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Lifestyle & Culture

  • OPINION

    Literary pioneer Hilary McPhee launched Helen Garner, published Cloudstreet – and inspired me

    Alice Grundy

    Hilary McPhee, who has died, aged 85, was already a legend when I started working in publishing, nearly two decades ago. McPhee Gribble, the publishing house she founded with friend Diana Gribble in 1975, was the first home for some of Australia’s beloved authors, including Helen Garner, Gabrielle Carey and Kathy Lette.

    Alice Grundy
    Lifestyle & Culture
    Literary pioneer Hilary McPhee launched Helen Garner, published Cloudstreet – and inspired me
  • OPINION

    Book review: Elizabeth Strout packs a world into a small canvas

    Michael McKernan

    Historian and author Michael McKernan reviews Elizabeth Strout’s new novel, The Things We Never Say.

    Michael McKernan
    Lifestyle & Culture
    Book review: Elizabeth Strout packs a world into a small canvas
  • WHAT'S NEW

    Why community radio still matters: Triple R’s Dave Houchin on 50 years on air

    By Tegan George

    Triple R station manager Dave Houchin on 50 years of Triple R, the power of volunteers and why community radio remains vital in the age of social media and streaming platforms.

    Lifestyle & Culture
    Why community radio still matters: Triple R’s Dave Houchin on 50 years on air
  • WHAT'S NEW

    50 years on, 17,000 people are still paying to keep Triple R alive

    By Tegan George

    Seventeen thousand people voluntarily pay for a Melbourne radio station they could listen to for free. At a time when traditional media is shrinking and Big Tech algorithms increasingly decide what information audiences see, Melbourne radio station Triple R is showing there’s still strong demand for local, independent media.

    Lifestyle & Culture
    50 years on, 17,000 people are still paying to keep Triple R alive
  • OFF THE CHARTS

    Australians are more likely to take action if their favourite musician asks them to

    By Alice Grundy

    Musicians, performers and other artists may worry that being too political will alienate their audiences. But polling shows that audiences are far more likely to take action if their favourite Australian artists invite them to.

    Lifestyle & CultureClimate
    Australians are more likely to take action if their favourite musician asks them to
  • OPINION

    Hope for Humanity: Ai Wei Wei's 'Manifesto Without Borders'

    Morgan Harrington

    “Humanity is not an abstract concept. It becomes truly meaningful and tangible precisely when it begins to disappear.” This is the message at the heart of Ai Wei Wei’s beautifully presented essay Manifesto Without Borders, and it’s a message that is as uplifting as it is timely.

    Morgan Harrington
    Lifestyle & Culture
    Hope for Humanity: Ai Wei Wei's 'Manifesto Without Borders'
  • OPINION

    Famously, fiercely non-political, Dolly Parton could teach our politicians a thing or two

    Amy Remeikis

    Parton was famously not-political. It’s how she managed to be so political. She refused to become bogged down in terms or fights over identity politics, while she quietly got on with the work of making change.

    Amy Remeikis
    Democracy & AccountabilityLifestyle & Culture
    Famously, fiercely non-political, Dolly Parton could teach our politicians a thing or two
  • OPINION

    This completely bonkers Viking wellness trend will make you feel unbreakable

    Lisa Martin

    Grappling with winter malaise, the enshitification of public debate or the grim news cycle? Cold water swimming could be the answer to reclaim your spark.

    Lisa Martin
    Lifestyle & Culture
    This completely bonkers Viking wellness trend will make you feel unbreakable
  • OPINION

    Miles Franklin winners are taxed but winners on The Block aren't. How's that fair?

    Alice Grundy

    Last night, Queanbeyan local Omar Musa won the 2026 Miles Franklin award for the 'novel with the highest literary merit which presents Australian life.' He received a $60,000 prize, only he won’t get to keep it all because, like all arts prizes, it will be subject to income tax.

    Alice Grundy
    Society & InequalityLifestyle & Culture
    Miles Franklin winners are taxed but winners on The Block aren't. How's that fair?
  • OPINION

    ‘Cass’s Dirty Dozen’: how community radio was born

    Rod Taylor

    Community radio was another dangerously socialist idea that sprang from the Whitlam years. Minister for the Media, Moss Cass, was not confident he could wrangle the legislation through a hostile Senate. Even getting it past his own Cabinet was a challenge, and so he wedged the door open using experimental licences.

    Rod Taylor
    Lifestyle & Culture
    ‘Cass’s Dirty Dozen’: how community radio was born

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