Roll up for a Christmas surprise on the policing front. According to a leak from the College of Policing to the Telegraph, since confirmed by its chairman and in all likelihood condoned by a government desperate for an upbeat Christmas message, non-crime hate incidents are finally to go. Next month the College and the National Police Chiefs’ Council ...
Chelleh Night, or Shab-e Yalda, takes place at the time of the winter solstice, around December 21, the longest night of the year. It is one of the oldest cultural traditions in Iran and in regions that were historically part of the Iranian cultural world. In ancient Iranian beliefs, this night symbolised the end of darkness and the beginning of the ...
With public reaction to the Bondi shootings increasingly and inevitably subject to partisan political framings, one of the most fascinating aspects to emerge is the painting of conservative figures as opportunistic in using the tragedy for political gain.
At various stages, all of us are subject to personal tragedy – the death of a loved one or close ...
In 1946, buoyed by post-War optimism, the World Health Organisation adopted a famous definition. Health, it declared, was more than the mere absence of disease or infirmity, it was ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being’. A beautiful and tyrannical idea, sentimentally idealistic and setting an impossible standard for human lives. ...
Picking up the children from school recently, I heard the lovely old carol ‘In Dulce Jubilo’ drifting slowly across the quadrangle. It was a recorded version played over loudspeakers as part of the Christmas light switch-on, rather than the work of rosy-cheeked choristers in gowns, and yet I felt a sudden, unexpected catch in my throat, and a pricking ...
To most modern Britons the words ‘Yule Log’ probably bring to mind that masterstroke of marketing that has enabled supermarkets to sell an ordinary chocolate roulade (with the addition of a plastic sprig of holly) as a speciality item for the Christmas table.
But the edible Yule Log of our own day – to an even greater extent than the meat-free mince ...
On several occasions this year, US President Donald Trump has suggested that, thanks to his dealmaking prowess, long-coveted ‘peace in the Middle East’ may well be nigh. Yet 2026 is more likely to witness ‘unpeace’ in the region, as the long tail of the Iran-Israel conflict creates further instability and impedes the construction of a more stable ...
Do the Eskimos have many more words for ‘snow’ than the rest of us, and does this question matter? As we approach the full blast of winter, now would seem a good time to lay this old chestnut to bed for good.
The person we have to thank for setting this debate in motion is one of the founding fathers of social anthropology, the German-American Franz ...
Following the tragedy at Bondi, and everything that has followed, one conclusion can no longer be avoided: Australians were fools to trust the two governing parties for as long as we did.
For two decades, we were assured that the great social and political experiments of our age were benign, inevitable, and above all, virtuous.
Mass immigration. ...
On December 15, the White House was the setting for its own romantic holiday movie, though it didn’t involve amnesia or a big-city career gal moving to a small town to reconnect with her high-school boyfriend who’s now a lumberjack and handyman. Instead, President Trump “let the cat out of the bag” by announcing that his son, Donald Trump Jr., was ...
Left to right: Stephanie Radok, Celia Paul, Gwen John Women artists have always struggled to maintain an art practice as the primary focus of their lives. Going it alone, they’ve needed to contrive ways to survive, or accept that with commitment to a human “other” comes domestic concerns – and
Kaylee Garrett/UnsplashIf you’ve spent even a little time on social media in recent years, you’ve no doubt come across a swathe of “wellness” content. From kilometre-long lines of runners strutting the Bondi promenade at 6am, to a surge in sauna and ice bath studios, to bizarre routines such as
Roll up for a Christmas surprise on the policing front. According to a leak from the College of Policing to the Telegraph, since confirmed by its chairman and in all likelihood condoned by a government desperate for an upbeat Christmas message, non-crime hate incidents are finally to go. Next month the College and the National Police Chiefs’ Council ...
Chelleh Night, or Shab-e Yalda, takes place at the time of the winter solstice, around December 21, the longest night of the year. It is one of the oldest cultural traditions in Iran and in regions that were historically part of the Iranian cultural world. In ancient Iranian beliefs, this night symbolised the end of darkness and the beginning of the ...
With public reaction to the Bondi shootings increasingly and inevitably subject to partisan political framings, one of the most fascinating aspects to emerge is the painting of conservative figures as opportunistic in using the tragedy for political gain.
At various stages, all of us are subject to personal tragedy – the death of a loved one or close ...
In 1946, buoyed by post-War optimism, the World Health Organisation adopted a famous definition. Health, it declared, was more than the mere absence of disease or infirmity, it was ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being’. A beautiful and tyrannical idea, sentimentally idealistic and setting an impossible standard for human lives. ...
Picking up the children from school recently, I heard the lovely old carol ‘In Dulce Jubilo’ drifting slowly across the quadrangle. It was a recorded version played over loudspeakers as part of the Christmas light switch-on, rather than the work of rosy-cheeked choristers in gowns, and yet I felt a sudden, unexpected catch in my throat, and a pricking ...
To most modern Britons the words ‘Yule Log’ probably bring to mind that masterstroke of marketing that has enabled supermarkets to sell an ordinary chocolate roulade (with the addition of a plastic sprig of holly) as a speciality item for the Christmas table.
But the edible Yule Log of our own day – to an even greater extent than the meat-free mince ...
On several occasions this year, US President Donald Trump has suggested that, thanks to his dealmaking prowess, long-coveted ‘peace in the Middle East’ may well be nigh. Yet 2026 is more likely to witness ‘unpeace’ in the region, as the long tail of the Iran-Israel conflict creates further instability and impedes the construction of a more stable ...
Do the Eskimos have many more words for ‘snow’ than the rest of us, and does this question matter? As we approach the full blast of winter, now would seem a good time to lay this old chestnut to bed for good.
The person we have to thank for setting this debate in motion is one of the founding fathers of social anthropology, the German-American Franz ...
Following the tragedy at Bondi, and everything that has followed, one conclusion can no longer be avoided: Australians were fools to trust the two governing parties for as long as we did.
For two decades, we were assured that the great social and political experiments of our age were benign, inevitable, and above all, virtuous.
Mass immigration. ...
On December 15, the White House was the setting for its own romantic holiday movie, though it didn’t involve amnesia or a big-city career gal moving to a small town to reconnect with her high-school boyfriend who’s now a lumberjack and handyman. Instead, President Trump “let the cat out of the bag” by announcing that his son, Donald Trump Jr., was ...
Left to right: Stephanie Radok, Celia Paul, Gwen John Women artists have always struggled to maintain an art practice as the primary focus of their lives. Going it alone, they’ve needed to contrive ways to survive, or accept that with commitment to a human “other” comes domestic concerns – and
Kaylee Garrett/UnsplashIf you’ve spent even a little time on social media in recent years, you’ve no doubt come across a swathe of “wellness” content. From kilometre-long lines of runners strutting the Bondi promenade at 6am, to a surge in sauna and ice bath studios, to bizarre routines such as
