From the Big Bogan to Larry the Lobster, why do towns build Big Things?

| Insights & Views

Big Things first appeared in Australia in the 1960s, beginning with the Big Scotsman (1962) in Medindie, South Australia, the Big Banana (1964) in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, and the Big Murray Cod (1968) in Tocumwal,...

Australia has a remarkable history of outdoor cinema. Here’s why Netflix will never beat it

| Insights & Views

In December 1916, as war raged in Europe, an entrepreneurial pearl diver took a chance on some bleeding-edge technology and installed an outdoor cinema in one of the countrys most isolated towns Broome, Western Australia....

South Africa’s modern rondavels: family homes may be changing, but traditions remain

| Insights & Views

The Mbhashe area of South Africas Eastern Cape province is a landscape of hills, fields and river valleys leading to the Indian Ocean. All along the ridges are the homesteads of the Xhosa people who have lived here since...

Wren’s day: an old Irish tradition that survives today

| Insights & Views

In the town of Dingle in the south-west of Ireland, locals often say that there are two seasons in the year: six months before the Wren and six months after the Wren (pronounced wran). It is not uncommon to hear Ill see...

What Virginia Woolf has in common with the Peepo! baby

| Insights & Views

What does Peepo!, a popular picture book from the 1980s, have in common with Virginia Woolfs unfinished wartime memoir? More than a little, as it turns out. Sketch of the Past is Woolfs memoir of her childhood, written...

Why splash pools can be an infection risk for kids

| Insights & Views

In the heat of summer, many parents take their children to splash pools or splash pads and other recreational water parks to cool down. But indoor aquatic facilities with their fountains and spraying jets of water can...

The world’s most bizarre secret weapons: how pigeons, cats, whales and even robotic catfish have acted as spies through the ages

| Insights & Views

The death of a spy is rarely newsworthy, due to the secrecy surrounding it. But when a white beluga whale suspected of spying for Moscow was found dead in Norwegian waters in September, the animal soon became a minor...