The US president-for-just-a-little-while-longer, Joe Biden has, incredulously, pardoned his own son. Now, from a certain perspective this does make sense—I have some sympathy for the man, as a father, but as a president with responsibilities beyond the personal, I can conjure not much at all. In fact, I was very tempted to title this piece Joe Biden, you fucking idiot.

Two advertisements I saw struck me with such force that I intercepted the friend I was meeting for lunch and immediately mentioned my compulsion to return to take a photo of the said posters. I did so: they are two of the images which accompany this piece. But there’s one thing, an unusual thing, which unites them both which, when I showed both photos to my (then) wife, she couldn’t discern.

All of Us Strangers is a truly impressive piece of work, vibrant and cohesive and thematically laser-focused even given—or perhaps despite—the laconic ease with which it seems to float, listless, through the story. Delightfully queer and exquisitely elusive, it is a profound exploration of emotional loss, deflection, and abandonment.

The invasion of the Ukraine has been raging for a year now, and while it’s not looking particularly good for either side, the situation is especially dire for Russia. While the outcome of the war remains difficult to predict (as is typical with armed conflict), one thing can be confidently stated: Russia almost certainly cannot “win”.

In what must be some kind of record, the former CEO of the National Australia Bank, Andrew Thorburn, resigned as Chief Executive of the Essendon Football Club after one single day in the role. It makes for an interesting statistic in an industry obsessed with them, but the furore over his appointment revolves around the manner of his departure.

To call someone an elite athlete, or part of an elite military unit, is a compliment. The descriptor distinguishes the individual or group as being in possession of superior talent or training than that of many contemporaries. Yet to say that someone is part of the elite is almost always contemptuous.