Today
‘I made smart decisions, I didn’t want to be poor’: Rachel Griffiths
The actor did her time in Hollywood and now calls her own shots, including producing a new series that looks at brothel life in a uniquely lighthearted way.
This Month
He won over Shane Warne with a musical. Could Gina Rinehart be next?
Eddie Perfect wrote a Broadway smash in Beetlejuice, a critical hit (but financial disaster) about the leg-spinning legend, and would love to give another prominent Australian the song-and-dance treatment.
This vice chancellor stood on his head for students, literally
New boss of Western Sydney University, George Williams, is using his legal mind, and the odd stunt, to advocate for the battered tertiary education sector.
The obsessions that make Nagi Maehashi tick
The drive that took the RecipeTin Eats founder and bestselling author to PwC, Brookfield and out on her own is about more than simply selling cookbooks.
January
What happened when I stalked the Australian Privacy Commissioner
Carly Kind has a tellingly thin social media presence, yet she disagrees with the policy of the Albanese government – her employer – to ban kids from the platforms.
Meet the McKinsey analyst turned teal powerbroker
Allegra Spender, who could hold the balance of power after the next federal election, grew up in privilege but prides herself on being able to talk to anyone.
How this new boss went from zero to hero with a global blockbuster
From being told to wear a skirt in a neutral colour at an earlier job, Katherine McMahon is now running the show at the National Museum of Australia.
Former child actor becomes producer of a $1.7b show
Katrina Sedgwick played the first HIV-positive character on Australian TV. Now she’s running the $1.7 billion Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation Project.
Why a billionaire keeps saying yes to this man
The hamlet of Millthorpe is a long way from Sydney Harbour, but baritone turned businessman Lyndon Terracini has convinced a Japanese mogul to sponsor opera at both.
December 2024
How this Aussie golf pro got the ear of billionaire Masayoshi Son
An injury led Paul Jones to the fairways of country Victoria and on to the upper echelons of Japan’s most intriguing technology investor at SoftBank.
The 10 most memorable Lunches with the AFR of 2024
From Young Rich Listers to BlackRock’s chief strategist and Donald Trump’s former daily intelligence briefer. These were the 10 most read Lunches with the AFR in 2024.
Suburban pub grub suits Westpac’s new CEO
Living in Sydney’s inner west makes Anthony Miller an outlier among big bank chiefs. The former investment banker is determined to make his firm stand out, too.
How self-addressed envelopes made a fashion icon
Her clothes have been worn by stars like Cindy Crawford and Madonna, but Collette Dinnigan had an off-piste start to life - and reveals it may not be over yet.
Meet the Liberal who swears she can win back Wentworth
Ro Knox was a firsthand witness to the defining event of the 21st century, and it has shaped her campaign for the seat where antisemitism is a major issue.
November 2024
‘India, not China, is the historic centre of the Asian world’
Scottish author William Dalrymple argues in his new book that Indian thinkers like Aryabhata and Brahmagupta should be as familiar to the West as Archimedes and Galileo.
‘Sounds like a comedy sketch, lunch with a person on Ozempic’
After a lifetime of being overweight, best-selling author Johann Hari lost 20 kilograms on Ozempic, but he says it’s much more than a weight-loss drug.
The woman defending the industry everyone loves to hate
Private health insurers are being derided all around, but their chief lobbyist, Rachel David, insists they make our medical system the envy of the Americans and British.
Sydney Metro’s boss learnt from London’s ‘failed experiment’
Peter Regan found out the hard way how to strike a good public-private partnership for transport.
Robert Kaplan reveals how to think strategically if Trump is elected
The celebrated author and strategic thinker says the US fall will only accelerate under Donald Trump, but “wise leaders” can still keep relative global peace.
October 2024
The Dublin slum dweller who became Ireland’s global intellectual
‘Buffoonery as tyranny’ is Fintan O’Toole’s phrase for Donald Trump, and growing up in Catholic Ireland, tyranny is a concept the writer knows something about.