History
‘She looked as though she was dying’: The Australian show that saw the unravelling of a diva
When Judy Garland arrived at Mascot Airport, customs officials made a decision that would likely prove fateful.
- by Patrick Gallagher
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The 19th-century scientists complicit in body mutilation and theft
Cassandra Pybus uncovers the details of the harvesting of Indigenous Tasmanians’ skeletons.
- by Philip Deery
Exclusive
City life
Inside Melbourne’s restored Gothic Bank, where ‘every teller had a loaded revolver’
The historic ANZ building on 388 Collins Street has reopened to the public to showcase its banking origins and refurbishments.
- by Najma Sambul
Rare editions of Russian author’s books are vanishing from libraries around Europe
Authorities paint a picture of a network of associates, some blood relatives, travelling across Europe by bus with library cards sometimes under assumed names to scout rare Russian books.
- by Rachel Donadio
Tattooist of Auschwitz arrives on screen and doesn’t shy from the book’s controversy
Heather Morris’ book was an enormous success, but was mired in a controversy about accuracy. The series based on it doesn’t shy way from that.
- by Karl Quinn
Dozens honour Benito Mussolini at site of Italian fascist leader’s arrest, execution
The anniversary fell on the same day that PM Giorgia Meloni led her far-right Brothers of Italy party in an election rally in the city of Pescara.
- by Nicole Winfield
‘First point of contact’: After more than 250 years, Aboriginal spears taken by James Cook to return home
The Gweagal spears were taken in 1770 when the Endeavour arrived at Botany Bay in the first meeting between the British and the Indigenous Gweagal people of Kamay.
- by Rob Harris
Dicey Topics
Good Weekend
‘Try to think about yourself as the slave’: Advice from historian Mary Beard
The British professor discusses the deaths that impacted her the most, making it in a male field and the Summer of Love.
- by Benjamin Law
Lest we forget ancient island that opened its hearts to our Anzacs
A small, solemn group of dignitaries will meet in Malta – as they have since 1916 – among the rows of headstones at Pieta Military Cemetery to commemorate an intriguing but forgotten chapter of Gallipoli lore.
- by Andrew Hornery
‘My Errol Flynn’: How Ethne fell in love with a dead serviceman
Diaries and love letters scribbled in cursive by soldiers at the front can be difficult to decipher. To the rescue: this 91-year-old – and others like her.
- by Tim Elliott
‘It definitely happened’: Westall UFO witnesses want answers to decades-long mystery
A group of former residents of Melbourne’s south-east say their unexplained sighting from almost 60 years ago still puzzles them.
- by Alex Crowe