Back by meagre demand! Wondering which vaguely-named micro-parties are secretly Nazis, wizards, or God’s blessed elect? Well you’re in luck, baby. Here’s my time-honoured rogue’s gallery of Senate candidates for your electoral pleasure. I’ve ordered these according the Victorian Senate ballot, and missed a few who are only running in other states. I wrote mostContinue reading “Which minor parties are running in Australia in 2022?”
Author Archives: solomonfaust
Senate Guide 2019
I’m sitting in the Labour in Vain hotel sipping a pint of dark ale. The resident tom cat is under my table and Joni Mitchell is singing about paradise long paved. Outside, the election rattles past. The whole thing’s looking pretty tired: ragged journalists scurry behind it, lobbyists and strategists drag it along. Candidates keepContinue reading “Senate Guide 2019”
Prisons and Power
The prison has become a black hole into which the detritus of contemporary capitalism is deposited’ – Angela Davis
In the long-awaited return of Bensplaining podcast, I interview activist and academic Marlee Raible about the prison-industrial complex, its history, non-carceral models of justice and Marlee’s experience with the Zapatistas.
Browse the reading list at benjaminhickey.org and make sure to check out Marlee’s podcast, Carceral Complex.
The best a brand can get
The Gillette ad moved me. When the father runs from his barbecue to stop the boy getting bullied, I thought of my dad, who always greets me with a hug and says he loves me at the end of every call. The ad effectively illustrates the link between everyday sexism and systemic abuse. It showsContinue reading “The best a brand can get”
The Disrupted
This essay about automation was written and published for Melbourne Knowledge Week 2017. THE DISRPUTED “Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.” – Genesis 17:26, KJV The weavers are coming to break the machines. They charge through streets thatContinue reading “The Disrupted”
I, Latham
I, Marcus Williamus Externus Lathamus This-that-and-the-other (for I shall not trouble you yet with all my titles), who was once, and not so long ago either, known to my infinite enemies as ‘A Racist’, or ‘Bonecrusher’…
Their Melbourne
From Southbank to Carlton, the city of Melbourne is littered with sky-blue posters. They carry the slogan Our Melbourne and the beaming face of Lord Mayoral candidate Sally Capp. Capp is the frontrunner for the by-election that follows by the resignation of Lord Mayor Robert Doyle after an independent investigation found that he sexually harassedContinue reading “Their Melbourne”
Psychosis & Sanity with Alex
What’s it like to lose contact with reality? In Episode 6 of Bensplaining, artist and activist Alex Childs shares the moving story of her experience of psychosis.
The Cake Baker’s Tale
The same-sex marriage postal survey is almost upon us. For some, the consequences of this vote will be life-changing. It’s obviously despicable that our government has outsourced responsibility for its people’s of civil liberties to an opinion poll. But since they have, decent Australians must do everything we can to fight for the human rightsContinue reading “The Cake Baker’s Tale”
Cognitive Traps with Leo
When is our mind tricking us? I chat to Leo Bremanis about how cognitive bias and heuristics effect marketing, behavioural economics, conspiracy theories, fascism and mental health.