Prompted by recent episodes of 30 Rock and Community, this week’s The 400 Club podcast discusses flashback episodes. The jury is still out.
April, 2011
Guy Rundle: Rundle’s meaty bites: Gitmo, the Grauniad … Shtupping … Trump-style Oz …
WikiLeaks … all-in-all, quite a set of leaks. A whole new source of secret information? Well, not quite.
book reviews 
Mr Peanut by Adam Ross
Opening with a husband plotting to kill his wife, Mr Peanut is a disturbing novel that spirals in on itself and winds tight like a slinky, writes Alice Grundy.
Deaths in custody: seven tragedies, seven cases of negligence
The tragic 2007 death of mentally ill prisoner Adam Douglas Shipley is just one of seven deaths linked through a chain of negligence, bureaucratic bungling and failed policies. Inga Ting continues her special investigation for Crikey.
The new standard for art prizes: “It’s a lottery!”
Sulman Prize judge, artist Richard Bell, explained how he arrived at his choice: I did it by lottery,” thus setting a new precedent for judging art.
Richard Dawkins, reductionism and climate change
Richard Dawkins arrived at his compelling answer to evolution through a reductionist “drilled down” process, but how well does this approach fare when measuring climate change? asks The Political Sword’s Ad astra.
The seedy and surreptitious business of secret intelligence
The recent case against accused terrorist Mohammed el-Gharani has highlighted the often murky and unreliable nature of secret intelligence, writes William Glaberson and Charlie Savage.
Television: the boredom killing business
When Sidney Lumet’s film Network opened in 1976 it was seen as an over-the-top satire about TV companies doing anything for ratings. Now it doesn’t seem so far-fetched, writes Mr Denmore.
Presbyterian Jesus death notice
W H Chong spotted a couple of…unusual signs including one from a Presbyterian Church and another from a local council.
film reviews Arthur — another rubbishy remake
Russell Brand’s outspoken androgynous wastoid shtick looks very worse for wear in director Jason Winer’s lazy and lifeless remake of the 1981 Oscar-winning hit, writes Luke Buckmaster.
Andrew Bolt redefines “confession”
This week Andrew Bolt wrote: “suddenly Labor everywhere confesses it’s done your dough.” But they did nothing of the sort and to say so is outright misrepresentation, writes Jeremy Sear.
Reviewing the reviewers
News reporters don’t consider them journalists and artists don’t consider them a legitimate part of the art world. The reviewer is a writer with no home: A perpetual Auslander, writes Josh Kinal.
CSIRO debunks media hysteria
The CSIRO has released a statistical analysis of the reality surrounding large parts of the Home Insulation Program, providing yet more proof that the media’s reaction was hysterically innacurate, writes Possum Comitatus.
Yes, female comedians can be funny funny. Very funny funny
Comedy is a tough gig, like most industries dominated by men. But only lazy thinking and ignorance of feminism can take you from “male-dominated” to “women aren’t good at it,” writes comedian Ben McKenzie.
Penny Wong’s magic asterix
Finance Minister Penny Wong has said that part of her budgetary miracle moving towards a surplus is increasing the “efficiency dividend.” Hey presto — it’s a magic asterix! writes Richard Farmer.
Introducing Crikey’s ‘Best of the Fest’ award
Lawrence Mooney’s acclaimed show An Indecisive Bag of Donuts has been playing to solid audiences since the start of this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival. For his troubles Mooney won Crikey’s top comedy gong: the inaugural ‘Best of the Fest’ award.
Embattled Rann government loses key minister
Embattled South Australian Premier Mike Rann has lost a key frontbencher, with Bernard Finnigan resigning from Cabinet.
The kids aren’t alright: budding journos struggling with English
Australian journalism courses are admitting international students with faltering English that fails to meet minimum standards mandated by the body that oversees the language test.
CASA waves a yellow card at Tiger … no threat of red yet
Passengers recently bought tickets on Tiger Airways flights unaware that CASA had refused to allow it to expand its small fleet in Australia until it responded to a show cause notice.
Yes Labor, this is as good as it gets
Limping along clumsily trying to prosecute worthwhile reforms is about as good as it will get for Gillard Labor.
Buildings set alight at Villawood, as gov tries to sell new detention centre
Immigration minister Chris Bowen is facing increasing political pressure over the government’s handling of immigration detention today, after nine buildings were burnt down last night by protesting asylum seekers at Villawood Detention Centre.
Gaddafi’s guards steal from African refugees as they flee Libya
“Working without payment” — a nice way of saying “slavery” — is a common theme among the sub-Saharan Africans who made it to Libya, writes trade consultant Martin Bendeler, who has just returned from the Middle East.
Apple’s answer to Android: confidence … and shiny big numbers
Apple’s quarterly earnings call is a curious ritual. The raw facts are much the same each time. Record revenue and profits. Solid growth. iPhone and now iPad sales astounding. If only they could build enough of them.
Guy Rundle: Rundle: the beat-up goes on as Quadrant attacks Behrendt
Keith Windschuttle’s long inquiry into Larissa Behrendt’s family’s background is ultimately irrelevant to the positions she occupies.
