Inside Story

Frontlash • Inside Story Friedrich Hayek’s successors used an expanded armoury to fight their war against the state. But what explains their receptive audience?

Thx to Nicholas Brown from ANU for this thoughtful engagement with my book and what it can tell us about Australian politics for @insidestory.bsky.social insidestory.org.au/frontlash/

Will Angus Taylor stop the One Nation rot? • Inside Story It’s possible, but will that impress the rest of the electorate?

Me on the new Liberal leader. insidestory.org.au/will-angus-t...

Carney’s Canada • Inside Story The high-profile banker turned prime minister is following through on his strategy of resistance

Handy analysis of another middle-ranking power in the world with whom we are going to need to work closely in the age of Trump (and beyond)

insidestory.org.au/carneys-cana...

Is compulsory voting a bulwark against parties on the extremes? • Murray Goot Polls and international experience complicate the conventional wisdom

Very good piece by Murray Goot on why compulsory voting has not 'saved' us from the rise of the far right

insidestory.org.au/is-compulsor...

Silent terror: Russia’s occupation of southeastern Ukraine • Jon Richardson A chilling account of occupied southeastern Ukraine reveals a systematic program of Russification combined with chaos, brutality and corruption

Yes, Freedom House has said that its rating of the occupied territories at -1/100 is the lowest it has given since the report’s inception in 1973! Here’s something I wrote on the regime there in case of interest, in a book review.

insidestory.org.au/silent-terror/

Everyone is convinced that London is an extremely unsafe place to live - with the sole exception of Londoners.

A kind of social architecture • Frances Flanagan The case for valuing and protecting “connective labour” in an increasingly automated and disconnected world

insidestory.org.au/a-kind-of-so... “Connective labour hasn’t been crushed across the board. But it is exploited, expanded or squeezed in different ways in different employment settings, each of them unfair and enraging in different ways.” #measureofcare

Nonsense. You have to be really arrogant to pontificate
like Stephens, with no expertise on Australia. Anti-Semitism is not embedded in the culture, that’s a fiction. iWhat was the government supposed to do, apart from kicking out the Iranians? Ban all protests against Israel’s Gaza action?

The upsides of the gun buyback • Andrew Leigh John Howard’s buyback scheme had more than one clear benefit

“We asked the question a little differently: did places with more gun buybacks experience a larger drop in gun homicide and suicide? The answer turned out to be a resounding yes.”

Exit, stage right • Peter Brent Can One Nation continue to capitalise on the Coalition’s internal divisions?

Barnaby Joyce's 'repertoire over two decades in parliament hasn’t included “dog-whistling” of the kind favoured by John Howard in his time and enthusiastically embraced by Peter Dutton.'
Fairy nuff statement?

insidestory.org.au/exit-stage-r...

MAGA meltdown? • Sam Freedman Why the Republicans are in serious trouble

An excellent piece on the bumpy road ahead for #Republicans as @realDonaldTrump enters lame duck territory.

insidestory.org.au/maga-meltdown/

Exit, stage right • Peter Brent Can One Nation continue to capitalise on the Coalition’s internal divisions?

Me on the One Nation surge and Related Matters. How many House seats does 18% get you? It depends ...
insidestory.org.au/exit-stage-r...

Good wide-ranging analysis.
Where he gives his opinions they are always well-supported.

MAGA meltdown? • Sam Freedman Why the Republicans are in serious trouble

“Trump’s support has fallen particularly sharply with young people and minorities. Much reporting of last year’s election focused on the ‘realignment’ of these groups away from the Democrats. But they have quickly reverted back.“

A day with Sir Tom Stoppard and his biographer • Glyn Davis On the death of the playwright this weekend, a brief memory

Wonderful description of an encounter with Tom Stoppard. Highly recommended
insidestory.org.au/a-day-with-s...

Headwinds blow in from the Pacific • Hamish McDonald A muddled year in the region for Labor ends with the Pacific affairs minister disagreeing with his own government

“On the face of it, then, Albanese’s minister for Pacific Island affairs is supporting the case his own government opposed at The Hague and lending his weight to the notion his prime minister and the environment minister continue to reject.”

Regime change • Michael Jacobs Australia’s COP31 presidency gives it a chance to reshape the UN climate talks

“However often the Europeans, Latin Americans and small island states demand an explicit commitment to transitioning away from fossil fuels, they will not get it. The COP30 stalemate will continue. The question is, does this matter? There’s a strong case for saying that it doesn’t.”

The Dismissal from below • Frank Bongiorno (with James Watson) Fifty years later, what impact has the Dismissal had on Australian democracy?

“The Dismissal will continue to play a role in telling us something about who we are: but as an event capable of shaping everyday action and understanding, as a truly lived history, it is fast fading.”

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...