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John Hanscombe

John Hanscombe

Canberra Times

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The veil lifted on a quiet rebellion on the streets of Tehran

The veil lifted on a quiet rebellion on the streets of Tehran

When the ABC's Karishma Vyas began her excellent series of reports from Tehran, giving us a rare glimpse of the war from the other side, I...

yesterday 10

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

The veil lifted on a quiet rebellion on the streets of Tehran

The veil lifted on a quiet rebellion on the streets of Tehran

When the ABC's Karishma Vyas began her excellent series of reports from Tehran, giving us a rare glimpse of the war from the other side, I...

yesterday 9

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

Left or right, populism always fails the people

Left or right, populism always fails the people

The shudder was involuntary, triggered by the news that a Redbridge poll had declared One Nation was Australia's most popular political party....

previous day 10

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

Left or right, populism always fails the people

Left or right, populism always fails the people

The shudder was involuntary, triggered by the news that a Redbridge poll had declared One Nation was Australia's most popular political party....

previous day 10

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

The sky is not the limit but only the beginning

The sky is not the limit but only the beginning

The moon rose full and bright on Sunday evening the textures of its surface clearly visible to the naked eye. Close to the horizon, our near neighbour...

tuesday 10

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

The sky is not the limit but only the beginning

The sky is not the limit but only the beginning

The moon rose full and bright on Sunday evening the textures of its surface clearly visible to the naked eye. Close to the horizon, our near neighbour...

tuesday 10

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

You think that was poor form? Try these insults

You think that was poor form? Try these insults

The microphone didn't pick it up but those opposite did. And it had Leader of the House Tony Burke up on his feet instantly, demanding the...

01.06.2026 20

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

You think that was poor form? Try these insults

You think that was poor form? Try these insults

The microphone didn't pick it up but those opposite did. And it had Leader of the House Tony Burke up on his feet instantly, demanding the...

01.06.2026 10

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

The joy that comes when everything's out to kill you

The joy that comes when everything's out to kill you
28.05.2026 20

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

The joy that comes when everything's out to kill you

The joy that comes when everything's out to kill you

After a week of showers, heavy and persistent, the break in the weather was welcome. A brief window in which to hang a load of washing in the hope it...

28.05.2026 10

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

Centrestage is likely too crowded for new players

Centrestage is likely too crowded for new players
27.05.2026 20

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

Centrestage is likely too crowded for new players

Centrestage is likely too crowded for new players

It doesn't make sense. The mere suggestion you could have a party of independents is a contradiction in terms. How can you be a member of a party...

27.05.2026 20

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

Your place in history is part of a great story

Your place in history is part of a great story
26.05.2026 10

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

Your place in history is part of a great story

Your place in history is part of a great story

Age caught up with me again last week. A friend was telling me about a documentary series about the Blitz he'd just watched. To think it happened...

26.05.2026 10

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

Out for a duck in a losing battle against nature

25.05.2026 20

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

Out for a duck in a losing battle against nature

The insurgents use the cover of darkness, arriving just after the sun has set or in the half light before it rises. Elaborate countermeasures to...

25.05.2026 20

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

I can't mute the leaf blower but I can mute Pauline

It's a toss up. Assailed by the whine of a leaf blower on the weekend, I'd all but decided it was the most annoying sound known to humanity....

21.05.2026 20

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

I can't mute the leaf blower but I can mute Pauline

It's a toss up. Assailed by the whine of a leaf blower on the weekend, I'd all but decided it was the most annoying sound known to humanity....

21.05.2026 20

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

Nothing like a flash of colour among the bills

It arrived five weeks after we returned. A postcard sent from the Central Post Office in Hanoi, it had made its way to Australia by sea. Subscribe now...

20.05.2026 20

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

Nothing like a flash of colour among the bills

It arrived five weeks after we returned. A postcard sent from the Central Post Office in Hanoi, it had made its way to Australia by sea. Subscribe now...

20.05.2026 20

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

A spiky tale of our most enigmatic native animal

They moved through the forest almost silently, silhouetted against the early morning light shining through the trees. Suddenly stock still, his ears...

19.05.2026 20

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

A spiky tale of our most enigmatic native animal

They moved through the forest almost silently, silhouetted against the early morning light shining through the trees. Suddenly stock still, his ears...

19.05.2026 20

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

Ignore the sandwich generation at your peril

Now, I want you to look me in the eye and tell me - honestly - you've never broken a promise. Of course, you can't. Subscribe now for...

18.05.2026 30

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

Ignore the sandwich generation at your peril

Now, I want you to look me in the eye and tell me - honestly - you've never broken a promise. Of course, you can't. Subscribe now for...

18.05.2026 20

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

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...

14.05.2026 30

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

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...

14.05.2026 20

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

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...

13.05.2026 20

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

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...

13.05.2026 20

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

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...

12.05.2026 30

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

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...

12.05.2026 20

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

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 20

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

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 20

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

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

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

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

06.05.2026 30

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

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

05.05.2026 20

The Examiner

John Hanscombe

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 20

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe

May the focus be with you - in the cinema

04.05.2026 30

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 20

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 20

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 20

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 30

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 20

Canberra Times

John Hanscombe