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Keywords: People

  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Silent Night, from hymn to hype

    • Simon Smart
    • 19 December 2024

    Modern advertisements blend artistry and manipulation, tugging our heartstrings while selling us things we didn’t think we needed. Take the Austrian financial giant Erste’s annual Christmas ad, which this year chronicles the history of 'Silent Night.' It's breathtaking — until its message makes a baffling twist.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Falling, flying and the weight of the world

    • Barry Gittins
    • 18 December 2024

    As airports swell with holiday travellers chasing far-flung reunions and tropical getaways, a paradox looms above the tarmac: while we demand action on climate change, few are ready to ground themselves. Flight represents humanity’s defiance of limits — an act of freedom, wonder, and consequence. Can we balance soaring ambitions with planetary survival?

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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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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    A Man on the Inside asks: What does it mean to stay connected as we age?

    • Daniel Herborn
    • 18 December 2024

    In A Man on the Inside, Ted Danson’s Charles brings wit and warmth to a retirement home whodunit with a poignant edge. Created by Mike Schur (The Good Place), this Netflix gem artfully blends comedy, mystery, and social commentary, exploring the ache of loss, the joy of purpose, and the profound value of connection.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    Reflecting on the year that was

    • David Halliday, Michael McVeigh, Laura Kings, Michele Frankeni, Andrew Hamilton, Julian Butler
    • 18 December 2024

    To close the year for Eureka Street, the editorial team are taking a step back to reflect on the character of 2024. What did it demand of us? What did it teach us about ourselves, and the world we inhabit?

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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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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Sanmao and the priest

    • Margaret Simons
    • 13 December 2024

    High in Taiwan’s mountains, Jesuit priest Barry Martinson found a soulmate in celebrated author Sanmao, who inspired millions with her writing. Their relationship—neither romantic nor conventional—was a profound meeting of kindred spirits, rooted in shared curiosity, literary love, and the sacrificial essence of friendship.

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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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  • AUSTRALIA

    Coles, Woolies and the battle for the basket

    • Claire Heaney
    • 13 December 2024

    For years, Coles and Woolworths have been accused of squeezing both producers and shoppers in equal measure. With new regulatory changes on the horizon and a web of inquiries underway, the supermarket duopoly finds itself under unprecedented scrutiny. But will these reforms actually lower grocery bills?

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    Evangelicals, exiles, and other tall tales

    • Ken Haley
    • 12 December 2024

      Lech Blaine’s Australian Gospel is a quintessentially Australian tale of faith, family, and identity. Blaine explores the fractures of belief and belonging in an effervescent and vivid work of creative nonfiction. But where does the ‘non-’ stop and the ‘fiction’ begin?

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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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