Worshiping technology

A new book – Tech Agnostic by Greg Epstein – argues that technology has become the world’s most powerful religion and needs a reformation already.

Ten of the best

From Samantha Harvey’s spellbinding Booker winner Orbital to Percival Everett’s ambitious retelling of Huckleberry Finn, James, these are the books that made the most lasting impression on the Conversation’s expert reviewers.

Another side of Bob Dylan

The Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” starring Timothée Chalamet, focuses on Dylan’s early 1960s transition from idiosyncratic singer of folk songs to internationally renowned singer-songwriter.

Icing on the Christmas cake

We’re all familar with the Nativity scene, but the account of Jesus’ birth in Luke 2 is only four lines long so it’s no wonder so many of the well-loved elements of the Christmas story are embellishments to an otherwise sparse text.

Not great men

The view of Scottish writer Thomas Carlyle that “the history of the world is but the biography of great men” has long been superseded in academic circles by the Marxist view of history as the inexorable grind of class struggle, but even on the radical left “great men” emerge, and one of them was David Graeber, however much publishers may distort his work.

Glam tidings of joy

British glam rockers Slade made “Merry Xmas Everybody” a seasonal hit for the ages and it’s back in the charts this year.

Mento patriotism

The ‘soft’ cultural patriotism celebrated by modern Australians can only survive if encased by the ‘hard’ patriotism required to protect this country and its way of life.

Living in Australia

Arts Project Australia has been supporting artists with intellectual disabilities for more than 50 years and a new exhibition showcases their work.

Introducing Audrey

Would you be better off without your kids? Audrey is a cheeky, darkly humorous film that explores maternal regret

From a whisper to a scream

Though eclipsed for a time by the rise of slasher films and other gory fare, the venerable literary genre of ‘quiet horror’ is due for a much needed resurgence.

Remembering George Negus

George Negus, who has died at the age of 82, will be remembered as a giant of Australian television and current affairs.

Juice it up

Tim Winton’s first novel in 6 years is set hundreds of years in the future when climate change has rendered large parts of the globe uninhabitable.