One from my archive as struggling England face the Adelaide Ashes Test. The media in Australia having fun with what symbolises success and failure. Then it was the moustache over health food, now it's the mullet over the beach break. Cultural Sociology the winner!
theconversation.com/the-ashes-au...

Good piece by La Trobe Uni student Joshua Grobbelaar, with a few words from me, about regulating and refereeing rugby union. I & many others getting tired of arcane rules & constant whistleblowing to the point of the great media sport sin - reaching for the remote.
www.upstart.net.au/theres-a-lot...

On the threshold of this year's Melbourne Cup, the claimed 'race that stops the nation' beset by concern about animal cruelty & human gambling harm, Catharine Lumby & I venture to the (dis)course to take on the cultural politics of this somewhat tarnished sporting spectacle.
youtu.be/0KG8Vt1JaBA?...

I did a quickfire Guardian interview after Australian PM Albanese was criticised in Parliament for wearing a Joy Division Unknown Pleasures T-shirt (I have one too). I don't recall any outrage when Joy Division Orchestrated played the Sydney Opera House in 2019.
theconversation.com/will-time-te...

Tonight, ABC TV's Four Corners program asks why there's been so little government action to reduce online gambling harm in Australia. I recommend watching it (it's online too). I posed the same troubling question about the gamblification of sport last February.

theconversation.com/will-the-gov...

It Was 25 Years Ago Today: Revisiting Cathy Freeman’s Sydney 2000 Olympics Victory

Free event light refreshments provided.

Time: 4-6pm, Thursday 25th September, 2025

Place: IPSQ, PC-01.6.53 (LS), Western Sydney University

RSVP: Please email [email protected] if you’d like to attend.

To accompany my recently reposted reflections on the Sydney 2000 Olympics and Paralympics, a review I wrote at the time of a famous event moment, adopting the persona of an irascible and self-centred sport fan obsessed with the cultural capital of 'being there'!
webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20010131...

The Sydney 2000 Olympics and Paralympics commenced 25 years ago today. So, I've been doing media interviews, partly prompted by this piece written for the 20th anniversary. Debates continue over the legacy of the big, expensive party that was the Millennial Games.
theconversation.com/the-sydney-o...

The United Nations, by resolution, declares an annual World Football Day. A chance to celebrate and critique a game that is by turns 'beautiful' and, shall we day, 'tarnished'.
humanities.org.au/power-of-the...

For anyone working in the area of community and rugby league, the Wes Smythe Award could support your work. Applications close on Monday 9 June 2025.
www.tombrock.com.au/the-wes-smyt...

Legislation promised in Australia before the next election to deal with online ad gambling harm, but put on ice. Wouldn't be vested interest lobbying to blame, would it?
Will the government’s online gambling advertising legislation ever eventuate? Don’t bet on it theconversation.com/will-the-gov...

My first post - apologies if the image is a little disturbing. This piece starts with the old saying about law and sausage-making being similarly unsightly activities. It ends with new metaphors of cauldrons, spoons and competitive reality TV cooking shows.
www.openforum.com.au/forums/sausa...