Van Badham

Victoria

Columnist at The Guardian

Co-Host at The Week on Wednesday" with Van Badham & Ben Davison"

Writer at Freelance

@Guardian columnist, @WeekOnWednesday co-host, theatremaker, commentator, TV dilettante. Email: [email protected]. In my spare time I write books.

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Articles

Our obsession with spoiling pets has gone too far: your dog doesn’t care if its collar is from Burberry | Van Badham

4 days ago | theguardian.com | Van Badham

A delightfully fluffy expenses controversy emerged in Queensland in the past week. The ABC reported that the chair of a Queensland government-owned company “faced questions” after billing the taxpayer for a hotel stay with a luxury accommodation package for his dog.
What are the viral Labubu dolls and why are the fluffy toy monsters so popular?

2 weeks ago | irishexaminer.com | Van Badham

Labubu dolls first hit the market in 2019, but in 2025 they‚Äôre sustaining a viral moment. We should ask ourselves why. News.com.au reports that recent ‚Äúdrops‚ÄĚ of the toy in Australia have seen queues form for blocks around its distributor, Pop Mart, with 3am-risers racing to meet the arrival of restocked merchandise. A Pop Mart spokesperson insists such a mania in pursuit of the highly-collectible plushies and miniatures has gripped Australia ‚Äúlike never before‚ÄĚ.
A fluff ball with a monster face: what explains the luxury appeal of Labubu dolls? | Van Badham

3 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Van Badham

Labubu dolls first hit the market in 2019, but in 2025, they’re sustaining a viral moment. We should ask ourselves why. News.com.au reports that recent “drops” of the toy in Australia have seen queues form for blocks around its distributor, Pop Mart, with 3am-risers racing to meet the arrival of restocked merchandise. A Pop Mart spokesperson insists such a mania in pursuit of the highly-collectible plushies and miniatures has gripped Australia “like never before”.
The ‘womanosphere’ is the latest cultural propaganda assault on young womanhood. Will it work? | Van Badham

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Van Badham

Fun news from the Guardian’s “Everything is Awful” desk this week: the “womanosphere” cometh. The article heralds the arrival of “a crop of conservative personalities … convincing young women of a gender-essentialist worldview”. What does such essentialism entail? The woman holding a sign reading “Make him a sandwich” is a strong clue. “Be thin, fertile and Republican” is the Guardian’s conclusion.
America used to fire the world’s imagination – but now the cultural conversation is being silenced | Van Badham

1 month ago | theguardian.com | Van Badham

This week, fresh data revealed the United States has seen its biggest drop in Australian tourists since Covid. It’s hardly surprising. Innocent people are being snatched by authorities from American streets. Citizens of foreign countries are being stopped, shackled and detained. The EU is now sending its emissaries with burner phones, lest personal social media posts critical of President Trump be discovered by border agents and … who knows what happens next?
America used to fire the world’s imagination – but now the cultural conversation is being silenced

1 month ago | msn.com | Van Badham

Microsoft Cares About Your PrivacyMicrosoft and our third-party vendors use cookies to store and access information such as unique IDs to deliver, maintain and improve our services and ads. If you agree, MSN and Microsoft Bing will personalise the content and ads that you see. You can select ‘I Accept’ to consent to these uses or click on ‘Manage preferences’ to review your options and exercise your right to object to Legitimate Interest where used.
Gen X men: if you don’t find the strength to inoculate boys against the manosphere, what men are left? | Van Badham

2 months ago | theguardian.com | Van Badham

“The fitness coach starts his very early morning routine by removing a piece of tape from his mouth,” CNN reports. The “manfluencer” in question, Ashton Hall, spends the rest of his day dunking his face in ice water, rubbing banana peel on his skin and chugging down “Saratoga Water”. This is apparently the modern western definition of hardcore masculinity.
The impact of Trump 2.0 on Australia is evidence of how American we suddenly aren’t | Van Badham

2 months ago | theguardian.com | Van Badham

Australians have found the behaviour of our American cousins challenging of late. Cultural differences yawn as wide as the Pacific between us. We were not sad to see “the baby wombat grabber” go. The first mistake made by Montana-based tourist Sam Jones, Online Influencer, was to snatch a joey from its mother at night. Her second mistake was to sway the frightened creature in front of some gormless chucklehead who filmed her – giggling – and to upload the footage to the internet.
Dutton has backed more funding to women’s health. But the political record is worth revisiting

Feb 11, 2025 | msn.com | Van Badham

Microsoft Cares About Your PrivacyMicrosoft and our third-party vendors use cookies to store and access information such as unique IDs to deliver, maintain and improve our services and ads. If you agree, MSN and Microsoft Bing will personalise the content and ads that you see. You can select ‘I Accept’ to consent to these uses or click on ‘Manage preferences’ to review your options and exercise your right to object to Legitimate Interest where used.
Dutton has backed more funding to women’s health. But the political record is worth revisiting | Van Badham

Feb 11, 2025 | theguardian.com | Van Badham

Who here remembers that Peter Dutton was once health minister? Don’t worry if you don’t. Events of the week suggest that he doesn’t seem to, either. It’s a historical detail relevant to note in the wake of Labor’s landmark half-billion-dollar commitment to women’s healthcare, announced on 7 February. In this policy arena, as in others, historical accuracy in the stories political movements like to share about themselves can be somewhat slippery.

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