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‘A woman is not a baby-making machine’: a brief history of South Korea’s 4B movement – and why it’s making waves in America

<div class="theconversation-article-body"> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ming-gao-1496188">Ming Gao</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-catholic-university-747">Australian Catholic University</a></em></p> <p>In South Korea, a growing number of young women are rejecting societal expectations of marriage, motherhood and heterosexual relationships, known as the “4B Movement” or the “4 Nos”.</p> <p>The “B” is a homophone for the Korean word <em>bi</em> (비/非), meaning “no”, representing the movement’s four principles: <em>bihon</em> (no marriage), <em>bichulsan</em> (no childbirth), <em>biyeonae</em> (no dating) and <em>bisekseu</em> (no sex).</p> <p>By refusing to marry, have children, engage in romance, or participate in sexual relationships with men, 4B feminists seek to redefine their lives outside the confines of traditional gender roles.</p> <p>In the wake of the reelection of Donald Trump, there has been <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-10/donald-trump-win-4b-movement-male-supremacists-make-threats/104575732">increased interest</a> in the 4B movement from women in the United States.</p> <p>But what is the 4B Movement, where did it come from, and how is it reshaping the feminist landscape in South Korea and beyond?</p> <h2>Challenges facing young women</h2> <p>The 4B Movement reflects <a href="https://www.khan.co.kr/national/national-general/article/202004140938001">a broader dissatisfaction</a> among young South Korean women who face instability of housing, digital sexual violence, economic disparities and cultural pressures.</p> <p>It emerged in the mid- to late-2010s, following a surge of interest in feminism in South Korea, and spread primarily through women’s online communities.</p> <p>The roots of the 4B Movement lie in South Korea’s rapid economic transformation and the subsequent challenges it posed for younger generations of the 2000s.</p> <p>For young women, economic insecurity is compounded by systemic gender inequality. South Korea <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/south-korea-s-gender-pay-gap-worst-in-oecd">consistently ranks</a> worst in the OECD for the gender wage gap, and social mobility remains limited.</p> <p>Against this backdrop, traditional life paths – marriage, childbearing and homemaking – have become less appealing.</p> <p>Living an alternative life without men emerged as a radical strategy for young digital feminists to challenge the rigid patriarchy in South Korea.</p> <p>The <a href="https://www.khan.co.kr/national/national-general/article/202405172212001">senseless killing</a> in 2016 of a woman in a train station toilet by a man in Seoul shocked the nation and fuelled the movement. Online platforms became spaces where women could share their frustrations, critique patriarchal norms and organise protests.</p> <p>During this period communities like radical feminist online groups gained traction. Among these was the <em><a href="https://www.bbc.com/korean/news-44329328">Tal-Corset</a></em> (escape the corset) movement, which encouraged women to reject societal beauty standards by foregoing makeup, cosmetic surgery and restrictive clothing.</p> <p>The 4B Movement built on this momentum, targeting not only beauty standards but the very institutions that sustain patriarchy.</p> <p>It collectively challenges the notion that women’s value lies in their ability to support men and sustain the family unit.</p> <h2>‘A woman is not a baby-making machine’</h2> <p>The birth rate in South Korea ranks among the <a href="https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/birth-rate-by-country">lowest in the world</a>. The government has long viewed this as a national crisis. Policies such as subsidised housing for newlyweds and tax incentives for families have sought to encourage marriage and childbearing.</p> <p>In 2016, the government launched a national <a href="https://www.womennews.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=248514">pink birth map</a> visualising the number of women of reproductive age in each district. It sparked outrage. Women criticised it as reducing them to reproductive tools, proclaiming, “<a href="https://www.nocutnews.co.kr/news/4713565">my womb is not national property</a>” and “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FsEWD1bi3E">a woman is not a baby-making machine</a>”.</p> <p>For many 4B feminists, these policies represent a stark example of how the state prioritises population growth over women’s autonomy. In response, the movement frames its rejection of marriage and motherhood as an act of political resistance.</p> <p>As one <a href="https://www.womennews.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=111598">protest slogan</a> declared: “End population policies! Stop blaming women”.</p> <h2>Living on their own terms</h2> <p>Despite its growing influence, the 4B Movement faces significant challenges.</p> <p>The radical principles have sparked backlash, with critics labelling participants as selfish or anti-social. Swearing off men as a form of protest against patriarchal structures and traditional marital norms is sometimes (mis)interpreted as implicitly favouring <a href="https://brunch.co.kr/brunchbook/radsview2">lesbianism</a>, given its stance against heterosexual relationships.</p> <p>The movement has also attracted negative political attention. <a href="https://www.khan.co.kr/national/national-general/article/202004140938001">Lee Seung-cheon</a>, a 58-year-old Democratic Party candidate, pledged to introduce “measures to reject the 4B Movement” as part of his policy campaign in 2020.</p> <p>Yet 4B feminists remain steadfast in their vision of a future where women can live on their own terms. Their rejection of traditional life paths is not a retreat into isolation but an attempt to create new ways of being free from patriarchal constraints.</p> <p>As one participant noted, rejecting marriage allows women to envision futures beyond societal deadlines like “<a href="https://brunch.co.kr/@404homealone/34">a woman’s age has an expiration date</a>”.</p> <h2>An international movement</h2> <p>The 4B Movement’s radical critique of patriarchy has resonated internationally.</p> <p>4B Movement ideas are starting to strike a chord in the US. The movement’s core principles align with broader feminist critiques of patriarchy and capitalism, which have intensified in response to political developments such as Trump’s rhetoric and debates over reproductive rights.</p> <p>In the US, Trump’s presidency (and now his return) has been a flashpoint for feminist activism. Policies restricting access to abortion, coupled with an increase in conservative rhetoric around women’s rights, have galvanised movements that resist patriarchal structures.</p> <p>For American feminists, the 4B Movement offers a framework for resistance that goes beyond economic precarity. It provides a roadmap for rejecting political conflicts, focusing on reclaiming agency by prioritising autonomy over their own bodies and rights.</p> <p>6B4T is inspired by the 4B Movement and has gained particular attention <a href="https://weibo.com/1263977197/KaFZGjoG4">in China</a>. This version incorporates additional principles, including rejecting consumerism and fostering mutual aid among unmarried women.</p> <p>The spread of 4B ideas across Asia and beyond highlights the universality of feminist struggles. As the movement continues to evolve, its impact extends beyond South Korea, sparking conversations about gender, autonomy and the future of feminism.</p> <p>Whether embraced or contested, the 4B Movement forces society to confront uncomfortable truths about the cost of sustaining patriarchy – and perhaps the possibilities of living without it.</p> <hr /> <p><em>Correction: 6B4T is inspired by the 4B movement and gained attention in China; it did not originate in China.</em><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/243355/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ming-gao-1496188">Ming Gao</a>, Research Scholar, Gender and Women's History Research Centre, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-catholic-university-747">Australian Catholic University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-woman-is-not-a-baby-making-machine-a-brief-history-of-south-koreas-4b-movement-and-why-its-making-waves-in-america-243355">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

Relationships

"Weak": Raygun's tell-all interview divides audience

<p>Raygun has finally faced the music after her disappointing Olympics performance, sitting down with <em>The Project</em>'s Waleed Aly to share her side of the story from the breakdancing event in Paris. </p> <p>Rachael Gunn, 37, represented Australia in the breakdancing competition at the Paris Olympics where she failed to score a single point, and her unusual routine quickly went viral around the world. </p> <p>While some people, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, thought Raygun gave it her best try, others were quick to call her out for "making a mockery of Australia". </p> <p>In her first exclusive tell-all interview since the Olympics, Raygun told Waleed Aly that the backlash to her performance had a huge impact on her mental health. </p> <p>“I didn’t understand the scale of it,” she said. “I did preview some comments and I was like, ‘Oh, no’, and this kind of sick feeling started coming out. I was like, ‘Oh, goodness! What has happened?’”</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/C_fbu5PvItj/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C_fbu5PvItj/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by The Project (@theprojecttv)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>“That was really wild,” Gunn said. “If people are chasing me, what do I do? But that really did put me in a state of panic for a while after that and I was quite nervous being out in public because I just didn’t know what was safe, if anyone was going to recognise me, how they were going to respond to seeing me."</p> <p>“And it was pretty nerve-racking for a while there.”</p> <p>She went on to say that the hate she received, both in person and online, took a toll. </p> <p>“It was really sad, how much hate that it did evoke,” she said. “There’s been a portion of very angry and awful responses, not only attacking me but attacking my husband, attacking my crew, attacking the breaking and street dance community in Australia, my family. The energy and vitriol that people had was pretty alarming.”</p> <p>Despite her candid answers on <em>The Project</em>, the interview as a whole divided audiences, as some viewers were unhappy with the style of interviewing, claiming Waleed hadn't gone hard enough on her and saying that Raygun is still not taking any accountability for "making a mockery" of Australia and hip-hop culture.</p> <p>"Weak AF interview," one person raged on Facebook. "Just another absolute p***take by her and Waleed's questions."</p> <p>"Of course it will be a Waleed interview. Let Steve Price ask her a few questions," someone else commented, with another agreeing, "Pity Steve Price didn't do the interview."</p> <p>"No apology for making a mockery of the breaking hip-hop culture. And there are other female breakers who are much more talented," one person said. "She needs to apologise for taking the place of talented dancers. She’s an embarrassment that scored a zero. That has to be a first," someone else ranted.</p> <p>Not everyone had a problem with the line of questioning, with some labelling Waleed as "kind and respectful".</p> <p>"Very well done, and very kind interview. You asked some tough questions, and she gave some tough answers," one person said. "Bravo, Waleed, that was a wonderful interview. You were probing but also kind and respectful," someone else commended. </p> <p><em>Image credits: The Project/Paul Kitagaki, Jr/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock</em></p>

The Project hosts shocked by snarky Father's Day remark

<p><em>The Project</em> hosts have been stunned by a snarky Father's Day comment by a guest, with viewers letting loose online over the remark. </p> <p>On Sunday night's show, which coincided with Father's Day, hosts Hamish Macdonald and Sarah Harris were joined by <em>The Guardian</em>'s political editor Amy Remeikis to discuss Australia's housing shortage and cost of living crisis. </p> <p>At the end of her interview, however, she signed off by noting Father's Day with a snarky comment. </p> <p>"Happy Dad's Day to all the non-crap dads and for all the mums and everyone else who had to stood up for the crap dads [sic]," she said. </p> <p>The bizarre off-the-cuff remark left the bemused hosts lost for words with a perplexed Harris appearing to grimace, while the audience awkwardly laughed. </p> <p>"Okay, in other news," Macdonald eventually responded as he quickly moved to the next segment.</p> <p>Dozens of viewers took to X to share their confusion over the remark after the program shared the segment online, which has since been deleted. </p> <p>"What was that little rant at then about c**p dads?" one viewer asked. </p> <p>Others slammed the comment and believed that it shouldn't have been aired, as another viewers wrote, "Happy Father's day to the non crap dads? Are you serious? What a s**t thing to say." </p> <p>"Just say happy Father's Day, or don't."</p> <p>But some viewers did see the funny side, as one person wrote, "I've just watched Amy Remeikis discuss capitalism and crap dads on Father’s Day. Cannot ever imagine an equivalent on British TV."</p> <p>Single parents who solely raise their children alone also leapt to Remeikis' defence, as one mum added, "Just saw you on The Project. As a mum who does both roles. THANK YOU!"</p> <p><em>Image credits: The Project</em></p>

Fans react to band's history-making reunion

<p>Music fans around the world have rejoiced as legendary rock band Oasis announced their highly-anticipated reunion tour. </p> <p>The band, known for their 1990s hits <em>Wonderwall</em> and <em>Champagne Supernova</em>, disbanded in 2009 after founding members and brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher had a falling out. </p> <p>Since then, fans have been begging the musicians to abandon their solo side projects and reunite the band, who were responsible for many number one hits in the late 90s and early 2000s. </p> <p>On Tuesday, those prayers were answered as the band announced they would be reuniting for 14 shows around the UK and Ireland next year.</p> <p>The band will be playing in Cardiff in Wales, Scotland's capital of Edinburgh, and Dublin in Ireland, while also playing four shows at London's Wembley Stadium as well as four shows in their hometown of Manchester. </p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_KgvakNTN7/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_KgvakNTN7/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Oasis (@oasis)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>“This is it, this is happening,” they confirmed, much to the delight of fans. "The stars have aligned. The great wait is over."</p> <p>The announcement of the tour sent music fans into overdrive, with their tour announcement post on Instagram raking up almost 2 million likes in under 24 hours. </p> <p>Fans, music critics and celebrities were quick to comment on the news, while many media outlets assessed that tickets for the concerts were certain to be some of the most sought after tickets in live music history.</p> <p>While many fans shared their excitement, a lot of social media was quickly awash with people suggesting the tour could be at risk considering Noel and Liam’s tumultuous relationship. </p> <p>“Surely anyone who buys an Oasis ticket for any night apart from the opening night is taking a bit of a risk,” remarked one, with a second adding: “Even opening night is a risk!”</p> <p>“Assume the gig isn’t happening until it starts, and even then keep your fingers crossed,” teased another.</p> <p>The Gallagher brothers have been embroiled in a fiery sibling rivalry ever since their rise to global fame in the 90s, with their falling out coming to a head the night before a concert in Paris in 2009, when Noel announcing he was quitting the band for good.</p> <p>“It is with some sadness and great relief … I quit Oasis tonight,” he said in a statement at the time.</p> <p>“People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer.”</p> <p><em>Image credits: Instagram/JM Enternational/Shutterstock Editorial </em></p>

Music

Young woman praised for "speaking the truth" about Australia's history

<p>A young Aussie woman has gone viral on TikTok after sharing the "hard truths" about the country's history. </p> <p>The unidentified woman was quizzed on facts about her home country by content creator Surgen TV, who stopped her while she was walking down a street in London. </p> <p>She nailed a series of "true or false" questions, and when asked to share something that most people don't know about Australia, her "eloquent" left many Aussies proud. </p> <p>While she initially shared some facts about the "Great Emu War" - which occurred in 1932, when soldiers were armed with machine guns in WA to battle huge flocks of emus in a bid to stop them destroying crops - it was the second fact she shared that got people's attention. </p> <p>“The Indigenous population of Australia actually only makes up 3 per cent of the total population, that’s because of colonisation and ‘The Stolen Generation’,” she shared. </p> <p>She then went on to explain that it referred to a period in Australian history where Aboriginal children were removed from their families through government policies. </p> <p>“British and European colonisers wanted to ‘breed out’ the Indigenous culture, and basically would start trying to make mixed-race babies so they could eventually wean out the Indigenous population,” she explained.</p> <p>“It was a very cruel time in Australia, a very bad part of our history," she added, referencing the shameful historic event that occurred between 1910 and the 1970s and also affected Torres Strait Islander families.</p> <div class="embed" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; color: #323338; font-family: Figtree, Roboto, 'Noto Sans Hebrew', 'Noto Kufi Arabic', 'Noto Sans JP', sans-serif; background-color: #ffffff; outline: none !important;"><iframe class="embedly-embed" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; border-style: initial; vertical-align: baseline; width: 567px; max-width: 100%; outline: none !important;" title="tiktok embed" src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2Fembed%2Fv2%2F7403055715738275105&display_name=tiktok&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tiktok.com%2F%40surgentv%2Fvideo%2F7403055715738275105&image=https%3A%2F%2Fp16-sign-useast2a.tiktokcdn.com%2Fobj%2Ftos-useast2a-p-0037-euttp%2F264c1403859149ada045f8a67b39f02d_1723658241%3Flk3s%3Db59d6b55%26x-expires%3D1724155200%26x-signature%3DYT6AZq2dtbZnpwrrXok7hry4Yps%253D&key=5b465a7e134d4f09b4e6901220de11f0&type=text%2Fhtml&schema=tiktok" width="340" height="700" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div> <p><span style="color: #323338; font-family: Figtree, Roboto, 'Noto Sans Hebrew', 'Noto Kufi Arabic', 'Noto Sans JP', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: #ffffff;"> </span></p> <p>Many were quick to praise the woman, with First Nations people applauding her for “talking about our history in such a respectful way and with a caring tone”. </p> <p>“Indigenous Australian here, we love sis and appreciate her and her voice,” one commented.</p> <p>“Well done. For speaking the truth,” another shared.</p> <p>"Using her voice right," a third wrote. </p> <p>“I can’t completely describe how relieved I am to hear this nuanced response from a young Australian,” added another. </p> <p>“Well said young lady, well put ... you make me proud to be an Australian,” added another.</p> <p>Others were impressed by how "articulate" she was, with some Aussies admitting they'd never even heard of the Emu War. </p> <p>“Am I the only one who just got schooled on the Emu War," wrote one. </p> <p>“She’s beautiful, smart, and respectful,” added another. </p> <p>The video has gained almost 800,000 views since it was shared on Saturday, with over 81,000 likes.</p> <p><em>Images: TikTok</em></p>

International Travel

Chaos as The Project pulled from air to evacuate

<p>Channel 10's <em>The Project </em>was suddenly pulled from air after a fire alarm sounded, forcing presenters and crew to evacuate the building, just before 7pm on Wednesday night. </p> <p>The show was replaced with an episode of <em>Dog House</em>, and at 6:50pm the show's X account notified viewers of the matter, saying: “We are being evacuated… we think we will back soon?”.</p> <p>A few minutes later they shared a follow up post: “Due to a fire alarm in the studio, The Project has had to evacuate the building.”</p> <p>“You can see what’s happening Facebook and Instagram Live ... or watch an episode of the Dog House,” it read.</p> <p>The Project later posted a video of the hosts going outside as they joked and made light of the situation. </p> <p>“Guys, we get it you are so obsessed with us and were wondering where we went as the Dog House came on,” the caption read.</p> <p>“And to be honest we couldn’t tell you either as the fire alarm was going off and we just followed our boss.”</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-FSiekK_yK/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-FSiekK_yK/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by The Project (@theprojecttv)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>The show returned on-air at 7:09pm, with host Waleed Aly saying: “What’s that, where did we go? Oh nowhere, we didn’t even know."</p> <p>“We all needed to go to the bathroom, at once. </p> <p>“No, there was a fire alert in our building and we had to leave.”</p> <p>Sarah Harris cut in jokingly saying they didn't only have to leave but had to "run". </p> <p>A Fire and Rescue Victorian spokesperson said that they had responded to a false alarm after a smoke detector malfunctioned. </p> <p><em>Images: Instagram/ The Project</em></p>

It may be macabre, but dark tourism helps us learn from the worst of human history

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/dr-neil-robinson-1312179">Dr Neil Robinson</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-salford-878">University of Salford</a></em></p> <p>Dark tourism has become a much more well-covered pasttime in recent years, in which a macabre fascination lead tourists to travel to various places not served by Thomas Cook: the sites of battles and genocides, war cemeteries, prisons, and even <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/07/the-rise-of-dark-tourism/374432/">current warzones such as Syria</a>.</p> <p>The 20th century alone has provided such a <a href="http://www.therichest.com/expensive-lifestyle/location/10-great-places-to-visit-for-dark-tourism/">long list of places</a> at which catastrophes or great loss of life and suffering has occurred. Sites visited range from the spot from which JFK was assassinated, to prisons such as Alcatraz in San Francisco, through to battlefields of the World Wars, or the vestiges of genocides such at Auschwitz in Poland or Tuol Sleng in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It’s not everybody’s cup of tea, but we shouldn’t condemn those for whom this is an interest.</p> <p>Dark tourism appears to be a manifestation of our media-rich society through which information found online may persuade us to see historical sites in person. But its origins can be traced back much further than the fascination with death and disasters of the 19th and 20th century. In the 11th century, people and pilgrims often visited places with religious significance such as Jerusalem, where the location of Christ’s crucifixion is a popular attraction; tourists visited Gettysburg, the site of the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War in 1863; and in more recent centuries, the Grand Tour offered an opportunity for the wealthy to experience Europe, with sites such as the classical ruins of the Colosseum in Rome – which in the name of entertainment saw execution, torture and death – one of the must-see attractions.</p> <p>Today, in parallel with the growth in popularity of dark tourism is the enormous growth of social media and the 24-hour news economy. The ease of access to such blanket coverage through the web, Facebook and Twitter has increased people’s awareness of, and fascination for, these historical sites of war, conflict and catastrophe. For example, the last decade has brought a surge in visitor numbers to <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-fiction-to-gallows-humour-how-chernobyl-survivors-are-still-coping-with-trauma-57923">Chernobyl</a>, where guides take visitors around the abandoned city of Pripyat (radiation levels permitting) which has been deserted since the nuclear power plant explosion on April 26, 1986. The 30th anniversary this year has in itself <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3526271/Chernobyl-tourists-pose-photos-eerie-sites.html">added to interest in visiting</a> the overgrown and crumbling city.</p> <p>As with tourism of any kind, this greater footfall brings benefits. In this case, not just the economic boost but also as a tool of education and even conflict resolution. For example, the <a href="http://www.belfasttours.com/package/belfast-political-mural-tour">taxi tours of Belfast’s murals</a>, which document Northern Ireland’s Troubles, offer visitors a way to understand the history and provide the communities involved a means to reflect and move on from the conflict. This model is <a href="http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=25852">viewed with interest</a> and hope by moderates on both sides of the Arab-Israeli divide searching for a peaceful solution for the long term.</p> <p>The tours of <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/916">Robin Island prison</a> in South Africa, where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years incarcerated among many others, starkly present how those imprisoned by a corrupt and discriminatory political regime can later engage in peace and reconciliation. The <a href="http://www.bruisedpassports.com/africa/5-reasons-you-must-go-for-a-township-tour-in-south-africa">Soweto township tours</a> in Johannesburg have acted in part as a means through which generations of South Africans can better understand their country’s dark past and help to establish truth and reconciliation for the future.</p> <p>Dark tourism should not in my opinion by viewed as unethical, repugnant or even a self-indulgent activity. Certainly some dark tourists may engage in their pursuits for all the wrong reasons, seeing death and destruction as a commodity to be consumed with little thought for those who caught up in its wake. But others visit such sites to pay their respects, to better understand the magnitude of death and destruction, and to inform the outside world of the details of terrible events – even in some case offering to help. These are positive effects that may come from so much pain and suffering.</p> <p>We should strive to better understand the origins of the terrible events of human history to be more able to prevent us repeating them. In this regard, that more people visit sites associated with dark tourism and learn about them should be seen as a positive.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60966/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/dr-neil-robinson-1312179">Dr Neil Robinson</a>, Lecturer in Business, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-salford-878">University of Salford</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/it-may-be-macabre-but-dark-tourism-helps-us-learn-from-the-worst-of-human-history-60966">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

Travel Trouble

Attempted assassination of Trump: The long history of violence against U.S. presidents

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/thomas-klassen-1171638">Thomas Klassen</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/york-university-canada-1610">York University, Canada</a></em></p> <p>Political assassinations in the United States have a long and disturbing history.</p> <p>The <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-vp-vance-rubio-7c7ba6b99b5f38d2d840ed95b2fdc3e5">attempted assassination of Donald Trump</a>, who narrowly escaped death when a bullet grazed his right ear while he was speaking at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, highlights the danger of those seeking votes in a country whose constitution guarantees citizens the right to bear arms.</p> <p>Trump joins a not-so-exclusive club of U.S. presidents, former presidents and presidential candidates who have been the target of bullets. Of the 45 people who have served as president, four have been <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/us-presidents-assassinated-targeted-presidential-candidates-111920908">assassinated while in office</a>.</p> <p>Given the near mythic status of U.S. presidents, and the nation’s superpower role, political assassinations strike at the very heart of the American psyche.</p> <p><a href="https://www.loc.gov/collections/abraham-lincoln-papers/articles-and-essays/assassination-of-president-abraham-lincoln/">Abraham Lincoln</a>’s killing in 1865 and that of <a href="https://theconversation.com/jfk-assassination-60-years-on-seven-experts-on-what-to-watch-see-and-read-to-understand-the-event-and-its-consequences-216203">John F. Kennedy</a> in 1963 are key moments in the history of the United States. <a href="https://www.history.com/news/the-assassination-of-president-james-a-garfield">James Garfield</a> (1881) and <a href="https://www.history.com/news/the-assassination-of-president-william-mckinley">William McKinley</a> (1901) are less remembered, but their deaths nonetheless rocked the nation at the time.</p> <h2>Secret Service provides protection</h2> <p>It was after McKinley’s assassination that the U.S. Secret Service was given <a href="https://www.secretservice.gov/about/history/150-years#:%7E:text">the job of providing full-time protection to presidents</a>.</p> <p>The last American president to be shot was Ronald Reagan, <a href="https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/permanent-exhibits/assassination-attempt">who was seriously wounded and required emergency surgery in 1981</a>.</p> <p>Reagan was leaving a Washington hotel after giving a speech when gunman John Hinckley Jr. fired shots from a .22-calibre pistol. One of the bullets ricocheted off the president’s limousine and hit him under the left armpit. Reagan spent 12 days in hospital before returning to the White House.</p> <p>Other presidents have been shot at, but luckily, not injured.</p> <p>In 1933, <a href="http://www.fdrlibraryvirtualtour.org/page03-06.asp">a gunman fired five shots at the car of then President-Elect Franklin D. Roosevelt</a>. Roosevelt wasn’t hit but the mayor of Chicago, Anton Cermak, who was speaking to Roosevelt after the newly elected president had made some brief remarks to the public, was injured and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7297642/">died 19 days later</a>.</p> <h2>Two attempts in one month</h2> <p>In September of 1975, President Gerald Ford survived <a href="https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/avproj/assassinations.asp">two separate assassination attempts — both by women</a>. The first came on Sept. 5 when Lynette (Squeaky) Fromme, a follower of cult leader Charles Manson, tried to shoot Ford as he was walking through a park in Sacramento, Calif., but her gun misfired and didn’t go off. On Sept. 22, Sara Jane Moore, a woman with ties to left-wing radical groups, got one shot off at Ford as he left a hotel in San Francisco but it missed the president.</p> <p>Presidential candidates have not been exempt from assassination attempts, including most notably Senator <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/06/05/1179430014/robert-kennedy-rfk-assassination-anniversary">Robert F. Kennedy</a> killed in 1968 and <a href="https://www.wsfa.com/2024/07/14/son-late-alabama-gov-george-wallace-reacts-trump-rally-shooting/">George Wallace</a> shot and left paralyzed in 1972.</p> <p>In 1912, former president Theodore Roosevelt <a href="https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2019/07/the-pocket-items-that-saved-the-life-of-theodore-roosevelt/">was hit in the chest by a .38-calibre bullet</a> as he was campaigning to regain the White House. But most of the impact of the bullet was absorbed by objects in the chest pocket of Roosevelt’s jacket. Even though he had been shot, Roosevelt went on to make a campaign speech with the bullet still in his chest.</p> <h2>The violence of 1968</h2> <p>Other figures with significant — if unelected — political power have also had their lives cut short by gunfire, most notably <a href="https://theconversation.com/mlks-vision-matters-today-for-the-43-million-americans-living-in-poverty-92380">Martin Luther King Jr.</a> in 1968, just a few months before Bobby Kennedy’s death.</p> <p>In a country with <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/06/19/there-are-more-guns-than-people-in-the-united-states-according-to-a-new-study-of-global-firearm-ownership/">more guns than people</a>, and with firearms easily available, it is not surprising that invariably shootings are the preferred means of killing or attempting to kill political office holders.</p> <p>Like Trump, most assassination attempts occur when candidates and politicians are in public spaces with crowds of people nearby. There is a long history of politicians insisting, against the advice of their security advisers, to “press the flesh” in events that jeopardize their safety. Trump was extraordinarily fortunate to escape with only minor injuries.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/234630/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/thomas-klassen-1171638">Thomas Klassen</a>, Professor, School of Public Policy and Administration, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/york-university-canada-1610">York University, Canada</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Xinhua News Agency/Shutterstock Editorial </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/attempted-assassination-of-trump-the-long-history-of-violence-against-u-s-presidents-234630">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

Legal

Still fab after 60 years: how The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night made pop cinema history

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alison-blair-223267">Alison Blair</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-otago-1304">University of Otago</a></em></p> <p>I first saw A Hard Day’s Night at a film festival over 20 years ago, at the insistence of my mum. By then, it was already decades old, but I remember being enthralled by its high-spirited energy.</p> <p>A Beatles fan, mum had introduced me to the band’s records in my childhood. At home, we listened to Please Please Me, the band’s 1963 single, and the Rubber Soul album from 1965, which I loved.</p> <p>Television regularly showed old black-and-white scenes of Beatlemania that, to a ten-year-old in the neon-lit 1980s, seemed like ancient history. But then, I’d never seen a full-length Beatles film. I had no idea what I was in for.</p> <p>When the lights went down at Dunedin’s Regent Theatre, the opening chord of the film’s title song announced its intentions: an explosion of youthful vitality, rhythmic visuals, comical high jinks and the electrifying thrill of Beatlemania in 1964.</p> <p>This time, it didn’t seem ancient at all.</p> <p>Since that first viewing, I’ve returned to A Hard Day’s Night again and again. I now show it to my students as a historically significant example of pop music film making – visually inventive cinema, emblematic of a fresh era in youth culture, popular music and fandom.</p> <h2>Beatlemania on celluloid</h2> <p>A musical comedy depicting a chaotic 36 hours in the life of the Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night has now reached its 60th anniversary.</p> <p>Directed by <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504513/">Richard Lester</a>, the film premiered in London on July 6 1964, with its first public screening a day later (incidentally, also Ringo Starr’s birthday), and the <a href="https://www.discogs.com/master/24003-The-Beatles-A-Hard-Days-Night">album of the same name</a> released on July 10.</p> <p>The band’s popularity was by then reaching dizzying heights of hysteria, all reflected in the film. The Beatles are chased by hordes of fans, take a train trip, appear on TV, run from the police in a Keystone Cops-style sequence, and play a televised concert in front of screaming real-life Beatles fans.</p> <p>Side one of the album provides the soundtrack, and the film inspired pop music film and video from then on, from the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060010/">Monkees TV series</a> (1966–68) to the Spice Girls’ <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120185/">Spice World</a> (1997) and music videos as we know them today.</p> <h2>The original music video</h2> <p>Postwar teen culture and consumerism had been on the rise since the 1950s. In 1960s Britain, youth music TV programmes, notably <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0196287/">Ready Steady Go!</a> (1963–66), meant pop music now had a developing visual culture.</p> <p>The youthful zest and vitality of ‘60s London was reflected in the pop-cultural sensibility, modern satirical humour and crisp visual impact of A Hard Day’s Night.</p> <p>Influenced by <a href="https://nofilmschool.com/french-new-wave-cinema">French New Wave</a> film making, and particularly the early 1960s work of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000419/">Jean-Luc Godard</a>, A Hard Day’s Night employs <em><a href="https://indiefilmhustle.com/cinema-verite/">cinéma vérité</a></em>-style hand-held cinematography, brisk jump cuts, unusual framing and dynamic angles, high-spirited action, and a self-referential nonchalance.</p> <p>The film also breaks the “fourth wall”, with characters directly addressing the audience in closeup, and reveals the apparatus of the visual performance of music: cameras and TV monitors are all part of the frame.</p> <p>Cutting the shots to the beat of the music – as in the Can’t Buy Me Love sequence – lends a visual rhythm that would later become the norm in music video editing. Lester developed this technique further in the second Beatles film, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059260/">Help!</a> (1965).</p> <p>The closing sequence of A Hard Day’s Night is possibly the film’s most dynamic: photographic images of the band edited to the beat in the style of stop-motion animation. Sixty years on, it still feels fresh, especially as so much contemporary film making remains hidebound by formulaic Hollywood rules.</p> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/604790/original/file-20240704-17-ov77mn.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/604790/original/file-20240704-17-ov77mn.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/604790/original/file-20240704-17-ov77mn.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/604790/original/file-20240704-17-ov77mn.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/604790/original/file-20240704-17-ov77mn.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/604790/original/file-20240704-17-ov77mn.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/604790/original/file-20240704-17-ov77mn.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=569&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="A Hard Day's Night movie poster" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A new pop aesthetic: original film poster for A Hard Day’s Night.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure> <h2>Slapstick and class awareness</h2> <p>As with much popular culture from the past, the humour in A Hard Day’s Night doesn’t always doesn’t land the way it would have in 1964. And yet, there are moments that seem surprisingly modern in their razor-sharp irony.</p> <p>In particular, the band’s Liverpudlian working-class-lad jibes and chaotic energy contrast brilliantly with the film’s upper-class characters. Actor Victor Spinetti’s comically over-anxious TV director, constantly hand-wringing over the boys’ rebelliousness, underscores the era-defining change the Beatles represented.</p> <p>Corporate pop-culture consumerism is also satirised. John Lennon “snorts” from a Coca-Cola bottle, a moment so knowingly silly it registers as more contemporary than it really is. George Harrison deflects a journalist’s banal questions with scathingly witty answers, and cuts a fashion company down to size by describing their shirt designs as “grotesque”.</p> <p>And there is Paul McCartney’s running joke that his grandfather – played by Wilfred Brambell from groundbreaking sitcom <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057785/">Steptoe and Son</a> (1962–74) – is “very clean”.</p> <p>Even the film’s old-fashioned visual slapstick still holds up in 2024. Showing the film to this year’s students, I didn’t expect quite as much laughter when Ringo’s attempts to be chivalrous result in a fall-down-a-hole mishap.</p> <p>In 2022, the <a href="https://www.criterion.com/">Criterion Collection</a> released a high-resolution restoration of the film, so today A Hard Day’s Night can be seen in all its fresh, black-and-white, youthful vigour.</p> <p>Happy 60th, A Hard Day’s Night. And happy 84th, Ringo. Both still as lively and energetic as ever.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/228598/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/alison-blair-223267"><em>Alison Blair</em></a><em>, Teaching Fellow in Music, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-otago-1304">University of Otago</a></em></p> <p><em>Image </em><em>credits: THA/Shutterstock Editorial </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/still-fab-after-60-years-how-the-beatles-a-hard-days-night-made-pop-cinema-history-228598">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

Movies

71-year-old makes beauty pageant history

<p>A 71-year-old woman has made history by becoming the oldest person to ever compete at a prestigious beauty pageant. </p> <p>Marissa Teijo never wanted to give up on her dream of competing in the Miss Texas USA pageant as she got older, and in the 2024 competition, she made her dreams a reality. </p> <p>Teijo says the experience was "incredible", even though she wasn't crowned the winner. </p> <p>The 71-year-old documented her pageant journey on Instagram to inspire others to never give up on their own dreams.</p> <p>Explaining her decision to sign up to the pageant on social media, she says, "I am delighted to be a part of this incredible new experience as a contestant in the Miss Texas USA pageant."</p> <p>"In doing so, I hope to inspire women to strive to be their best physical and mental self and believe there is beauty at any age."</p> <p>Teijo spoke of her initial "misgivings" before entering the pageant, saying, "I began to realise I could do it and inspire older ladies and young ones too that there is beauty at any age if you lead a healthy and active lifestyle. So, that became my goal instead of just striving to win."</p> <p>"Overall, I believe my goal in entering the pageant was achieved, and I can truly say it was an amazing fairytale experience, one that I never ever dreamed I would be experiencing."</p> <p>"I would like to also add that fitness, especially weightlifting, and being strong are the ultimate goals. Looking beautiful is secondary because fitness and healthy living are the best defenses against aging," Teijo added.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Instagram</em></p>

Beauty & Style

Steve Price fires up over Dan Andrews' special honour

<p>Steve Price has sparked a bitter row on-air with his co-hosts of <em>The Project</em>, as he spoke out against former premier Dan Andrews being named on the King’s Honours list this year.</p> <p>Andrews, the former premier of Victoria who saw the state through the Covid pandemic, has been recognised on the prestigious list for his “eminent service to the people and parliament of Victoria, to public health, to policy and regulatory reform, and to infrastructure development”.</p> <p>After the announcement of Andrews' upcoming recognition, Price let loose on <em>The Project </em>as he condemned the former premier. </p> <p>“It’s got to be some sort of sick joke,” he said as he began his rant.</p> <p>“Who would expect Daniel Andrews would get the highest honour that you can possibly get from the King? It’s the equivalent of a Knighthood! This is a bloke who locked Victoria up longer than anywhere else in the word. Apart from Covid, this bloke wasted 600 million dollars not holding the Commonwealth Games.”</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8B5Ft8Pe0k/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8B5Ft8Pe0k/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by The Project (@theprojecttv)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>He continued, “Every infrastructure project he’s [Andrews] ticked off on is either over budget or over time. And we give him an award? I mean it is pathetic!”</p> <p>“I have never heard people today so angry about something like this. Daniel Andrews should be run out of the State, not given an award. It’s pathetic!”</p> <p>As co-host Waleed Aly began to share his own thoughts on the matter, Price butted in to ask, “You’re not going to defend Andrews are you?”</p> <p>“Will you let me say something?” replied Aly awkwardly, as Price nodded his head.</p> <p>“Premiers usually get these awards, but they don’t usually get them this quickly,” continued Aly.</p> <p>“And the weird thing about this is that it isn’t for services to the State, it’s for services to health. And that makes it about the pandemic disproportionately. If this was happening in a few years, I don’t think we’d be having this conversation.”</p> <p>Despite Price's claims that many were angry with the decision to award Andrews with the honour, it turns out most of the outrage was directed towards Price himself as many condemned his "embarrassing" rant. </p> <p>“What criteria is <em>The Project</em> applying to Steve Prices opinion? The short man is a self serving blowhard that has no credible platform for his opinions. Surely in 2024 there are better options in Australia,” ranted one annoyed viewer.</p> <p>A second person commented, “If it makes Steve Price mad then it’s a great decision!!” with another replying, “Like anybody should give credibility to anything Steve Price says”. </p> <p>The onslaught of remarks didn’t end there, with another firing back, “Steve Price is jealous and miserable,” while a similarly annoyed viewer wrote, “Dan living rent free in Price’s head, embarrassing”.</p> <p><em>Image credits: The Project / AMES ROSS/EPA-EFE / Shutterstock Editorial </em></p>

How to write creative non-fiction history

<p><em>Discovering an old photo album from the 1920s, celebrated author and adjunct professor <strong>Paul Ashton</strong> embarked on a journey to turn historical research into engaging creative non-fiction, blending meticulous evidence with captivating storytelling. Here he shares he insights on the fascinating process. </em></p> <p>One afternoon my elderly father and niece came to my home for lunch. On their way they had seen something on a council clean up. ‘We thought you might be interested in this,’ said my father handing me a small, brown photo album. I was.</p> <p>The album contained around 100 undated black and white photographs. It became apparent quickly that this was the record of a road trip done in the 1920s or 1930s. A boy, two women and a man had gone on a trip from Sydney up through New England, to Tamworth then to Brisbane and back to Sydney. Shadows in some of the images indicate that they were taken by the man and at least one of the women. The album provided the basis for my first children’s book, Palmer’s Mystery Hikes.</p> <p>One photograph stood out for me. Hundreds of people were gathered somewhere in the bush. In the far left-hand corner in the background was an elevated table covered with a large white tablecloth. With a magnifying glass I could just make out ‘Palmers [something] Hike’. In 1932 Palmer’s men and boys’ department store, in Park Street in Sydney, had established a hiking club to promote the sale of hiking apparel. You bought a ‘mystery’ ticket from New South Wales Railways with which Palmer had an arrangement; turned up at Central Station on Sunday morning; and were taken to a mystery destination. From there you did a ten-mile hike to another station and were then trained back to Sydney. There were five hikes. The third one to the Hawkesbury River attracted over 8,000 people.</p> <p>Turning historical research into believable fiction or creative non-fiction has certain demands. How do you strike a balance between historical research and evidence and the narrative form? This is a big question and will ultimately depend on many things, including the availability of primary and secondary sources and the nature of the particular narrative. But perhaps the most important question is: how do writers use the past to give their work historical dimensions and insights?</p> <p>For me, the most critical element is context. And it’s the thing most missing in much historically based fictional literature. Evoking people, places and periods involves understandings of things such as continuity and change over time, historical process – like colonisation and suburbanisation – ideologies and superstitions. Where appropriate, these should form subtle backgrounds to the narrative. Fiction and creative non-fiction as historical modes of presenting history should also show – not tell.</p> <p>My edited collection, If It’s not True It Should Be (Halstead Press), explores writing history using fictional techniques. As Peter Stanley has written in that book, ‘those who seek to illuminate the past through the imaginative recreation of historical fiction … [are] motivated by the fundamental conviction that what links the fidelity of the historian and the imagination of the historical novelist is that the work of both should be offered and read as if it were true.’</p> <p><em>ABOUT THE AUTHOR<br />Paul Ashton is adjunct professor and co-founder of the Australian Centre for Public History at the University of Technology Sydney and adjunct professor at the University of Canberra and Macquarie University. He has authored, co-authored, edited and co-edited over 40 books and is editor of the journal Public History Review. His series of creative non-fiction children’s histories – Accidental Histories – is being published by Halstead Press.</em></p> <p><em>Images: Supplied</em></p>

Books

What is allyship? A brief history, present and future

<div class="theconversation-article-body"> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/wendy-marie-cumming-potvin-542762">Wendy Marie Cumming-Potvin</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/murdoch-university-746">Murdoch University</a></em></p> <p>Despite social change, LGBTQI+ people still face discrimination <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2019/10/inclusion-lgbt-people-education-settings-paramount-importance-leaving-no-one">at school</a> and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10304312.2023.2296344">in the community</a>.</p> <p>Language for diverse genders and sexualities is continually changing. LGBTQI+ allyship is part of this change. But what is allyship?</p> <p>Allyship refers to people outside of a group – say, straight people – who actively support and work with people inside a group – say, LGBTQI+ people.</p> <p>It can also mean people from different groups working together to support each other’s goals. A key example of this was at the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10304312.2023.2296344">Stonewall riots in 1969</a>, when lesbians, gay men and transgender people joined with Black Panthers and civil rights activists in New York City to protest against police brutality.</p> <p>But defining allyship can be challenging. Some people disagree about who an ally is. Others disagree about what an ally does.</p> <h2>What is an ally?</h2> <p>The term “ally” first appeared in US universities among students <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED336682.pdf#page=215">in the early 1990s</a>. It was used to describe how majority group members (straight students) helped minorities (gay, lesbian and bisexual students), by advocating to end sexuality-based oppression in higher education.</p> <p>For many years, scholars have seen straight allyship for lesbian, gay and bisexual people as helpful for activism. Straight allies have played important roles in <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt7pf5j">policy</a> and in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19361653.2014.969867">combating prejudice</a> on high school and university campuses.</p> <p>Research has shown university and high school gay–straight alliances <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19361653.2017.1326867?casa_token=A6nQuWeFBIYAAAAA%3Ad-Tg1edyeiOyRDuHKyeHDcWuvqLLVhAFqyhXMjOe8RtWJH6pdwxUpES759QaY_zacNUS-TtqMXYK">have contributed</a> to more positive campus environments and a reduction in gender- and sexuality-based discrimination.</p> <p>Over many years, gay–straight teacher alliances have <a href="https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA227011983&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=10813004&p=LitRC&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E40663b6e&aty=open-web-entry">successfully used</a> inquiry groups to combat homophobia and explore <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-does-intersectionality-mean-104937">intersectionality</a> (the way different facets of someone’s identity intersect) within their schools. These groups highlighted LGBTQI-themed literature in English class, and encouraged teachers to be outspoken in their support by attending community events, such as pride parades.</p> <p>But allyship can be exclusionary. While early perspectives of allyship focused on helping gay or lesbian university students, transgender or non-binary folk <a href="https://www.routledge.com/LGBTQI-Allies-in-Education-Advocacy-Activism-and-Participatory-Collaborative/Cumming-Potvin/p/book/9781032298832">were often ignored</a>.</p> <p>There is also contention about <a href="https://www.queensjournal.ca/justin-timberlakes-queer-allyship-strips-ally-of-its-meaning/">how much “work”</a> a straight ally has to do to earn recognition. Some people say that for someone to be called an ally they need to actively work for change, not just say they support others.</p> <p>As allies, we are continually learning. And sometimes we get it wrong. When we make mistakes, it’s important to apologise and continue supporting those we wish to serve.</p> <h2>Allyship from within the community</h2> <p>Many current definitions of allyship only encompass allies outside of the group they are supporting. But a broadened definition of allyship would be useful.</p> <p>LGBTQI+ people, especially with leadership roles, can be strong allies in their communities. Laverne Cox uses her stardom <a href="https://ccrjustice.org/home/blog/2019/08/02/evening-activism-laverne-cox">to advocate</a> for her community of transgender women of colour and other LGBTQI+ people. Georgie Stone made medical processes <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/sep/07/it-takes-a-lot-of-courage-rebekah-robertson-on-raising-transgender-activist-georgie-stone">easier for transgender children</a> in Australia.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-_dpLOXfOUE?wmode=transparent&start=0" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></figure> <p>Because identities can shift, identifying who sits inside and outside LGBTQA+ communities can be challenging. Sometimes, there are clear social group insiders. Sometimes, there are clear outsiders. Other times, things are less clear. A person might hover inside and outside minority groups. They may not identify as straight, but they may not live publicly as LGBTQI+. Or a bisexual person may live in a straight relationship for many years.</p> <p>This means allyship is also dynamic. It <a href="https://www.suu.edu/pridealliance/pdf/reynolds.pdf">shifts</a> depending on power, privilege and life experiences. For example, in one social context, a white, heterosexual woman may have power as a LGBTQI+ ally. But in a professional setting where the majority of attendees are white heterosexual men, this same woman may not be as powerful.</p> <h2>An intersectional process</h2> <p>Allyship needs to understand that many people’s gender and sexuality interact with language fluency, class, geography, race, age and disability.</p> <p>This means that despite victories such as marriage equality, LGBTQI+ people who are homeless, transgender or people of colour may face <a href="https://theconversation.com/despite-recent-victories-plights-of-many-lgbt-people-remain-ignored-49273">significant barriers</a> in society. For example, as of May 2024, <a href="https://translegislation.com/">550 anti-trans bills</a> have been introduced in US legislatures.</p> <p><a href="https://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/people/lgbti-aboriginal-people-diversity-at-the-margins">Because of</a> discrimination, racism and a silencing around Black queer history, LGBTQA+ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can receive inappropriate services, for example, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epdf/10.1177/10497323211069682">in healthcare and education</a>.</p> <p>Understanding the multiple identities of LGBTQI+ people will support strong allyship to reduce <a href="https://www.murdoch.edu.au/news/articles/national-survey-reveals-mental-health-burden-on-first-nations-lgbtqa-youth">negative health outcomes</a> for Aboriginal communities.</p> <h2>What’s next for allyship?</h2> <p>Recent Canadian work has grouped researchers, school boards and teacher federations to make <a href="https://trans-affirm.edu.uwo.ca/toolkit/Trans-Affirming%20Toolkit.pdf">ally resources</a> for supporting trans and gender-diverse students in Ontario.</p> <p>This tool kit includes modules for having conversations about gender identity and teaching about transgender policy. The final module introduces action plans for supporting transgender students through whole school approaches.</p> <p>History has shown coming together can lead to social transformation and better outcomes for marginalised groups. In 2016, US President Barack Obama designated the Stonewall Inn <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jun/24/obama-announces-stonewall-inn-national-monument">a national US monument</a> to celebrate gay history.</p> <p>Apart from acknowledging evolving ideas about gender and sexuality, future LGBTQI+ allyship needs to be intersectional. This means that factors like age, social class, geography, race, language and disability count. And when barriers are broken down across sectors, like healthcare, education and housing, allies become stronger.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220668/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/wendy-marie-cumming-potvin-542762">Wendy Marie Cumming-Potvin</a>, Associate Professor/ Director of Research (School of Education), <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/murdoch-university-746">Murdoch University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock</em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-allyship-a-brief-history-present-and-future-220668">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

Caring

"You can't make this up": Project hosts mocked for trainwreck interview

<p><em>The Project</em> hosts have found itself in a storm of laughter and tears after a trainwreck interview with an unfortunate Melbourne mum who was recently booted from a comedy show with her crying baby.</p> <p>It all started innocently enough when a breastfeeding mother Trish Faranda found herself ousted from an Arj Barker comedy show because her seven-month-old bundle of joy was proving too distracting. </p> <p>In a flurry of events that could rival a sitcom script, Faranda then embarked on a media tour to share her side of the story, which, let's just say, didn't exactly go as smoothly as a well-rehearsed stand-up routine.</p> <p>On Monday night's episode of <em>The Project</em>, host Sarah Harris – in a moment that can only be described as a classic case of foot-in-mouth syndrome – hinted over the sounds of very loud crying that maybe baby Clara "can go to dad just for a quick second... a mum with three little kids, I reckon you need to laugh."</p> <p>As Waleed Aly chuckled nervously in the background, social media exploded faster than a punchline at a comedy club, forcing The Project to quickly disable comments. However, viewers were quick to point out the hilarity of <em>The Project</em>'s own struggle with disruptive babies, all while criticising Arj Barker for his comedic inconvenience.</p> <p>“There’s something really really funny about The Project host asking for the baby to leave for being disruptive during the interview and then going right back to empathising with the mother about being asked to take her baby out during a comedy show for being disruptive,” posted one follower.</p> <p>“Hilarious. The Project takes aim at comedian Arj Barker because he asked a mother/baby to leave & avoid disrupting a live show. At the 3 min mark Sarah Harris kicks the same baby off the air to avoid disrupting the show. You can’t make this up,” posted another.</p> <p>“This is hilarious. Well done The Project and Sarah Harris for showing how distracting a whining baby can be when you’re trying to entertain people," wrote a third.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6EL8Kfvv7N/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6EL8Kfvv7N/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by The Project (@theprojecttv)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Meanwhile, over at <em>A Current Affair</em>, baby Clara once again stole the show, or rather, disrupted it entirely. The interview turned into a symphony of cries and babbling, leaving viewers wondering if they had accidentally tuned in to a sitcom pilot.</p> <p>But let's not forget the man of the hour, Arj Barker himself, who stood by his decision to evict the tiny troublemaker from his comedy haven. In a series of radio interviews, Barker defended his actions, citing the sacredness of comedic timing and the sheer audacity of bringing an infant to a 15-plus comedy show.</p> <p>In the end, amidst the laughter and the tears, one thing became abundantly clear: comedy, like life, is unpredictable. Whether it's a crying baby stealing the spotlight or a tone-deaf remark from a well-meaning host, one thing's for sure – you can always count on the unexpected.</p> <p><em>Images: The Project</em></p>

"Out-of-touch" Project stars slammed over clash with renter advocate

<p>Social media users have slammed <em>The Project </em>hosts, following their recent interview with a renter advocate who encourages Aussies struggling with the housing crisis to squat in empty homes. </p> <p>Jordan van den Berg, founder of the S*** Rentals website shared a video over the weekend outside a rundown house in Chadstone, Melbourne, saying: “Are you sick of rich people hoarding empty houses during a housing crisis? I know I am." </p> <p>“Here’s how you can do something about it.” </p> <p>He then encouraged people to submit information on empty homes in their suburbs via a form on his website, which he plans to promote on his socials so those struggling to find a home could squat in them. </p> <p>“Fun fact – squatting in Australia is not necessarily illegal, which is the best type of legal, especially if the front door doesn’t actually lock," he said. </p> <p>On Monday, he appeared on The Project to talk about his controversial plans, and was grilled by the show's hosts. </p> <p>“I know we’re in a pretty serious housing crisis, but do you really think encouraging people to squat in private properties is the way to fix it?" asked co-host Sarah Harris. </p> <p> “Let me answer your question by asking you a question. Do you think it’s right we have thousands of vacant, abandoned homes while we have people living on the street?” van de Berg replied. </p> <p>Harris said she didn’t and asked whether the solving the housing crisis should be focused on policy instead.</p> <p>Later in the interview, panellist Steve Price casted his doubts on whether there actually were a lot of vacant homes, but van de Berg replied that he'd received over 300 submissions from Aussies about empty homes in their suburbs. </p> <p>van de Berg also said that desperate people are even squatting in abandoned properties, and added: “If someone needs a house, they can reach out to me and I’ll send them [details about] an empty home."</p> <p>Harris was shocked that people would “basically camp out in abandoned houses with no power" which van den Berg argued that “camping out inside” was likely better than sleeping on the streets or in a park.</p> <p>Co-host Waleed Aly then asked whether van de Berg was encouraging people to break the law, but he pointed out that squatting – done properly – isn’t technically illegal.</p> <p>The interview has been slammed on social media, with Writer and comedian John Delmenico posting on X: “Watching the rich out-of-touch panel on the Project realise in real time that not everyone is rich is so bizarre.</p> <p>"Especially the part where Pingers has to explain that being in a house is safer than sleeping on the street. How do they host the news with no connection to reality?”</p> <p>Others agreed mocking the panellists’ shock that “shelter without electricity is better than no shelter with no electricity”.</p> <p>“She was laughing at the fact that ppl would camp out in abandoned houses with no power/water, until he put her in her place by reminding her they’re better off camping under shelter than outside. Mic drop moment," one wrote. </p> <p>“Homelessness exists … it’s quite a big problem actually," another added. </p> <p>However, a few others agreed with the <em>Project</em> hosts. </p> <p>“Encouraging people to squat, who does he think he is?" one wrote. </p> <p>“He thinks he’s doing a good thing, but he’s given absolutely no critical thought to the implications of encouraging people to take over ‘empty homes’," another added. </p> <p>Leo Patterson Ross, chief executive of the Tenants Union of NSW, said that van den Berg was “drawing attention to issues that government should be acting on”.</p> <p>“In the middle of a housing crisis with growing levels of homelessness, we should be looking to ensure homes are not left vacant,” Patterson Ross said.</p> <p>“If a person leaves a property unattended and empty for 12 years, then I think many of us would agree it seems fair that the community can reclaim usage to provide a home, whether that be individuals or government.”</p> <p><em>Image: The Project</em></p>

Legal

"I was shocked": Lisa Wilkinson's text messages shown in court

<p>A series of explosive texts revealed in court have shown how Lisa Wilkinson's controversial Logies speech led to her untimely dismissal from <em>The Project</em>. </p> <p>The texts are contained in an affidavit that Wilkinson and her lawyers have submitted to the Federal Court in relation to a dispute over who will pay her million-dollar legal fees after being sued by Bruce Lehrmann for defamation. </p> <p>In an affidavit to the Federal Court, Wilkinson said she was shocked when she found out she was being let go from <em>The Project</em>, after she discovered her agent Nick Fordham had a meeting with Network Ten CEO Beverley McGarvey.</p> <p>“I was shocked, embarrassed and deeply disappointed by Ms McGarvey’s decision to remove me from <em>The Project,</em>” she said.</p> <p>“At that time, my most recent contract as co-host of The Project had only been signed 11 months before and still had more than two years to run.”</p> <p>Speaking of her agent's meeting, she said, “He told me that Ms McGarvey had informed him that Ten was doing a ‘rebrand’ of <em>The Project</em> with a number of hosting changes. He told me that she had said that those hosting changes included me."</p> <p>“He also told me that she had said that, because there had been too much heat on me in the months since the Logies speech – and, as a result, too much ‘brand damage’ – it was best that I be removed from my hosting role on <em>The Project</em>.”</p> <p>When she said farewell to <em>The Project</em> in 2022, Wilkinson blamed the “targeted toxicity” of sections of the media.</p> <p>“The last six months have not been easy,” Wilkinson told viewers of the panel show when she announced she would be leaving the show. </p> <p>“And the relentless, targeted toxicity by some sections of the media has taken a toll not just on me but on people I love."</p> <p>“I have had a ball,” she said. “But for me right now it’s time for a change. To be clear. I’m not leaving Ten and we’re looking at some very exciting work ideas ahead.”</p> <p>In the affidavit, she says that Ms McGarvey approved Wilkinson’s on-air explanation for her departure and suggested that they “sound very authentic”.</p> <p>“I said to her that this decision to remove me from <em>The Project</em> would result in yet more negative publicity for me, for <em>The Project</em>, and for Ten, particularly if my sudden departure was without explanation,” Wilkinson said.</p> <p>Ms McGarvey told Wilkinson in texts “Perfect delivery, you spoke from the heart.” </p> <p>“It was a beautiful sentiment and you are so generous to your colleagues. Thank you. The media should all be kind, you deserve it.”</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images </em></p>

Legal

Kate Langbroek reignites Australia Day debate

<p>The annual celebration of Australia Day on January 26th has long been a subject of contention, but the debate has recently reignited with fervour.</p> <p>Radio personality and long-time panellist on The Project, Kate Langbroek, has weighed in on the matter by saying that altering the date won't resolve the underlying issues.</p> <p>She also lamented the sense of shame felt by many Australians on what should be a day of national pride.</p> <p>"I don't believe that if the date changed that it would be the end of these discussions and this discontent," she said. "But people have a hunger for something to celebrate about their nation, who want to be proud about their nation, and want to be able to have it on an annual basis. I think it's fair enough to want that."</p> <p>In response to her comments, co-host Rove McManus replied: "It does lead to the greater discussion for us as a nation of acknowledging that past so we can celebrate where we are now, which we still haven't done no matter what the day." </p> <p>The discussion on <em>The Project</em> underscored the complexity of the issue. While some, like Langbroek, advocate for maintaining the current date as a day of celebration, others argue for its change to acknowledge the painful history of colonisation.</p> <p>Langbroek then shared an anecdote about how a hesitant greeting of "Happy Australia Day" that she received only goes to show the level of discomfort and ambivalence surrounding the holiday. "[He] then sort of slunk away as if what he said was shameful. I know the reasons for it, I understand the reasons, but it's a great pity for our nation," she said.</p> <p>Co-host Georgie Tunny then proposed the idea of designating January 26th as a day of mourning while finding an alternative date for celebration – a notion met with both sarcasm and consideration. </p> <p>The public response to the panel discussion was predictably polarised . While some adamantly defend the tradition of celebrating Australia Day on January 26th, others advocate for change, citing the need to confront Australia's colonial past honestly.</p> <p>Amidst the discord, there are calls for innovative approaches to Australia Day. Suggestions range from incorporating solemn remembrance of Indigenous heritage in the morning to hosting citizenship ceremonies and festive events later in the day – a reflection of the nation's aspirations for unity and inclusivity.</p> <p><em>Images: The Project</em></p>

News

The funny reason Robert Irwin wants to hand over his citizenship

<p dir="ltr">Robert irwin has joined in the global outrage of Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig being <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/entertainment/movies/margot-robbie-snubbed-as-oscar-nominations-announced">snubbed</a> from the Oscar nominations. </p> <p dir="ltr">The wildlife warrior joined the panel of <em>The Project</em> on Wednesday night as a co-host of the show, where the conversation turned to the Aussie actress being snubbed by the Academy Awards. </p> <p dir="ltr">On Wednesday morning, it was revealed that Margot Robbie didn’t receive a Best Actress nomination for her role in <em>Barbie</em>, and nor did Greta Gerwig for Best Director, despite the movie breaking records when it was released in July. </p> <p dir="ltr">Around the world, <em>Barbie</em> fans shared their disgust in the snub, with Robert Irwin echoing their statements. </p> <p dir="ltr">“That's ridiculous. Come on,” he began.</p> <p dir="ltr">“[Director] Greta [Gerwig] and Margot made that movie. That's the reason why we have the Barbie movie, it's ridiculous.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Co-host Waleed Aly then asked if Robert would be renouncing his American citizenship over the injustice and was shocked by his response.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I think it only makes sense,” Robert said. </p> <p dir="ltr">News of the snub went viral on Wednesday, with fans flocking to social media to share their thoughts. </p> <p dir="ltr">One particular tweet went viral, with over 109 thousand likes. </p> <p dir="ltr">"Ken getting nominated and not Barbie is honestly so fitting for a film about a man discovering the power of patriarchy in the Real World," the tweet read.</p> <p dir="ltr">Ryan Gosling, who received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Ken in the film, also shared a statement about the lack of recognition for the women he shared the screen with. </p> <p dir="ltr">In a lengthy statement, he said, “I never thought I’d be saying this, but I’m also incredibly honoured and proud that [the award] is for portraying a plastic doll named Ken.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“But there is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no <em>Barbie</em> movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally celebrated film. No recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without their talent, grit and genius.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“To say that I’m disappointed that they are not nominated in their respective categories would be an understatement.”</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-12395ffc-7fff-c7ac-e4b2-d185f404a16d"></span><em>Image credits: The Project</em></p>

Movies

Crown Princess Mary set to make history

<p>Crown Princess Mary is set to make history, after a surprise announcement from Queen Margrethe has shaken up the Danish royal family. </p> <p>On New Year's Eve, Queen Margrethe, who is currently Europe's longest-serving monarch, announced that she would be stepping down as the Danish monarch from January 14th, making her eldest son, Crown Prince Frederik, the country's new King. </p> <p>The Crown Prince will be known as King Frederik X, and his wife, Australian-born Crown Princess Mary, will be his Queen Consort, and will be known as Queen Mary. </p> <p>While there have been monarchs known as Queen Mary in the past, the Tasmanian native will be the first ever Australian to hold the title. </p> <p>Unlike the British royal family, King Frederik and Queen Mary will not be crowned in a coronation service. </p> <p>Instead, a proclamation of the new reign will be made at Christiansborg Palace on January 14th, as the prime minister has proclaimed each new monarch on the balcony of the Danish palace since the early 1900s.</p> <p>The announcement from Queen Margrethe was made during her annual New Year's Eve speech, where she reflected on having surgery on her back in February 2023. </p> <p>“The surgery naturally gave rise to thinking about the future – whether the time had come to leave the responsibility to the next generation,” she said in the televised speech.</p> <p>“I have decided that now is the right time. On 14 January 2024 – 52 years after I succeeded my beloved father – I will step down as queen of Denmark,” she said.</p> <p>“I leave the throne to my son, Crown Prince Frederik,” she added.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Family & Pets

"Very poor journalism": Lisa Wilkinson called out in defamation case

<p>Lisa Wilkinson has been forced to defend the journalistic decisions of <em>The Project</em>, as she took to the stand as part of Bruce Lehrmann's defamation case against Wilkinson and Channel Ten. </p> <p>During court proceedings on Friday, Wilkinson admitted that during her bombshell report on Brittany Higgins' rape allegations, the program left out key information. </p> <p><em>The Project</em> allegedly edited out important details about what happened in Parliament House the morning after Brittany Higgins was allegedly raped.</p> <div data-body-element-id="zjCMXjhzxa"> <p>In an uncut version of the episode which aired in February 2021, Wilkinson asked Ms Higgins if any security guards had asked if she was "okay" after the alleged incident.</p> </div> <div data-body-element-id="R0B2D1Ni6K"> <p>Ms Higgins replied, "No, no. I mean, besides one who called into the office in the morning, and said ‘Is everyone okay?’ and that was it."</p> </div> <div data-body-element-id="2D5V5jCZaQ"> <p>In the final cut, the words "...besides the one who called into the office in the morning" were not included.</p> </div> <div data-body-element-id="9FH5ZgE5Ew"> <p>Bruce Lehrmann's barrister Matthew Richardson SC quizzed Wilkinson about the edit, saying, "That's very poor journalism, isn't it?"</p> </div> <div data-body-element-id="q0X6OvsQtG"> <p>Wilkinson replied, "I'm disappointed to see that. It is a detail which escaped my attention."</p> <p>Elsewhere during the court proceedings, Wilkinson bit back at Lehrmann's lawyer for challenging her journalistic abilities.</p> <p>On Thursday, Wilkinson was asked why she didn't ask to see the metadata on a photo of a bruise on Brittany Higgins' thigh, which she claimed was from the alleged rape. </p> <p>Wilkinson told the Federal Court that she was not "tech-savvy" and did not know what metadata was, saying, "I didn't know photos had metadata."</p> <div data-body-element-id="A9GzCf-Iqm"> <p>Lehrmann's lawyer Mr Richardson was quick to ask in response: "You describe yourself as a serious investigative journalist?"</p> </div> <div data-body-element-id="3eDMnH9cY0"> <p>She bit back, stating she only refers to herself as a "journalist".</p> </div> <div data-body-element-id="tMBlnKPjTn"> <p>Mr Richardson said, "You were emphatic yesterday when you said you were not a tabloid journalist.'</p> </div> <div data-body-element-id="9WzAcuceor"> <p>She repeated: "I describe myself as a journalist, Mr Richardson."</p> </div> <div data-body-element-id="bUfGxqx44_"> <p>He said given she had been a journalist for 40 years, "it was most improbable that you did not know what metadata was."</p> </div> <div data-body-element-id="QIHT-BVE1b"> <p>She replied, "I disagree."</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> </div> </div>

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"Very poor journalism": Lisa Wilkinson called out in defamation case

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