Friday essay: my mother survived polio – stories like hers show why vaccination mattersCatharine Coleborne, University of Newcastle
5 books to help you understand Iran – recommended by expertsJames Ley, The Conversation and Jo Case, The Conversation
Nickel and Dimed at 25: Barbara Ehrenreich’s classic reveals the high cost of low-wage workEve Vincent, Macquarie University
Australia’s ‘strategic infantilisation’ by the US is undermining our security in AsiaMark Beeson, University of Technology Sydney
Secrets, sexism and hypocrisy: Bonfire of the Murdochs reveals the family’s real succession dramaMatthew Ricketson, Deakin University
Tucker Carlson helped make Donald Trump and JD Vance. Could he be the next president?Dennis Altman, La Trobe University
‘My prey, my prize, my Vladimir’: flipping the gender script on predatory professorsKate Cantrell, University of Southern Queensland
Far-right ‘gangster morality’ and the search for meaning: why you should read CamusMatthew Sharpe, Australian Catholic University
Friday essay: ‘epic fury’ – the men of MAGA might be the most emotional US leaders everNatalie Kon-yu, Victoria University; Emily Booth, University of Technology Sydney; Michael Burke, Victoria University, and Tom Clark, Victoria University
The Iranian revolution transformed global extremism, replacing left-wing radicalism with religionAlexander Howard, University of Sydney
Tenderness and brutality collide in the abject world of Michael Mohammed Ahmad’s BuggerMichelle Hamadache, Macquarie University
The Taliban wages war on women, but their voices roar on the page. Here are 5 essential books by Afghan women writersAyesha Jehangir, UNSW Sydney
The Queensland government has interfered with the state’s literary awards – againBronwyn Lea, The University of Queensland
‘AI will be the end of us’ – is Colm Tóibín right about the threat to creative writing?Tom Benn, University of East Anglia
If you win most literary prizes, you pay tax. If you win The Block, you don’t. How is this fair?Alice Grundy, Australian National University
‘A shadow on your art’: how do First Nations and culturally diverse authors feel about representation?Natalie Kon-yu, Victoria University and Emily Booth, University of Technology Sydney
Best books of 2025: our experts share their picksJames Ley, The Conversation and Jo Case, The Conversation
Friday essay: long in the shadow of Freud, Carl Jung’s ideas are finding fresh relevance todayNick Haslam, The University of Melbourne
Friday essay: I thought a 5-day solo hike would reclaim a lost self. My menopausal body had other plansRachael Mead, Adelaide University
Friday essay: ‘red flags’ and ‘performative reading’ – what do our reading choices say about us?Julian Novitz, Swinburne University of Technology
Friday essay: I grew up fearing Queensland cops. Then I hung out with 17 Gold Coast detectivesSally Breen, Griffith University
Friday essay: Australia’s ‘quarry noir’ mines our anxiety about our biggest industryMeg Brayshaw, University of Sydney
‘I am the enemy of death’: Gisèle Pelicot’s memoir is a remarkable tale of survivalCatherine Kevin, Flinders University
‘A billion-dollar empire of harm’: how gambling took over AustraliaDr Louise Francis, Curtin University
‘A billion-dollar empire of harm’: how gambling took over AustraliaDr Louise Francis, Curtin University
‘A lingering in stillness’: philosopher Byung-Chul Han on the radical power of gardeningThomas Moran, Adelaide University
Václav Havel’s 1978 essay The Power of the Powerless is eerily relevant todayDarius von Guttner Sporzynski, Australian Catholic University
Blame John Howard for our housing and migration woes, says Amy Remeikis – but is he due some credit too?Judith Brett, La Trobe University
A history of assassination reveals how ‘targeted killings’ became an extension of state powerKevin Foster, Monash University
Australia once enshrined white superiority. These 10 trailblazers helped shift our attitudes to raceAngela Woollacott, Australian National University
‘I saw the horrors’: how Australian journalists bore witness to the HolocaustFay Anderson, Monash University
‘It could happen here’: Lord of the Flies took its lessons from Hitler’s Germany. They speak to nowAlexander Howard, University of Sydney
Guide to the classics: death-haunted masterpiece The Blind Owl shadows the decline of modern IranHossein Asgari, Adelaide University
Guide to the classics: 18th century novel Fantomina has a sexually curious, identity-switching heroineNicola Parsons, University of Sydney
It takes many ghosts to make a story: how Maggie O'Farrell’s Hamnet takes from – and mistakes – ShakespeareKate Flaherty, Australian National University and Amy Walters, Australian National University
Desperate, intelligent, irreverent: in Big Kiss, Bye-Bye, Claire-Louise Bennett breaks up with illusionsGeorgia Phillips, Adelaide University
A knock-off Pynchon without the punchline: George Saunders’ Vigil falls flatTamlyn Avery, Adelaide University
In his last book, Julian Barnes circles big ideas and reflects on his shortcomingsPatrick Flanery, Adelaide University
China’s new literary star had 19 jobs before ‘writer’ – including bike courier and bakery apprenticeWanning Sun, University of Technology Sydney
Ali Smith’s Glyph is an exhilarating and excoriating follow-up to GliffSarah Annes Brown, Anglia Ruskin University
A wild girl considers land rights and community in Eva Hornung’s ‘utterly gripping’ new novelShady Cosgrove, University of Wollongong
Stories of beauty, mourning and ‘moments of being’ inspire in Claire Thomas’ On Not Climbing MountainsJessica Gildersleeve, University of Southern Queensland
Grim, funny and unremitting, Evelyn Araluen’s The Rot is a book attuned to dark timesThomas H. Ford, La Trobe University
An Antarctic ‘polar thriller’ and a neurodivergent novel imagine a climate changed futureCaitlin Macdonald, University of Sydney
Dexies, doof and depth: The Paris End’s long-form journalism moves from Substack to pagePer Henningsgaard, Curtin University
3 Australian poets explore sites of memory and history – with a degree of playCraig Billingham, UNSW Sydney
Publishing tips, poetry and witty takes on classics: 6 of the best Australian literary podcastsCaitlin Macdonald, University of Sydney
I found Australian cult The Family’s left-behind library. Here’s what their books revealCaitlin Burns, University of Sydney
Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland, set in 1984, is translated for the Trump era in One Battle After AnotherAlexander Howard, University of Sydney
Does Nick Cave’s Death of Bunny Munro critique misogyny – or does it hate women?Liz Evans, University of Tasmania
The Life of Violet: three unearthed early stories where Virginia Woolf’s genius first sparks to lifeJade French, Loughborough University
20 best New Zealand books of the 21st century: as chosen by expertsFinlay Macdonald, The Conversation; Jo Case, The Conversation; Matt Garrow, The Conversation, and Suzy Freeman-Greene, The Conversation
