Researchers from the University of Notre Dame are looking into what lessons can be learned from the COVID 19 lockdown. Image: Stock. The influential philosopher George Santayana once famously said “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” The message is simple, we must learn lessons from our past endeavours to better prepare and limit the effects of similar future eve...

https://open.spotify.com/track/4q2Dpue1wyQMu4q7QrOCuF?si=numRJxvHQvyMrn3jHjWTuA By Matthew Lau A confusion on Spotify has led to an unconventional opera-rap collaboration between two Jeremy Ryans on opposite sides of the globe. Classically trained Jeremy Ryan (of Perth) and rap artist Jeremy Ryan (of New Jersey) shared a laugh when the American counterpart’s music ended up in the w...

Perth mother and author of Grumbelina shared her writing process with The Record. Photo: Supplied. Inspired by her experience in raising her now four-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Esther Krogdahl wrote Grumbelina, a children storybook published by Hachette Australia on 14 July. Illustrated by Aleksandra Szmidt, the book tells a story of Hazel Spratt, an agreeable, patient and obedient c...

Sex is more fun than being Catholic. That’s the basic message of writer-director Karen Maine’s semi-autobiographical drama Yes, God, Yes (Vertical).

The Outsider, by the London Tablet’s Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb, is a sustained defence of Pope Francis. Lambert presents him as reviving the hopes of the Second Vatican Council and as inspirer of renewal movements throughout the Catholic Church. Occasionally he waxes lyrical in his praise.

There’s an adolescent quality to the nihilism that underlies director Max Barbakow’s feature debut, the romantic comedy Palm Springs (Neon/Hulu). Its frivolous and degraded view of matters sexual is equally immature.

The novels of British author CS Forrester (1899 to 1966) have proved a rich resource for Hollywood. In 1951, for example, Gregory Peck took the title role in Captain Horatio Hornblower, playing the protagonist of Forrester’s popular series of books about the Napoleonic Wars.

The furtive world of Miami-based activists working either on behalf of or against the Castro regime in Cuba in the 1990s is lazily re-created in the undisciplined drama Wasp Network (Netflix).

While it may not be all its title promises, TV comedian-turned-writer-director Jon Stewart’s clever political satire Irresistible (Focus) is certainly appealing.

A grotesque treatment of abortion and a misguided view of faith are the most notable elements of Saint Frances (Oscilloscope).