My latest investigation for Declassified Australia (where we’ve just launched a crowd-funding campaign with Patreon so supporters can back our independent journalism with $): PDF here: TWIGGY’S AFGHAN MINERAL COUP – Declassified Australia Andrew Forrest, Australia’s second richest person, is on a self-declared global mission to fight climate change. But there’s another side to this story that’s…
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TNT Radio interview on Wikileaks, press bravery and conflict
David McBride is an Australian hero, a former military lawyer turned whistle-blower who exposed war crimes in Afghanistan. He appears weekly on TNT Radio and interviewed me last weekend about journalism, war, ethics, Wikileaks and accountability:
Speaking in support of freeing Julian Assange and Wikileaks
On 10 December, I spoke outside the Sydney office of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in support of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. The other speakers included whistle-blower David McBride and Greens Senator David Shoebridge. The video was filmed by Cathy Vogan of Consortium News.
Australia’s role as a sub-imperial power
My review in The Saturday Paper, of the new book by Clinton Fernandes, Subimperial Power Australia in the International Arena: In early October, Australia’s deputy prime minister and minister for Defence, Richard Marles, was in Hawaii to meet the American and Japanese defence chiefs near Pearl Harbor. “The global, rules-based order is being pressured in…
The rise of Declassified Australia
Declassified Australia was launched nearly one year ago by journalist Peter Cronau and me. We’ve published more than 20 stories since on a range of issues including spying, social media manipulation, Afghan refugees and Australia’s foreign policy. We have big plans for ramping up the reach and scale of the outlet so stay tuned. This…
Art, war and another Afghanistan
I recently spoke at Melbourne’s Wheeler Centre about Afghanistan. Here’s the event blurb and video below: Writers, musicians, sportspeople, artists, refugees and activists celebrate the resilience, art and creativity of Afghanistan. Haunting images from Kabul Airport filled Western television screens following the 2021 Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, drawing into sharp relief the devastation caused by…
What the media should be doing
This letter was just published in the Williamsport Sun-Gazette newspaper in Pennsylvania: Oscar Wilde said, “In the old days men had the rack. Today they have the Press.” We are bombarded with what the media says is news, but, in most cases, does not identify a real source, or attribute the facts to a specific…
The Way podcast on the never-ending war on drugs
My latest book is Pills, Powder and Smoke: Inside the Bloody War on Drugs. I was recently interviewed on US podcast, The Way, about the drug war, why it’s so hard to end and why things are slowly changing:
Art, war and another Afghanistan
Last week I spoke on a panel at Melbourne’s Wheeler Centre on “Art, War and Another Afghanistan” alongside photographer Barat Ali Batoor, human rights lawyer and activist Diana Sayed, Afghan football player and recently arrived from Kabul, Fatima Yousufi (who was featured in a recent New York Times story), and Hazara musician Taqi Khan. Afghanistan…
Understanding the mega-rich mindset
My book review is published today in The Saturday Paper: Douglas Rushkoff Survival of the Richest: Escape Fantasies of the Tech Billionaires How will the world end? If you’re a tech billionaire, you’re likely already imagining the grisly final act. When American Marxist media theorist, graphic novelist and early cyberpunk embracer Douglas Rushkoff is invited…