Stand with Ukraine
Bernie O'Kane | February 7, 2026As a new book on the war by Serhii Plokhy makes clear, Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion remains the most important issue of our time. It is the fight of freedom against tyranny, the future against the past and hope verses resignation and despair. As President Trump seems more interested in becoming an imperialist autocrat rather than opposing them, we must all stand with Ukraine.
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The day the slide broke
Roger Chao | February 7, 2026Our cities’ precious parks are always under threat from neglect, misuse and housing development, but they remain a precious green oasis in the urban sprawl where children of all ages can play and learn together.
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The sole of the matter
Yenny Vandalita | February 7, 2026Your dad always said you should have good tyres on your car and your mum told you to wear proper shoes on your feet and, as usual, they were both right.
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Man and machine
Celeste Rodriguez Louro | February 6, 2026Until machines can participate in that collective, embodied and ethical dimension of cognition – and there is no evidence they can – the idea that AI will surpass human intelligence remains more hype than insight.
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Wikipedia turns 25
Vassilis Galanos | February 6, 2026Wikipedia is perhaps the greatest single site on the internet, a crowd sourced encyclopedia of everything which has evolved from a joke to a rare source of reliable information, but is now threatened by the onslaught of AI slop and politically motivated auto-generated alternatives.
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The deep end and the shallow bits
Roger Chao | February 6, 2026Australia used to be synonymous with swimming, yet despite Australia’s regular hauls of World and Olympic medals, fewer children learn how to swim, public pools are under threat and drowning statistics are heading in the wrong direction.
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Why preferential voting beats first past the post
Adrian Beaumont | February 5, 2026Some conservatives want a return to first past the post voting, but the history of Australian elections shows that preference voting allows Parliament to reflect the will of the people with the greatest accuracy.
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The evolution of Instagram
T.J. Thomson | February 5, 2026A study of the evolution of posts on Instagram shows more types of media being used but also increasing convergence and homogenisation between platforms, accelerated now by the influx of AI slop rather than genuine content.
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A world without the USA
Alexander Lee | February 5, 2026Canberra can no longer assume that Washington will underpin regional stability or the rules-based order, the foundational premise of modern Australian strategic planning. Australian policymakers must grapple with the prospect that the destabilising behaviour of US President Donald Trump’s administration is not a temporary aberration.
