Finding beauty in the bleakest of places A conversation with Moo Baulch about women, men and domestic violence
One in three Australian women experience physical violence in their lifetime, according to the ABS. On average, one woman a week is killed by a partner or ex-partner.
Steve Kilbey
Next Door with Steve Kilbey of The Church
The Unwitting Addict A struggle with Benzodiazepine dependence and withdrawal
The normalization of prescription medication can have a placating effect... coupled with my desperation to rid myself of debilitating anxiety, I fell into the trap of quick-fix society.
Suggested
Don’t Harsh My Buzz The man who loves mosquitoes
“Mosquitoes aren’t a flying dirty syringe that transfer droplets of blood…[they’re] fascinating creatures who are sometimes incredibly beautiful.”
Trance Pray Phone Draw Commuter sketches
An artist's phone drawings of his fellow train riders reveals a contemporary intimacy with strangers.
Jack Moffitt The Preatures
A guest playlist, curated by Jack Moffitt of The Preatures.
Features
My Gender is Orange Dalek Identity is complicated, but then so is walking upright
I lived in Kings Cross, in Sydney for a while. It is a particularly difficult place to park a car. I got in the habit of parking it in Premier Lane. At the time it was known as Tranny Lane. Trans sex workers sat on the cars there, smoking cigarettes. They sat on my car. I didn’t object. Sometimes we talked.
We Need to Talk About Teenage Sexting I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours
"If she says no, he’ll wait a bit...until she says yes."
The Allergic Frontier A case study in video game addiction
“The veneer of fun erodes over time. When you become sicker, you use more – to detach from reality.”
Caught in a Trap Sydney’s rat-runners are just another sign of a city being crushed by obsessive plans for a Big Australia
It's 9.30am, I’ve just left home, and I hit a 100-metre queue at the lights. My pulse quickens.
Culture
When It Is All Just About Okay John Cheever and his flower of confusion
Maybe there is the warm, uncomplicated glow that comes over us when, after so much time and so much hurt, things are finally just about okay.
Wheels of Steel Meet the Mr. Whippy of vinyl records
George Pizer fell in love with the former flower delivery truck as soon as he saw it advertised on Gumtree.
Mere Women Emotion corralled by sternness, strangeness and beauty
“Aren’t they that Black Wire band?” a friend asks when I mention Mere Women. “Kind of,” I say. “Not anymore.”
More Desperate Ideas for Aussie TV Drama
A lawyer conveniently named Newton. Huh.
Food
Una’s A Little Chalet of Our Own
“People don’t come here for a quinoa salad. They come here for a Jaeger schnitzel.”
Down The Hatch Courthouse Hotel, Darlinghurst
A third of the joint is dedicated to TAB and sports screens and it's here that, at 11am on a Tuesday, its five patrons and I are settled.
Down The Hatch Market City Tavern, Haymarket, City
A good gaming lounge is likewise camp beyond its awareness, and the Market City Tavern is glitz and glamour and gayer than Mardi Gras.
Stanbuli A Turkish Riff on Food and History
“I had a few of the old locals walk up to me, very curious as to what I was doing to the building.”