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Author: Juliette Hughes

  • AUSTRALIA

    Uncle George’s war

    • Juliette Hughes
    • 21 June 2024

    Most soldiers don’t like to talk about what they’ve been through, the things they’ve had to see; the things they’ve had to do. Uncle George was more willing to talk as he got older and more willing to be coaxed by a crowd of adoring nieces. But there were some things he'd never say. And the war never went away from him.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Terry Pratchett and the nuclear energy debate

    • Juliette Hughes
    • 05 June 2024

    Since Peter Dutton has reignited the appetite for the dream of unlimited energy from atom-splitting, we have to think about the risks again. Is it more dangerous to keep burning coal and gas and oil and boil the planet than to have a few Chernobyls or Windscales? How do we balance such risks?

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Please, not Bridgerton again

    • Juliette Hughes
    • 17 May 2024

    What can you say when faced by another season of Bridgerton – that posing, poncing, irony-defying travesty of all history, literature and human relationships? Bridgerton took the Barbara Cartland romance/mild erotica ethos and dumbed it down to fifty shades of fluorescent polyester.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Searching for the truth about a wartime massacre

    • Juliette Hughes
    • 15 March 2024
    3 Comments

    Two books about a 1942 massacre of Australian nurses were released last year. One is reliable, the other is notable for factual omissions. If we leave something out, are we then guilty of censorship? Alternatively, if our truth-telling offends someone else, what is our justification for so doing?

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  • AUSTRALIA

    End of year thoughts in the Endarkenment 2023

    • Juliette Hughes
    • 20 December 2023

    It’s becoming an age of Endarkenment. Was it ever thus? So many going mad with one half of the facts? Moved by ignorance and targeted misinformation, compassion becomes corrupted into a rage for vengeance, and our streets heave with mobs who chant hate. It’s made me worried and sad. But I won’t give up on Christmas.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    The day John F. Kennedy, C.S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley died

    • Juliette Hughes
    • 22 November 2023
    1 Comment

    Sixty years ago today, on November 22, 1963, the world lost three towering figures of the 20th century. On their diamond jubilee, do I think it was the end of the world as we know it when these three died? Each one shaped the twentieth century in a unique way. Each one left us with much to think about still.  

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    The burden of hope in Charlotte Wood's Stone Yard Devotional

    • Juliette Hughes
    • 17 November 2023

    Stone Yard Devotional is a chronicle of a huge problem in our time: the sense of futility in all our efforts to amend. Wood may make us think, because despair is a constant stalker of the bravest of warriors against the destruction of the planet and the chronic toll of human evil. When compassion becomes a disabling burden, who or what can help?   

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Cults, crimes and coercive control: The Running Grave

    • Juliette Hughes
    • 13 October 2023
    1 Comment

    An intricate tale that delves deep into the realm of cults, deception, and the human psyche, The Running Grave goes beyond a mere detective yarn, with a narrative that confronts society's susceptibility to manipulation and questions the very fabric of our beliefs. 

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    The duality of Barbie

    • Juliette Hughes
    • 23 August 2023
    2 Comments

    In Barbie, director Greta Gerwig maps out a journey from naive pink utopias to poignant real-world challenges. Drawing parallels from the 1960s Twiggy phenomenon to today's elusive ideals of feminine success, Gerwig's film becomes a mirror to our society's ever-shifting landscape of female identity and aspiration.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Rejoicing in Joyce

    • Juliette Hughes
    • 09 August 2023
    9 Comments

    Navigating the labyrinthine world of James Joyce is a lifelong pursuit for some, and for Frances Devlin-Glass, it's a calling. From a chance encounter at a Bloomsday celebration to yearly seminars, her passion for Joyce has become a beacon for those eager to explore. But what is it about Joyce, and the global celebration of his work, that keeps readers coming back?

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Diamond Jubilee

    • Juliette Hughes
    • 22 June 2023
    2 Comments

    'Ten Pound Poms' adjusted from the harsh British winter to the austere migrant hostels of 1960s Australia. To mark the 60th anniversary of her own journey, Juliette Hughes recalls the trials and transformations, and the small moments that offered a glimmer of hope for the future. 

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Crowned with many crowns

    • Juliette Hughes
    • 09 May 2023
    6 Comments

    It didn’t bother me to watch the coronation. I was always going to, not least because I remember the last one. Despite astrologers' claims that the date of the coronation of King Charles III was a bad omen, the day was a moment of celebration for many; a chance to watch some history and hear some pretty decent music.

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