See current affairs through the eyes of cartoonist Matt Bissett-Johnson.
Published 15 February 2026.
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Political witch hunts and blacklists: The new era of McCarthyism
A modern-day political inquisition is unfolding in 'digital town squares' across the United States. The slain far-right activist Charli...
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Why the British accepted evolutionary science and Americans didn’t
One hundred years after a Tennessee teacher named John Scopes started a legal battle over what the state’s schools can teach children, ...
11
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What is the ‘Seven Mountains Mandate’ and how is it linked to political extremism?
Vance Boelter, who allegedly shot Melissa Hortman, a Democratic Minnesota state representative, and her husband, Mark Hortman, o...
04
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A century on from Scopes trial, America’s culture war over evolution and creationism rages on
The 1925 Scopes trial, in which a Dayton, Tennessee, teacher was charged with violating state law by teaching biological evoluti...
30
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Staying woke
There is a war on the word ‘woke’. It is now used in a derogatory way to dismiss concerns about lack of social justice. Yet, it is a si...
25
Feb
As Christian nationalism’s new figurehead, Trump inspires Australia’s extremes
The first days of Trump’s second presidency have passed with a flurry of tariff standoffs and literal turf wars with Greenland, ...
22
Feb
Three reasons why Australia is unlikely to follow Trump’s anti-trans campaign
Many people’s heads are spinning at the rapid rate that Donald Trump has been signing executive orders since becoming president – 70 in...
19
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Defending fragile democracies against the march of authoritarianism
Democracy is difficult. Democracy is fragile. Democracy, in its most inclusive modus operandi, pushes the boundaries too far for many p...
14
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The ‘Musk-eteer’ dismantling America
Elon Musk has been a shooting star. His ambitions and his energy have been awe-inspiring to observe, from banking to electric cars to s...
17
Jan
How too much security threatens the era of global science collaboration
Amid heightened tensions between the United States and China, the two countries signed a bilateral science and technology agreement
02
Jan
Kingdom coming
This article is part of our ‘Timeless Pieces’ series of summer reading, featuring articles from our former hardcopy Australian Rational...