When protesting against an undisputed genocide and expressing support for those being persecuted is condemned as an act of hatred, something is very very wrong.

Every Australian in every city, suburb and town is already paying a price today for worsening fire conditions driven by climate pollution. Surviving and recovering from fires has cost us billions since 2009, and insurance premiums have jumped as high as 138% since 2020 in bushfire danger zones.

My first in-person book event is happening in Sydney at Better Read Than Dead bookstore! I'll be talking abt my book w/fellow science journalist @biancanogrady.bsky.social Looking fwd to debuting my book here in Australia! Save the date: Fri13th Feb at 6:30 www.betterreadevents.com/events/the-s...

I don’t know how Malinauskas is managing to make this even worse. This is a horrendous comment - the false equivalence here is horrific

In addition to supporting Palestinian writers like Randa Abdel-Fattah, and authors and artists who withdrew from AWW in solidarity, spare a thought for the "little" magazines like @overlandjournal.bsky.social, who have relentlessly stood up for Palestine and have been comprehensively defunded for it

No notes All the power and love to @cathywilcox.bsky.social

"AWW is the canary in the coalmine. Friends and colleagues in the arts, beware of the future. They are coming for you." Adelaide Writers' Week director Louise Adler resigns with a chilling warning, after the Adelaide Festival Board went against her wishes to cancel a Palestinian writer's event.

Heartbreaking. Climate change will be the demise of these charismatic creatures.

An Islamic community leader has allegedly been assaulted after he and his wife were forced off the road by a vehicle and racially abused by its occupants in Dandenong South. The Board of Imams Victoria has condemned the alleged attack as targeted, faith-based hatred. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...

⁉️The ARC has delayed outcomes of ALL grants 1–4 months & increased scheduled outcome windows from 2 weeks to 3 months! This reverses 4 years of progress in providing greater certainty & ability to plan for researchers, their families & unis. Their excuse? Security checks under new ARC legislation👇

🧪 Here's a science mystery to start the year. Why are species names for fish and plants appearing in the scientific literature in papers about firefighter injuries, hearing loss and heart attack? Is it AI? Translation tools? Something else? nobreakthroughs.substack.com/p/is-this-fi...

As a journalist, a writer, and a unionist, I stand with Cathy Wilcox for freedom of artistic expression, and for press freedom. I condemn censorship and capitulation to political pressure. Speak truth to power. Without fear or favour.

Hilarious.

Do the tiny, boring exercises: how to really look after your hips

If we are to make Australia a safe place to live in freedom and safety, we must be very careful about what freedoms we remove in pursuit of safety. History suggests removing the right of diverse voices to be heard does little to ensure safety or freedom of any of us. thepoint.com.au/opinions/260...

I am once again asking media outlets not to illustrate heatwave stories with photos of people on beaches and cavorting in the ocean. Heatwaves kill, and they are getting deadlier because of climate change. Appropriate pics would be ambulances, hospitals, people in distress, and bushfires.

It looks like around two-thirds of the speakers scheduled to appear at the Adelaide Writers Week have withdrawn, including some international headliners.

Our live show lineup: Criticism, witticism in a world turned to shitticism Nazeem Hussain comedian Gabbi Bolt musical comedian SYD Claudia Karvan actor L-Fresh the Lion rapper BRIS Myf Warhurst presenter Anisa comedian CBR Senator Fatima Payman Tom Ballard comedian fane.com.au/whats-on/ett...

Randa Abdel-Fattah’s response:

The only way through this awful time is to give space & grace for compassionate, honest, reflective, challenging conversations that help us to understand the world & each other better. Writers festivals are that space. Silencing them stops those conversations when we need them most desperately.

What’s the point of writers’ festivals — or, for that matter, writers — if they can’t discuss issues that matter? Australian arts administrators would rather destroy the whole sector than allow Palestinians to speak about genocide. It’s beyond shameful.

As a former Director of Adelaide Writers' Week I am appalled that the Adelaide Festival Board has rescinded Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah's invitation to the 2026 AWW, explicitly linking its decision to the shattering crimes in Bondi. A shocking decision that will and should have far-reaching consequences.

Statement from @australiainstitute.org.au on Adelaide Festival.

love love love this artwork.

All resorts should have book depositories where guests can leave the books they've finished reading and others can take them.

The precise moment you become old is when you stop texting all your friends at midnight on new years because you or they are almost certainly home asleep

Having killed hundreds of aid workers, Israel is now completely banning 37 aid orgs from entering Gaza, including Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children, Oxfam, Caritas, and World Vision. This is an obvious war crime and thousands will die. Any comment from our government?

Fewer than 3% of journalists are trained to cover science, health or the environment. And access to that training is scarce and inequitable. It's why @theopennotebook.bsky.social works so hard to create free resources anyone can use. Please donate if you can: www.theopennotebook.com/15thannivers...

BREAKING: The National Institutes of Health has agreed to evaluate grant applications that were wrongfully frozen due to the Trump administration’s ideological purge of biomedical research.

It's almost the end of the year and it looks like I won't hit my subscriber goal for the year, but from now until the ball drop, you can get 40% off your first month/year off a monthly or annual membership to my Patreon by using code WB2026 at checkout. patreon.com/katelynburns

Devastating news that marine biologist, science communicator, and UniMelb VC Professor Emma Johnston has died after a short illness. She really was an extraordinary and visionary leader, and I have no doubt she would have made a fine Chief Scientist one day. theconversation.com/emma-johnsto...

Apparently I'm doing this -- my open letter to that open latter about AI in writing and publishing. I emerged from Hibernation Week to write it, so god only knows how much sense it makes. But at least a human wrote it, so that's nice. Bonus: picture of my "cat," sweet baby Boomba.

The world needs more science journalists, especially those with mad skills and ethics training. All that is provided for free by @theopennotebook.bsky.social, but we need your help. Join me in donating to support these amazing resources: www.theopennotebook.com/15thannivers...

We want to highlight the incredible science reporting being done at the local and regional level. Please submit your work for the Victor McElheny Award, which comes with a $10,000 prize. ksj.mit.edu/mcelheny-awa...

I am not exaggerating when I say that every week @zackwhittaker.com highlights a story I missed. Highly recommend a signing up for his newsletter.

Are you a bachelor or master student anywhere in the world, and would like to come to us to work full-time on a supervised research project? Applications for the 2026 MPIA Summer Internship are open now!

Media release: Unity must guide the Government's response to Bondi attack, not divisive pro-Israel wishlist Full release available at the link in our bio.

I protested against genocide then, and I will protest against genocide again. This blaming of the march against genocide, with the anti-semitic terrorist attack in Bondi is appalling, and does a huge disservice to democracy and freedom of speech. It does not make any of us safer.

Here's @ronnisalt. "Don't look back in anger" theshot.net.au/uncategorize...

Lord, please never let me be hated by someone as skilled as that Vanity Fair photographer. Let all my haters be incompetent.

Congratulations to the brilliant and lyrical science writer @fmcmillanwebster.bsky.social for her appointment as the editor of the 2026 Best Australian Science Writing anthology. Get your entries ready: unsw.press/news/call-fo...

In dark times, look for the helpers and the heroes. Ahmed al-Ahmed ❤️ www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

For #journalists reporting the terror attack on Bondi beach, here's an important and good resource from the Global Centre for Trauma and Journalism on how to report ethically and safely: gcjt.org/resources/re...

The NTEU stands with Jewish Australians as they grieve this devastating and targeted act of violence. Violence, hatred and antisemitism have no place in our society. We stand in solidarity, care, and shared humanity.

My heart aches for the Sydney Jewish community, and for Sydney.

Right up there with one of the best things @nickfeik.bsky.social has ever written. A must read. 👉 nickfeik.substack.com/p/a-rare-win *cough-former730host-cough*

Something massive brewing right above us in Blackheath.

DNA? Fingerprints? Family telephone numbers? IP addresses? Hell no.

In the world we live in today, that is 1.3C warmer due to our continued burning of fossil fuels, the extreme rainfall leading to disastrous flooding in many parts of Asia is up to 50 to 160% more intense - new @wwattribution.bsky.social study www.worldweatherattribution.org/increasing-h...