Pearlcasts
As we review 2025, the temptation is to look for neat summaries and settled conclusions.
Go to Pearlcasts
16 February 2026
Handshake diplomacy with Prabowo won’t secure shared values
Australia’s new security treaty with Indonesia is heavy on symbolism but light on substance. As President Prabowo Subianto tightens his grip on power, warm rhetoric from Canberra risks obscuring growing democratic regression and human rights abuses.
16 February 2026
Bad Bunny, good neighbour
Bad Bunny's Super Bowl performance was a cultural moment at the centre of American life that exposed a deeper political truth – while music celebrates belonging across borders, US foreign policy continues to enforce domination through sanctions, blockades and collective punishment.
16 February 2026
Australia’s political and media elites are losing control of the story
Australia’s political and media establishments are struggling to adapt to a world where narratives can no longer be tightly managed. And attempts to restore authority through censorship, moral panic and regulation are deepening public alienation rather than restoring trust.
15 February 2026
Dragged from prayer – how Muslim belonging became conditional in Australia
The police pulling Muslim men from prayer during protests against Isaac Herzog’s visit exposes how fragile Muslim belonging has become in Australia. Shaymaa Elkadi argues this was not a failure of judgment, but a political choice.
15 February 2026
Who will prosecute Geoffrey Robertson's peerless plan for peace?
In his new book Geoffrey Robertson argues the UN Security Council can no longer defend democracy and proposes a new alliance of democratic states. The diagnosis is compelling – the path forward far less clear.
15 February 2026
Environment: The energy transition is underway – nuclear is not part of it
Nuclear is going nowhere, fossils are facing a bleak future and renewables are surging to the future. A Rich Polluter Profit Tax and an Excess Profit Tax would raise over US$1 trillion each year.
15 February 2026
A loneliness crisis is the price China is paying for rapid modernisation
China’s Spring Festival masks a deeper social problem. Beneath the world’s largest annual migration lies a growing crisis of loneliness shaped by migration, inequality and institutional design.
15 February 2026
Jon Kudelka’s cartoons mattered – and so did his refusal to look away
Jon Kudelka’s influence went far beyond award-winning cartoons. Lindsay Foyle reflects on a career marked by sharp political insight and principles.
14 February 2026
Genocide is the story, not antisemitism
The Australian government’s response to Gaza, and its handling of President Isaac Herzog’s visit, has blurred the line between antisemitism and criticism of Israel. The result is deeper division, weaker democracy and greater risk to Jewish communities.
14 February 2026
Message from the Editor
We've had a huge response this week to the news that John is stepping back from daily involvement in running Pearls and Irritations in order to write and enjoy life more.
14 February 2026
Lai sentenced, Beijing doubles down on HK security – Asian Media Report
China’s ‘zero tolerance’ white paper to Takaichi’s all-powerful supermajority, opposite views on India-US trade deal, why BYD is beating Tesla, Cambodia war a key to Thai PM’s victory, and the K-pop path for Bad Bunny – news, opinion and analysis from across our region
Read our series
Latest on Palestine and Israel
13 February 2026
Iran’s comprehensive peace proposal to the United States
A regional peace settlement grounded in Palestinian statehood, international law and mutual security guarantees offers a real alternative to perpetual conflict.
12 February 2026
The Herzog visit and the Israelisation of antisemitism
Inviting Israel’s president to Australia in the wake of the Bondi attack has blurred the line between antisemitism and legitimate criticism of Israel, weakening rather than strengthening social cohesion.
12 February 2026
Cowardice dressed up as authority on Sydney’s streets
The violence surrounding protests against the visit of Israel’s president was not an accident of crowd control. It reflects a deeper political failure – where authority suppresses dissent rather than confronting uncomfortable truths about Gaza, protest rights and democratic responsibility.
11 February 2026
When peaceful protest is allowed to work, democracy works
Melbourne’s mass protest against the visit of Israel President Isaac Herzog showed how large, diverse crowds can assemble peacefully when police exercise restraint and common sense. Sydney’s response points to a deeper failure of judgment about protest, power and democracy.
11 February 2026
Salt, light and the visit of Isaac Herzog
As controversy surrounds the visit of Israel’s president, Frank Brennan reflects on how Australians might respond with moral seriousness, legal clarity and a commitment to justice for all.
11 February 2026
Herzog greeted by mass protest despite limits on marching
Denied permission to march, thousands still gathered in central Sydney to protest the visit of Israel’s president. The demonstration revealed both the scale of public anger and the state’s increasingly fraught response to dissent.
11 February 2026
Inviting a foreign president to Bondi’s commemoration divides rather than unites
Inviting a foreign head of state to commemorate an Australian tragedy blurs citizenship, religion and geopolitics – and risks undermining social cohesion at a moment that demands unity.
10 February 2026
Antisemitism laws, double standards and Australia’s unfinished reckoning
Proposals to legislate new antisemitism definitions raise hard questions about identity, equality before the law, and why Australia continues to avoid confronting its most entrenched forms of racism.
Israel's war against Gaza
Media coverage of the war in Gaza since October 2023 has spread a series of lies propagated by Israel and the United States. This publication presents information, analysis, clarification, views and perspectives largely unavailable in mainstream media in Australia and elsewhere.
Download the PDFLatest on China
15 February 2026
A loneliness crisis is the price China is paying for rapid modernisation
China’s Spring Festival masks a deeper social problem. Beneath the world’s largest annual migration lies a growing crisis of loneliness shaped by migration, inequality and institutional design.
9 February 2026
Confucianism, not coercion – China’s long export of a governance philosophy
Claims that China is exporting authoritarianism rest on a shallow reading of both Chinese political tradition and how governance ideas actually travel. A longer historical view points instead to Confucianism – a philosophy that has shaped governance across East Asia for centuries.
7 February 2026
Australia unlikely to follow US downgrade on China threat
The US National Defense Strategy signals a softer, more pragmatic approach to China. Australia’s silence on the shift exposes how detached its defence posture has become from both reality and its own national interests.
Support our independent media with your donation
Pearls and Irritations leads the way in raising and analysing vital issues often neglected in mainstream media. Your contribution supports our independence and quality commentary on matters importance to Australia and our region.
DonateMore from Pearls and Irritations
13 February 2026
Iran’s comprehensive peace proposal to the United States
13 February 2026
Saving Meanjin is a victory – sustaining it is the real test
12 February 2026
Is Hanson planning to copy Trump on mass deportation?
Latest letters to the editor
Reason against chaos
Les Macdonald — Balmain NSW 2041
A guaranteed consignment to irrelevance
Les Macdonald — Balmain NSW 2041
Albanese needs courage on climate
Ray Peck — Hawthorn
A proud Australian no longer
Dave Gardner — Sligo, Ireland