http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/alexandra-carlton/ Alexandra Carlton is the Deputy Features Editor at Madison magazine. Previously, she’s written for The Sydney Morning Herald, ABC Online, The Sunday Telegraph, Who, GQ, Cosmopolitan and briefly and catastrophically for Channel Ten’s Neighbours. She’s better at karaoke than you will ever be. en Copyright 2013 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/6-of-the-worlds-sexiest-leaders/ Last week a woman fainted during a speech former President Bill Clinton was giving for a Democratic senate candidate in West Virginia. Clinton immediately demonstrated exactly why women still see him as the most rockstar-charming world leader in living memory. “I’m going to save her reputation,” he drawled as the woman was led away, his honeyed southern vowels slow and sweet like January molasses. “It was the sun and not me that made her faint.” Such a dude. It’s no secret that power is sexy. Add a little Tabasco-splash of Arkansan charm (Clinton), a sprinkle of George Clooney salt-n-pepper (Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg of Norway) or some smouldering Latina sizzle (President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina) and you got yourself a recipe for hot that no ordinary civilian can match.  But there are a few world leaders that don’t fit the obvious parameters of sexy – yet are. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Alexandra Carlton) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/6-of-the-worlds-sexiest-leaders/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/6-of-the-worlds-sexiest-leaders/#item4266 Tue, 19 Oct 2010 19:55:43 +0000 Alexandra Carlton | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/theres-nothing-unhealthy-about-being-bottle-fed/ What is it about the fanaticism of the breastfeeding lobby? Why do they fixate so intently on this tiny aspect of childrearing? Wouldn’t they do better to divert some of their energy to shouting about child protection? Housing for kids in low-income families? Water safety, perhaps? Aren’t there dozens more pressing children’s issues where they could better channel their blusterings? feedback@thepunch.com.au (Alexandra Carlton) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/theres-nothing-unhealthy-about-being-bottle-fed/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/theres-nothing-unhealthy-about-being-bottle-fed/#item4107 Sun, 26 Sep 2010 19:50:08 +0000 Alexandra Carlton | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/seeking-tall-non-smoker-with-gsoh-and-dictionary/ Looking for love? You’d know, then, that most people have a subconscious list of attributes that his or her ideal partner must possess: ‘Must be tall’, maybe. ‘Good looking’. ‘Generous’. ‘Noble of spirit’. ‘Kind to puppies’. Some people’s lists are flexible. Most aren’t. It’s tough out there. Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there’s a new one: ‘Must be able to write’. In an era where so much of our communication happens via the written word, writing has become as much if not more of an aphrodisiac than a fat bank balance or supermodel measurements. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Alexandra Carlton) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/seeking-tall-non-smoker-with-gsoh-and-dictionary/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/seeking-tall-non-smoker-with-gsoh-and-dictionary/#item4036 Tue, 14 Sep 2010 19:45:56 +0000 Alexandra Carlton | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-an-80s-look-can-suck-the-youth-out-of-anyone/ Last week a woman stood ahead of me in a queue dressed in acid-wash stirrup pants, high-top sneakers, a yellow sweatshirt and a bleached blonde crop with black roots. I looked at her. And I looked at her again.  And I’ll be damned if I could tell you whether she was a 20-year-old working some serious 1980s revivalism or a 40-year-old clinging to the look from the first time round. That’s the thing about 1980s style. It’s fashion’s great leveller. It makes absolutely everyone look middle-aged.  It’s quite a feat. It’s like the entire decade was manufactured by a special effects department. Take one fresh-faced 20-year-old. Add a boxy jacket, a button-front linen skirt, a short fluffy perm, mid-rise heels and sheer stockings and voila! A 45-year-old maths teacher. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Alexandra Carlton) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-an-80s-look-can-suck-the-youth-out-of-anyone/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/how-an-80s-look-can-suck-the-youth-out-of-anyone/#item3967 Sun, 05 Sep 2010 19:40:56 +0000 Alexandra Carlton | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/breasts-are-back/ I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks has extraordinarily large breasts. Really. Have a good look below and see if you can spot them. What’s fascinating isn’t so much the breasts themselves – although I defy anyone of any sexual persuasion not to find them mesmerising - but the fact that they’ve been permitted to flourish on mainstream television. In recent years, breasts like these have required a password and credit card before you’d get to see them in action. Breasts. Bosoms. Tits. Boobs. Jugs. Rack. The names may dip in and out of both fashion and taste, but you’d expect the popularity of the appendages themselves would remain more or less constant. Not so. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Alexandra Carlton) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/breasts-are-back/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/breasts-are-back/#item3940 Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:55:56 +0000 Alexandra Carlton | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/climate-change-were-cooked/ It gives me no pleasure to say this. But cataclysmic climate change is going to happen, with all its promised attendant devastation, and neither you nor I nor anyone in power is going to do anything about it. People don’t fix predictions. People fix problems. And until the western world truly feels the burn, then climate change is a prediction, not a problem. Lethal floods in Pakistan haven’t swayed us.  Drought in Africa hasn’t swayed us.  The worst heatwave in Russia in a thousand years hasn’t swayed us. Even our own murderous Black Saturday bushfires in 2009 haven’t knocked any sense into our heads. Perhaps if Sydney’s waterfront mansions plunge into the harbour, taking property prices with them, we might demand action. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Alexandra Carlton) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/climate-change-were-cooked/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/climate-change-were-cooked/#item3777 Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:55:57 +0000 Alexandra Carlton | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/i-want-to-sledge-them-jess-rudd-on-her-dads-demise/ Here’s what I would’ve done if I were Kevin Rudd’s daughter, Jessica, and I was watching my dad’s anguished final press conference as PM on June 24. I would’ve broken ranks and yelled, “He f—-ing got asked to step down all of you f—-ing idiots. I’m Rudd’s f—-ing daughter and he did not f—-ing resign. Gillard is a selfish piece of shift [sic], who cares about herself and not the f—-ing Labor Party. Have fun with the country, I hope to never vote for this god foresaken party every again [sic]. F—- all of you.” Oh no, wait, that’s what I would’ve yelled if I were Sarah Henderson, daughter of Fritz Henderson, the former CEO of General Motors. Which, of course, is precisely what she did yell (with the obvious noun substitutions), on the GM Facebook page just days after her father was f—-ing asked to step down and replaced by one of the company’s board members late last year.  feedback@thepunch.com.au (Alexandra Carlton) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/i-want-to-sledge-them-jess-rudd-on-her-dads-demise/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/i-want-to-sledge-them-jess-rudd-on-her-dads-demise/#item3684 Sun, 01 Aug 2010 20:00:22 +0000 Alexandra Carlton | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/being-a-good-samaritan-can-be-very-embarrassing/ It’s important to stand up for the oppressed. Many think of me as a girlish Che Guevara. An example? On the weekend I was waiting for my order in a coffee shop when the barista started berating the teenaged girl serving for mixing up an order. The customers, he told her, would not come back. I felt the hot flush of injustice rise to my cheeks. “You know what else will make us not come back?” I retorted, the defiant strains of “Do You Hear the People Sing?” pounding through my righteous mind. “You, being so rude.” He was properly shamed as I swiped my coffee and stalked triumphantly from the store. Only thing is, ten minutes later I walked past the same coffee shop and the girl was leaning over the counter chatting idly with her yappy friends and being all feckless and self-absorbed and Gen Y as the orders piled up for the harried barista. I realised I’d backed the wrong horse. The point is, most strangers - strangely - don’t want our help. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Alexandra Carlton) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/being-a-good-samaritan-can-be-very-embarrassing/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/being-a-good-samaritan-can-be-very-embarrassing/#item3325 Wed, 16 Jun 2010 19:45:25 +0000 Alexandra Carlton | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/just-because-you-like-a-song-doesnt-make-it-good/ The Mona Lisa is valued at over $500 million. I don’t pretend to understand why. To me, she’s an arch, witchy old man-lady with lanky hair. I find her smarmy. Uptight. I bought an Etsy print of an Edwardian couple to hang in my kitchen that I think is personality-plus compared to her. And they have artichokes instead of heads. That said, I defer without hesitation to art experts who tell me Leonardo da Vinci knows more about form and composition and painting little smug secret-smiles than some hipster poster artist from Williamsburg. My artichoke people aren’t even smiling (in their defense, they’re artichokes). And that’s why they set me back about thirty bucks where the Mona Lisa costs roughly the same as it does to plan then abandon a Sydney public transport initiative. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Alexandra Carlton) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/just-because-you-like-a-song-doesnt-make-it-good/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/just-because-you-like-a-song-doesnt-make-it-good/#item2864 Sun, 18 Apr 2010 19:50:50 +0000 Alexandra Carlton | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/child-welfare-is-more-important-than-net-freedom/ I once stumbled into a child porn chatroom. I was working at a magazine and having one of those “Hey, does anyone know if…?” conversations beloved of journos where we meander into oddball topics, debate them vigorously and call it work. On this day, we were trying to remember whether Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of The Boy Scouts, was a confirmed paedo or whether it’s just that the organisation itself has the sour whiff of the kiddy-fiddler about it and we were wrongly maligning him. I Googled (or possibly Yahooed – this was a good seven years ago) something along the lines of ‘scouts, paedophilia, Baden-Powell”. And before I knew it I’d clicked though to a site flooded with hundreds, possibly thousands of posts and replies from men defending – and describing - their lust (both imagined and enacted) for pre-pubescent children. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Alexandra Carlton) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/child-welfare-is-more-important-than-net-freedom/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/child-welfare-is-more-important-than-net-freedom/#item2008 Wed, 16 Dec 2009 02:00:14 +0000 Alexandra Carlton | Author bios | The Punch