My first article for Cosmos, Australia’s premier popular science magazine. This is a profile of National Geographic “Explorer In Residence”, rock-star anthropologist and ethnobotanist Wade Davis, who recently visited Australia for some speaking engagements. Here we discuss his own journey, the value of culture, climate, and what anthropology can teach about conflict and a changing world. … Continue reading
A different take on Mother’s Day: In Papua New Guinea, where maternal deaths are amongst the highest in the world, 44 per cent of women of fertile age and in a relationship report an “unmet need” for contraception. That means they have little if any capacity to space, delay or stop having babies. My story for … Continue reading
In stellar company in the May edition of The Monthly, talking shit – my shit, and the microbiome, the exploding medical frontier of our gut. Now unlocked! You can find it by clicking here. Continue reading
Sadly The Global Mail’s archive has been shut down, but visitors to this blog note that I have today restored links to all my blogged PNG/Global Mail stories. Note these snapshots are a bit clunky and some images have vanished so keep scrolling past the blanks or you may miss lots of text! TGM was … Continue reading
This is my essay of a journey to another Manus Island. The one that fascinated legendary anthropologist Margaret Mead for 50 years. The one lost in the furore of Australia’s controversial ‘PNG Solution’, but forever changed by it. Now unlocked by The Monthly, so you can view it here. Continue reading
After 10 days on the island and months of research, my longform report on life on Manus, and how Australia’s detention centre has changed it – for good and for ill. Reporting of this series made possible by an independently awarded grant from GetUps Shipping News project. By Jo Chandler/ Pics Vlad Sokhin. Link here. … Continue reading
The first of several reports from Manus Island, PNG, examining the effects of Australia’s asylum seeker policy on the people and island of Manus. Reporting of this series made possible by an independently awarded grant from GetUps Shipping News project. By Jo Chandler/ Pics Vlad Sokhin. Link here. Continue reading
This is a modified extract of my longer Lowy analysis (see below) published by The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald and featuring the photographs of my colleague Vlad Sokhin. It focuses on a single, shocking event in a village outside Wewak late last year – the rape by police of a teenage girl – … Continue reading
In this long analysis published by the Lowy Institute, I draw on recent interviews, my older notebooks, and the expert insights of PNG commentators, specialists and anthropologists to explore a range of questions around the endemic violence against women in Papua New Guinea. My principle concern is to explain to a wider readership how, and … Continue reading
My feature for New Scientist magazine, looking for the white lemuroid possum – the endangered polar bear of the tropics – in the cloud forests of Far North Queensland. (Sorry, subs required)- Link here Continue reading
Notebook & Narrative by Jo Chandler 