Latest Articles
We are encouraged to rely more and more on government officials to do for us what we could equally well do for ourselves—and, maybe more importantly, not to do what might help us solve our own problems.
Sep 08 2024
10 mins
If we imagine a metric called the Pinocchio Scale, which measures the number of lies told by a politician as a percentage of his or her overall public statements, our current prime minister (for want of a better description), Airbus Albo, has moved well into uncharted territory.
Sep 06 2024
5 mins
Letters to the Editor
Cultural Totalitarians
SIR: I was very impressed with Professor Tony Hassall’s analysis of the plight of Australian Literature within academia (October 2011). It ties in closely with my own experiences teaching Australian Art History.
The Cultural Theorists make a big noise about the need for inclusiveness, but they habitually insist on excluding anything that smacks of high culture. They are also most adept at bullying. This is visible at some academic conferences where group-think rules. Sessions will be tainted by open intimidation as they gang up on anyone who delivers a paper dealing positively with the canon. I have seen talented young scholars reduced to tears after question time.
But the skulduggery mostly occurs out of sight, within university departments where Cultural Theorists, who claim they stand for intellectual freedom and tolerance, systematically white-ant those staff who do not share their views. You can even return from summer vacation and find your units have…
Madam: Archbishop Fisher (July-August 2024) does not resist the attacks on his church by the political, social or scientific atheists and those who insist on not being told what to do.
Aug 29 2024
6 mins
To claim Aborigines have the world's oldest continuous culture is to misunderstand the meaning of culture, which continuously changes over time and location. For a culture not to change over time would be a reproach and certainly not a cause for celebration, for it would indicate that there had been no capacity to adapt. Clearly this has not been the case
Aug 20 2024
23 mins
A friend and longtime supporter of Quadrant, Clive James sent us a poem in 2010, which we published in our December issue. Like the Taronga Park Aquarium he recalls in its 'mocked-up sandstone cave' it's not to be forgotten
Aug 16 2024
2 mins
