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How we lost the boys, and how to bring them back
Going forward with Pope Leo
What the election says about us
Why the world still needs a pope
The politics and process of the papal conclave
Pope Leo XIV, the first US-born pontiff, brings a global, socially engaged background and cautious conservatism to the papacy. Fluent in five languages and steeped in canon law, his past hints at reform tempered by tradition. His views on synodality, gender, and justice will shape Catholicism’s next chapter — for better or worse.
Trump’s tariff-led reshaping of global trade is weakening the US dollar’s long-standing dominance. As central banks diversify away from US assets, what was once called an “exorbitant privilege” is beginning to look more like a burden — one shaped as much by petulant politics as economic mismanagement.
In an election full of surprises, the most revealing were not electoral upsets but glimpses of unexpected humanity. Peter Dutton’s gracious concession contrasts with his public record, and urges a politics where words don’t wound, and dignity is not reserved for private life alone.
As young men gravitate toward the manosphere, driven by alienation and grievance, society too often responds with silence or scorn. But if we don’t want boys shaped by bitterness and bravado, we must ask: what kind of men do we hope they’ll become, and who is offering them a path to get there?
Hamish McDonald’s Melanesia shatters Australia’s complacent view of the South Pacific as static and remote. With journalistic precision and historical urgency, he reveals a region marked by corruption, resilience, and political upheaval—forces poised to reshape Australia’s future, whether it’s prepared or not.
While much of the world drifts toward political extremes, Australia did something quietly radical: it chose the centre. In a night of subdued triumphs and unexpected grace, it was a reminder that democracy’s strength may still lie in its capacity for moderation, mercy, and surprise.
Elizabeth Strout’s novels honour unrecorded lives: ordinary people marked by quiet resilience and daily grace. And when we reflect on these unrecorded lives, we find a kind of everyday heroism, with echoes of Lucy Barton’s question: what is the point of a life?
Despite the raging storm, I clearly see a figure on the Sea of Galilee/ a Son of Man/ with outstretched hands/ and he is calling me.
Vittorio ‘Vito’ Bianchi was small in stature, but a giant of a man who ruled over the Piccolo Bar café in Kings Cross for over 50 years. To live in the Cross meant that you knew Vittorio Bianchi. It was impossible not to.
And so as the 21st century marked its first quarter, reality in the most powerful country on Earth slipped into a vortex of blurred lines of what it meant to be a living, moral being.
As Trump dismantles America’s global aid program, and Europe follows suit, developing nations are left to fill the vacuum often with partners unfriendly to Western interests. In this new geopolitical terrain, Australia faces a choice: retreat with the rest, or lead through renewed investment in aid and regional diplomacy.
What makes a war just? Can any goal justify the deaths of tens of thousands, the bombing of hospitals, the starvation of civilians? As the devastation in Gaza deepens, these questions press harder. In a conflict marked by profound suffering, what moral, legal, or human standards can still hold?
The 2025 election marked a pause in Australia’s political life. As old policy narratives falter, we have an opportunity to ask ourselves: what kind of society are we trying to build? Across faiths and traditions, the idea of the common good offers a path forward beyond division and drift.
In the wake of an unexpectedly decisive election, Australians rejected grievance politics from both right and left. What emerged instead was a quiet preference for stability, civility, and competence: qualities that don’t often headline campaigns, but this time shaped the outcome. In 2025, trumpery just didn’t cut it.
As Donald Trump’s trade war upends decades of global economic orthodoxy, globalisation is quietly folding. Protectionism is back, self-sufficiency is in vogue, and Australia, thanks to its deindustrialised economy, largely escapes the fallout. But in a shifting world of tariffs and deficits, what comes next is anyone’s guess.
In an age of transient politics and market-driven morality, the papacy remains a rare constant. The pope has enduring significance as a global moral figurehead whose authority lies not in power but in the stubborn articulation of what ought to be.
As cardinals gather in Rome, they must confront declining trust, shifting global power, financial scandals, and unresolved doctrinal divides within the Church. More than a choice of leader, this moment is a reckoning with modernity and the future direction of the Church itself.
Three elections, three systems, one shared question: what kind of person should lead? As voters and cardinals choose their next leaders, attention turns from policy to personality — to character, courage, and conviction. In an age of division, the qualities that guide a life may yet decide the fate of nations.