Friday essay: foggy, flirty and too much – Jane Austen’s menopausal women solicit compassion while making us laugh

| Insights & Views

Was Jane Austen the first writer to show how it really feels to be a middle-aged woman? Before Austen, literatures iconic perimenopausal woman was the Wife of Bath in Chaucers Canterbury Tales, who regales the medieval...

Sunday Too Far Away at 50: how a story about Aussie shearers launched a local film industry

| Insights & Views

Released 50 years ago, Sunday Too Far Away deals episodically with a group of shearers led by Foley (Jack Thompson), and the events leading up to the national shearers strike of 1956. The shearers are a ragtag group held...

AI overviews have transformed Google search. Here’s how they work – and how to opt out

| Insights & Views

People turn to the internet to run billions of search queries each year. These range from keeping tabs on world events and celebrities to learning new words and getting DIY help. One of the most popular questions...

With Trump undoing years of progress, can the US salvage its Pacific Islands strategy?

| Insights & Views

Since 2018, the United States has worked, albeit often haltingly, to regain its footing with Pacific Island countries. Its done this largely by reflecting a sentiment familiar in Pacific capitals: the region is not a...

‘Like an underwater bushfire’: SA’s marine algal bloom is still killing almost everything in its path

| Insights & Views

South Australian beaches have been awash with foamy, discoloured water and dead marine life for months. The problem hasnt gone away; it has spread. Devastating scenes of death and destruction mobilised locals along the...

It took more than a century, but women are taking charge of Australia’s economy – here’s why it matters

| Insights & Views

For the first time in its 124-year history, Treasury will be led by a woman. Jenny Wilkinsons appointment is historic in its own right. Even more remarkable is the fact she joins Michele Bullock at the Reserve Bank and...

Workers need better tools and tech to boost productivity. Why aren’t companies stepping up to invest?

| Insights & Views

As Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers turn their attention to improving productivity growth across the economy, it will be interesting to see what the business community brings to a planned summit...