Marten Koomen

I found the use of quotation marks in the article’s paraphrased heading annoyingly misleading.

Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring finally gets a name Historian Andrew Graham-Dixon has a radical new theory about the life and beliefs of the Dutch master

'In his new book, Vermeer: A Life Lost and Found, Graham-Dixon puts forward a revolutionary theory about the work of an artist whose genius is rarely disputed. Right or wrong, it is a theory that will change the way people look at that famous pearl earring'.

Photo of a book cover. The title is Vermeer: a life lost and found and the author is Andrew Graham-Dixon.

I finished reading this tonight. A fascinating and persuasive account of Vermeer's life and work. Graham-Dixon argues that the great majority of his paintings have a religious significance and were originally intended as aids to devotion.

Vermeer — the riddle of the mysterious Dutch master is solved at last For centuries the Girl with a Pearl Earring painter’s life was a closed book. After a decade in the archives, art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon reveals his links to a radical sect

If Graham-Dixon is correct, this is the biggest breakthrough in Vermeer studies ever.

A busy 24 hours in the angelhood, there was an overturned car close by in Moore street earlier in the evening.

The Real Border Crisis - Boston Review The problem isn't immigration. It's the failure of liberal democracy itself.

Our latest forum is now online.

@leaypi.bsky.social opens with a critique of our broken politics of immigration, with responses from @pochoaespejo.bsky.social, @daralind.bsky.social , @danieldenvir.bsky.social, Alex Aleinikoff, Chandran Kukathas, and Ayelet Shachar:

Was down, and now back up for me.

Congratulations Dan, well deserved!

Five academics inducted to the Australian Research Council’s College of Experts Five academics inducted to the Australian Research Council’s College of Experts

about.unimelb.edu.au/news-resourc...

Earlier this year, Dr. Jane Goodall sat down for an interview for Brad Falchuk’s new Netflix series, Famous Last Words.

The premise of the series is to interview people on the condition that the interview not air until the subject has passed away.

Malcolm!

Is there a category for closing the door on passengers running for a tram and attempting to board?

Violence is always unacceptable, and threats of violence have no place in public discourse. Our thoughts are with Charlie Kirk and his family.

Vanilla Slice goes straight to my hips too

They already have 😀

bsky.app/profile/thes...

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Joe Hockey dares Holden to leave Australia YouTube video by Greenshack Dotinfo

The damage

youtu.be/mvWbO_mIpn4?...

Back when even foreign luxury cars were Australian-made Nearly a decade after the final Australian-made car rolled out of a factory in South Australia, many people remember that Holdens and Fords were built here. But did you know Renaults, Ramblers and oth...

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07...

'Life before limb': As Ali France enters parliament the surgeon who saved her speaks out As new Labor MP Ali France enters parliament, the surgeon who saved her life by taking her leg in 2011 is telling his story for the first time.

An inspirational read.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07...

It’s from 2015! A discombobulating read!

Is the university sector in terminal decline? - ABC listen Many experts fear the university sector is the grip of an identity crisis. Once proud institutions of knowledge and debate… now accused of becoming sausage factories... with declining funding, academ...

My latest as the resident sociologist on ABC Life Matters. It's on a topic that is close to home. Plenty of challenges, but proclamations of the death of the university are premature.

www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

Victorian public servants hit back at Labor’s planned job cuts with push to curb ‘executive bloat’ instead Report argues large-scale public sector job losses can be avoided in part by ‘culling’ 450 executive-level roles * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast fb9a0a9052 A group of public servants vying for union leadership roles are pushing back against the Victorian government’s mooted public sector job cuts with a cost-saving plan of their own, calling instead for reductions in “executive bloat”, halving consultant spending and reducing office space. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...

Victorian public servants hit back at Labor’s planned job cuts with push to curb ‘executive bloat’ instead

Is nightclubbing still a rite of passage? - ABC listen As Gen Z are said to embrace the 'joy of missing out' aka JOMO — where does that leave Melbourne's nightlife? In this edition of The Conversation Hour we ask just how significant the generational shif...

For your weekend listening - I was on the ABC Radio Melbourne Conversation Hour today talking with Richelle Hunt about the decline of nightclubbing and changing youth culture. Hope my sociological insights are better than my dance moves.

www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

memories in Victoria of JJ fading in and out at night while holding the radio and acting like an aerial. Shaped my life.

Vale Arnold

Just another nobody

Is that a Carlton Draught, or is it the weather?

I’m sure many did