http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/will-turner/ Will Turner works in video and online media at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He is a graduate in media and communications from the University of Sydney and a freelance writer. 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/why-the-us-has-a-tea-party-and-australia-really-doesnt/ It is now beyond doubt that the 2012 US presidential election will be all about the US economy and which candidate can convince the majority of voters that he or she can do the best job of managing it. If you find this a depressing scenario you are not alone. Virtually all international media coverage of America’s recent debt ceiling crisis carried with it a sense of disbelief as to how the United States could come so close to defaulting on its debt obligations when its capacity to pay them simply required a rubber stamp. However the incredulity of so many of the world’s political commentators reveals more about their lack of basic knowledge of American history, and in particular how powerful the folklore of the “Founding Fathers” is to many citizens of the United States. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Will Turner) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-the-us-has-a-tea-party-and-australia-really-doesnt/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/why-the-us-has-a-tea-party-and-australia-really-doesnt/#item6705 Thu, 15 Sep 2011 19:55:43 +0000 Will Turner | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Cool-heads-are-needed-when-horror-is-writ-large/ It was not until I recently heard an art historian visiting Australia to talk about Guernica – the iconic anti-war painting by Pablo Picasso – that I connected the dots of why the 9/11 attacks had such a penetrating impact on the global community. Art historian Professor Timothy J Clark was explaining in a Sydney Ideas lecture why Picasso’s depiction of the world’s first terrorist air-raid continues to have political currency in the post-9/11 era, despite the existence of more “real” forms of media than existed in 1937. Clark said that in essence Picasso managed to communicate what it is really like to be bombed. He told me after the speech that “Guernica wouldn’t have its continuing political relevance if it didn’t somehow manage to wrench the material reality of suffering out of that black and white virtual world”. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Will Turner) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Cool-heads-are-needed-when-horror-is-writ-large/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Cool-heads-are-needed-when-horror-is-writ-large/#item6291 Thu, 14 Jul 2011 19:40:46 +0000 Will Turner | Author bios | The Punch