June
- Analysis
- ABC wars
In Australia, Tucker Carlson finds a new enemy: the ABC
The right-wing commentator wrongly accused the ABC of criticising him, in another example of how on society’s fringe the market for alternate realities runs strong.
- Aaron Patrick
What triggered the PM to say he opposes ‘cancel culture’ in the arts
The prime minister has used the opening of a major exhibition in Canberra to defend the problematic legacy of French post-impressionist Paul Gauguin.
- Tom McIlroy
The man who foresaw the rise of campus antisemitism
Melbourne philosopher Frank Knopfelmacher was a world-class critic of totalitarianism who watched the left turn on Israel.
- John Carroll
- Opinion
- Opinion
Britain’s arts sector learns the cost of being too pure for finance
A bank and asset manager have withdrawn their sponsorship of music and book festivals in the UK after activists called for boycotts.
- Celia Walden
- Opinion
- Opinion
The educated elite is destroying America
Progressive culture has spread from the universities to national life, triggering a backlash that benefits political populists such as Donald Trump.
- David Brooks
April
Captain Cook’s first Australian souvenir returned to Indigenous owners
Cambridge University has surrendered a set of spears taken the momentous day when Sydney’s Indigenous people first set eyes on their eventual colonisers.
- Hans van Leeuwen
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Forensic judgment proves rape, debunks political cover-up
Justice Lee’s factual pushback at some of the unthinking cultural warfare that has overwhelmed politics and media in recent times has performed a great service.
- The AFR View
- Opinion
- Review
JK Rowling is too rich and popular to silence on hate crime mania
The children’s author is irrepressible, which is why her opposition to free speech restrictions in Britain is so important.
- Michael Deacon
January
Bill Ackman brings activist playbook to the culture wars
The investor fashioned a place for himself as an arbiter of how public companies should behave. He’s now using similar tactics to dictate terms far beyond business.
- Annie Massa, Katherine Burton and Amanda Gordon
‘Veggies with a side of morality’: Liberals back Woolies war
Liberal MPs have backed in Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s call for a Woolworths boycott, saying Australians want companies to stay out of politics.
- Gus McCubbing
- Opinion
- Opinion
I’ve seen what happens when a liberal newspaper loses the plot
Legacy media has to do the opposite of social media, and consider the views that some would rather leave silent.
- Suzanne Moore
- Opinion
- Opinion
Existential panic at the ivory tower
The Claudine Gay fiasco at Harvard has triggered a US debate about the purpose of higher education that Australia seems determined not to have.
- John Roskam
- Opinion
- Opinion
Was 2023 the year of peak woke?
As a middle-aged, white-ish man, I may not be best placed to pronounce the decline of woke. Still, I can see its problems mounting.
- Joshua Chaffin
December 2023
- Opinion
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Israel-Hamas tangled up in Ivy League identity politics row
The war in Gaza has exposed the splits within Western societies between those who believe in critical theory and those who still believe in the egalitarian genius of liberal democracy.
- Alexander Downer
- Opinion
- Satire
We apologise for this email, which may offend everyone
A newspaper expresses regret for mentioning the merry, the dead, the Romans and Barack Obama.
- Guy Kelly
November 2023
Britain’s sacked Tory star slams Sunak on immigration, woke wars
Right-wing figurehead Suella Braverman tells the embattled prime minister he is “running out of time” to embrace a more muscular agenda and stave off electoral defeat.
- Hans van Leeuwen
- Opinion
- Opinion
The right is out of love with capitalism
Prosperity is taken for granted and freedom is an optional extra. Conservatives are looking for a new sales pitch, and it’s not Adam Smith.
- John Roskam
September 2023
- Opinion
- Opinion
Australian establishment should learn a lesson from Qantas
If corporate elites want to prosper, they need to get back to their core business of providing quality goods and services to the punters and get out of the virtue signalling game.
- Alexander Downer
This UK museum put aside the culture wars to return 174 Indigenous artefacts
As three Anindikyakwa women from the Gulf of Carpenteria reclaim 174 artefacts, Manchester Museum looks to set the standard for decolonising its collection.
- Hans van Leeuwen
August 2023
How the nanny state feeds Australia’s culture wars
Many citizens feel they aren’t getting enough in return for putting up with nagging, parental governments – so they’re pushing back.
- Joel Deane