Vol 35 No 9

05 May 2025

INTERNATIONAL

Fifty years since the fall of Phnom Penh
- Kerry Murphy
- 16 May 2025
Khmer New Year in April 1975 began with promise but ended in horror. Days later, the Khmer Rouge seized Phnom Penh, emptied hospitals, executed officials, and began a genocide. Decades on, the trauma endures in refugee stories, in temples abroad, and in a regime still marked by repression and foreign influence.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

When Shakespeare was the air we breathed
- Peter Craven
- 16 May 2025
Was Shakespeare something you endured at school, or something that never left you? In this rich, panoramic reflection, Peter Craven explores the Bard’s enduring presence in culture, performance, and memory, from Brando to Gielgud, schoolyards to sonnets. A tribute to a lifetime’s treasure in Shakespeare.
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INTERNATIONAL

What the Church needs from Pope Leo
- Geraldine Doogue
- 15 May 2025
With Pope Leo XIV now leading the Church, there’s a quiet hopefulness in the air of renewal, of fresh energy. But the near-invisibility of women in decision-making still jars. Will Pope Leo's pastoral experience be enough to lead the Church in an era of fragile trust and spiritual disaffection?
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ARTS AND CULTURE

The tragedy of Badfinger
- Barry Divola
- 15 May 2025
You’ve heard their songs — on Breaking Bad, on the radio, sung by Nilsson or Mariah Carey— but you may not know the name Badfinger. Their music brushed greatness. Their story ended in ruin. Joey Molland, the last surviving member, has died. This is the tragic, unforgettable tale of the band that should’ve been the next Beatles.
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AUSTRALIA

The quiet collapse of Australia's social safety net: In conversation with David Gilchrist
- David Halliday
- 15 May 2025
What happens when governments underfund the services that hold our social fabric together? Economist David Gilchrist exposes a system in quiet crisis where rising need meets shrinking support, and nonprofits face collapse under the weight of outdated policies, inadequate data, and market myths that threaten the future of social care in Australia.
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AUSTRALIA

How did the Greens lose Melbourne?
- Erica Cervini
- 14 May 2025
Adam Bandt’s unexpected loss in Melbourne has sent shockwaves through the Greens’ ranks. Once poised for expansion, the party is now reckoning with a bruising election result, voter backlash, and a confused identity. In their heartland, even the most loyal supporters seemed ready to walk away. So what happened?
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RELIGION

Long live the Pope
- Andrew Hamilton
- 12 May 2025
What kind of Pope will Leo XIV be? In the wake of Francis, this new pontiff inherits both a vision and a world in flux. With a global sensibility, and a unifying motto, his early gestures suggest a leader shaped by harmony, not polarisation, and attentive to human dignity.
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RELIGION

An Augustinian pope from north and south
- Frank Brennan
- 12 May 2025
A new pope from the Americas, shaped by Peruvian missions and Roman canon law, signals a Church recalibrating for an era of technological upheaval and moral uncertainty. Rooted in tradition yet attentive to the margins, his election hints at a renewed focus on justice, dialogue, and global spiritual responsibility.
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AUSTRALIA

How we lost the boys, and how to bring them back
- Cherie Gilmour
- 09 May 2025
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?
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RELIGION

Going forward with Pope Leo
- Michael McVeigh
- 09 May 2025
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.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Is Australia ready for a Pacific future?
- Ken Haley
- 09 May 2025
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.
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AUSTRALIA

What kind of society do we want?
- Paul Smyth
- 08 May 2025
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.
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ARTS AND CULTURE

Unrecorded lives
- Gillian Bouras
- 08 May 2025
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?
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AUSTRALIA

What the election says about us
- Max Jeganathan
- 07 May 2025
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.
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INTERNATIONAL

Ending the US Dollar's exorbitant privilege
- Binoy Kampmark
- 07 May 2025
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.
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AUSTRALIA

Public and private faces
- Andrew Hamilton
- 07 May 2025
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.
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RELIGION

Why the world still needs a pope
- Miles Pattenden
- 07 May 2025
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.
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RELIGION

The politics and process of the papal conclave
- John Warhurst
- 05 May 2025
As the cardinals prepare to elect a new pope, the centuries-old conclave process proceeds with solemnity and speed. But beneath the tradition lies the question of whether a closed, clerical system still reflects the needs of a diverse, divided, and global Church.
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AUSTRALIA

Can Australia become self-sufficient?
- David James
- 05 May 2025
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.
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AUSTRALIA

Politics without glitter, victory without fury
- Peter Craven
- 05 May 2025
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.
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Vol 35 No 9