Some of the most dangerous people in the world right now are those normalising and sanitising fascistic politics. It was not just in the banal media discussion that preceded Donald Trump’s re-election; it can also be found at the ABC, including on Radio National lifestyle programming. One of the tropes to look for is the Continue reading »
Media
Our current editor Dr. Aran Martin is leaving us at the end of January. He has given excellent service to Pearls and Irritations. We are seeking a new editor and share the role description below. Pearls and Irritations is an Australian journal for the exchange of ideas from a progressive, liberal perspective, with an emphasis Continue reading »
The national report on Australia’s COVID response is long, at 877 pages (depending upon the format), with 4,647 footnotes. But long is not synonymous with comprehensive, and there are significant gaps in the report’s analysis and conclusions. Some of these problems are not of the panel’s making, I suspect, but others, related both to methodology Continue reading »
My heart is breaking over Syria, and it was already broken over Gaza. I watch the television reports of the ‘joy’ in Damascus and wonder what alternative planet the mainstream media inhabits. The head-chopping salafists of yesterday are today’s ‘rebels’ against a brutal dictator and the ‘liberators’ of the long suffering Syrian people. I watch Continue reading »
Niche news channel, Sky News Australia, has popped the champagne corks to celebrate their record breaking year, with news dropping that over 50 people had tuned in to watch the station. ”What a year it has been for Sky News,... Read More ›
Having made bold promises to reduce immigration in his 2024-25 Budget reply speech and in a radio interview with 2GB’s Ben Fordham the next day, Peter Dutton is now scrambling to explain his position on immigration levels. In a recent interview with Laura Tingle on the ABC and then again in an interview with Andrew Continue reading »
The Adass Israel synagogue in Ripponlea, Melbourne was firebombed this week in a horrific attack. When this synagogue was set ablaze, the incident also took a match and gasoline to our news cycle. The debate around antisemitism was already primed to blow. Only a week before the Executive Council of Australian Jewry had published a Continue reading »
The attack last week on a Melbourne synagogue is undoubtedly a criminal offence. But according to the News Limited media outlets, many in the Jewish community and the broader pro Israel movement, and now the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, it was an act of terrorism. While Victoria Police Chief Commissioner has now declared law enforcement Continue reading »
Critics must reclaim their roles as navigators of meaning – not algorithmically-rewarded pastiche provocateurs, writes Iain Overton
In Asian media this week: Disaster survivor says she wishes she had died. Plus: Macabre dispute over Pakistan protest deaths; Trump’s new term, crisis time for AUKUS: Martial law becomes South Korea’s democratic moment; Fentanyl America’s problem, says Beijing; Women’s freedom means no going back on population decline This week marks 40 years since the Continue reading »