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Books & arts
Books & arts
Demanding the impossible
Tom O'Regan
8 November 2017
An appreciation of journalist, critic and film industry activist Sylvia Lawson, who died this week
Books & arts
Private gains and social losses
Jason Sharman
6 November 2017
From the archive
| The biggest tax havens aren’t on faraway islands, writes
Jason Sharman
Books & arts
Who, and what, is a composer?
Andrew Ford
24 October 2017
Music
| Do you simply need to say that’s what you do?
Books & arts
A few hours with a great writer
Louise Merrington
17 October 2017
Books
| John McPhee’s new guide to the craft of writing is much more than a textbook
Books & arts
A fine balance
Maruta Rodan
15 October 2017
Books
| Sheila Fitzpatrick brilliantly illuminates her subject and his tumultuous times
Books & arts
After Lateline, the brave new world of better broadcasting
Jane Goodall
13 October 2017
Television
| Michelle Guthrie’s vision for ABC current affairs is a mixed bag, with the history missing
Books & arts
The Dasher
Frank Bongiorno
10 October 2017
What will Sam Dastyari do if he’s given a second chance? His autobiography only hints at an answer
Books & arts
A history of violence
Anne Aly
3 October 2017
Books
| Islamic State has become adept at recruiting those who are already attracted to violence
Books & arts
The art of being prime minister
Norman Abjorensen
29 September 2017
Books
| How did eleven men and one woman fill the most difficult role in Australia’s postwar political dramas?
Books & arts
Letting go
Andrew Ford
25 September 2017
Music
| “Improvise” and “embellish” can be alarming words for a classically trained composer
Books & arts
The long shadow of the Labor split
Paul Rodan
18 September 2017
Brian Burke’s doorstopper of a memoir is a valuable but partial account of a career propelled by an old grievance
Books & arts
A civil debate amid the Trumpian tweetstorm
Sally McCausland
7 September 2017
Podcasts
| Writer Sam Harris set out to discover why some voters like Donald Trump
Books & arts
Cinema in a time of war
Brian McFarlane
4 September 2017
How did film-makers resolve the paradox of creating complex feature films during a period of total war?
Books & arts
British India: the case for the prosecution
Robin Jeffrey
1 September 2017
Books
| Shashi Tharoor’s vigorous rejoinder to defenders of empire teaches other lessons as well
Books & arts
The program that changed Australia
Jane Goodall
31 August 2017
Television
| As
Four Corners
has shown for decades, ABC investigative reporting will always have its critics
Books & arts
The audacity of authenticity
Andrew Ford
29 August 2017
Music
| What makes a composer courageous?
Books & arts
For reasons known only to himself
Norman Abjorensen
24 August 2017
Books
| An outstanding new biography traces the life of the man who dominated early federal politics
Books & arts
House bound
Jane Goodall
22 August 2017
Television
| Annabel Crabb’s new series raises the question: is parliament living up to its house?
Books & arts
Two for the road — and two on the road
Brian McFarlane
11 August 2017
Cinema
| Two undemanding but shrewdly written films have hidden depths
Books & arts
The eyewitness
Richard Johnstone
7 August 2017
Photography
| Daniel Berehulak meticulously records individuals caught up in history
Books & arts
When health becomes a risky business
Stephen Duckett
7 August 2017
Books
| Epidemiologist Geoffrey Kabat helps steer us through the claims and counter claims
Books & arts
Knocked sideways by luck
Susan Lever
31 July 2017
Three writers explore the mixed inheritances that helped fuel their work
Books & arts
Man of the moment
James Walter
31 July 2017
Books
| Donald Horne is a breezy, argumentative and sometimes wrong-headed guide to postwar Australia
Books & arts
Season of discontent
Jane Goodall
27 July 2017
Television
| Winter is at its deepest, and
Game of Thrones
is on a new trajectory
Books & arts
Rock of ages
Andrew Ford
27 July 2017
Rock music doesn’t just have classics in the sense of “golden oldies,” it has become a body of work
Books & arts
Dispatches from the home front
Sara Dowse
25 July 2017
Books
| Jack Bowers reveals a remarkable wealth of Australian autobiography
Books & arts
Revenge and restitution
Janna Thompson
19 July 2017
Books
| Martha Nussbaum wants to take the anger out of public life. It’s a highly ambitious goal, and would it necessarily be desirable?
Books & arts
Beautiful dystopia
Jane Goodall
11 July 2017
Television
| Margaret Atwood’s
The Handmaid’s Tale
makes a mostly smooth transition to the screen
Books & arts
Has liberalism forgotten what it does best?
Rob Hoffman
11 July 2017
Books
| Edward Luce’s new book is just the beginning of an analysis of why liberal democracies are showing less capacity to respond to challenges
Books & arts
When do we get stuck into them?
David Clune
10 July 2017
Books
| Former NSW Labor MP Carl Scully settles old scores in a vivid account of life in Macquarie Street
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