Powerhouse Parramatta was meant to reshape Sydney’s cultural map. Now its leadership is under scrutinySamuel Cairnduff, The University of Melbourne
Olivia Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Fields will recreate the impact, power and joy of Lilith FairJanelle K. Johnstone, La Trobe University
‘The only method I have found that relieved my illness is to keep creating art’: remembering Yayoi KusamaSasha Grishin, Australian National University
$71 to $9 million: how a mocked Chinese animation became an unlikely box-office hitYanyan Hong, Adelaide University
From Frank-N-Furter to Pennywise, Tim Curry was a master shapeshifter who could terrify and delightMarcus Harmes, University of Southern Queensland
Jolene, I Will Always Love You and 9 to 5: the genius of Dolly Parton in three songsWendy Hargreaves, University of Southern Queensland
How the ‘backwoods Barbie’ Dolly Parton turned self-aware artifice into authentic artistryRosemary Overell, University of Otago
The Airport Chaplain: SBS’s global Netflix debut is heartfelt TV that will blow you awayAlexa Scarlata, RMIT University
Tina Arena: Unravel Me reveals the artist behind the accolades, and the challenges she’s surmountedLiz Giuffre, University of Technology Sydney
With delight and schadenfreude, Ash Flanders’ Commentary skewers the male artistic geniusCatherine Campbell, Adelaide University
In 20th-century India, the perfect Hindu wife was… a manRadhika Raghav, University of Otago; Swinburne University of Technology
OzAsia Festival to end after 20 years, in a huge blow for Asian-Australian art and cultureBoram Lee, Adelaide University
Tasmanian film and TV have had a stellar decade. So why is the state gutting its local screen body?Rebekah Brammer, University of New England
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma: a queer slasher about trauma and desireDarren Elliott-Smith, University of Stirling
The art of the match cut: how filmmakers make impossible transitions feel effortlessMark Freeman, Swinburne University of Technology
Women have always ‘method acted’ – they just don’t get called geniuses for itIan Maxwell, University of Sydney
From sportswear to protest attire: the surprisingly political history of the hoodieLorinda Cramer, Deakin University
What three female figures in the Bayeux tapestry reveal about medieval womenNatasha R. Hodgson, Nottingham Trent University
‘The Sun was dark and its darkness lasted for 18 months’ – what we can learn from worst volcanic eruptions in historyAlex Brown, Durham University
Why is everyone playing mahjong? The global revival of a centuries-old Chinese traditionAaron Teo, University of Southern Queensland
How weaving helped invent modern computing — and is shaping its futureSara Nabil, Queen's University, Ontario
Sunlight is alive — and through play with it, artists reflect on climate changeMeghan Moe Beitiks, Concordia University
The 18th-century British artists who turned India into a picturesque fantasyApurba Chatterjee, University of Reading
Tracing art from impressionism through to abstract expressionism, and from Ohio to AdelaideCatherine Speck, Adelaide University
‘You are a G. Not a gangster – you are a gift’: how art is supporting First Nations women in prisonAdelle Sefton-Rowston, Charles Darwin University and Yvette Holt, Indigenous Knowledge
Classical music lovers can be as fanatical as Swifties – just read their lettersKate Guthrie, University of Bristol
They’re content creators with thousands of adoring fans – so why do they feel so terrible?Julianna Pillemer, New York University
Newspaper space for political cartoons is shrinking – but we need these artists as much as everRichard Scully, University of New England and Robert Phiddian, Flinders University
Before Young Talent Time, Johnny Young was a songwriter who rivaled the best of his eraDavid Nichols, The University of Melbourne
ABBA’s Dancing Queen at 50: why we’ve spent half a century having the time of our livesWendy Hargreaves, University of Southern Queensland
Massive Attack deliver history lesson on K-pop’s roots in political protestJoanna Elfving-Hwang, Curtin University
Why do certain lyrics touch us so deeply? We studied 35 years of hits to find outSuzy Miller, Swinburne University of Technology; Mark A Lee, and Nicholas Matherne, The University of Melbourne
What BTS’ Grammy boycott tells us about the problem with ‘Asian pop’ as a labelDorothy Finan, University of Leeds
Australia’s arts workers are finally being recognised by the Fair Work Commission. What changes now?Madeleine Thornton-Smith, RMIT University and Kim Goodwin, The University of Melbourne
Why a chronically underfunded arts sector will make NZ poorer – and dullerJames Wenley, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
Why are deaf audiences still treated as an afterthought in theatre and cinema?Anna Kenyon, University of Lancashire
The MSO and Lattouf rulings are seemingly at odds. Where does this leave free speech at work?Bill Swannie, Australian Catholic University
From Mel Gibson to Anthony LaPaglia: why Australian stages keep returning to Death of a SalesmanNicholas Duddy, The University of Western Australia
Break of Day’s tribute to invisible labour of working-class Australians is ultimately disappointingKate Hunter, Deakin University
Leaning into Uncle Vanya’s bleakness: a sumptuous play, with a deeply modern feelKate Hunter, Deakin University
Bennelong in London is an inquisitive play that will make you rethink the past as you know itLiza-Mare Syron, UNSW
