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The Fix: Beauty and bravery | Lowy Institute
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The Fix: Beauty and bravery
In this new Interpreter feature, we’re inviting short observations about issues or resources that might otherwise be missed.
Dr Bec Strating is Director of La Trobe Asia and Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations at La Trobe University, focusing primarily on maritime disputes and Australian foreign policy.
We’re asking contributors to put together their own short collected observations like this one – as always, if you’ve got an idea to pitch for The Interpreter, drop a line via the About page.
Anyone who followed the captivating Ben Roberts-Smith defamation trial will enjoy journalist Nick McKenzie’s Crossing the Line, which provides an insiders take on the accusations against the former SAS solider, the high-profile trial, and the pressures of conducting investigative journalism in Australia. I took McKenzie’s advice on Twitter to grab the book “before the next legal challenge sees it pulled” – an effective marketing strategy!
An image showing a collection of Bec Strating recommendations
In a different vein, I enjoyed Elise Hu’s Flawless, an eye-opening examination of the culture and politics of the Korean beauty industry. It did help me understand why, of all the places to which I have travelled, it’s only Seoul that I returned from with a suitcase heaving with skin care products.
My favourite new podcast If Books Could Kill skewers non-fiction airport bestsellers. The best episodes target some of the most infamous international politics texts such as the End of History and Clash of Civilisations, which – despite their obvious flaws – continue to find prominent places on undergraduate reading lists.
Finally, on a nautical theme [Eds note: Told you], I’m part way through Isaac Kardon’s exceptionally well-researched China’s Law of the Sea, a must read for those seeking to understand maritime disputes in East Asia and how China seeks to assert itself as a great power.
