Who decided AI was inevitable?

Cory Doctorow is the author and tech critic who brought us the term ‘enshittification’ – which refers to the gradual decline in the quality of digital platforms and services over time. Now he’s warning that what we’ve been led to believe is the inevitable march of AI towards world domination isn’t…

‘I know I’m a polarising figure’: Alan Joyce on Qantas, reputational collapse and his legacy

Alan Joyce was once one of Australia’s most admired business leaders. By the time he left Qantas, he had become one of the country’s most hated men. His final years at the airline were marked by unlawful sackings, cancelled flights, withheld refunds and a collapse in public trust. But in a new me…

RFK Jr’s anti-vaccine obsession

When Robert F Kennedy Jr was sworn in as Health and Human Services Secretary, his confirmation came off the back of a fiery questioning from Democrats and Republicans alike about RFK Jr’s record on vaccines. And under oath, RFK Jr denied he was against them. But now, Reuters reports he considered …

Labor’s promise of a ‘fairer’ gas deal

Australia is one of the world’s biggest exporters of liquefied natural gas. Over the past 25 years, the value of those exports has increased more than twentyfold. Yet revenue from the tax designed to capture the extraordinary profits made from petroleum resources has gone backwards. This week, at…

Is Trump trying to rig the midterm elections?

In the East Room of the White House, Donald Trump made an extraordinary accusation of election interference: Beijing had illegally obtained the voter files of 220 million Americans. He also accused US intelligence agencies of hiding the extent of China’s activity.  Later, Trump claimed a Homeland…

Who is Lily Jay? The Australian influencer accused of using AI in aid videos

A blonde woman stands among smiling children holding lollipops. A foundation banner hangs behind them. She announces that a new orphanage has opened in Africa. But evidence collected during an ABC investigation suggests that the woman in the video isn’t real. Neither are the children or the banner…

Is this the most dangerous era of the Iran war?

For more than a week, Donald Trump has unleashed strikes against Iran, in a worsening cycle of attacks, including on civilian infrastructure. Trump has defended the strikes as honouring the deaths of up to three American service members in an Iranian attack. But the real goal is to get the Strait …

The racism inquiry ignored by mainstream media

It’s the other racism inquiry running at the same time as the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion – the inquiry into racism, hate and violence directed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. But while the royal commission has attracted rolling media coverage and govern…

The '24-carat f*ckwit' who became Nine's golden boy

After more than two decades at Nine, Karl Stefanovic has left the building. For years, he was the face of the Today show – surviving ratings slumps, public scandals, internal criticism and a revolving door of female co-hosts. But after launching his own podcast, and then interviewing far-right Br…

The truth about men who kill women

Earlier this month, in the space of just three days, four women and girls in Australia were allegedly killed by men and boys known to them. Two months ago, the Prime Minister resisted calls for a royal commission into domestic violence. But women and girls continue to be killed – sometimes within …