Patrick Mullins I agree. An excellent piece from MargaretSimons re the fallout from the Higgins/Lehrmann case for journalism. There are further nuances about objectivity and advocacy to be teased out, some of which are in this piece I did. insidestory.org.au/were-not-at-wa….

(I'll be speaking on the jury/family history issue in the case, discussed here: insidestory.org.au/judging-kathle….)

“Lacking strong support for change, the govt scaled back and delayed the new fuel standard. But its near-silence on the health impacts of air pollution raises an important question: was this dimension of the policy fully explored?” inside.org.au/hot-air-triump…

Please enjoy this great piece from Australia’s preeminent Zizek Understander

Hot air triumphs over clean air. My latest for ⁦Inside Story⁩

Despite worrying evidence, the direct health effects of car-boosted air pollution barely figured in the debate over Labor’s vehicle efficiency standard
insidestory.org.au/hot-air-triump…

A welcome tribute to a prolific scholar who coined (among others) the term 'soft power', to which I devoted (and I am still devoting) several years of my academic life an a dissertation: Joseph Nye.

#softpower #internationalrelations

insidestory.org.au/the-father-of-…

“I weep more at a wedding than a funeral.”
Kate Fullagar reviews Susannah Gibson’s ‘Bluestockings,’ from John Murray Press inside.org.au/i-weep-more-at…

“It wasn’t long before Yevtushenko was prevailed upon to water down his poem, but when Shostakovich refused to change the words in his symphony the piece was banned.” Andrew Ford reviews Jeremy Eichler’s Time’s Echo, from Faber Books via Allen & Unwin inside.org.au/music-of-remem…

Rupert Murdoch and Donald Trump have had their ups and downs, but it’s mainly been down since 2020 inside.org.au/not-quite-a-ma…

Good review of two new books on Hannah Arendt

From where else? Inside Story

bit.ly/3VM7ha3

Enjoyed writing this review for Inside Story on Bluestocking women, Virginia Woolf and Henry Thrale's scrofulous balls. 🙏 [Sophie Coulombeau wanted to recount Hester Thrale's awfulness but I must say unexpected sympathies got in the way] insidestory.org.au/i-weep-more-at…

Inside Story review of a 'Life in the American Century': An eighty-year retrospective from Joseph Nye, the American academic, who changed the way nations attract and argue.
inside.org.au/the-father-of-…

Not the most uplifting bromance: me on Murdoch and Trump: Not quite a marriage made in heaven, on Inside Story inside.org.au/not-quite-a-ma…

Hot, wild heart, on Inside Story - complex & insightful account of the town at the Centre inside.org.au/hot-wild-heart

In the column I also refer to a couple of pieces about Alice Springs that strike me as really worth reading. There's this, from Eleanor Hogan, that I've referred to before

insidestory.org.au/hot-wild-heart/

Susan Lever reviews Charmian Clift’s ‘The End of the Morning,’ “a vivid and charming picture of a childhood spent amid the freedom of the beach and bushland,” from NewSouth Publishing inside.org.au/a-fragment-of-…

Patrick Mullins Inside Story This is terrific, Patrick.

“The good news for readers is that Stubbs writes as a proper fan but not uncritically.” Robert Phiddian reviews David Stubbs’s ‘Different Times: A History of British Comedy’ from Faber Books via Allen & Unwin insidestory.org.au/born-to-laugh/ inside.org.au/born-to-laugh

I read and much admired Nicholas Shakespeare's huge, new, and vivid biography of Ian Fleming. So I wrote about it for Inside Story:

insidestory.org.au/grand-days-ian…

“Perhaps the most important lesson provided by Arendt via Stonebridge is a challenge: Think!”
Klaus Neumann reviews Lyndsey Stonebridge’s ‘We Are Free to Change the World,’ from Jonathan Cape inside.org.au/emergency-thin…