TV
Bullying is a serious public health problem. Yet too often, reality TV shows trade in insults and name calling.
Visual art
Dorrit Black, Grace Cossington Smith and Grace Crowley were some of many talented modernist women artists. But only with the advent of second wave feminism in the 1970s was their work properly acknowledged.
Book review
The University of Queensland Press has a peerless record of discovering, nurturing and supporting Australian writers. A new anthology is a cross-section of many of their writings.
Essay
In the 1940s, the last initiated Ngadjuri man, Barney Waria, gave a series of interviews to anthropologist Ronald Berndt. Almost 80 years later, Waria's grandson wants to share this material with his family.
Storytelling
Australian comic producers punch above their weight globally – many have been picked up by international publishers yet remain little known at home. Here are 10 of the best.
Literature
Across her long career, Dobson was celebrated as a poet who could take the reader beyond the immediate image to another insight.
Visual art
Born into late-16th century Papal Rome, Gentileschi transcended the path of utter obscurity that was the lot of her female peers to become one of the most famous painters of the day.
Cartooning
Cartoonists have to compress their images, so they often use stereotypes. This objectifies the subject and is thus, inevitably, an othering process.
Philosophy
Ever since the philosopher Karl Popper popularised the expression in the 1950s, conspiracy theories have had a bad reputation. But is it justified?
Art
The 1973 purchase of Jackson Pollock's abstract expressionist painting – at a record price for the time – was a controversial moment in Australian art. Was it worth it?
TV
While thousands have called for the show to be cancelled, Insatiable actually does a good job of depicting the complex nature of disordered eating, sexuality and female pleasure.
TV
Amid endless reviews into the future of local screen content, uncertainty reigns on issues such as the impact of Netflix, the fate of local content quotas and funding for original children's TV.
Friday essay
The ibis has become an Australian cultural phenomenon. The birds' tenacity and fearlessness as environmental refugees mean they attract love and hate alike.
Lingo
'Some of us speak King’s English, some of us speak jive,' declares the lead character in Lee's powerful new film. And he wields the English language to devastating effect.
Archaeology
For 60 years, native police were deployed in Queensland to 'disperse' Aboriginal communities (a euphemism for systematic killing). Unearthing their camps is a key part of reckoning with the violence of those times.
Sport
Nike has provoked a conservative backlash by using NFL player Colin Kaepernick in its latest campaign. But the move should be applauded.
Honour
The next time you watch a duel on television or in a film, it might be worth recalling the history and meaning of this very serious rite of honour.
Creative control
How are furniture designers protected by law, and what is an 'original design' when aesthetics meets functionality?
Witches
It is estimated that thousands of people are killed in witchcraft-related violence around the world each year. How can we tackle this problem today?
Fiction
Writing based on observation and empathy is one thing; but interviewing the people whose experiences you aim to depict - and showing them your work - is quite another.
