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National affairs Peter Brent 25 May 2026 A document that had a chance of being seen as courageous is catching all the wrong breaks
Books & arts Cory Alpert 25 May 2026 Beth Simone Noveck’s account of AI’s potential defines democracy in a certain way Books & arts Dean Ashenden 22 May 2026 Australian schooling needs restructuring, but who will do it? Essays & reportage Jock Given 22 May 2026 Australia has edged north, and the North is looking out
Books & arts Philippa Hawker 21 May 2026 Three new films echo real life in distinctive ways Books & arts Mark Edele 18 May 2026 How do the “West” and “Eurasia” look from Australia?

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National affairs

National affairs Peter Whiteford 26 May 2026 Announced with an eye to One Nation, the Liberals’ citizenship plan rests on uncertain data
National affairs Nick Haslam 22 May 2026 It depends on how many, and where National affairs Glyn Davis & Michael Wesley 15 May 2026 International students bring tangible and intangible benefits for Australia. But policy decisions are eroding their numbers National affairs Saul Eslake 13 May 2026 The government has a strong case against critics of the budget’s intergenerational measures National affairs Peter Brent 11 May 2026 Preference flows, protest votes, even Climate 200 — they all helped One Nation win on Saturday

Essays & reportage

Essays & reportage Paul Strangio 1 May 2026 A year after Labor’s May 2025 win, there’s still room for optimism  
Essays & reportage James Panichi 27 April 2026 How Bunnings’s facial recognition technology clashed with the privacy regulator Essays & reportage Gordon Peake 22 April 2026 In the footsteps of Beatrice Grimshaw, bestselling author, and her biographer Essays & reportage James Button 17 April 2026 What happens when AI takes on jazz? Essays & reportage Anne-Marie Condé 18 February 2026 Just as our correspondent was wishing she had chosen a different edition of the Hobart Mercury, her eyes fell on page nine

Books & arts

Books & arts Andrew Bonnell 12 May 2026 Australian writer Nadia Wheatley traces a year in the life of refugees at the former Belsen concentration camp
Books & arts Anne-Marie Condé 7 May 2026 How libraries made us Books & arts Michael Gill 7 May 2026 Joko Widodo’s legacy was ultimately undermined by his dynastic ambitions Books & arts Gary Werskey 7 May 2026 Reflections on antisemitism Books & arts Rodney Tiffen 7 May 2026 Family dynamics dominate a new account of the attention-grabbing dynasty

International

International Michael Jacobs 13 May 2026 After last week’s disastrous local election results, two aspiring prime ministers have made their moves
International Robin Jeffrey 8 May 2026 India’s ruling BJP wins the prized state of West Bengal and retains Assam, but two other states hold out against Hindu nationalism International Lesley Russell 22 April 2026 Despite dire poll figures, the Republican Party still can’t stand up to its unhinged leader International David Hayes 3 March 2026 Sanae Takaichi smashed Japan’s election. Now comes the harder part International Michael Jacobs 3 March 2026 One technique for sequestering carbon is firming up as a possible winner

Other Voices

Other Voices Lawrence Freedman 8 May 2026 Any optimism about an early settlement in Iran rests on the fact that both sides have good reason to give ground
Other Voices Joshua Benton 8 May 2026 Labor could vastly improve its News Bargaining Initiative if it stopped pretending it’s just a little nudge for the free market, says a US-based media observer Other Voices Paul Krugman 24 April 2026 Are Americans finally ready to acknowledge its successes? Other Voices Robert A. Pape 14 March 2026 America and Israel might have bitten off more than they can chew Other Voices Bill Scher 22 January 2026 Except for the damage, nothing Trump is doing will last