Float or swim: How long will Facebook rule?
Facebook is undoubtedly a phenomenon – but is it a good investment? And as its IPO roadshow gets under way, many are asking whether we’ve already had too much of a good thing.
Books | Tudor portrait drawn in cold blood
Hilary Mantel has made another foray into British history through the opaque figure of Thomas Cromwell.
Film | Tess in India still ends badly
Director Michael Winterbottom has set Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles in contemporary India.
Film | Slick production fails to pass trash test
Why is it that filmmakers think the Nazis are funny? There may have been something inherently absurd about the Third Reich, with its fetish for uniforms, racial purity and Wagner, but it was no laughing matter for those obliged to share the planet with Hitler’s minions.
The stark beauty of suburbia
Shaun Tan is best known for his children’s book illustrations ... oh, and for winning an Oscar. But his first love, the thing that underpins all his work, is painting – and his muse is suburbia.
Europe’s extremists gain oxygen
The sudden emergence of Golden Dawn – an obscure extreme-right fringe party only a year ago but which won 21 seats in Greece’s general election – is stoking fears for the future.
Leonardo the scientist
To explore the world around him, the artist came up with ingenious techniques
Mexican migration wave to US slips in reverse
America is not the lure it once was, even for the poor people of a close neighbour.
Satisfaction in sunny Athens
From a distance, it may appear as if Greek voters have plunged the country into pandemonium. But Athenians say they are proud of what they have achieved at the ballot box on Sunday.
Migration in reverse
Growing numbers of young Americans who are children of immigrants are returning to their homelands for career opportunities.
On a whim and a prayer
Offbeat American-Jewish author Jonathan Safran Foer brings his own ritual to reading the Haggadah.
Wages have to rise
Higher wages in Germany would stimulate demand and help avoid recession in the eurozone.
How the left betrayed the Jews
Conventional wisdom does not regard Communism with the same abhorrence as fascism. It will surprise many to see how left-wing movements of the last century fostered anti-Semitism.
Book | A winning read on failure
Two respected authors have produced a big book that looks beyond traditional views on why some nations fail. Readers will hope it can make a big difference.
Film | Boys of the bleak stuff
The King of Devil’s Island, by Norwegian director Marius Holst, is an outstanding addition to the ranks of prison films.
Film | A subtle touch proves rather delicious
Audrey Tatou and Francois Damiens play an unlikely duo in a comedy demonstrating that indefinable cinematic subtlety known as “the Lubitsch touch”.
Books | British farce trips up
Michael Frayn has somehow found the time and the talent to be a very fine comic novelist.
Exhibitions | Engaging with home
An exhibition in south-western Sydney will showcase Australian Muslim women artists and their cultural traditions as well as their relationship with their adopted land.
Great Wall of Canada
Vancouver’s Jeff Wall is a hugely influential photographer, yet little known in Australia. A touring exhibition is set to change that.
All the presidents mend
Sometimes the ability to overcome partisan differences can be a virtue of the highest order. But true courage also lies in standing up against views held by the establishment, even – or especially – when you’re one of its ranking members.
Why people read Playboy for the articles
The decline of Playboy has forced the magazine away from its geographic roots, which defined its journalism as a force for social justice and its imagery as a reflection of personal fulfilment.
Wen talks reform, but what about Chen?
The case of dissident Chen Guangcheng is the latest to pose a test for the Chinese Premier.
The future of print
Brendan Dawes makes eggcups with his 3D printer. Enrico Dini wants to build igloos on the moon with his. Today we can print out custom-fitted teeth and titanium hip joints; tomorrow, we may be able to print out living tissue, to make new veins, new organs. With a 3D printer, someone who's useless at making things can produce unbelievably complicated and beautiful objects. A design created on your PC can turn a spool of plastic filament – heated, melted and guided into shapes by a computer-controlled printer head into almost anything you desire. "Think of it as a China on your desktop," said a Google executive a few years ago.
Not a smart move
The trend for IQ levels to always rise has slowed or even reversed in some developed countries. Should we be worried and if so, what should we do?
Film | Eclipsed by the son
Footnote takes the Old Testament theme of rivalry between father and son and works it into a droll, black comedy of academia.
