PC Sorcar: India's 'maharajah of magic' who terrified the UKBBC World
At 9.15pm on 9 April 1956, the BBC's switchboard suddenly lit up with calls from hundreds of viewers convinced they had just witnessed a gruesome murder live on their television screens.
3 June 2018
The Jugglers' Mutiny
LIVE HISTORY INDIA
On 7 November 1889 an unusual procession marched down the main street of Melbourne. Watched by thousands of curious onlookers, the troupe of Indian magicians wearing turbans and brightly coloured flowing robes, accompanied by a trio of 'nautch dancers' and a pair of 'monkey boys' made their way to the city's court house demanding their wages and a passage home.
17 June 2018
The Roerich Story
LIVE HISTORY INDIA
The tranquility of the Tataguni estate on the outskirts of Bengaluru belies a tortured history that spans continents and brings together an unlikely cast: a suspected Russian spy, his artist son, the prima donna of early Bollywood cinema and a family living in Melbourne, Australia.
15 April 2018
The Exile: The Flight of Osama bin Laden
THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
The Black Hawks swooped in low and fast, virtually invisible on the moonless night. Inside a mud-walled compound on the outskirts of the garrison town of Abbottabad in northern Pakistan, Osama bin Laden was sleeping deeply. It was his Yemeni wife Amal who first heard the helicopters approaching.
Jan 12, 2018
Australian Desperadoes by Terry Smyth Charlatan by Catherine Jinks
THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
On the night of 3 May 1851, a fire in a paint and upholstery store on Portsmouth Square in San Francisco spread to nearby buildings. Fanned by strong winds it turned into a firestorm that could be seen from Monterey, 140km away. By next morning at least nine people were dead and more than 1000 homes destroyed.
Dec 15, 2017
Koh-i-Noor history shows diamond lacks the sparkle of real rock star
THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
One of the enduring mysteries about the Koh-i-Noor is why it has become the most famous diamond in the world, the centrepiece of the Crown Jewels and the most visible symbol of three centuries of British rule in India.
Jul 14, 2017
Unravelling the Mysterious Gogia Pasha, the Original Gilly Gilly Man
THE WIRE
Gogia’s magic shows combined comedy, comment and humorous patter with tricks, and incorporated dancers between sets.
Jul 1 2017
The Last Nizam of Hyderabad, From Untold Riches to Total Obscurity
THE WIRE
The massive fortune of India’s richest royal family just dissipated because of indifference and ineptitude.
6 April 2017
Global hair industry untangled
THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
In May 2004, the stench of burning sulphur filled the streets of Brooklyn. The nocturnal bonfires that were lit in New York and in other Orthodox Jewish communities around the world were made of human hair.
25 February 2017
Tying down the Indian rope trick in Mumbai’s Shivaji Park
THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
Of all the strange tales that have come out of India, none is more marvellous than the rope trick. Accounts of a rope being thrown upwards and of a boy climbing it until he disappears date back to the 14th century.
7 January 2017
Meet the Australian entertainers who enchanted India long before cable TV
SCROLL.IN
llusionists, escapologists and musicians from Down Under took their pop culture to the farthest corners of the subcontinent in the 19th and early 20th century.
25 August 2016
Rebuilding lives after the Nepal earthquake
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
At a dawn service near Everest, a group of Australians narrowly escaped with their lives when last year's earthquake struck. They're now invoking the Anzac spirit to help the Nepalese rebuild schools and homes.
April 2016
Around world, doubts whether Trump could 'make America great again'
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
The increasing possibility of a Trump presidency is feeding nations’ worries about everything from the continuation of their trade deals to military ties with the US.
17 March 2016
Risky business
PORTRAIT MAGAZINE
John Zubrzycki lauds the characters of the Australian escapology trade.
24 March 2016
The last Armenians of old Calcutta
THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
I’m in India, in Burrabazar, to be precise, looking for Kolkata’s oldest church, and I’m lost. In the space of a pressure-cooker-crowded hour, I have stumbled across the Nakhoda Mosque, the Shield of David Synagogue and the Portuguese-founded Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary, plus several Hindu and Jain temples adding their individual spice to this multicultural mosaic.
Unwanted Australians
SBS
Many thousands of migrants and refugees were for decades placed on a secret list for potential detention or other restrictions during peacetime because of their known or suspected political beliefs.
January 2016
Shots in the dark ring true for war photographer Stephen Dupont
AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW
Finding humanity and beauty in the most inhumane of conflict zones has been photographer Stephen Dupont's raison d'etre for more than two decades, writes John Zubrzycki.
November 27 2015
Never say die: David Sinclair's anti-ageing quest
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
A pill to reverse the effects of ageing? Australian scientist David Sinclair believes it's only a few years away - and he's prepared to use himself as a human guinea pig.
October 3, 2015
Little big top: Australia's last travelling circuses
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
They may have shrunk in size and largely ditched the animals and bearded ladies, but circuses continue to survive in the 21st century.
August 29, 2015
Treasures abound in the best bazaars in India
THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
Shopping for antiques in India has its delights and its downsides.
April 4, 2015
Arts and theater in Pakistan: A front line against extremism?
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
The celebrated Rafi Peer troupe got featured at this year's Lahore literary festival, after surviving Islamist bomb attacks. But civil society and free expression in Pakistan may still be measured as one step forward and two back.
April 12, 2015
The age of reason
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
A grand Sydney manor stands as a forgotten memorial to one of the most vibrant periods in Australia's cultural history - when the esoteric met the avant garde - and to the spiritual movement that nurtured it.
November 28, 2104
The saga of a yacht, a prince and an ex-Rajneeshi
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
Once the aquatic plaything of an Indian prince, the RV Pax brings together some unlikely players in a story of hope and healing.
September 27, 2014
A perilous walk
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
In the Indian Himalayas, children may no longer have to risk their lives simply getting to school, thanks to the efforts of one Australian woman.
May 17, 2014
At 9.15pm on 9 April 1956, the BBC's switchboard suddenly lit up with calls from hundreds of viewers convinced they had just witnessed a gruesome murder live on their television screens.
3 June 2018
The Jugglers' Mutiny
LIVE HISTORY INDIA
On 7 November 1889 an unusual procession marched down the main street of Melbourne. Watched by thousands of curious onlookers, the troupe of Indian magicians wearing turbans and brightly coloured flowing robes, accompanied by a trio of 'nautch dancers' and a pair of 'monkey boys' made their way to the city's court house demanding their wages and a passage home.
17 June 2018
The Roerich Story
LIVE HISTORY INDIA
The tranquility of the Tataguni estate on the outskirts of Bengaluru belies a tortured history that spans continents and brings together an unlikely cast: a suspected Russian spy, his artist son, the prima donna of early Bollywood cinema and a family living in Melbourne, Australia.
15 April 2018
The Exile: The Flight of Osama bin Laden
THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
The Black Hawks swooped in low and fast, virtually invisible on the moonless night. Inside a mud-walled compound on the outskirts of the garrison town of Abbottabad in northern Pakistan, Osama bin Laden was sleeping deeply. It was his Yemeni wife Amal who first heard the helicopters approaching.
Jan 12, 2018
Australian Desperadoes by Terry Smyth Charlatan by Catherine Jinks
THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
On the night of 3 May 1851, a fire in a paint and upholstery store on Portsmouth Square in San Francisco spread to nearby buildings. Fanned by strong winds it turned into a firestorm that could be seen from Monterey, 140km away. By next morning at least nine people were dead and more than 1000 homes destroyed.
Dec 15, 2017
Koh-i-Noor history shows diamond lacks the sparkle of real rock star
THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
One of the enduring mysteries about the Koh-i-Noor is why it has become the most famous diamond in the world, the centrepiece of the Crown Jewels and the most visible symbol of three centuries of British rule in India.
Jul 14, 2017
Unravelling the Mysterious Gogia Pasha, the Original Gilly Gilly Man
THE WIRE
Gogia’s magic shows combined comedy, comment and humorous patter with tricks, and incorporated dancers between sets.
Jul 1 2017
The Last Nizam of Hyderabad, From Untold Riches to Total Obscurity
THE WIRE
The massive fortune of India’s richest royal family just dissipated because of indifference and ineptitude.
6 April 2017
Global hair industry untangled
THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
In May 2004, the stench of burning sulphur filled the streets of Brooklyn. The nocturnal bonfires that were lit in New York and in other Orthodox Jewish communities around the world were made of human hair.
25 February 2017
Tying down the Indian rope trick in Mumbai’s Shivaji Park
THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
Of all the strange tales that have come out of India, none is more marvellous than the rope trick. Accounts of a rope being thrown upwards and of a boy climbing it until he disappears date back to the 14th century.
7 January 2017
Meet the Australian entertainers who enchanted India long before cable TV
SCROLL.IN
llusionists, escapologists and musicians from Down Under took their pop culture to the farthest corners of the subcontinent in the 19th and early 20th century.
25 August 2016
Rebuilding lives after the Nepal earthquake
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
At a dawn service near Everest, a group of Australians narrowly escaped with their lives when last year's earthquake struck. They're now invoking the Anzac spirit to help the Nepalese rebuild schools and homes.
April 2016
Around world, doubts whether Trump could 'make America great again'
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
The increasing possibility of a Trump presidency is feeding nations’ worries about everything from the continuation of their trade deals to military ties with the US.
17 March 2016
Risky business
PORTRAIT MAGAZINE
John Zubrzycki lauds the characters of the Australian escapology trade.
24 March 2016
The last Armenians of old Calcutta
THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
I’m in India, in Burrabazar, to be precise, looking for Kolkata’s oldest church, and I’m lost. In the space of a pressure-cooker-crowded hour, I have stumbled across the Nakhoda Mosque, the Shield of David Synagogue and the Portuguese-founded Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary, plus several Hindu and Jain temples adding their individual spice to this multicultural mosaic.
Unwanted Australians
SBS
Many thousands of migrants and refugees were for decades placed on a secret list for potential detention or other restrictions during peacetime because of their known or suspected political beliefs.
January 2016
Shots in the dark ring true for war photographer Stephen Dupont
AUSTRALIAN FINANCIAL REVIEW
Finding humanity and beauty in the most inhumane of conflict zones has been photographer Stephen Dupont's raison d'etre for more than two decades, writes John Zubrzycki.
November 27 2015
Never say die: David Sinclair's anti-ageing quest
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
A pill to reverse the effects of ageing? Australian scientist David Sinclair believes it's only a few years away - and he's prepared to use himself as a human guinea pig.
October 3, 2015
Little big top: Australia's last travelling circuses
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
They may have shrunk in size and largely ditched the animals and bearded ladies, but circuses continue to survive in the 21st century.
August 29, 2015
Treasures abound in the best bazaars in India
THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN
Shopping for antiques in India has its delights and its downsides.
April 4, 2015
Arts and theater in Pakistan: A front line against extremism?
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
The celebrated Rafi Peer troupe got featured at this year's Lahore literary festival, after surviving Islamist bomb attacks. But civil society and free expression in Pakistan may still be measured as one step forward and two back.
April 12, 2015
The age of reason
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
A grand Sydney manor stands as a forgotten memorial to one of the most vibrant periods in Australia's cultural history - when the esoteric met the avant garde - and to the spiritual movement that nurtured it.
November 28, 2104
The saga of a yacht, a prince and an ex-Rajneeshi
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
Once the aquatic plaything of an Indian prince, the RV Pax brings together some unlikely players in a story of hope and healing.
September 27, 2014
A perilous walk
THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
In the Indian Himalayas, children may no longer have to risk their lives simply getting to school, thanks to the efforts of one Australian woman.
May 17, 2014
