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Keywords: Culture

  • AUSTRALIA

    Smartphones took over the world. Can we opt out?

    • Binoy Kampmark
    • 04 February 2025

    Smartphones dictate access to commerce, communication, and even education, and face-to-face transactions have all but disappeared. Have we willingly surrendered choice for convenience? As digital payments become the norm, are those choosing to live without a smartphone excluded from modern society?

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    The moral dilemma of negotiating with Putin

    • Sergey Maidukov Sr.
    • 04 February 2025

    As global powers weigh the prospect of negotiating with Vladimir Putin, indicted for war crimes, the moral dilemma looms: can peace justify sitting down with a war criminal? This question, compounded by the ongoing suffering in Ukraine, forces leaders to balance expediency against the principles of justice, accountability, and human rights.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    From under the truck

    • Peter Craven
    • 31 January 2025

    Somewhat surprisingly, actor Josh Brolin is, in his way a born writer. In his new memoir, he succeeds in taking conversations of the most ordinary kind and bringing them to life, recounting oddly spellbinding encounters with figures like Cormac McCarthy, conjuring up the voices in narrative brimming with humour, vulnerability, and grace.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Trump inaugurated

    • Peter Craven
    • 24 January 2025

    In a second presidency begun with a spate of brash decrees — annexing Greenland, scrapping birthright citizenship — and forging odd alliances with billionaires, Donald Trump is already defying expectations. How did we reach this unsettling moment, and can America endure it?

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    To have and have yacht

    • Barry Divola
    • 21 January 2025

    There’s no genre more sun-drenched or divisive than yacht rock, the smooth, sultry sounds of 70s and 80s soft rock. But as a new documentary shows, even its biggest architects, like Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen, aren’t always on board. So, what is yacht rock, and why can’t we all agree?   

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    When disaster becomes routine in L.A.

    • Jim McDermott
    • 16 January 2025

    In Los Angeles, wildfires blur the line between disaster and daily life. Evacuation alerts, smoke-filled horizons, and neighborhoods turned to ash coexist with packed restaurants and holiday plans. As the fires rage on, one question persists: is this the new normal? 

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  • RELIGION

    On 'getting' the synod

    • Richard Lennan
    • 19 December 2024

    Is the synod a parliament, a shareholder meeting, or something wholly unique? How we frame it shapes our understanding of its purpose and outcomes. Beyond analogies, could the true essence of synodality lie in embracing grace and discernment, re-centering the church on its divine mission?

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Books, screens, and holiday dreams

    • Juliette Hughes
    • 18 December 2024

    In a year defined by uneven cultural offerings, books stood tall while cinema faltered and television treaded water. From Alexander Armstrong’s enchanting Evenfall to Patricia Briggs’ mystical Winter Lost, the literary landscape offered gems aplenty. Meanwhile, Netflix’s Mary proved a thunderous flop, and Barbie charmed in pink. Let the debates begin.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    The delight and discomfort of undeserved gifts

    • Emma Wilkins
    • 18 December 2024

    Gift-giving should be a celebration of kindness, but modern rituals often entangle us in obligation and excess. From generous neighbours to Christmas present hauls, reciprocal gifts build and shape our relationships. But what does it mean to give without strings?

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Celebrating Christmas, holy and hectic

    • Andrew Hamilton
    • 16 December 2024

    At Christmas, the sacred and the secular seem locked together. Amid the tinsel and toasts, there’s a deeper narrative: one of radical generosity, shared humanity, and solidarity with the marginalised. This season invites not just celebration but reflection on who we are—and who we might become.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Friendship in freefall: Unpacking a crisis of civic disconnection

    • David Halliday
    • 13 December 2024

    In 2024, a fifth of Americans reported having no close friends, and the number is growing, especially among those without college degrees. So what are the societal structures behind this crisis in loneliness, and how we can rebuild meaningful connections?

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Alexei Navalny: Patriot and holy fool

    • Danielle Terceiro
    • 12 December 2024

    Navalny’s memoir Patriot was released last month. Written in prison, it is a testament to Navalny’s deliberate practice of a forward-looking hope for the future, even though he was certain that he would not outlive his sentences. Surprisingly, the book is full of humour. 

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