Culture

  • Antidotes to Hollywood's march to war

    Just days before the US began bombing Afghanistan, a Bush administration adviser met with Hollywood executives to enlist them in a Second World War-style propaganda offensive. The Hollywood elite have raced to show just how

  • Michael Moore discovers the awful truth

    Stupid White Men By Michael Moore Harper Collins 2002 275 pages, $49.45 REVIEW BY PAUL HEMPHILL If your name is Miranda Devine, you won't like this book because it slanders your beloved American Dream. If you are Greg Sheridan, you

  • Legally murdered 'in the interests of discipline'

    Blindfold and Alone: British Military Executions in the Great WarBy Cathryn Corns &John Hughes-WilsonCassell & Co, 2001543 pages, $59.95 (hb) REVIEW BY PHIL SHANNON "I think an example is necessary in the interests of discipline", wrote

  • Pilger's photos indict a rotten system

    BRISBANE — In the Brisbane City Gallery of the Town Hall is a remarkable collection of photographs, selected by radical Australian journalist John Pilger. The photographs that are included in Reporting the World are a

  • The play of the strikes that stopped the nation

    SYDNEY — A key episode of Australian trade union and working-class history, the great strikes of the 1890s, will be brought to life when New Theatre stages Reedy River. 2002 is the New Theatre's 70th anniversary year. In an attempt to offset

  • Spearhead: A very special performance

    ADELAIDE — On March 8, San Francisco-based group Spearhead treated punters to a very special performance that will stick in the minds of many for a while to come. The charismatic Michael Franti hosted an evening of hip hop, funk,

  • Ozomatli grooves

    Despite winning the 2002 Grammy Award for best Latin/rock alternative album for Embrace the Chaos, Los Angeles-based Ozomatli's music is still firmly rooted in the streets. The band's commitment to political activism is strong.

  • World music for Green Left Weekly

    MELBOURNE — One of Australia's most accomplished percussionists, Ray Pereira, will team up with visiting West African musician Nii Tetteh Tettey to perform at a Green Left Weekly cultural night on March 22. The theme of the evening is "End racism,

  • Michael Franti: 'You can't bomb the world into peace'

    Michael Franti, formerly of the legendary US rap outfit Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy and now with Spearhead, is not been afraid to tackle the key political issues of the day, such as Third World debt, the HIV-AIDS crisis or the death penalty.

  • Abbie Hoffman: 'Fidel and Groucho's love child'

    The Autobiography of Abbie Hoffman Four Walls Eight Windows, New York, 2000 $29, paperbackIn August 1967, 15 or so “hippies” took a tour of the New York Stock Exchange. There, at the Mecca of global commerce, the

  • How Muhammad Ali became a legend

    AliDirected by Michael MannWritten by Eric Roth and Michael MannWith Will Smith, Jon Voight, Jamie Foxx and Mario Van PeeblesScreening at major cinemas REVIEW BY NICK EVERETT Michael Mann's Ali is a welcome departure from typical Hollywood

  • Howard's truth

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