Philosopher
There are some writers whose voice, by sheer accident of timing in your life, reach far deeper into your brain than the specifics of what they wrote. For me, it was the satirist and actor John Clarke, who died suddenly Continue reading John Clarke: an unsurpassed craftsman of the Australasian voice
[In a swanky Washington DC restaurant, L’Metaphysique, VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE is enjoying an intimate dinner with his wife and constant companion KAREN PENCE] MIKE PENCE So I said, “Well, Don, if they’ve got the video, and it’s really Continue reading The Vice President Dines: A Philosophical Dialogue
Hey, remember 2016? When all those beloved celebrities kept dying and we couldn’t wait for the year to be over? We’re now less than a month into 2017 and a week into Donald Trump’s presidency, and the internet finds itself Continue reading Is it OK to punch Nazis?
So, we all knew Malcolm Roberts, former project leader of the climate denialist Galileo Movement turned One Nation politician, would make an ‘interesting’ first speech to the Senate. If you’ve been following Senator Roberts’ career, most of what he said Continue reading Senator, You’re No Socrates
With the re-election of the Turnbull government, the likelihood that marriage equality in Australia will be the subject of a harmful, expensive, and non-binding plebiscite becomes ever more likely. That may also mean the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ campaigns will Continue reading The ‘no’ campaign on marriage equality owes us better arguments
Along with Aqua’s “Barbie Girl”, Pauline Hanson has long stood as a grim reminder that the second half of the 1990s was much worse than the first half. And now, 18 years later, Hanson finds herself back in Canberra. Hanson’s Continue reading Please don’t explain: Hanson 2.0 and the war on experts
The “marketplace of ideas” is usually less a showroom for shiny new models and more of a cheery Op Shop. So it’s a big deal when a genuinely new argument is spotted in the wild – even, or perhaps especially, Continue reading The argumentum ad whingeum: an idea whose time can’t pass quick enough
It can’t be easy being Lyle Shelton. The managing director of the Australian Christian Lobby certainly has a full dance card: holding back the tide against marriage equality, campaigning against anti-discrimination laws, being harried up hill and down dale by Continue reading The marriage plebiscite: No ‘time out’ on anti-discrimination laws
Barely a year after Julian Blanc was denied a visa to Australia, the outcry over Daryush Valizadeh’s planned visit and cancelled meetings has once again drawn media attention on the global “Pick Up Artist” (PUA) movement. Valizadeh, aka “Roosh V.” Continue reading The Seducer’s Diary: how a 19th century philosopher anticipated the pick up artist movement
Dear Mr Briggs, We haven’t met. But I’ve been following your ministerial career with some interest, since just before the last election. As you’ll recall you were the then-opposition’s spokesperson on “government waste,” a role that involved attending a surprising Continue reading The Consolations of Philosophy: An Open Letter To Jamie Briggs