Andrew Darby reveals himself as an explorer, adventurer, artist, activist and detective. 'The Ancients' is more than a botany textbook; a narrative about "deep time" written by a man who found himself acutely aware of his own mortality. Darby suffered a stage-four cancer diagnosis in 2017 and pursued his "second life" with a passion to seek out the oldest living things on the planet—Tasmania's paleo-endemic trees. Darby treats these trees not as resources, but as survivors wi

Khaled Hosseini’s 'The Kite Runner' is an intimate story that spans decades of history; a harrowing yet lyrical exploration of betrayal and the long road to redemption, set against the turbulent backdrop of Afghanistan's shifting political landscape. The narrative exposes the internal struggles of the protagonist Amir, whose childhood cowardice creates never-ending guilt. The kite emerges as a symbol of cultural heritage and the ruthless competition, the means of fracturing t

The ABC's special investigation into the massive release of over three million documents from the US Department of Justice opened my eyes further to the ongoing struggle of the victims of Epstein's sex-trafficking empire to obtain justice. The documentary highlighted the legal and political ripple effects and the systemic failure of institutions and systems that allowed Epstein to operate with impunity for decades. Key figures in the story presented their experiences, cha