Amy Bloom, Ben Markovits and Barbara Truelove on love, basketball and monsters
Amy Bloom is the American author of ten books (including White Houses) and her new historical novel, I'll Be Right Here, begins in wartime Paris and follows an unconventional, chosen family into the 21st century. The famous French author Collette has a cameo role too. Amy Bloom also shares the two things that matter to her most and why she writes about love in all its forms.
Of Monsters and Mainframes is the debut novel of the Australian author and game designer Barbara Truelove. It's a genre mash of science fiction and pulp horror and is largely narrated by a sentient spaceship.
The Rest of Our Lives is the 12th novel by British-American writer Benjamin Markovits and has recently been longlisted for the Booker Prize. It follows Tom, who's in a middle aged rut, as he sets out on a road trip across America and visits people from his past. Ben also talks about his failed career as a professional basketball player, the parallels between basketball and writing, and how a health crisis enriched the writing of this latest book.
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ABC News
19 minutes ago
- ABC News
New research links hundreds more deaths to major bushfires in Los Angeles and Hawaii
Poor air quality, health care delays and a surge in suicides have been blamed for hundreds of deaths following large-scale bushfires in Los Angeles and Hawaii. That's according to three separate reports released this week by the scientific journal JAMA. The number of suicide and overdose deaths in Hawaii jumped by 46 per cent in August 2023, when fires spread across the island of Maui, according to one report. Those fires burned more than 2,200 structures and killed more than 100 people directly. Lung problems and mental health issues also increased following the disaster, according to separate research. A third paper looking into the Los Angeles wildfires in January found 440 deaths — compared to the official death toll of 30 — could be attributed to the destruction. Researchers from Boston University's Department of Global Health compared the expected weekly death rate for LA to the actual tally. They found the additional deaths likely reflected a combination of factors, including "increased exposure to poor air quality" and health care delays. The Palisades fire in California sparked up during heavy winds on January 7, ripping through the affluent LA neighbourhood. It killed at least 12 people and damaged nearly 8,000 homes, businesses and other structures. The same day, a second fire started in the eastern suburb of Altadena, killing another 17 and destroying or damaging more than 10,000 buildings. Other fires ignited across the area in the following days and weeks. The new study out of Boston University looked at the excess deaths in Los Angeles County from January 5 to February 1. For each week, they compared the expected deaths and the actual number of deaths in the area. The weekly deaths "consistently exceeded" the expected amount — with a total 6,371 deaths in that time compared to the expected 5,931. This meant, they concluded, an excess of 440 people died during the wildfires. "The findings … highlight the need for improved mortality surveillance during and after wildfire emergencies." Co-author Dr Andrew Stokes said researchers had suspected the official death toll after the fires was likely a "severe under-count". "We used an excess mortality modelling framework to obtain estimates of the wildfires on all-cause mortality," he said. "[This included] deaths associated with exposure to toxic chemicals in wildfire smoke and deaths associated with health care interruptions and delays. "These gaps are commonly found in research comparing mortality estimates to official death tolls associated with natural disasters. He added future research should investigate additional cause of death data, hospital records and administrative claims to narrow down the specific reasons for extra deaths. In August 2023, a series of wildfires broke out across the island of Maui in Hawaii. Like the Los Angeles fires, these were sparked by dry conditions and extreme winds. Four separate fires burned for weeks across the area, killing at least 102 people and destroying thousands of homes. In the wake of the fire there was also an increase in calls to Hawaii's suicide and crisis helpline, according to research out of New York University. There were 13 deaths from overdose and suicide in Maui in August 2023, and 59 in non-Maui counties of Hawaii, the highest in a 120-month time period and a 46 per cent increase on all other months. The jump in numbers was not sustained throughout the following four months. "Results show that the 2023 Maui wildfires had immediate effects on suicide and overdose deaths in Maui and across the Hawaiian islands broadly," the report said. "[The statewide rate] suggests that direct exposure to the wildfires may have increased risk of suicide and overdose death among Maui residents who migrated to neighbouring islands during or after the fires. "Indirect exposure to the wildfires [like] concerns for loved ones may have also increased the risk of death from these causes on neighbouring islands." Their report noted however that only four months of post-wildfire death data was available, adding their findings were limited by lack of information on exact dates of death and migration data. The research was supported by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. The second Maui report found there was an increase in economic hardship, food insecurity, and lack of healthcare in the wake of the fires. Almost a quarter of the 1,043 people surveyed by researchers at the University of Hawaii were experiencing very low food security. This was more than double the pre-disaster rate. "Mental health burdens were also substantial, with depressive symptoms exceeding historical pre-wildfire estimates. "Pre-wildfire mental health prevalence in Maui County indicated baseline depression rates of 30 per cent, low self-esteem prevalence of 13 per cent, and suicidal ideation in less than 1 per cent of the population." The survey found 4.6 per cent of participants experienced suicidal ideation, 26.1 per cent reported low self-esteem and 49.4 per cent showed "clinically meaningful depressive symptoms". Their report was backed by the Hawaii Community Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, the State of Hawaii and a grant from the National Institute of Health. All three reports published by JAMA were peer-reviewed. Andrew Gissing, chief executive of Natural Hazards Research Australia, said the reports were important, but not surprising. "What you're seeing in terms of those excess death statistics, we've seen that here in Australia as well," he told the ABC. "Post-Black Summer, there's been some similar research done [which found] there were excess fatalities due to wildfire smoke in the hundreds. "The implication for wildfire management across the world is that as much as we concentrate on the actual fighting of these fires, we need to make sure that we're very much focused on the public health impacts there as well. "That messaging to stay indoors, to minimise exposure to bushfire smoke [is] obviously really key during these events." The research about ongoing mental health impacts, he said, could be attributed to the "long tail of disasters". "We often measure disasters by their direct impact, insurance losses or how many people immediately were injured or killed," he said. "What we see are these longer tail impacts due to the trauma and the physical impacts of those events." Dr Sonia Angell, from the Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health said the research highlighted the failure of current responses to extreme weather events. "Each of these studies provides a unique example of how [emergency] health measurements … such as direct fatalities do not sufficiently capture the full health impact of wildfires," she said. "Climate health impacts can occur long after an event or be unassociated with extreme events." The Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Authorities Council (AFAC) said in its latest bushfire outlook there was an "unseasonable bushfire risk" this winter. The council noted a heightened risk of fire in large parts of Victoria and in southern areas of South Australia. "[There's] this concept of worsening natural hazard risk that we're facing in Australia," Mr Gissing said. "That's been driven by climate change increasing the frequency of extremes, but it's also due to our own decisions about where we choose to live and build our homes into the future as well. "That means we're seeing some people being more frequently exposed [to disasters] than others, particularly in those high-risk areas. "And with each extreme, we know the compounding trauma of that only makes things worse.'
News.com.au
28 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Lindsay Lohan's sequel ‘mildly exhausting' Why sequel to Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis' cult movie Freaky Friday is ‘mildly exhausting'
With a belated Disney sequel, some quality homegrown horror and the return of a stone-cold comedy classic, it's a good week to head to the movies FREAKIER FRIDAY (PG) Director: Nisha Ganatra (Late Night) Starring: Lindsay Lohan, Jamie Lee Curtis, Julia Butters, Sophia Hammons *** As is the case every other month lately, it is back-to-the future time in the world of Disney. The latest dip into the famed studio's extensive catalogue of classic properties is Freakier Friday, a revival of a famous mother-daughter body-swap premise that first surfaced in the 1970s. The key reference point for this busy, fizzy sequel is the 2003 edition of Freaky Friday, in which Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan experienced an inter-family switcheroo in amusing and endearing style. The same coupling returns in pleasing enough fashion, with Curtis' Tess now a podcasting psychologist specialising in how to be a great grandmother. As for Lohan's Anna, these days she is a single mother who is still working in the music business like before, albeit as a producer instead of a performer. If you're assuming these two will be trading physical identities once again, you have got it all wrong. This time around, courtesy of a chance encounter with an incompetent psychic, Anna will be reversing roles with her rebellious teenage daughter Harper (Julia Butters). As for Tess, she is about to exchange bodies with another teenager, her step-granddaughter-to-be, Lily (Sophia Hammons). The presence of Lily in this complicated set-up requires a little explaining. Her father, a British chef named Eric (Manny Jacinto) is about to marry Anna after a whirlwind romance. Neither Lily nor Harper are looking forward to becoming part of a new family unit, as they are mortal enemies at high school. For such a simple movie, Freakier Friday has a lot of plotting for its audience to process, and not all of the storytelling enhances an increasingly convoluted experience. In fact, with two sets of body-swaps in play at any one time, most viewers will find themselves concentrating hard to keep track of who is who, and just as importantly, who isn't who. (Do the maths: one body-swap means two possible combinations of mother-daughter mayhem, while two body-swaps blows the total number of combos out to twelve!) Occasionally, this means Freakier Friday can present as mildly exhausting, when it really should be effortlessly entertaining. The saving graces, of course, are Curtis and Lohan, who both have serious skills when it comes to finding the funny in not having to act their age. Their younger co-stars Butters and Hammons also rise admirably to the challenges posed to them as performers, even though their brash, bratty characters prove difficult to warm to. Freakier Friday is in cinemas now. TOGETHER (MA15+) *** General release That time-honoured metaphor about couples sticking together no matter what gets put to a staggeringly literal test in Together. Most unsuspecting viewers won't see what's really in store for them here. And once they do gather what Together is really up to, there's no way they will ever truly unsee what happens next. Initially at least, the movie presents an authentic and amusing portrait of a long-term couple who have hit that point where both commitment and contentment are two very big issues. Millie and Tim (played by real-life partners Alison Brie and Dave Franco) still want each other, but are giving clear signals they may want different things from their relationship. All of this and more comes to a dramatic head one fateful night, where Millie and Tim must take sudden refuge from a torrential rainstorm. For reasons best not mentioned here, the pair's problems are manifested in a body-altering (or is that body-merging?) form that is increasingly confronting to witness. If you were tough enough to make it through The Substance, then you should be able to cope with the high-concept horrors Together intends to unleash. Just don't say you weren't warned. THIS IS SPINAL TAP (M) Selected cinemas Now rightly recognised as one of the great movie comedies of all time, this gut-bustingly funny rockumentary makes a welcome return to the big screen ahead of a much-anticipated sequel dropping next month. For those arriving late to the party, Spinal Tap is an ailing metal band who just won't call it a day, despite the ever-increasing selectivity of its appeal. Filmmaker Marty DiBergi (Rob Reiner) tracks brain-addled Brits David St Hubbins (Michael McKean), Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) and their eclectic entourage as they try to complete the concert tour that will cement their position at the bottom of the charts. The layering of the jokes is dense, the behaviour captured on camera even denser, and the satire of heavy metal's heaviest excesses is on-the-money from beginning to end. Throw in an unexplained series of dead drummers, a microscopic stage re-creation of the Stonehenge monument, and a songbook pushing lyrics and melodies to their absolute limits, and the perfection is complete.
Daily Telegraph
6 hours ago
- Daily Telegraph
Cirque du Soleil Corteo brings death-defying acts to Sydney
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News. How do you beat all the camera-wielding tourists to the best view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge? Climb a ladder. That's what Russian circus performer Roman Munin did on his first visit to the Harbour City as he prepared for his part in Cirque du Soleil's new show, Corteo. The production, featuring angelic aerial acrobatics, musicians and contorting artists on ribbons in the air, tells the story of a clown named Mauro, imagining his funeral as a festive parade with angels watching over him. Acrobatic ladder performer Roman Munin performing a gravity-defying move.. Picture: Sam Ruttyn Cirque du Soleil is scheduled to perform at Qudos Bank Arena from September 4-14. Picture: Sam Ruttyn The new show, Corteao, tells the story of a man who uses a ladder to cross between Heaven and Earth. Picture: Sam Ruttyn Munin, who began training for the circus at the age of six, plays a blind character whose ladder acts as a bridge between heaven and Earth. He said his character's disability did not stop him being able to 'feel things and angels and interact with them'. 'Our team is amazing and the atmosphere is so great,' he said. 'I think the audience can see it on stage. I'm definitely passionate about it.' Corteo will be performed at Qudos Bank Arena from September 4-14.
