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Academic rigour, journalistic flair

A collage of actors from streaming shows in March

A child killer, parenting struggles and ‘innies’ running wild: what to stream in April

A harpy is depicted on the side of an ancient urn.

In Ancient Greece and Rome, who were the harpies, and why did they stink so much?

Kitty Smith, University of Sydney

Hand hold remote control pointed at multiple video screens

NZ’s Broadcasting Act is as old as Video Ezy. We need media reform for the streaming age

Jesse Austin-Stewart, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University; Catherine Hoad, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University; Dave Carter, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University, and Oli Wilson, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University

Why Muslims often don’t celebrate Eid on the same day – even within one country

Zuleyha Keskin, Charles Sturt University

Why Muslims often don’t celebrate Eid on the same day – even within one country

Why Muslims often don’t celebrate Eid on the same day – even within one country

How Netflix has shaped (and shattered) our content landscape over the past decade – and what comes next

Alexa Scarlata, RMIT University and Andrew Lynch, Swinburne University of Technology

How Netflix has shaped (and shattered) our content landscape over the past decade – and what comes next

How Netflix has shaped (and shattered) our content landscape over the past decade – and what comes next

Podcasting was once a rebel medium for diverse voices. Now it’s slowly being consumed by big media

Corey Martin, Swinburne University of Technology

Podcasting was once a rebel medium for diverse voices. Now it’s slowly being consumed by big media

Podcasting was once a rebel medium for diverse voices. Now it’s slowly being consumed by big media

The Glass Menagerie: the haunting beauty of Tennessee Wiliams’ play endures in this Sydney revival

Alexander Howard, University of Sydney

The Glass Menagerie: the haunting beauty of Tennessee Wiliams’ play endures in this Sydney revival

The Glass Menagerie: the haunting beauty of Tennessee Wiliams’ play endures in this Sydney revival

Nerve-wracking twists, remarkable stardom and jet-black comedy: the 5 best films of the 2025 French Film Festival

Ben McCann, University of Adelaide

Film still: a gathering of friends at a party in 20th century France.

Film still: a gathering of friends at a party in 20th century France.

Will $1 on your ticket help save Australian live music? A UK model is much more ambitious

Sam Whiting, RMIT University and Ben Green, RMIT University

A blurry photo of a band in a pub.

A blurry photo of a band in a pub.

I was a music AI sceptic – until I actually used it

Alexis Weaver, University of Sydney

I was a music AI sceptic – until I actually used it

I was a music AI sceptic – until I actually used it

Vengeful ghost cat, divorce lizard, phantom horse: the animals that haunted Ancient Rome and Greece

Rebecca Willis, University of Newcastle

A cat is displayed in silhouette at dusk.

A cat is displayed in silhouette at dusk.

All arts and culture coverage

Screen

Adolescence is a technical masterpiece that exposes the darkest corners of incel culture and male rage

Adolescence is a technical masterpiece that exposes the darkest corners of incel culture and male rage

Kate Cantrell, University of Southern Queensland and Susan Hopkins, University of the Sunshine Coast

How Jia Zhangke’s film Caught by the Tides uses 20 years of footage to capture a changing China

Thomas Moran, University of Adelaide

A melancholy woman holds take-away food in her hands.

A melancholy woman holds take-away food in her hands.

Married At First Sight should be a platform to talk about domestic violence – too much is left unsaid

Kate Toone, University of South Australia

MAFS contestants sit on couches with wine.

MAFS contestants sit on couches with wine.

Streaming, surveillance and the power of suggestion: the hidden cost of 10 years of Netflix

Marc C-Scott, Victoria University

Streaming, surveillance and the power of suggestion: the hidden cost of 10 years of Netflix

Streaming, surveillance and the power of suggestion: the hidden cost of 10 years of Netflix

Children of Paradise is the greatest film to come out of France, even 80 years on

Ben McCann, University of Adelaide

Children of Paradise is the greatest film to come out of France, even 80 years on

Children of Paradise is the greatest film to come out of France, even 80 years on

Visual art and design

Mona Lisa with blood trickle by her lips

The Mona Lisa is a vampire

Frankie Dytor, University of Exeter

Serwah Attafuah: a powerful and most welcome voice in contemporary Australian art

Dominic Redfern, RMIT University

Digital image: a mythical woman sits on a tiger's back.

Digital image: a mythical woman sits on a tiger's back.

Who gets to be political in Australian art?

Catherine Speck, University of Adelaide

Four visions of a man's face.

Four visions of a man's face.

How AI images are ‘flattening’ Indigenous cultures – creating a new form of tech colonialism

John McMullan, Murdoch University and Glen Stasiuk, Murdoch University

How AI images are ‘flattening’ Indigenous cultures – creating a new form of tech colonialism

How AI images are ‘flattening’ Indigenous cultures – creating a new form of tech colonialism

An artist traces her choices under Putin’s Russia – from resistance to retreat to exile – one mural at a time

Stephen Norris, Miami University

A colorful mural shows two blue figures with burst of yellow on their bodies facing groups of people on opposite sides of the page.

A colorful mural shows two blue figures with burst of yellow on their bodies facing groups of people on opposite sides of the page.

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Culture and society

A black samurai wielding his sword in the game

Assassin’s Creed Shadows introduces a black samurai – that’s not as unprecedented as critics claim

Fynn Holm, University of Tübingen

Chinese only introduced a feminine pronoun in the 1920s. Now, it might adopt a gender-inclusive one

Janet Davey, Australian National University

A young Asian person with the rainbow flag on their face.

A young Asian person with the rainbow flag on their face.

I research the dehumanising treatment of young offenders – Netflix’s Adolescence gets it spot on

Megan Smith-Dobric, University of Oxford

A young boy and his father sat in an interrogation room with a detective

A young boy and his father sat in an interrogation room with a detective

Can playing games like Wordle help improve work and workplaces?

Kim M Caudwell, Charles Darwin University and Stephen Bolaji, Charles Darwin University

Someone plays Wordle

Someone plays Wordle

How the color of St. Patrick’s Day went from blue to green

Bryan McGovern, Kennesaw State University

A man dressed in green clothes rows a green kayak in a river with water that's been dyed green.

A man dressed in green clothes rows a green kayak in a river with water that's been dyed green.

Music

Grateful Dead, six men standing outside of a gig venue.

Grateful Dead at 60: three folklore tales that inspired the band’s music

Max Bowden, University of Essex

Radiohead’s The Bends at 30: this fraught, compassionate, violently disturbed record remains one of their best

Glenn Fosbraey, University of Winchester

Thom Yorke on stage and the album cover for The Bends

Thom Yorke on stage and the album cover for The Bends

Three memorable ways the COVID pandemic shaped Black music – five years on

Joy White, University of Bedfordshire

Young Black woman listening to music through headphones

Young Black woman listening to music through headphones

Why does music make us feel things?

Katrina McFerran, The University of Melbourne

A woman with headphones and wind rushing through her hair gazes out to sea.

A woman with headphones and wind rushing through her hair gazes out to sea.

Church hymns and social beers: how Australia is reviving the magic of singing together

Wendy Hargreaves, University of Southern Queensland

Church hymns and social beers: how Australia is reviving the magic of singing together

Church hymns and social beers: how Australia is reviving the magic of singing together

History

Women’s sexual pleasure is still taboo – but the Kamasutra tells a different story

Sharha, Cardiff Metropolitan University

An erotic scene on the outer wall of an Indian temple.

An erotic scene on the outer wall of an Indian temple.

New report calls for return of human remains – but UK museums lack the resources to act

William Carruthers, University of Essex

A woman taking a photo of a display case of Egyptian artefacts.

A woman taking a photo of a display case of Egyptian artefacts.

Meet Maria Clementina Sobieska, the defiant queen who pulled off a jailbreak to secure the Jacobite legacy

Meet Maria Clementina Sobieska, the defiant queen who pulled off a jailbreak to secure the Jacobite legacy

Meet Maria Clementina Sobieska, the defiant queen who pulled off a jailbreak to secure the Jacobite legacy

The incredible journey of two princes from Mozambique whose lives were upended by the slave trade

Lindsay O'Neill, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

A historical illustration of two African men with a sea and ships in the background. They hold weapons and one wears a mask.

A historical illustration of two African men with a sea and ships in the background. They hold weapons and one wears a mask.

State of the arts

Creative Australia’s decisions should be peer reviewed and at arm’s length. Where did things go wrong?

Jo Caust, The University of Melbourne

Sign reads: you can try to censor us but we will never stop.

Sign reads: you can try to censor us but we will never stop.

Would Sidney Nolan be cancelled for painting Ned Kelly today? That’s what Creative Australia has done to Khaled Sabsabi

Ella Barclay, Australian National University

Would Sidney Nolan be cancelled for painting Ned Kelly today? That’s what Creative Australia has done to Khaled Sabsabi

Would Sidney Nolan be cancelled for painting Ned Kelly today? That’s what Creative Australia has done to Khaled Sabsabi

‘I can’t be friends with the machine’: what audio artists working in games think of AI

Sam Whiting, RMIT University

Illustration, a woman recording in a sound booth.

Illustration, a woman recording in a sound booth.

‘A shameful call by Creative Australia’: the arts community reacts to Khaled Sabsabi being dropped from the Venice Biennale

Cecelia Cmielewski, Western Sydney University

Two men in black pose for a photograph.

Two men in black pose for a photograph.

Theatre and performance

Adelaide Festival gives a hopeful vision for the future of Australian contemporary dance

Erin Brannigan, UNSW Sydney

Dancers in front of a sunset.

Dancers in front of a sunset.

The Removalists remains a brutal commentary on Australian masculinity. This new production treats women with empathy

Denise Varney, The University of Melbourne

A man grabs a man by the neck, pushing him against a wall.

A man grabs a man by the neck, pushing him against a wall.

Aboriginal bands, experimental dance and a Hindu epic: the highlights of Perth Festival 2025

Jonathan W. Marshall, Edith Cowan University

Production image: a man wears an Aboriginal flag vest

Production image: a man wears an Aboriginal flag vest

Queer theatre in the 19th century was a place of codes, cross-dressing and blackmail

David Coates, University of Warwick

Two queer men wearing women's dresses

Two queer men wearing women's dresses

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Events

Understanding Poverty, Inequality and Social Disadvantage in Australia Short Course

UNSW Sydney

These Entanglements: Ecology After Nature

The University of Queensland

Workshop series: Making effective submissions to public inquiries

Neville Mackieson Consulting

LGBTQIA+ Leadership & Allyship Summit 2025

The Hatchery

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Applications close 24 April 2025

Docklands VIC, Australia

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Applications close 25 April 2025

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Applications close 16 April 2025

Gwanak-gu, Seoul, South Korea