Item category 1: Society & Culture

Medical science now allows us to live longer than ever before. So living with pain and dying well have become major concerns for the general community, health practitioners, church groups and politicians. Should these issues be decided in private by individuals or must we legislate ethical guidel...

TRUE CRIME. AUSTRALIAN. On 4 February 1986, John Cobby's life imploded. He was driving up the coast looking for his missing wife, Anita, when over the radio he heard: 'The body of a naked woman has been found in a paddock in western Sydney.' . . . As details emerged of the rape and murder of the ...

Good writing engages as it informs and feature journalism offers writers the opportunity to tell deep, affecting stories that look beyond the immediate mechanics of who, what, where and when and explore the more difficult-and more rewarding- questions: how and why? Whether you're a blogger, a new...

Balancing humour, insight and vitriol, Is Shakespeare Dead? is a provocative contribution to the tradition of Shakespeare-doubters, as well as a fine example of the great American novelist's critical writing.

After going on a journey of discovery in The Moaning of Life, the enlightened one - otherwise known as Karl Pilkington - finds himself back on the road. In his search for the answers to life's big questions, Karl has therapy in Tokyo to try and reduce the size of his head, he spends time in Calif...

From 1977 to the end of 1986, Duncan McNab was a member of the NSW Police Force. Most of his service was in criminal investigation. The many unsolved deaths and disappearances of young gay men are the crimes that continue to haunt him. Around 80 men died or disappeared in NSW from the late 70s to...

The heart-wrenching story of five women who were confined in Magdalene Laundries in Ireland during the 1950s, 60s and 70s. The women are now between the ages of 56 and 79 and recount the harrowing physical and psychological abuse they endured in the institutions run by the state. In first person ...

In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Indian nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, they rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions and sent their children to study in Europe. Then, one by one, the Osage began to be kill...

Did you know that 'Almost' is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order? Or that 'Stewardesses' is the longest word you can type solely with your left hand? Or that fireflies aren't flies, they're beetles? From information about words and their uses, usef...

"The Arabian nights" is your magic carpet ride to exotic lands full of wonders and marvels. First collected nearly a thousand years ago, these folktales are presented as stories that crafty Scheherazade tells her husband, King Shahryar, over a thousand-and-one consecutive nights, to pique his int...

The right words are oxygen to our ideas, but the digital era, with all of its TTYL, LMK, and WTF, has been cutting off that oxygen flow. The compulsion to be precise has vanished from our culture, and in writing of every kind we see a trend towards more -- more speed and more information but far ...

TRUE CRIME. AUSTRALIAN. The definitive account of Australia's most notorious criminal case. When bodies were discovered in barrels in 1999, hidden within a bank vault in Snowtown in South Australia, Jeremy Pudney was one of the first journalists on the scene. Now, using his yearas of experience a...

Greenaway takes a contemporary approach to Wicca, also known as witchcraft, and shows you how to use it as a healing and positive force. Practice magic with tarot cards, agents, and pendulums; cast love, health, wealth, family happiness, and career spells; and discover which herbs are beneficial ...

As heard on NPR's All Things Considered--A multimillion-copy bestselling book of spiritual wisdom about the importance of slowing down in our fast-paced world "Is it the world that's busy, or is it my mind?" The world moves fast, but that doesn't mean we have to. In this bestselling mindfulness g...

MILITARY HISTORY. The definitive history of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency--the most authoritative account we have of the Pentagon agency that has quietly shaped war and technology for nearly sixty years. Founded in 1958 in response to the launch of Sputnik, DARPA has been responsi...

Popular pastor Randy Frazee answers perennial questions about life after death with an accessible exploration of what the Bible has to say on the subject. In both Christian and pop culture, there is a certain fascination with the afterlife. What happens after you die? What happens if you die with...