Articles by Guy Rundle

The Age’s Russell Skelton offers a bizarre and self-contradictory defence of Marcia Langton after Crikey revealed she failed to disclose links to Rio Tinto in her Boyer lecture series.

Hugo Chavez was a friend to the poor, in Venezuela and abroad. But the Western media all but ignored that in their demonisation of the Venezuelan president.

Bradley Manning has pleaded guilty to the illegal possession and communication of government documents, and he is facing a sentence of 20 years. New revelations paint a sadder picture.

The Guardian is coming to Australia — where giant spiders will probably kill you. Will the British care about anything other than deadly wildlife and local cliches?

Italy has once again expressed a deep desire to fail to come to grips with its deep political and structural problems, says Crikey’s man in Europe. Silvio Berlusconi is still standing.

The Greens’ split with Labor will prompt the ALP — no doubt soon to be in opposition for a while — to do some serious soul-searching to decide what it stands for.

President Obama’s State of the Union address set out some ambitious progressive reforms, while the Republicans scatter and filibuster as they work out which battles to fight. Crikey takes the political pulse of the US.

The very existence of drugs has sucked the life out of sport. The era of the glorious four-minute mile is drawing to a close — although sport will stagger on because big media needs it.

Former Julian Assange supporter Jemima Kahn has written a piece accusing WikiLeaks of the same misinformation as those it sought to expose. It’s a sign of a renewed open-season on Assange in London.

In naming an election date eight months out, Julia Gillard’s inner circle are establishing the first US-style election campaign in Australia’s history. Tony Abbott will be cast similarly to Mitt Romney.

Wars and massacres may or may not demand intervention. But when insurgents destroy irreplaceable ancient manuscripts, as in Mali, there’s a particular case for collective involvement.

Trouble in Mali has US and UK forces on alert join a new front in the war on terror. But those rushing to chase al-Qaeda and offshoots in Africa should know the history and complexity.

That Obama’s big inauguration speech was a forgettable shopping list should surprise no one. But there may have been a hint of a new, bullish spirit for a second term.

Having that hard, white stuff in your mouth fixed up at a reasonable cost should not be such a pipe dream — the Brits do it at low cost. It’s unacceptable that dentistry is so unaffordable in Australia.

In the wake of the Sandy Hook elementary shooting, President Barack Obama has proposed a range of new gun laws. What would it take to get the laws through the Republican-controlled House?

Downtown is dying, in America and and now in the UK with news of the collapse of retailers Jessops and HMV. Crikey’s man-at-large writes from London on why it’s time to rethink our city planning.

The danger with the anti-discrimination law reform is that it is so particular, baroquely crafted and precise in what it attempts to police, that its operation would not be loud and upfront. Quiet and subtle doesn’t get it done.

There are suggestions President Obama should issue a trillion-dollar coin to pay down US debt. Huh? The proposal is a bizarre response to the next stage of the ongoing US financial crisis.

The Costa Concordia ran aground, Julia Gillard took a tumble, Whitney Houston died, Pussy Riot was jailed, Julian Assange locked himself up … but it wasn’t all bad news. Crikey’s writer-at-large on the year that was (almost).

As the inquiries into the Jimmy Savile scandal widen, the present is cannibalising the past, to general distress. The question is: how many other people will be drawn in?

The “fiscal cliff” is dominating political news in the United States, where come January 1, tax rises and spending cuts will kick in under the current deal, unless Obama and the House can negotiate a better one.

The massacre of young children in Newtown was so nihilistic and meaningless that it has exposed the empty rhetoric and false illusions of the US gun lobby. From Connecticut, our writer-at-large braces for a long fight.

The meditative reflection on display after the Newtown massacre seems too polished and well-practised. It’s a particular condition of a more general process — fatalism encroaching on daily life.