Featured Articles
Stubble in Paradise – by Rebecca Pickett
On the 2nd July 2015, an eruption from an Indonesian volcano sent the lives of thousands of Australians into disarray. They could not even deal. Their perfect plans had been thwarted. What ensued in the following weeks can only be summed up one way: #Bogangate2015 How DARE you God/Mother Nature? Why couldn’t you just let […]
Taxis, Ubers and the Bitter Pill – by Lucy Watson
Ok, so it’s a Friday night, and you’re a bit thirsty. This a perfectly reasonable thing for you to be feeling – it’s the weekend. You’ve had a tough week at work and you’d just like to unwind. So imagine you walk into a bar. After all, bars serve drinks, don’t they? And drinks are […]
The Unbearable Numbness of Being – by Lucy Watson
Today my heart hurts. It aches for Paris. For Beirut. For the world. A lot has been written in the days since the Paris attacks that the world only cares about white lives. That there is only an outpouring of love and support for Paris, but not for Beirut. Or for countless other conflicts. This […]
Cheerleaders, Groupies and the Female as Spectator – by Lucy Watson
Back in 2005, I was at the Edinburgh Fringe, and it was one of those mornings where we were hanging with a gang of comedians outside the Gilded Balloon as the sun was coming up, deciding where we would kick onto. I was chatting to a comedian mate of mine (a really nice guy, who […]
A City For All Seasons – by Fiona Grant
I love Melbourne. I could go on and on about the wonders of one of the world’s most liveable cities. And I usually do. The fantastic food, the sporting events, such a commitment to the arts and oh the coffee! Yet, I’ve called London home for the past 7 years. Well, my mother did always […]
A Place To Call Home – by Rebecca Chanock
When editor and zeitgeist maker Lucy Watson asked me to be one of the voices of Melbourne for the launch issue of In Batmania, my head filled with nostalgic yearnings for Linda and Spike and the barely repressed sexual tension of the newsroom (any other 90s kids noticed that it’s increasingly hard to separate your […]
The Art of Kombi-nism – by Mike Shackleton
Everything old is new again, in Batmania. This is demonstrated by the Batmanian’s desire to seek out vintage clothing, furniture and electronics. Perhaps these desires indicate that we are a nostalgic people. Or maybe we’ve realised it’s fun to have a few things around that have demonstrated their ability to withstand the test of time. […]
The Real (John) Batman – by Bethany Macdonald
As was custom, before my colleague Jon finished working with us he made a contribution to the wall of ‘Favourite characters in Victoria’s history’. Not like these new fandangled Facebook walls, this was an old-school coloured paper and blu-tack job, with an envelope of slips waiting to be filled out when new characters were discovered. […]
FIFO Fun for an Easy Rider – by Tom Watson
Night falls over this heaving cosmopolitan metropolis and a bead of sweat trickles from my forehead. The lights of Southbank are shining brightly, and the Crown flame throwers hard at work wasting natural resources under the guise of wonder and entertainment, as I pedal briskly to keep pace with my travelling partners. I had only […]