Best features – 2023
From public and private affairs to court battles and culture wars, medicine and mendacity to whales, weight and work: some of our reader favourites for the year.
The world’s top melanoma pathologist has brain cancer. Can he save himself?
Australian medical pioneer Dr Richard Scolyer, who was named 2024 joint Australian of the Year on Thursday night, has never used the word “cure” lightly. But in this Good Weekend article from 2023, he described how he was pursuing exactly that.
- by Tim Elliott
‘If I had run, I would have won’: The family pain behind Plibersek’s leadership call
For the first time, Tanya Plibersek reveals the grim trauma behind her decision to not contest the Labor Party leadership.
- by Margaret Simons
‘I couldn’t ignore this house of cards’: A husband’s affair was just the beginning
Can a cheating heart run in families? Discovering infidelity across four generations – including in her own marriage – a writer searches for answers.
- by Kate Legge
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‘I’d never seen a courtroom so still’: The witness who rocked the Roberts-Smith trial
An investigative journalist at the heart of the trial shares the moment that changed its course.
- by Nick McKenzie
Talking trans: Adolescents, gender transition and the conversations we need to have
The genie’s not going back in the bottle. We need to talk more openly and with more nuance about these questions, with the human beings involved at the centre.
- by Michael Bachelard
Couch surfer in his 30s. Oscar winner in his 40s. Why the whole world wants Taika
One of New Zealand’s most original creative exports, filmmaker and actor Taika Waititi is the king of the oddball.
- by Konrad Marshall
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He texted Holly that he’d done ‘the most heinous thing possible’. A jury disagreed
For sexual assault complainants like law student Holly, the legal process remains brutal and unsatisfactory. Many argue it’s time for a full rethink.
- by Melissa Fyfe and Jacqueline Maley
‘See you in two months’: For It-Boy Troye Sivan, a second date is a luxury
From YouTube sensation to actor, pop idol and style-setter, the 28-year-old is redefining what it means to be a creative artist.
- by Brodie Lancaster
‘They’re driving me insane’: The 24/7 life of a political chief of staff
Great at multi-tasking and fiercely loyal, the aides of PMs and premiers are curious, high-octane beasts – and little-known outside the corridors of power.
- by Jane Cadzow
A diabetes drug is being used for ‘easy’ thinness. Is it as magical as it seems?
It’s become a social media obsession. Could Ozempic and other drugs like it really solve the West’s weight woes?
- by Amanda Hooton
Taryn Brumfitt and the body-positivity movement: All you need is love?
Being Australian of the Year has given the body-love campaigner a great platform for promoting her message. Do the facts back up the buzz?
- by Jane Cadzow
‘Life changes tomorrow’: What happened when pro basketball’s Isaac Humphries came out
Why have so few pro sportsmen declared themselves gay during their playing careers? After coming out last year, this basketballer knows better than most.
- by Konrad Marshall
We thought we’d saved the whales. Were we wrong?
Antarctica is a place of solace and sustenance for southern-hemisphere whales, but for how much longer?
- by Amanda Hooton
‘I don’t do moderation, in anything’: Why Treasurer Jim Chalmers went on the wagon
He loves hip-hop, hoops and the Broncos. As well: Welsh poets, Paul Keating and, until three years ago, alcohol. Meet the complex man beyond the TV cameras.
- by Deborah Snow
Middle-aged. Middle-class. Underemployed
The white-collar club no one wants to join.
- by Stephanie Wood
‘I’m just being me’: Danielle Laidley on life after transition
From star AFL player and top coach to transgender role model: Danielle Laidley on the sweetheart and footy mates helping her come out the other side.
- by Konrad Marshall
![“The more orderly the environment, the more conducive it is to learning,” notes one school principal. “[Teachers] play a role. You can’t just be Ms Happy-Go-Lucky … there’s no room for ‘cool’ teachers.”](https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_0.09156976744186046%2C$multiply_1.1931%2C$ratio_1.5%2C$width_756%2C$x_0%2C$y_0/t_crop_custom/q_62%2Cf_auto/4e12892f5faefe3d839a3b371dc8d59b2f92ac51)
Anxiety, ADHD, ‘snowplough parents’: Behind our worsening school discipline crisis
Australian classrooms are more disorderly than ever – prompting an intensifying debate about how to control bad behaviour.
- by Jordan Baker
When Gillon called Jeff: The icy phone call that lays bare tensions in Tasmania
The former premier says Australia’s most wealthy and successful sporting code has crossed the line. Gillon McLachlan was clearly irked by this.
- by Melissa Fyfe
‘No one is talking about this’: What happens when men age
What’s eating men over 50? A host of serious physical and emotional issues that no one wants to talk about.
- by Greg Callaghan
‘We’ve got to have a revolution’: This Liberal MP is spoiling for a fight. Within her own party
Tasmanian MP Bridget Archer thinks the Libs are unelectable in their current form. And she wants nothing short of a revolution to “take the party back”.
- by Melissa Fyfe
Naomi, Gwyneth, Serena: The ‘menopower’ movement lights up
For decades, menopause was barely discussed in public. Now, celebrities are helping break taboos.
- by Amanda Hooton
‘Napalm it all’: Desperate calls to stop cactus menace spreading across Australia
Smothered in long, sharp spines, the Hudson pear is a snowballing horror for our wildlife and livestock.
- by Tim Elliott
Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/national/best-features-2023-20231218-p5es6d.html