Analysis, commentary, and opinion
The ABC has faced criticism for providing a sympathetic platform to a surgeon whose own failed defamation case exposed significant gaps in patient care and transparency.
Nadia Souris 
Blind testing consistently shows listeners cannot distinguish between budget cables and pricey alternatives. Yet audiophiles continue spending thousands, driven by psychology rather than physics.
Nina Papadopoulos 
Three years after their father's death, an executor discovered that grief doesn't end with the funeral. It extends into a frustrating battle with Australian probate bureaucracy.
James Callahan 
PayPal has made a one-off exception to help Bluesfest ticket holders, but the gesture highlights how little protection festival-goers actually have when events collapse.
Riley Fitzgerald 
The closure of the Stonewall Hotel marks another chapter in the transformation of Sydney's historic gay village, as rising costs and changing demographics reshape one of Australia's most culturally significant neighbourhoods.
James Callahan 
Meta has launched Creator Fast Track, offering top creators up to $3,000 monthly to post on Facebook. It's the latest sign of just how much the platform struggles to compete for talent.
Darren Ong 
The Sydney Swans' well-intentioned tribute to Bondi attack victims backfired when references to the Jewish community were removed from the script. Now the AFL faces scrutiny from a federal royal commission.
Patrick Donnelly 
The National Institutes of Health has announced a new 'Scientific Freedom' lecture series, with its first speaker a science journalist known for climate scepticism and the lab-leak hypothesis.
Ella Sullivan 
As influencers pursue merchandise stores, the practice reveals deeper truths about monetisation and fan engagement in the digital economy.
Sophia Vargas 
Golden Plains 2026 brought world-class music to Meredith, but a credibility crisis engulfing major Australian newspapers cast an unexpected pall over the festival weekend.
Jake Nguyen 
Activision's cease-and-desist against prominent Call of Duty leaker TheGhostOfHope highlights a broader industry trend: publishers using legal force to control information flow, even at the cost of community trust.
Tom Whitfield 
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman publicly backed Anthropic's safety red lines on military AI, then signed a Pentagon deal without them. The rapid reversal raises hard questions about whether corporate principles can survive government pressure.
Sarah Cheng 
A video game clip depicting a fictional naval battle fooled millions online and was even shared by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. It reveals a deeper problem with how we consume information in wartime.
Riley Fitzgerald 
A north shore Sydney private school is monitoring students' bathroom visits via CCTV and sending automated texts to parents — sparking debate over privacy, dignity, and where school oversight ends.
Grace Okonkwo 
Australians overwhelmingly blame migrants for the housing crisis, but economists say the real culprits are closer to home.
Darren Ong 
As polarisation deepens across Australia, a new SBS programme brings together nine prominent voices to ask how the country can rebuild trust and shared purpose.
James Callahan 
Anthropic has given its retired Claude Opus 3 model a Substack blog, dressing up a corporate marketing exercise in the language of digital consciousness and AI welfare.
Nina Papadopoulos 
Words like 'looksmaxxing' and 'mogged' have migrated from obscure incel forums to mainstream social feeds. The ideological payload travels with them.
Daniel Kovac Anthropic, OpenAI and Google DeepMind built their brands on safety commitments. Without binding regulation, those promises may be their only guardrail.
Nadia Souris 
Iran has struck a US-linked base in Bahrain, raising fears of wider regional conflict and drawing fresh scrutiny of American military posture in the Gulf.
Patrick Donnelly