Nicola Heath

Our favourite podcasts of the year include tales of art forgery, a documentary about the life of Fela Kútì and a true-crime thriller about a dead body in the ocean.

Her books like Pride and Prejudice and Emma were written hundreds of years ago, but have themes that still resonate in today's society.

An exciting Australian debut, a bevvy of award-winning literary fiction and more than one heart-wrenching memoir are among our critics' favourite reads of the year. 

Can you tell what's real and what's fake online? Data Dreams: Art and AI at the MCA, featuring a Kim Kardashian deepfake, looks at the impact of AI on everyday life

From a send-up of Hollywood studios to a chilling depiction of violence and masculinity to an age-appropriate reality TV romance, these are our favourite TV shows of 2025.

Wondering what to read next? This month's best books include a novel that brings to life Britain's only named wind and a new book by the author of The Handmaid's Tale.

It wasn't just a box office success — Frozen introduced a new type of Disney princess: one who was strong, flawed and uninterested in romance.

In A Great Act of Love, the award-winning author interweaves a surprising chapter of Tasmanian history with the story of her ancestor who was transported to Van Diemen's Land in the 1800s.

After being featured in Dua Lipa's book club and the SATC spin-off, Helen Garner has won the Baillie Gifford Prize for non-fiction for her collected diaries, How to End a Story.

'Spiky characters' and 'luminous writing': Here's what we thought of the prestigious literary award's 2025 shortlist, the first with Sarah Jessica Parker as judge.

Wondering what to read? This month's best books include the latest from Jane Harper, Bri Lee and Booker Prize winner Kiran Desai.

Trent Dalton's debut novel Boy Swallows Universe has won Radio National's Top 100 Books of the 21st Century countdown.

Randa Abdel-Fattah explores the experience of Palestinian Australians in Discipline, her first book for adults.

Wondering what to read next? This month's best books include the latest from literary giant Ian McEwan and Buckeye, a multigenerational family saga set in America's Midwest.

A new headphone theatre production is set among the swimmers and sunbakers at a NSW city's much-loved ocean pool.

Surrealist photographer Man Ray revolutionised 20th-century visual culture. In Australia, a local photographer was exploring similar territory.

The acclaimed author's father was a greyhound trainer and her mother ran a TAB. Her unconventional childhood inspired her eighth book, Tenderfoot.

In this month's best new releases, humans transform into trees, grief meets the supernatural in a haunted house and a volcanic eruption disrupts life in rural New Zealand.

Janet Dawson has long been considered one of Australia's most acclaimed visual artists. Now, her six-decade career is the subject of a major survey at AGNSW.

Darren McCallum's daughter inspired him to write his first book for young children, The Wobbly Bike, which is among the winners of the 2025 CBCA Book of the Year awards.

The Productivity Commission's interim report on AI has triggered a fierce backlash from the literary community.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas author's latest work, The Elements, is a series of four linked stories examining child abuse from different perspectives.

This month's best new releases shine a light on growing up queer in a small town, the social inequity of the US college system, and dealing with the double whammy of an unfaithful husband and a cancer diagnosis.

Dominic Amerena takes on the literary-industrial complex in his satirical debut offering set in Melbourne's western suburbs, I Want Everything.

Ellen Stekert was at the centre of the folk revival movement in the 50s. Now, she's digitising her archive with the help of an unlikely new friend.