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John Hanscombe

John Hanscombe

Canberra Times

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The Goldie dodges a towering, trashy bullet

The Goldie dodges a towering, trashy bullet

Incredibly brave or utterly foolish? Three months ago, when plans for a 91-storey Trump tower on the Gold Coast came to light, it took no time for me...

yesterday 10

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

The Goldie dodges a towering, trashy bullet

The Goldie dodges a towering, trashy bullet

Incredibly brave or utterly foolish? Three months ago, when plans for a 91-storey Trump tower on the Gold Coast came to light, it took no time for me...

yesterday 10

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

When the chatbot tells the user to plant a bomb

When the chatbot tells the user to plant a bomb

The drone's callsign was Red Fang and it had just pinged 300 metres west of Adam Hourican's house. It had been dispatched by xAI, the...

previous day 10

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

When the chatbot tells the user to plant a bomb

When the chatbot tells the user to plant a bomb

The drone's callsign was Red Fang and it had just pinged 300 metres west of Adam Hourican's house. It had been dispatched by xAI, the...

previous day 10

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

We can't afford to ignore Grand Theft Oil Futures

We can't afford to ignore Grand Theft Oil Futures

Last Wednesday in America another glimmer of hope the Middle East war could be resolved was reported by US news website Axios, based on information...

tuesday 10

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

We can't afford to ignore Grand Theft Oil Futures

We can't afford to ignore Grand Theft Oil Futures

Last Wednesday in America another glimmer of hope the Middle East war could be resolved was reported by US news website Axios, based on information...

tuesday 10

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

We're kidding ourselves about the social divide

We're kidding ourselves about the social divide

You might want to avert your eyes because I'm about to drop a C-bomb. Subscribe now for unlimited access. Login or signup to continue reading Not...

11.05.2026 10

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

We're kidding ourselves about the social divide

We're kidding ourselves about the social divide

You might want to avert your eyes because I'm about to drop a C-bomb. Subscribe now for unlimited access. Login or signup to continue reading Not...

11.05.2026 10

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

If the housing crisis gets worse this Boomer's to blame

If the housing crisis gets worse this Boomer's to blame

It can't come soon enough. That's because five days ahead of it actually being handed down, it's a fair bet most Australians have had a...

07.05.2026 10

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

If the housing crisis gets worse this Boomer's to blame

If the housing crisis gets worse this Boomer's to blame

It can't come soon enough. That's because five days ahead of it actually being handed down, it's a fair bet most Australians have had a...

07.05.2026 20

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

From soggy to savoury, broccoli's big comeback

From soggy to savoury, broccoli's big comeback
06.05.2026 20

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

From soggy to savoury, broccoli's big comeback

From soggy to savoury, broccoli's big comeback

Greens. They could be insufferably earnest and bitter. And too often there was a guilt trip when you came across them. "Don't you know...

06.05.2026 20

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

Sorry to butt in, but we all need to butt out again

Sorry to butt in, but we all need to butt out again
05.05.2026 20

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

Sorry to butt in, but we all need to butt out again

Sorry to butt in, but we all need to butt out again

There was no big ceremony, no date recorded for posterity. All I remember is that some time in the mid 2000s, I stubbed out my last cigarette....

05.05.2026 10

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

May the focus be with you - in the cinema

04.05.2026 20

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

May the focus be with you - in the cinema

A long time go in a galaxy far, far away ... they made a movie which has endured in our cultural memory for almost half a century. And on May 4 or, to...

04.05.2026 20

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

Forget peak oil, peak geopolitics will wean us off the stuff

The drone strikes on the refinery sparked an inferno that caused toxic black smoke to rise like an angry fist, a grey smudge visible from space....

30.04.2026 10

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

Forget peak oil, peak geopolitics will wean us off the stuff

The drone strikes on the refinery sparked an inferno that caused toxic black smoke to rise like an angry fist, a grey smudge visible from space....

30.04.2026 20

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

No surprise America has lost its shock value

A friend was watching CNN and saw the whole thing unfold in real time. He texted me immediately. But the news didn't shock me as much as my...

29.04.2026 20

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

No surprise America has lost its shock value

A friend was watching CNN and saw the whole thing unfold in real time. He texted me immediately. But the news didn't shock me as much as my...

29.04.2026 10

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

A week of memories we shouldn't allow to fade

It's the season of anniversaries. Subscribe now for unlimited access. Login or signup to continue reading The big one, of course, was Anzac Day...

28.04.2026 10

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

A week of memories we shouldn't allow to fade

It's the season of anniversaries. Subscribe now for unlimited access. Login or signup to continue reading The big one, of course, was Anzac Day...

28.04.2026 10

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

We seem to have arrived at the age of silent radio

When construction began on the houses in the new estate around the corner a few years ago, there was always one voice raised in anger on the building...

27.04.2026 20

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

We seem to have arrived at the age of silent radio

When construction began on the houses in the new estate around the corner a few years ago, there was always one voice raised in anger on the building...

27.04.2026 20

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

Forget whingeing, this winter I plan to be cosy

It wasn't a particularly cold morning but it had rained overnight so I could forgive the smoke curling from the chimney three days before Anzac...

23.04.2026 10

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

Forget whingeing, this winter I plan to be cosy

It wasn't a particularly cold morning but it had rained overnight so I could forgive the smoke curling from the chimney three days before Anzac...

23.04.2026 10

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

Rote learned, manners have served me well

Something remarkable happens on Sydney buses. At every stop, disembarking passengers thank the driver. In a world in which good manners have become...

22.04.2026 20

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

Rote learned, manners have served me well

Something remarkable happens on Sydney buses. At every stop, disembarking passengers thank the driver. In a world in which good manners have become...

22.04.2026 20

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

When the loop is useless, it's best to stay out of it

This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to theechidna.com.au Subscribe now for unlimited...

21.04.2026 20

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

When the loop is useless, it's best to stay out of it

This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to theechidna.com.au Subscribe now for unlimited...

21.04.2026 20

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

The currawong has an important message

Don't know about you but I'm exhausted. Seems it's been one thing after another for at least six years. Subscribe now for unlimited...

07.04.2026 20

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

The currawong has an important message

Don't know about you but I'm exhausted. Seems it's been one thing after another for at least six years. Subscribe now for unlimited...

07.04.2026 30

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

Crisis shows we should always plan for the worst

A mate who'd booked his family Easter holiday long before the Middle East war upended everything is going ahead, despite the extra fuel costs. He...

02.04.2026 20

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

Crisis shows we should always plan for the worst

A mate who'd booked his family Easter holiday long before the Middle East war upended everything is going ahead, despite the extra fuel costs. He...

02.04.2026 20

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

Breaking: US cabinet votes to remove Trump

The world is breathing a little easier this morning after stunning developments in Washington overnight. Subscribe now for unlimited access. Login or...

01.04.2026 40

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

Breaking: US cabinet votes to remove Trump

The world is breathing a little easier this morning after stunning developments in Washington overnight. Subscribe now for unlimited access. Login or...

01.04.2026 20

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

Arse about: why we need Christmas in July

It swept up out of Antarctica with a vengeance. The mass of cold air ambushed south east Australia, plunging temperatures and breaking a cycle of heat...

31.03.2026 20

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

Arse about: why we need Christmas in July

It swept up out of Antarctica with a vengeance. The mass of cold air ambushed south east Australia, plunging temperatures and breaking a cycle of heat...

31.03.2026 20

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

Drongos to the left of us, drongos to the right

Long thought extinct, the drongo is back. Not the bird, it's doing just fine, but the uniquely Aussie expression for an idiot or incompetent...

30.03.2026 20

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

Drongos to the left of us, drongos to the right

Long thought extinct, the drongo is back. Not the bird, it's doing just fine, but the uniquely Aussie expression for an idiot or incompetent...

30.03.2026 30

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

China weans itself off diesel. We should as well

It seems ironic now but exactly a month before war erupted in the Gulf, oil industry news website Oilprice.com warned of a looming threat to global...

26.03.2026 30

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

China weans itself off diesel. We should as well

It seems ironic now but exactly a month before war erupted in the Gulf, oil industry news website Oilprice.com warned of a looming threat to global...

26.03.2026 20

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

The TACO trade: inside the 15-minute head start

It's hard not to smell a rat. Fifteen minutes before Donald Trump announced his postponement of threatened strikes on Iranian power plants and...

25.03.2026 20

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

The TACO trade: inside the 15-minute head start

It's hard not to smell a rat. Fifteen minutes before Donald Trump announced his postponement of threatened strikes on Iranian power plants and...

25.03.2026 30

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

We foresaw the oil shock, so why didn't Trump?

You can't legislate against stupidity. There will always be people whose reckless, irrational actions harm others. We're reminded of this...

24.03.2026 30

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

We foresaw the oil shock, so why didn't Trump?

You can't legislate against stupidity. There will always be people whose reckless, irrational actions harm others. We're reminded of this...

24.03.2026 30

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

The quiet humanity of a birdcage in the rubble

They were a middle-aged couple, packing their small car with belongings in a rubble strewn street. The photographer captured the moment they were...

23.03.2026 20

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

The quiet humanity of a birdcage in the rubble

They were a middle-aged couple, packing their small car with belongings in a rubble strewn street. The photographer captured the moment they were...

23.03.2026 30

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

As the world rages, the mundane can be serene

Peace amidst such turmoil is found in the most unlikely places. Subscribe now for unlimited access. Login or signup to continue reading These past...

19.03.2026 20

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

As the world rages, the mundane can be serene

Peace amidst such turmoil is found in the most unlikely places. Subscribe now for unlimited access. Login or signup to continue reading These past...

19.03.2026 30

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe