News: The Conversation
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial at 40 – a deep meditation on loneliness, and Spielberg’s most exhilarating film
40 years ago this month saw the release of Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial – a film about a stranded alien, the boy called Elliott who discovers it and a bond of friendship that remains as magical and heartbreaking as it did back in 1982.
Sussan Ley says she is listening to women who rejected the Liberals. But will she hear what they are saying?
Sussan Ley, deputy leader of the Liberal Party and shadow minister for women, has been given a difficult task: bring women voters back to the Liberal Party. This will be no mean feat, given widespread acknowledgement they played a significant role in the Morrison government’s defeat.
Amplifying narratives about the ‘China threat’ in the Pacific may help China achieve its broader aims
Yet more proposed Chinese “security agreements” in the Pacific Islands have been leaked.
Friday essay: grey-haired and radiant – reimagining ageing for women
Ageist thought patterns and reactions are so embedded in Australian culture that even educated people, people who otherwise insist on political correctness, will open their mouths and deliver a hurtful, hateful judgement.
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Wages and women top Albanese’s IR agenda: the big question is how Labor keeps its promises
Industrial relations issues were front and centre when federal Labor last won office from opposition in 2007. The backlash against John Howard’s “Work Choices” reforms cost both his government and his own seat. Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard’s detailed “Forward with Fairness” policy provided a blueprint for the Fair Work Act that is still in force today.
Barbara Trapido’s ‘undeniably sexy’ novel of academic bohemia still dazzles at 40
Barbara Trapido’s debut novel, Brother of the More Famous Jack, is one of those books that seems destined to reach its readers in roundabout ways.
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Why Morrison’s ‘can-do’ capitalism and conservative masculinity may not be cutting through anymore
Scott Morrison’s election strategy was clear at the end of last year. As borders were opened up and restrictions eased, Morrison argued the Coalition would be winding back the big government measures that were necessary during the pandemic.
Nicolas Cage is the most fascinating and exciting actor working today
In Nicolas Cage’s latest film, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Cage plays a character called … Nick Cage. This meta-commentary on fame and celebrity, wrapped around a thriller plot, is full of Cage-inspired “Easter eggs” and knowing nods to the audience.
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Grace and Frankie is the longest running series on Netflix – and a show for women who don’t see themselves on television
When the final 12 episodes of Grace and Frankie were released, the show became the longest running television series on Netflix.
Paddy Compass Namadbara: for the first time, we can name an artist who created bark paintings in Arnhem Land in the 1910s
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains images and names of deceased people.
For students of Australian art and art collectors around the globe, Arnhem Land is synonymous with bark painting: sheets of tree bark carefully prepared as a canvas for painting by Aboriginal artists.
