Stories draw us to the hero’s journey, but individual

People love to talk about the power of stories: the force of the right hero’s journey spurring an individual into action; the power of a compelling narrative to change minds; the way empathy can break down barriers and re-shape society … I’ve done it myself for this very publication.

We do it because various iterations of these arguments are

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Del Kathryn Barton: ‘I was totally unprepared for how much

Del Kathryn Barton: ‘I was totally unprepared for how much

Del Kathryn Barton thought she was psychologically resilient enough to make a film that was informed by a traumatic experience from her own life.

She was mistaken.

The Australian artist’s debut as a film director and co-writer, Blaze, is not autobiographical, but it is informed by something that happened to Barton as a child. It tells the story of a

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‘There’s no final answer’: public let in to help furnish

‘There’s no final answer’: public let in to help furnish

Five-year-old Rowan Bailey-Davies and his mum, Gillian Davies, had come well prepared. He had donned his bright astronaut suit for this very special occasion, while she had picked geraniums from their garden.

Their mission: to visit and help begin to furnish a “Martian house” that has appeared, golden and gleaming, among the sailing boats, wharf train tracks and cranes

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‘Demolition is an act of violence’: the architects reworking

‘Demolition is an act of violence’: the architects reworking

Nestled like a red question mark in the hills of rural Japan, the Kamikatsu Zero Waste Centre is a recycling facility like no other. A chunky frame of unprocessed cedar logs from the nearby forest supports a long snaking canopy, sheltering walls made of a patchwork quilt of 700 old windows and doors, reclaimed from buildings in the village.

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I used to think art required natural talent. Then I taught

I used to think art required natural talent. Then I taught

After a lifetime of scribbling on scrap paper, a few years ago I finally started taking drawing seriously. I was backpacking and bought a tin of crayons. I loved it instantly. I spent the rest of the trip sitting in gutters and scribbling wonky buildings; in pubs drawing malformed fellow patrons.

An early self portrait

Many who see me

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‘These cows saved my life’: the Queensland farm offering

‘These cows saved my life’: the Queensland farm offering

Lawrence Fox acted quickly when he found out the cows on a friend’s farm were to be sold for beef.

The 34-year-old had sought refuge on the farm in Goldsborough, half an hour south of Cairns, after feeling burnt out from his job as a business strategist – and had taken to spendings his days in the company of the

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