Submitted by Paul Daley on
Society is inured to the misery of this macabre tally. We must urgently challenge the hegemony of this blithely adopted description
And, so, December ends with the reality-biting grimness that 2023 was the deadliest on Australian roads in five-and-a-half years.
Submitted by Paul Daley on
In troubled times like these it’s hard to know where to find beauty and meaning, let alone any joy
Christmas, most of us are brought up to believe, is all about joy.
Joy about being with loved ones. Joy about giving and gracefully receiving. Joy about the permission we all have to kick back and be festive. Joy, for many, about the pageant’s religious significance.
Submitted by Anonymous on
Just in time for your Christmas shopping: Guardian Australia’s critics and staff pick out the best of the best
Knopf
Submitted by Paul Daley on
History has told the story of a failed Wangal mediator and enlightened English humanitarian, but a new book sheds new light on the complex relationship
Kate Fullagar, a celebrated historian is sitting in a cafe high above Sydney’s Circular Quay, where the green and gold ferries dock and depart amid that Whiteley-esque vista of azure harbour, totemic bridge and opera house.
Submitted by Paul Daley on
As someone fortunate to be on the cusp of a seventh decade, it’s not often I sense the icy spectre of mortality. But posterity, familial and cultural, really matters now
In the treacherous depths of middle age, bits of your mortal frame invariably crumble.
My lower right molar, saved by root canal surgery days after I turned 50, finally disintegrated eight years later. The dentist organising a prosthetic replacement assured me: “We guarantee the tooth for 25 years. That should pretty much see you through!’’
Submitted by Paul Daley on
Trees are a public asset. When they are illegally destroyed in pursuit of better views or property prices, the losses are many and profound
Submitted by Paul Daley on
The National Gallery of Australia’s exhibition contextualises the artist away from the western market, bringing us ‘the old lady’ through the prism of her country, her culture and her community