Vol 35 No 5

10 March 2025

ARTS AND CULTURE

Shakespeare's war criminal? Henry V and the problem of heroism
- Peter Craven
- 14 March 2025
Shakespeare’s Henry V has long been celebrated as a stirring hymn to English valour, a theatrical counterpart to Churchill’s wartime oratory. But beneath its rousing rhetoric lies a darker truth of a king who breaks hearts as easily as he wins battles, a war epic that disguises the brutality it glorifies.
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INTERNATIONAL

The roots of American discontent
- Nirmal Ghosh
- 14 March 2025
Donald Trump’s return to the White House was the culmination of decades of economic decline, political disillusionment, and cultural fracture, forces the liberal elite ignored at their peril. As Trump reshapes America’s role in the world, his rise reveals hard truths about democracy, populism, and power in the 21st century.
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AUSTRALIA

Street poll: Which party will win the votes of Australians doing it tough?
- Barry Gittins
- 13 March 2025
Australia’s political class might make grand promises, but for those on the margins — homeless, underemployed, struggling with addiction — these pledges mean little. The people who have been left behind know the game is rigged. As elections approach, they watch from the outside, knowing their vote was never meant to count.
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AUSTRALIA

Change of era, or era of change?
- Andrew Hamilton
- 13 March 2025
What feels like turbulence in the present often reveals itself, in hindsight, as the rupture of an era. From the fall of Rome to the upheavals of today, are we witnessing mere disruption, or the twilight of an old order?
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RELIGION

An honest broker trying to find answers: Frank Brennan at 50 years a Jesuit
- Jim McDermott
- 13 March 2025
Frank Brennan wears his prominence lightly. A priest, lawyer, and tireless advocate for Indigenous rights and refugees, he is as at home in political corridors as he is at the dinner table, welcoming friends with stories and good cheer. Now, celebrating 50 years as a Jesuit, he reflects on faith, justice, and a life of service.
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RELIGION

The Church has never been far from Papal crises
- Constant Mews
- 13 March 2025
The Catholic Church has weathered centuries of crisis, from ancient schisms to modern scandals with each era bringing calls for reform. As Pope Francis reshapes the Church’s leadership, his successor must decide how the papacy will adapt to present and future challenges.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Portents
- Michael Farrell
- 13 March 2025
Portents, auguries, challenge my faith. A star shines over a publishing house. They have produced a book by a poet who has never written a word. Poetry bends, pretends, protects, its grand scope.
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AUSTRALIA

We must keep toxic election culture out of Australia
- Sarah Klenbort
- 12 March 2025
As Australia heads towards another federal election, the influence of big money in politics looms larger. In the U.S., billionaires and corporate interests have eroded trust in government. Campaigns there cost billions of dollars, while ours, for now, do not. But can we keep it that way?
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Vol 35 No 5