Published 11 June 200911 June 2009 · Main Posts Wright, Macrae, Martinkus Jeff Sparrow Online now is Clare Wright’s piece on Lola Montez, Andrew Macrae’s review of local SF and John Martinkus’ memoir of journalism in Afghanistan, which begins as follows: In September 2005, it seemed from afar that things were going well for Afghanistan: so well that my first proposed story on that country had already been cut from twenty-five to fifteen minutes by an uninterested management before I even left Sydney. There was the perception that the country was on the right track, that Iraq was still the main game. Sure, there were still some isolated acts of violence, mostly in the border areas, but in the capital, Kabul, I was surprised at the lack of roadblocks, the presence of foreign troops and the ease with which foreigners travelled around the city in local taxis and sometimes on foot. Maybe it was the company I was keeping but no-one seemed overly concerned about security. As I had been kidnapped in Baghdad the previous October, I was a little more cautious than others about potential threats. Still, I remember on the first night having drinks and socialising with a few old friends in a stylish bar in Kabul and thinking, well, maybe things weren’t going too badly, maybe the international community was welcome. That feeling didn’t last long. Read the rest here. Jeff Sparrow Jeff Sparrow is a Walkley Award-winning writer, broadcaster and former editor of Overland. More by Jeff Sparrow › Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places. If you like this piece, or support Overland’s work in general, please subscribe or donate. Related articles & Essays First published in Overland Issue 228 28 March 202428 March 2024 · Main Posts Why we should value not only lived experience, but also lived expertise Sukhmani Khorana In the wake of this year’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, I want to extend the central idea of El Gibbs’s 2022 essay on 'lived expertise' and argue that in media accounts of racism, analytical expertise and lived experience ought to be valued together and even in the same body. First published in Overland Issue 228 5 March 2024 · Main Posts Andrew Charlton’s school assignment Alex McKinnon Australia's Pivot to India exists for three reasons: so that when Andrew Charlton is interviewed on the radio or introduced on Q+A, his bio includes the phrase "he has written a book about Indian-Australian relations"; to fend off accusations that he is another Kristina Keneally engaging in electoral colonialism in western Sydney; and to help the Albanese government strengthen economic and military ties with Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.