If there is one takeaway for England from this Ashes tour it should be how cricket thrives in a nation where it is readily and freely available as the dominant summer pastime

The Fourth Age under the dominion of men isn’t going too well, is it? Did the free peoples of Middle-earth really combine to overthrow Sauron so that the world would be delivered on a plate to the likes of Donald Trump and Elon Musk? I think not. But how might things have worked out differently? One alternative not discussed at the Council of Elrond is that Galadriel might take the ring. While Elrond does say, ‘If any of the Wise should with this Ring overthrow the Lord of Mordor using his own arts, he would set himself on Sauron’s throne, and yet another Dark Lord would appear’,[1] Galadriel is not a ‘he’. Moreover, she is not even from the same type of story as Gandalf, Aragorn and Faramir, male characters who demonstrate their goodness by refusing to take the ring when they have the opportunity. For Galadriel is clearly a figuration of the Fairy Queen in the same way that Lórien, the enchanted realm she rules in which time passes in a different manner to outside its borders, is a figuration of fairy land or Faery, as it is sometimes known.[2]

Natasha Brown is the author of Assembly and Universality

The massive $5.4tn intergenerational asset shift looming over the next two decades is one of the biggest challenges the country faces. What will it mean?

<strong>Heather McCormack</strong> was trying to play it cool with Rhodri. Then, 24 hours in a hospital waiting room showed her life was too short

We are deeply saddened by the heartbreaking news that our colleague Dr Heather McCormack died suddenly and unexpectedly on Thursday 11 December. We join together with a large network of family, friends and colleagues across many communities and sectors who are mourning this devastating loss.

Patrick Lenton is the author of the book of short stories A Man Made Entirely of Bats, the book of comedic essays Uncle Hercules and Other Lies, and the full length short story collection Sexy Tales of Paleontology. Sexy Tales of Paleontology was shortlisted for the SPN Book of the Year Award, 2022.

To international visitors, red and yellow beach flags may look like a warning.

Moving the capital is an old idea and a perennial nonstarter.

Their quest captured the imagination of the colony and became part of Australia’s foundation narrative. But it was a debacle led by an eccentric man with a poor sense of direction

The incident is now being investigated as a ‘potential terrorist act’ but First Nations people say they are left feeling like ‘it’s not a big deal if it happens to Black people’