I’m Indigenous Australian, and I Work for a Mining Company

For Over 20 Years, I’ve Been Trying to Change an Industry That Has Excluded, Displaced, and Exploited Native People

Being in mining was never part of my plan. As a young boy, I dreamed of becoming a priest with a pilot’s license, living and working in remote Australian communities. I got an advertising degree, joined the foreign service, and spent five years working for the government, including three years as a junior diplomat in Samoa. But I never really fit in. I resigned from the foreign service in January 1999, when I was 27, and returned to my hometown, the remote and dusty mining town of Mount …

Welcome Back, Mermaidcore

For a Century, a Collective Love of Tails and Fins Has Helped Women Transgress on Land and Sea

Shell-adorned bikini tops. Fishtail skirts. Starfish accessories. Seafoam green eyeshadow. Expect to see all of this and more riding the waves of Disney’s latest live-action blockbuster, The Little Mermaid.

In other …

The Real Battle Between Big Tech and the Free Press Is Just Beginning | Zocalo Public Square • Arizona State University • Smithsonian

The Real Battle Between Big Tech and the Free Press Is Just Beginning

From Australia to Maryland, the News Industry Is in a Fight for Its Life Against Facebook and Google

From Australia to Maryland, the free press is waging a battle for survival against Facebook and Google. Besides being gushing firehoses of COVID disinformation and QAnon conspiracies, Google and Facebook …

Could This Drought Bring Californians Together?

Australia’s Last Dry Spell Lasted Over a Decade. It Required Us All to Share the Burden.

As an Australian, I have been taught from birth the value of water. In school, history lessons always included details of early explorers who died of thirst, such as Robert …

The Great Australian Gun Buyback

What Happened After a Mass Shooting Transformed National Policy

Sometimes a tragedy is so awful that it changes the national debate. The 1996 Dunblane school shooting in Scotland, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, and the 2011 Norwegian …

I’ll Tell You Why They Won’t Find Malaysia Air Flight 370

I’ve Sailed Halfway Around the World—and Few Places Are As Dangerous As the Indian Ocean

Cape Leeuwin represents the southwestern-most point of Australia. Five years ago last month I stood atop its lighthouse, looked at the hostile sea state at the confluence of the Southern …