Inside Story

Not so good COP • Inside Story The latest UN climate summit was buffeted by geopolitical headwinds

Best summary of #COP30 issues yet in @insidestory.bsky.social insidestory.org.au/not-so-good-...
'It's not about the science (except in US)'... it is geopolitics esp OPEC+... but don't forget the power of #forests while the vested interests lobby.

Not so good COP • Inside Story The latest UN climate summit was buffeted by geopolitical headwinds

The conclusion of COP30 in Brazil has left a bitter taste in the mouth. A new ‘axis of obstruction’ has emerged to block stronger commitments to reduce emissions - Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Russia - with Donald Trump urging them on. My analysis for inside Story: insidestory.org.au/not-so-good-...

Not so good COP • Inside Story The latest UN climate summit was buffeted by geopolitical headwinds

“People who attend UN climate conferences are loathe to describe any of them as a failure.”

Michael Jacobs telling it straight here. There is now a powerful and organised global resistance to climate action. What is to be done?

insidestory.org.au/not-so-good-...

Not so good COP • Inside Story The latest UN climate summit was buffeted by geopolitical headwinds

“The schism in global climate politics revealed at COP30 in Brazil will surely make Australia’s negotiating task even more difficult next year. But that may no longer be the point. If COP31 can prioritise implementation and investment it may make greater progress…”

Finding the right words • Inside Story Accusations that her grandmother was a communist spy or a fascist collaborator — or both — sent Lea Ypi back to Albania and into her own imagination

Lea Ypi's new book Indignity: A Life Reimagined was inspired by her discovery of the photograph below of her grandparents on their honeymoon. I reviewed the book for @insidestory.bsky.social
insidestory.org.au/finding-the-...

A spy in the Panthéon • Véronique Duché Audacious African-American singer, dancer and actor Josephine Baker earned her place among France’s wartime greats

“Baker was famous during the interwar period for her role in La Revue Nègre and her scandalous ‘banana skirt’ dance at the Folies Bergères… Yet here she was, being honoured in the Panthéon alongside Voltaire and Victor Hugo.”

Zero-sum game • Peter Brent A change of Liberal policy will bring electoral pluses and minuses for the opposition

“Back in December 2009, Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership of his party was disposed of over climate change policy. Or was it? Deep down, his demise was driven by terrible opinion polls that put the federal Coalition way, way behind the Rudd government.“ Peter Brent on the Libs’ net-zero decision

For whom will Belém toll? • Inside Story President Lula’s climate summit failed to defy Donald Trump in the way some had hoped, but COP30 has the chance to tackle two key challenges — if they can get on the agenda

COP30 is up and running. What are the issues on the agenda? This is my first report from Belem, which is not actually ‘the capital of the Amazon’, but is nevertheless an appropriate venue for a conference in search of sustainable and equitable economic development. insidestory.org.au/for-whom-wil...

A spy in the Panthéon • Véronique Duché Audacious African-American singer, dancer and actor Josephine Baker joined the ranks of France’s wartime greats

“When Josephine Baker’s ashes were transferred to the Panthéon in 2021 many French people were surprised. Why would an American-born performer, known mainly for her energetic performances in the music halls of 1920s Paris, take her place among the nation’s ‘great men’?” @yalepress.bsky.social

My new book, The Stained Man, is being published next May by the good folks at Scribe.

Here's the cover:

The entertaining insurgent • Dominic Kelly Conservative activist William F. Buckley cajoled America along the road to the Reagan revolution

Reviewed Sam Tanenhaus's William F. Buckley bio. insidestory.org.au/the-entertai...

For whom will Belém toll? • Inside Story President Lula’s climate summit failed to defy Donald Trump in the way some had hoped, but COP30 has the chance to tackle two key challenges — if they can get on the agenda

“You might have thought that the emissions gap would be the key item on the COP30 agenda — and most countries in the world would agree with you. But a powerful bloc, including China, India and Saudi Arabia, is insisting otherwise.” Michael Jacobs reports from Belém insidestory.org.au/for-whom-wil...

For whom will Belém toll? • Inside Story President Lula’s climate summit failed to defy Donald Trump in the way some had hoped, but COP30 has the chance to tackle two key challenges — if they can get on the agenda

The Brazilian president’s climate summit failed to defy Donald Trump in the way some had hoped, writes @michaelujacobs.bsky.social, but COP30 has the chance to tackle two key challenges — if they can get on the agenda insidestory.org.au/for-whom-wil...

A gateway drug to history • Kate Fullagar The curious afterlife of Samuel Pepys’s diary

“The temptation is strong to imagine that today, at the end of the tale, we have arrived at a nirvana of toleration, quietly mocking readers before us who not only had silly values but were also dumb enough to judge the past by them.”

Screening multicultural Australia • Ien Ang How migrants have made their presence felt in an evolving TV landscape

Thanks to Ien Ang and @insidestory.bsky.social for this very thoughtful review of my new book! inside.org.au/screening-mu...

Perilous refuge • Sara Dowse Uwe Wittstock’s Marseille 1940 is a marvel of narrative art

“A marvel of narrative art … it’s the very best book I’ve read in quite a while.”
Sara Dowse (@saradowse.bsky.social) reviews 'Marseille 1940' by Uwe Wittstock (@uwewittstock.bsky.social) for @insidestory.bsky.social

insidestory.org.au/perilous-ref...

Freue mich sehr: Schriftstellerin Sara Dowse hat eine großartige Rezension geschrieben für "Inside Story" in Australien. "Uwe Wittstocks 'Marseille 1940' ist ein Meisterwerk der Erzählkunst. Glauben Sie mir: Es ist das beste Buch, das ich seit langem gelesen habe." insidestory.org.au/perilous-ref...

Trump vs. Earth • Michael Jacobs Threatening behaviour at this month’s maritime negotiations continued the US administration’s efforts to turn back the sustainability tide

Donald Trump’s impact on global climate policy is not as great as feared. In this piece for Inside Story I give both the ‘glass half full’ and ‘glass half empty’ versions: what Trump is doing, and how rapid the clean energy transition has now become, despite him. insidestory.org.au/trump-vs-ear...

Joel Mokyr’s Nobel shows a path towards economics’ holy grail • David Walker A profession’s history viewed through the lens of its most famous prize

“In an economy worried about its capacity to innovate and grow, Joel Mokyr tells the biggest story of all, a story informed by the full sweep of human history. You might think we should have seen his Nobel coming.”

More Hastie, less speed • Peter Brent The pretenders to the Liberal throne are united by one thing — a lack of electability

“Journos love a leadership stoush, and quite a few have cited the at-first-glance-impressive statistic that at this year’s election Hastie picked up 5.4% in Canning. But all sitting Libs in WA achieved positive swings, and Hastie’s was the smallest.” insidestory.org.au/less-hastie-...

Larrikins, legends and legislators • Frank Bongiorno Three new books reveal the labour movement’s many faces

“Hawke’s over-the-top response to the pilots’ strike in 1989 was surely, as Day indicates, as much about his relationship with Peter Abeles, half-owner of Ansett, as it was about the threat the pilots’ salary claims posed to the Accord arrangements.”

Disunited kingdom • Michael Jacobs Keir Starmer’s Labour government is struggling to position itself in a fragmented political landscape

What on earth is happening in British politics? A far right party topping the polls barely a year after Labour won an election landslide, 100,000 white nationalists marching through London…

I have written an article for Inside Story trying to explain.

insidestory.org.au/disunited-ki...

The dandy and the eccentric • Andrew Ford Two very different books mark the anniversaries of two very different composers

“Ravel, the younger man, was always happy to admit Satie’s influence — especially harmonic — on his music and Satie was mostly pleased to hear it.” @fitzcarraldoeds.bsky.social @reaktionbooks.bsky.social

Who’ll swing the next election? • Peter Brent The electoral pendulum tells only part of the story

“It’s easy to forget that Australian governments tend to change not because the opposition has set voters’ pulses racing but because the incumbent has worn out its welcome. We’re talking about voters who elected Tony Abbott as PM with a seriously big majority.”

Me on One Nation’s recent poll surge, overseas counterparts, and the big fat potential disinformation weakness in our electoral system.

insidestory.org.au/one-nations-...

A rollercoaster of spoilers • Jane Goodall A pacey dramatisation of News International’s phone-hacking and influence-wielding leaves the story necessarily unfinished

““The hardest thing to reckon with about this whole rotten business is that it remains unresolved. Leveson left the inquiry with stern recommendations that weren’t acted upon, despite David Cameron’s promise to do so. Phase two of Leveson has never happened.” Jane Goodall reviews The Hack…

A rollercoaster of spoilers • Jane Goodall A pacey dramatisation of News International’s phone-hacking and influence-wielding leaves the story necessarily unfinished

Time to clean out the stables.
Reopen Leveson.
#HackedOff

insidestory.org.au/a-rollercoas...

Now, down to business • Patrick Mullins “A catalyst, a provocation, and a reassurance,” Asa Briggs combined prolific history-writing with an extraordinary range of other activities

I reviewed a new biography of the historian Asa Briggs, by Adam Sisman, for Inside Story:

insidestory.org.au/now-down-to-...

Whatever happened to the revolution? • Philippa Hawker Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest feature, and the story of an orchestral work said to be performed somewhere in the world every fifteen minutes

“There’s a let-me-entertain-you spirit running through the movie that is sometimes expressed in dynamic, kinetic fashion, sometimes with cartoonish vigour, and sometimes through Anderson’s trademark needle drops.” Philippa Hawker’s review of ‘One Battle After Another’ and Anne Fontaine’s ‘Bolero.’

Are we counting what really counts? • Andrew Leigh Statisticians are struggling to capture the twenty-first-century economy

“Comparing the number of hours the typical British worker had to toil to buy particular goods and services, Coyle reports that the time required to finance a vacuum cleaner halved from 1990 to 2019, while the time cost of beef doubled.”