Culture

  • Calling all counter-culturalists

    UK writer and editor Alan Dearling is planning a new book on counter-culture in Australia. To be put together with Mook from the Byron Bay Rainboweb, it will be a follow-up to a number of publications Dearling has been involved in in the UK and

  • A history of contraception

    A history of contraceptionTaking Precautions: the story of contraceptionA touring exhibition from the Powerhouse Museum, SydneyShowing at the Western Australian Museum until March 1. For thousands of years, women around the world

  • Blazing with revolutionary fire and energy

    Blazing with revolutionary fire and energy Dreaming with his Eyes Open: A Life of Diego RiveraBy Patrick MarnhamBloomsbury, 1998370 pp., $59.95 (hb) Review by Phil Shannon Drama and controversy followed Diego Rivera everywhere. The Mexican

  • Godfrey Bigot speaks

    Godfrey Bigot, spokesman for the political establishment and candidate for the NSW upper house, shares his vision for society and helps us to understand where the current law and order debate is taking us. "It is time to get back to basics", says

  • Down but not quite out in New York

    Down but not quite out in New York US Visiting Mr GreenBy Jeff BaronDirected by Sandra BatesEnsemble Theatre, Sydney Review by Brendan Doyle Another New York Jewish play, I hear you groan! Another play about the generation gap! Okay, but this

  • Let the rainbow shine

    Let the rainbow shine By Shayne Wilde Judy Small has long been recognised as the voice of our times. Describing herself as a singer who writes songs, Judy has recorded eight CDS, mainly in the folk tradition, but her music also has

  • War abroad and class peace at home

    Sacred Places: War Memorials in the Australian LandscapeBy Ken S. InglisMelbourne University Press, 1998522 pp., $49.95 (hb) Review by Phil Shannon On Anzac Day each year, the air hums and whines with a verbal barrage — "sacrifice", "bravery",

  • Rage against frame-up of Mumia Abu©Jamal

    Three of the world's top bands have joined forces to highlight the frame-up of radical journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal. Rage Against the Machine, rap group Beastie Boys and Bad Religion have scheduled a benefit concert on January 28 in East

  • Godfrey Bigot gets back to basics

    Godfrey Bigot gets back to basics By Brad Pedersen The major parties are lining up for a law and order policy auction, each seeking to make the highest bid. They will trade in pseudo-solutions that prey on the public's fears and

  • Proudly unAustralian

    Review by Geoff Francis UnAustralian SongsBy David Beniuk and the UnAustraliansTo order, write to PO Box 29, Wollongong East 2520. Many contemporary Australian folk artists have fallen into a rut of churning out a succession of bland "feel good"

  • Rethinking the Stone Age

    Lost Civilisations of the Stone AgeBy Richard Rudgley Century Books, 1998$39.95 Review by Robert Hodder The words "Stone Age" and "civilisation" are rarely seen together in popular history. Richard Rudgley's book sets out to turn our assumptions

  • Workers as history makers

    Workers as history makers Under the Hook: Melbourne Waterside Workers Remember: 1900-1998By Wendy Lowenstein and Tom HillsEnlarged and updated, 1998To order, send $30 to Wendy Lowenstein, PO Box 1033, Hawksburn Vic 3142. Review by Mark Gregory