Friday essay: John Keane on demagogues, despots and the rise of ‘phantom democracies’John Keane, University of Sydney
‘Like a computer in my heart’: how AI poetry betrays our desire for human connectionJudith Bishop, La Trobe University; Ben Santilli, La Trobe University; Juliane Roemhild, La Trobe University, and Sara James, La Trobe University
Ellena Savage’s snappy novel exposes a ruined utopia – but you might need a humanities degree to read itAmber Gwynne, The University of Queensland
Dignity and resolve: Francesca Albanese’s When the World Sleeps humanises Palestinian livesMartin Kear, University of Sydney
Fight Club at 30: toxic masculinity handbook or clever takedown of capitalism?Simon Copland, Australian National University
Shipwrecked in a time-loop – Solvej Balle’s On the Calculation of Volume plays a long gameDavid McCooey, Deakin University
Girls in bands: two 90s rock icons on romance, ruthlessness and boring menLiz Evans, University of Tasmania
Friday essay: Aboriginal Anzacs fought for Australia, but returned home to racism. It fuelled their activismJohn Maynard, University of Newcastle
Homeless camps are rising as affordability falls. It’s a problem Australia has solved beforeRachel Gallagher, Griffith University
UQP has cancelled a children’s book illustrated by Matt Chun, citing antisemitismDennis Altman, La Trobe University
Finland’s president Alexander Stubb has some ideas to save the international order – and ourselvesMark Beeson, University of Technology Sydney
In Journey to the End of Time, Alex Miller contemplates the mysterious gift of storyKieran Dolin, The University of Western Australia
Chernobyl at 40: the lies, the loss and why we can’t let goKate Cantrell, University of Southern Queensland and Jessica Gildersleeve, University of Southern Queensland
Gallipoli has 4 lessons for the Strait of Hormuz crisisMeighen McCrae, Australian National University
Thousands of AI-written, edited or ‘polished’ books are being sold – an eerie echo of Orwell’s ‘novel-writing machines’Laura Beers, American University
A New York Times critic used AI to write his review – but criticism is deeply humanBec Kavanagh, The University of Melbourne
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
Friday essay: why radical ideas from psychoanalysis are my guiding light in a chaotic worldNicola Redhouse, The University of Melbourne
Friday essay: Bollywood helped make me – now, it projects Modi’s Indian nationalismVijay Mishra, Murdoch University
Friday essay: how to have brave conversations in an age of loud moral certaintyFarid Zaid, Monash University and Daniel Heller, Monash University
Friday essay: my mother survived polio – stories like hers show why vaccination mattersCatharine Coleborne, University of Newcastle
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
Was Trump’s so-called ‘Jesus’ image blasphemy? A religious expert explainsPhilip C. Almond, The University of Queensland
Searching for a ‘technofix’ to climate change has many dangers. Could radical humility save the planet?Nanda Jarosz, University of Sydney
Nickel and Dimed at 25: Barbara Ehrenreich’s classic reveals the high cost of low-wage workEve Vincent, Macquarie University
Dennis Altman urges us to radically reimagine the future – like he did in the 60sMarty Branagan, University of New England
Yorta Yorta Elder Wayne Atkinson reflects on a life of activism and the quest for justiceHeidi Norman, UNSW Sydney
The Iranian revolution transformed global extremism, replacing left-wing radicalism with religionAlexander Howard, University of Sydney
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
Friendship, honey and the simple life: 100 years of Winnie-the-PoohElizabeth Hale, University of New England
George Eliot is best known for Middlemarch, but she also wrote an early work of science fictionJessica Murray, The University of Western Australia
How Norman Lindsay wrote the The Magic Pudding to critique ‘Australian values’ – inspired by NietzscheJohn Uhr, Australian National University
Despairing at the state of the world? The ancient Greeks and Romans knew the feelingKonstantine Panegyres, The University of Western Australia
Far-right ‘gangster morality’ and the search for meaning: why you should read CamusMatthew Sharpe, Australian Catholic University
Half His Age: Jennette McCurdy’s novel is an uncomfortable take on a new genre – literary abuseKate Cantrell, University of Southern Queensland
Ancient texts and marital breakdown: Yann Martel’s Son of Nobody descends into implausibilityKonstantine Panegyres, The University of Western Australia
A tech billionaire and troubled girls: Madeline Cash’s ‘unhinged’ debut novelAmber Gwynne, The University of Queensland
‘My prey, my prize, my Vladimir’: flipping the gender script on predatory professorsKate Cantrell, University of Southern Queensland
Judy Blume is the patron saint of teen girl readers – so why did a man write her biography?Penni Russon, Monash University
Fear is the aphrodisiac in Fiona Kelly McGregor’s new novel The TrapTony Hughes-d'Aeth, The University of Western Australia
Michael Winkler’s debut made Miles Franklin history. Griefdogg is just as perplexing and philosophicalJulian Novitz, Swinburne University of Technology
Words can’t save a life – but they can capture it. Debra Adelaide farewells friend Gabrielle CareyJen Webb, University of Canberra
Despots, brutality and the quest for a home: The Hair of the Pigeon explores suffering and loveKevin John Brophy, The University of Melbourne
What’s the place of humans in a world redefined by AI? Steve Toltz’s new novel has some ideasSeth Robinson, The University of Melbourne
These Australian memoirs are shimmering meditations on grief, nihilism and motherhoodLiz Evans, University of Tasmania
A wild girl considers land rights and community in Eva Hornung’s ‘utterly gripping’ new novelShady Cosgrove, University of Wollongong
Poetry for an anxious world: 5 experts share poems of grief, hope and restorationJames Ley, The Conversation and Jo Case, The Conversation
Kay Scarpetta led the trend for serial killer hunters. I love crime heroines – but she leaves me coldSue Turnbull, University of Wollongong
Publishing tips, poetry and witty takes on classics: 6 of the best Australian literary podcastsCaitlin Macdonald, University of Sydney
5 books to help you understand Iran – recommended by expertsJames Ley, The Conversation and Jo Case, The Conversation
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
Working with First Nations: Delivering on the Priority ReformsAustralia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG)
Direct action and democracy: a controversial present, a contentious historyThe University of Melbourne