Category: Commentary
Posts discussing social and political issues of interest
James Bradley’s “Ghost Species”, 2020
James Bradley Trained as a lawyer before becoming a writer, Bradley lives in Sydney with his partner, the novelist Mardi McConnochie. Bradley's novels, which have been published internationally, explore both past and future. His books include seven novels and a book of poetry. He has also edited two anthologies, Blur, a collection of writing by young Australian [...]
Jem Bendell—Dire Warnings on the Climate Crisis
Writing in his Deep Adaptation blog, Jim Bendell draws our attention to recent warning from leading climate scientists TIPPING POINTS In November 2019 seven leading climate scientists, including Professor Timothy Lenton of the University of Exeter and Professor Katherine Richardson of the University of Copenhagen published a review in the journal Nature which said: “If damaging tipping [...]
A Wild Love for the World
Joanna Macy This post honours the life work of Joanna Macy. Joanna is a 90-year-old environmental activist, author, and inspiring teacher of Buddhism and deep ecology. She describes this moment in human history as The Great Turning, a revolutionary shift from an industrial growth society to a life-sustaining culture. Her most recent book is A [...]
Rhizomatic Thinking—Responding to Our Times
David Pledger—Thinker and Provocateur The following ideas in this blog post are taken from the writings of David Pledger an award-winning contemporary artist, curator, cultural commentator and thinker working within and between the performing, visual and media arts. David writes regularly for Daily Review. https://dailyreview.com.au/the-long-game/ David is a graduate of the National Institute of [...]
Art, Health and Wellbeing
Art and Wellbeing There is a burgeoning interest in the intersection between the creative arts and health and wellbeing, as countries all over the world grapple with an ageing population, the growing incidence of mental health problems across all age groups, and the need to take a more holistic attitude to the way we think [...]
‘Phosphorescence’ by Julia Baird
Baird is well known to many of us as the host of the ABC’s talk show, The Drum. However, she is also an historian and writer, author of Victoria, a biography of Queen Victoria, which critics have hailed as a triumph. In her recently published, Phosphorescence, Baird takes us on a journey that is acutely [...]
Critical Reflections on Knowledge Systems
Defenders of Western Civilisation As Wollongong University charges ahead with its Ramsay Centre of Western Civilisation, and associated BA in Western Civilisation, at the behest of the champions of the British empire like Tony Abbott, we can only hope that this will not be a vain propaganda exercise, but a serious academic appraisal of the [...]
Cultural Burning as Caring for Country
When I tuned into the Q&A program that kicked off 2020 with an exploration of what we are calling our Black Summer of catastrophic bushfires, one of the speakers was Victor Steffensen, one of the founders of the Aboriginal Firestick Alliance. Victor’s voice was drowned out by the other members of the panel who were [...]