Farewell John Clarke

“John Clarke, who died at the weekend, was a master of forensic satire. From his beloved character Fred Dagg to The Games to the brilliant Clarke and Dawe skits, his regular mode, writes Robert Phiddian, ‘was disdain and wonderment at the antics of the knaves and fools who run this millennial world’. Very unfashionably, ‘he valued facts, detachment, and restraint’.

The facts, meanwhile, are notably thin on the ground when it comes to screen depictions of ‘narco-culture’, writes César Albarrán-Torres. As a pop-up restaurant Los Pollos Hermanos – based on the fictional one in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul - opens in Sydney today, he argues that Hollywood has glossed over the brutal reality of the Mexican drug wars.

And in case you missed it, watch our latest short video on why we aim to share knowledge as widely as possible through a creative commons republication.

Suzy Freeman-Greene

Arts and Culture Editor

Top story

Photos of some of the 43 Mexican college students who disappeared in 2014 and are feared to have been massacred by gang members and police. Screen depictions of Mexico’s drug trade mostly ignore their human cost. Jorge Lopez/Reuters

Why glamorising narco culture, on screen and in Sydney's pop-up shop, is wrong

César Albarrán Torres, Swinburne University of Technology

Los Pollos Hermanos is a chicken shop run by a drug lord in the TV series Better Call Saul. A pop-up version opens in Sydney today - and both ignore the savage reality of Mexico's drug wars.

Environment + Energy
Three ways to improve commercial shipping's environmental footprint Martina Doblin, University of Technology Sydney The merchant navy – some 20,000 ships – carries the vast majority of trade goods around the world. Unfortunately, they also spew toxic pollutants that harm people and the environment.

Business + Economy
Explainer: shadow banking and where it came from Huon Curtis, University of Technology Sydney Shadow banking provides investors with the means to isolate risks, transfer profits, avoid regulation and increase the range of money-like financial products available for investment.

Politics + Society

Where are they now? What public transport data reveal about lockout laws and nightlife patronage

Phillip Wadds, UNSW

Policy changes such as the 'lockout laws' have had profound impacts on inner Sydney nightlife. Transport data help us see whether these have caused problems to spill over into neighbouring areas.
Australian politics explainer: Robert Menzies and the birth of the Liberal-National coalition

Gregory Melleuish, University of Wollongong

The formation of the Liberal-National coalition significantly changed Australian politics. But the Nationals' influence has waned as Australia has become more urbanised.

Science + Technology

Yes, car seats protect children. But you need the right restraint, fitted properly

Julie Brown, Neuroscience Research Australia

Car seats and their endless harnesses, straps and buckles feel like an engineering nightmare for parents. But they work.
Kindred skies: ancient Greeks and Aboriginal Australians saw constellations in common

Duane W. Hamacher, Monash University

Many of the constellations we know in the night sky come from myths of the ancient Greeks. But similar stories are told by the oldest living cultures on Earth, including those of Australia.

Cities
Affordable housing, finger-pointing politics and possible policy solutions Richard Tomlinson, University of Melbourne In the second part of our review of what The Conversation experts have to say about housing, we focus on affordability, social housing and what government can do about a growing crisis.

Health + Medicine

Parents' reactions can lessen or worsen pain for injured kids

Erin Brown, The University of Queensland; Justin Kenardy, The University of Queensland

A study found parents who were less distressed were more able to support their child during a medical procedure, and this increased the child's ability to cope and decreased child distress and pain.
How to make your next sexual health check less, erm ... awkward

Deborah Bateson, University of Sydney

Many people find the idea of a sexual health check awkward or embarrassing. But there are simple things you can do, or be aware of, to make your next check up more comfortable.

Arts + Culture
Farewell John Clarke: in an absurd world, we have never needed you more Robert Phiddian, Flinders University John Clarke gave voice to a brilliant antipodean acerbity that has always seemed a little old-fashioned in its moral and tonal dignity. His was a magnificent achievement of focused, pitch-perfect satire.

Education
Why it's the right time for Australia and India to collaborate on higher education Craig Jeffrey, University of Melbourne India will soon have the largest economy in the world. A way for Australia to benefit is to collaborative with universities.

FactCheck
FactCheck: do 679 of Australia's biggest corporations pay 'not one cent' of tax? Fabrizio Carmignani, Griffith University In a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra, ACTU Secretary Sally McManus said 679 of Australia's biggest corporations pay "not one cent of tax". Is that right?