Since 2005, The Monthly has supplied Australian readers with stories on culture, politics, and ideas.
In celebration of reaching the milestone, The Monthly will look back at highlights from the magazine’s 200-issue history and unlock the archives going back to 2005, giving readers a window into the past. Inside the 200th issue this June are Helen Garner, Tim Winton, Don Watson and 2023 Stella Prize winner Sarah Holland-Batt, as well as Monique Ryan on long Covid, Sean Kelly on one year of the Albanese government, and Mark McKenna on coronations, constitutions and consultations.
In the major essay from Sean Kelly, the political commentator turns his analytical eye to the Albanese government’s first year in office. In the words of Paul Keating back in 1996, “When you change the government, you change the country,” but has Labor’s return to power been matched by the shift that it promised?
Mark McKenna explores the relationship between the monarchy, our constitution and an Indigenous voice in his essay; plus Margaret Simons reports from Taiwan on the country’s prolific silicon industry and why this “silicon shield” is so fused with our foreign policy.
Monique Ryan reflects on her work with the parliamentary committee on long Covid, urging us to learn from the lessons of this pandemic and prepare for what climate change and population movements might bring in the future.
Michael Williams, editor of The Monthly, has also penned an editorial on the place of magazines in the Australian media landscape, the evolution and endurance of this magazine and its promise to readers – paying homage to the late, great Mungo MacCallum and his piece in the very first issue.
“From the first issue to issue 200, the writing was and remains paramount. It’s where the pleasure lies. It’s what makes both the longer essays and the shorter works that comprise The Nation Reviewed worthy of your time, and capable of such feats of persuasion, insight and, dare I say it, joy.”
Also in the 200th issue:
• Frank Bongiorno takes readers back in time to the Hawke budget of 1988 – the very budget current Treasurer Jim Chalmers wrote his doctoral thesis on – surfacing little-known facts through this nostalgic-yet-revealing analysis;
• Don Watson writes on the nature of leadership and the age-old dichotomy of good versus bad;
• Helen Garner, Tim Winton and Cate Kennedy bring a literary eye to who we are and why it matters; and
• Mireille Juchau on Christina Sharp’s Ordinary Notes, Shane Danielsen on comics on film, Christine Jackman on Fat Girl Dancing by Kris Kneen, and Declan Fry on Andre Dao’s Anam.
The Monthly’s milestone issue goes on sale May 29th.
See Also: The Monthly names Michael Williams as editor after the departure of Nick Feik