The sky that remembers the dead

Another lyrical poem on contemporary issues from Open Forum’s poet laureate Roger Chao.

Static and silence

The Estonian composer Arvo Pärt turned 90 this month, but remains one of the most frequently performed contemporary classical composers in the world, so how does his music evoke such profound emotions and transcendent spirituality?

Woke will eat itself

“Safe speech” rules require a form of censorship that not only involves choosing political sides, but inevitably making fine-grained judgements between which opposing minority deserves protection at the expense of the other.

The ferryman

A new book explores the life of Ephraim Finch, the son of a Melbourne butcher who converted to Judaism and became the director of Melbourne’s Chevra Kadisha – the city’s Jewish Burial Society.

Fire mountain

A mechanical artwork designed in 1775 to depict the eruption of Italy’s Mount Vesuvius has been brought to life for the first time – 250 years after it was conceived – thanks to modern technology and the ingenuity of two Australian engineering students.

The fifty year picnic

Half a century after its release, Picnic at Hanging Rock remains the best Australian film ever made, and allows for many interpretations – including a lumpen attempt to reduce it to anti-colonialist agitprop.

Scary stories to tell in the dark

Urban legends offer people a way to focus and personify the anxieties that arise from living in such an environment. At the same time, they go some way towards recreating a sense of community through sharing such tales.

Monster mash

Award-winning author Nicholas Jubber’s latest book takes the reader on a journey to discover more about the monsters we’ve invented and may still be lurking in the dark and the wild places of the earth.

The wrath of the harpies

“Harpy” has long been used as a derogatory term for aggressive women, but what was a harpy was in the first place?

Making peace in the culture wars

A.C. Grayling’s new book Discriminations: Making Peace in the Culture Wars sees the renowned philosopher wading into the ethical minefields of “woke” activism, cancellation, and conservative backlash.

Musicoterapia

An innovative Edith Cowan University research project is using the power of music and storytelling to support the wellbeing of older Italian migrants, including those living with dementia.

The Alchemy of Myth: Reading Jordan Peterson’s “Maps of Meaning”

Jordan Peterson’s first book, Maps of Meaning, explores the psychological and social reasons that people across different cultures and epochs produce myths and stories with similar structures but is just as interesting for its insights into the mind of one of the most important and prolific public intellectuals of the 21st century.