Seanna van Helten
@literarypiano.bsky.social
writer, archivist-in-training, scholar (lapsed) • she/her
Reposted by Seanna van Helten
Full video with no cuts and the benefit of auto transcription here (I had to remove my alt text it was triggering errors IDK why)
www.tiktok.com/@nadaarub/vi...
www.tiktok.com/@nadaarub/vi...
Hospitals are operating beyond capacity with critical equipment at or near “stock zero” we cannot provide safe care under these conditions. Medical facilities and staff must be protected, denying th...
TikTok video by Nada Abu Alrub
www.tiktok.com
September 20, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Full video with no cuts and the benefit of auto transcription here (I had to remove my alt text it was triggering errors IDK why)
www.tiktok.com/@nadaarub/vi...
www.tiktok.com/@nadaarub/vi...
Reposted by Seanna van Helten
This is a ten minute video broken up into parts for Bluesky from two australian doctors who made it into Gaza. The video starts with them saying the baby formula they brought with them was taken away and that Israel bombing the hospital in front of them and lying about giving warnings
September 20, 2025 at 8:28 PM
This is a ten minute video broken up into parts for Bluesky from two australian doctors who made it into Gaza. The video starts with them saying the baby formula they brought with them was taken away and that Israel bombing the hospital in front of them and lying about giving warnings
Reposted by Seanna van Helten
It’s ludicrous and insulting to suggest that the richest university in Australia can’t afford the two part-time wages to run Meanjin.
Also: did they even try to save it? Donation drive? Philanthropic efforts? Offering it to another institution?
No.
The university council shut it down intentionally.
Also: did they even try to save it? Donation drive? Philanthropic efforts? Offering it to another institution?
No.
The university council shut it down intentionally.
Exclusive: Australia’s second-oldest literary journal, Meanjin, is being shut down today for "financial" reasons, Crikey can reveal.
Literary journal Meanjin to close after 85 years of publishing
Meanjin, a mainstay of Australia's cultural landscape and the nation's second-oldest literary publication, is shuttering after Melbourne University Publishing decided to cease financial support.
www.crikey.com.au
September 4, 2025 at 9:00 AM
It’s ludicrous and insulting to suggest that the richest university in Australia can’t afford the two part-time wages to run Meanjin.
Also: did they even try to save it? Donation drive? Philanthropic efforts? Offering it to another institution?
No.
The university council shut it down intentionally.
Also: did they even try to save it? Donation drive? Philanthropic efforts? Offering it to another institution?
No.
The university council shut it down intentionally.
Reposted by Seanna van Helten
Since our very first issue Meanjin and Overland have been comrades, mates, rivals, and drinking buddies. The UMP board’s decision is a shockingly myopic act of cultural vandalism which will grievously harm the Australian literary community.
September 4, 2025 at 3:36 AM
Since our very first issue Meanjin and Overland have been comrades, mates, rivals, and drinking buddies. The UMP board’s decision is a shockingly myopic act of cultural vandalism which will grievously harm the Australian literary community.
Reposted by Seanna van Helten
Melbourne Uni is killing the literary journal Meanjin. It's cultural vandalism. Australian universities are now deeply anti-intellectual places www.crikey.com.au/2025/09/04/m...
Literary journal Meanjin to close after 85 years of publishing
Meanjin, a mainstay of Australia's cultural landscape and the nation's second-oldest literary publication, is shuttering after Melbourne University Publishing decided to cease financial support.
www.crikey.com.au
September 4, 2025 at 3:37 AM
Melbourne Uni is killing the literary journal Meanjin. It's cultural vandalism. Australian universities are now deeply anti-intellectual places www.crikey.com.au/2025/09/04/m...
Reposted by Seanna van Helten
This sucks!!!
This, from Jonathan Green, pretty much sums it up: “Meanjin’s financial demand is trivial … a few hundred thousand dollars … the cultural loss of its death is as significant as it is tragic.”
www.crikey.com.au/2025/09/04/m...
www.crikey.com.au/2025/09/04/m...
Literary journal Meanjin to close after 85 years of publishing
Meanjin, a mainstay of Australia's cultural landscape and the nation's second-oldest literary publication, is shuttering after Melbourne University Publishing decided to cease financial support.
www.crikey.com.au
September 4, 2025 at 12:56 AM
This sucks!!!
Reposted by Seanna van Helten
Arguably one of the most evil people Australia has produced, the only shame is that he’s not in prison www.theage.com.au/national/nsw...
Former SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith loses appeal over war crimes judgment
Former SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith has lost his bid to overturn a landmark decision that found he committed war crimes in Afghanistan.
www.theage.com.au
May 16, 2025 at 1:17 AM
Arguably one of the most evil people Australia has produced, the only shame is that he’s not in prison www.theage.com.au/national/nsw...
Reposted by Seanna van Helten
Generation screwed.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04...
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04...
April 18, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Generation screwed.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04...
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04...
Reposted by Seanna van Helten
I don't need history to prove me right because I am fully capable of judging right from wrong now, in real time. Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians. It is threatening people with ethnic cleansing by forced removal as the BEST case scenario or complete annihilation.
March 20, 2025 at 1:05 AM
I don't need history to prove me right because I am fully capable of judging right from wrong now, in real time. Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians. It is threatening people with ethnic cleansing by forced removal as the BEST case scenario or complete annihilation.
Reposted by Seanna van Helten
Meanwhile, in Australia www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
‘Staggeringly high’: Australian renters need $130k income to afford average property, report shows
People earning $70,000 a year spend more than half of their income (52%) on the national median unit rent
www.theguardian.com
March 18, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Meanwhile, in Australia www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
Reposted by Seanna van Helten
What childhood was like before vaccines www.vox.com/health/40268...
What childhood was like before vaccines
The anti-vax movement has gone mainstream, but before these shots, grief and loss marked the lives of children.
www.vox.com
March 6, 2025 at 2:47 PM
What childhood was like before vaccines www.vox.com/health/40268...
Reposted by Seanna van Helten
“Did Creative Australia honestly think they could just ring up the next artist on the shortlist? ... No artists worth their soul will touch that pavilion now. They can’t. It’s totally tainted."
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
‘No artist’ will want to represent Australia at Venice Biennale after Sabsabi dumped, former museum head says
Elizabeth Ann Macgregor says Tony Burke has questions to answer after Khaled Sabsabi’s offer was rescinded but the arts minister has denied involvement
www.theguardian.com
February 18, 2025 at 10:04 AM
“Did Creative Australia honestly think they could just ring up the next artist on the shortlist? ... No artists worth their soul will touch that pavilion now. They can’t. It’s totally tainted."
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
Reposted by Seanna van Helten
Reposted by Seanna van Helten
Creative Australia management
February 17, 2025 at 11:48 PM
Creative Australia management
Reposted by Seanna van Helten
The Creative Australia board decision to dump Khaled Sabsabi stinks & everyone knows it
"the shame now spreads outwardly. It brings into disrepute the whole process of governance and expert evaluation in Creative Australia. How can anyone have faith in the integrity of this process?"
"the shame now spreads outwardly. It brings into disrepute the whole process of governance and expert evaluation in Creative Australia. How can anyone have faith in the integrity of this process?"
This is the most shameful act of political intervention in the arts that I have seen
Creative Australia pulling its support for Khaled Sabsabi raises many questions. Among them, how can anyone have faith in the integrity of this process?
www.watoday.com.au
February 17, 2025 at 10:31 AM
The Creative Australia board decision to dump Khaled Sabsabi stinks & everyone knows it
"the shame now spreads outwardly. It brings into disrepute the whole process of governance and expert evaluation in Creative Australia. How can anyone have faith in the integrity of this process?"
"the shame now spreads outwardly. It brings into disrepute the whole process of governance and expert evaluation in Creative Australia. How can anyone have faith in the integrity of this process?"
Reposted by Seanna van Helten
"It's disrespectful to wear a shirt that isn't branded with political donors."
Read more: chaser.com.au/general-news...
Read more: chaser.com.au/general-news...
January 28, 2025 at 7:40 AM
"It's disrespectful to wear a shirt that isn't branded with political donors."
Read more: chaser.com.au/general-news...
Read more: chaser.com.au/general-news...
Reposted by Seanna van Helten
Commercial TV broadcasters once commissioned around 300 hours of Australian drama each year. Last year, they commissioned just nine hours of new, non-soap drama.
Australia’s drama dilemma: how taxpayers foot the bill for content that ends up locked behind paywalls
theconversation.com
January 28, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Commercial TV broadcasters once commissioned around 300 hours of Australian drama each year. Last year, they commissioned just nine hours of new, non-soap drama.
Reposted by Seanna van Helten
Albanese shut down negotiations with states over hospital funding for six months last year, using the crisis in health funding to force states and territories to agree on disability supports outside the NDIS. There has been no agreement on either score. www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politic...
Exclusive: Albanese shut down hospital talks to pressure states
In an attempt to force the reallocation of NDIS costs, Anthony Albanese has halted funding negotiations for state hospitals – a move that could ‘bankrupt’ the system.
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au
January 24, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Albanese shut down negotiations with states over hospital funding for six months last year, using the crisis in health funding to force states and territories to agree on disability supports outside the NDIS. There has been no agreement on either score. www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politic...
Reposted by Seanna van Helten
There is a widespread sickness in American punditry where commentators cannot describe basic political realities because it sounds partisan, so they mischaracterize the positions of Democrats and Republicans to avoid appearing like they are taking a stand.
State a legitimate problem. Ignore ALL of the thought and work good faith actors (usually Dems/progressives/the left) have put into solving the problem. Credulously credit conservatives for caring about the problem (ignore ALL of the roadblocks they put up to solve the problem). Forever and ever.
As usual, the entire premise here is false. Left-leaning people talk constantly about how to improve government programs. Meanwhile, conservatives are not 'talking seriously' about improving efficiency, they are attempting to gut government services en masse.
www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/arc...
January 22, 2025 at 7:31 PM
There is a widespread sickness in American punditry where commentators cannot describe basic political realities because it sounds partisan, so they mischaracterize the positions of Democrats and Republicans to avoid appearing like they are taking a stand.
Reposted by Seanna van Helten
In Australia its a cheaper to cause an oil spill than to get a nursing degree
In Norway they tax their oil industry and give kids free degrees while in Australia we subsidise the oil industry and charge kids a fortune to go to uni
Priorities matter
In Norway they tax their oil industry and give kids free degrees while in Australia we subsidise the oil industry and charge kids a fortune to go to uni
Priorities matter
Accused by a whistleblower of covering up an oil spill that killed dolphins and sea snakes, Santos get fined just $10k 🤯
Santos spends up to $US3.3m per year on a private jet for their executives so I don’t think AUD10k is going to hurt them.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01...
Santos spends up to $US3.3m per year on a private jet for their executives so I don’t think AUD10k is going to hurt them.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01...
Gas giant Santos fined $10,000 for 25,000-litre oil spill off Pilbara coast
The energy giant has pleaded guilty to causing an oil spill in 2022, that leaked 25,000 litres of oil off WA's north-west coast. Santos will pay a $10,000 fine and $9,700 in court costs for failing to...
www.abc.net.au
January 7, 2025 at 5:45 AM
In Australia its a cheaper to cause an oil spill than to get a nursing degree
In Norway they tax their oil industry and give kids free degrees while in Australia we subsidise the oil industry and charge kids a fortune to go to uni
Priorities matter
In Norway they tax their oil industry and give kids free degrees while in Australia we subsidise the oil industry and charge kids a fortune to go to uni
Priorities matter
Reposted by Seanna van Helten
Too many politicians seem to think that their job is not to solve national problems but to criminalise behaviours and outcomes caused by their failed policies.
See also Vic's new anti-protest laws, for e.g.
It's all obscene.
www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12...
See also Vic's new anti-protest laws, for e.g.
It's all obscene.
www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12...
Queensland council bans pets for rough sleepers amid homeless crackdown
The City of Moreton Bay issues a blanket ban forbidding homeless people from keeping pets or publicly sleeping in vans.
www.abc.net.au
December 18, 2024 at 12:57 AM
Too many politicians seem to think that their job is not to solve national problems but to criminalise behaviours and outcomes caused by their failed policies.
See also Vic's new anti-protest laws, for e.g.
It's all obscene.
www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12...
See also Vic's new anti-protest laws, for e.g.
It's all obscene.
www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12...
Reposted by Seanna van Helten
Australian governments - especially those run by Labor - have used disgust at Israel conducting genocide as a cover to introduce laws to restrict protest that will be used almost totally against minorities and very much anyone protesting climate change.
December 17, 2024 at 9:42 AM
Australian governments - especially those run by Labor - have used disgust at Israel conducting genocide as a cover to introduce laws to restrict protest that will be used almost totally against minorities and very much anyone protesting climate change.
Reposted by Seanna van Helten
This is obscene. These schools do not need this money. And yet public schools have to beg and scrape
Twenty private schools with wealthiest parents received $130m total in Australian public funds in 2023
Twenty private schools with wealthiest parents received $130m total in Australian public funds in 2023
Data comes as education minister remains stalled in negotiations with states and territories over contributions to Schooling Resource Standard
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The 20 private schools with the wealthiest parent cohorts in the country received a combined total of $130m in government funding last year, new data reveals.
On Wednesday the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (Acara) will release a swathe of new data on the My School website about Australian schools, including annual funding, attendance and Naplan results.
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Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
December 3, 2024 at 10:55 PM
This is obscene. These schools do not need this money. And yet public schools have to beg and scrape