I was fascinated this week by the unveiling of the Macquarie Dictionary Word of 2024. Enshittification is perfectly crafted to match our times. It is dismissive, slightly pretentious, sets a scatological word within a scientific frame and turns worthless behaviour into a technological process. The naming of the freshly coined word of the year made Read more
Sometimes the darkness of the world, not to mention of our personal lives, can overwhelm us. When we hear of children killed unrepentantly, for example, human rights routinely denied, the cooking of the world locked in, and nations entrusting power to wilful children. How do you deal with such a dark vision? After the ABC’s Read more
October 31 was Reformation Day. On that day in 1517 Martin Luther may or may not have nailed his 95 Theses on indulgences to the door of the Wittenberg church. He certainly did send them to the Archbishop of Mainz, thus initiating a movement that became the Protestant Reformation. When I was a schoolboy, I Read more
As restrictions drag on and the number of infections rises, more Australians are asking when lockdowns can cease. Federal politicians and business leaders have argued the case for a quick ending while claiming the authority of scientists. Science being science, the relevant questions have been tied to numbers. They have asked: How few cases should Read more