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
Fine tuning the ABC
It’s nice when audiences stand up for history. On the ABC’s 7:00 News, 13 November, 2009, a viewer noticed a rib-tickling graph showing, “US government debt as a percentage of GDP back to the War of Independence in 1790”. Following an investigation, our “ABC acknowledged that the American War of Independence took place between 1775 and 1783.” Or to put it another way: Oops!
Junk science, both conscious and unconscious, also makes our ABC a special place. But nothing beats junk geography. Or a crap graphic.
Enter Stateline (NSW), 16 October, 2009. A graphic of a map of Flinders Island off the coast of Tasmania looked promising enough, if one ignores the fact that the report’s yacht crashed in New South Wales, or Flinders Inlet off Port Kembla.
Ironically, the “Mystery of the Sea,” story turned into the “Mystery of the Geographically Challenged Broadcaster.”
Even recent history isn’t secure. On the 7.00 News, 20 September, 2009, your ABC showcased a Rudd-first report. Surprising?…
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
