The Sydney Morning Herald logo

The November 5 Edition

From Blackburn to New York, stardom to sporting pariah: Ben Simmons’ basketball life | The ever-mercurial Cate Blanchett | Bob Dylan deconstructs Blue Suede Shoes | Tom Boyd on leaving the Aussie rules life | Marriage after a brain injury

16 stories
Cate Blanchett has resisted all efforts at typecasting, with roles including an elf, Queen Elizabeth I, a Russian intelligence agent – and even playing opposite herself.

‘The Bach of acting’: Why Cate Blanchett is impossible to pigeonhole

In everyday life, the actor has been likened to mercury – always in motion and shapeshifting. And her new film, Tár, perfectly showcases this elusiveness.

  • Jordan Kisner
A losing play in a 2021 final made Ben Simmons the most hated player in US basketball.“Everyone’s been tearing me down for a year,” he says. “It sucks.”

From our greatest basketball export to US sporting pariah: Can Simmons bounce back?

Touted as a “once-in-a-generation talent”, Ben Simmons signed a $US170 million contract, even dated a Kardashian – then things went sour. What really went down?

  • Konrad Marshall
Dylan, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016 “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”.

Dylan’s take on a rock ’n’ roll classic – and why Elvis would land a Nike deal

A joyous ode to cobalt brogues, or a game-changing reflection of society? Nobel Prize-winner Bob Dylan offers a fresh riff on a 1950s standard.

  • Bob Dylan
Advertisement
Selinger-Morris as a child in Canada in 1976.

‘I’d waited 18 years for this moment’: How I finally found help in handling grief

After struggling for decades to deal with the loss of her much-loved father, a daughter finds solace in the comfort of strangers.

  • Samantha Selinger-Morris

‘I actually gave back money’: Former AFL star Tom Boyd on losing his love of playing

The former Western Bulldogs player talks about the challenges of too much money, his record-breaking contract, and the joy of gaining control over his life.

  • Benjamin Law
“When we look back, we can see how far we’ve come.”

‘I catapulted into the sign head-first’: How a brain injury redefined a marriage

Bruce Powell proposed to his wife Anita on a dance floor 28 years ago. A serious brain injury in 2018 changed their relationship.

  • Tim Elliott
  • Graphic content

Good Weekend Talks: The lure of a sex cult: ‘I fell in love with this ecstatic vibe’

In this episode of Good Weekend Talks, journalist Anke Richter discusses how cults lure people who’d never consider themselves New Age – nor gullible.

Easy listening: Why you can’t be lonely in New York

Do New Yorkers project more than everyone else when they speak, or are they all just closer to each other?

  • Amelia Lester
Advertisement

Is dining going to the dogs?

Pet-friendly cafes and hotels have become the norm. But why is no one talking about the downside?

  • Terry Durack

I’m petrified of scary films. Should I go to my friend’s horror movie premiere?

Our Modern Guru suggests some tips that won’t leave you shaking in your boots.

  • Danny Katz

Cat call

Paul Connolly’s Kitchen Sink Drama is a slice of domestic life, captured masterfully in only 100 words. This week: When a cat comes calling.

  • Paul Connolly
Lamb, beef and vegetable sausage rolls with pistachios.
EASY

Karen Martini’s lamb, beef and vegetable sausage rolls

Karen Martini likes to up the vegetable content in her sausage rolls – it’s barely noticeable, though it lightens and balances the meat filling.

  • 1-2 hrs
  • Karen Martini
Strawberry, elderflower and pistachio cake.
EASY

Helen Goh’s strawberry, elderflower and pistachio cake

This is a pretty – and easy – spring cake that’s perfect for afternoon tea. Helen Goh loves the whimsy of the strawberry slices, but other berries, stirred in, will work too.

  • 1-2 hrs
  • Helen Goh
One Trick Pony.
14.5/20

Melbourne: One Trick Pony

This Fitzroy filly has quite a few tricks in her repertoire, and all of them are pretty impressive.

  • Besha Rodell
The former boathouse is the closest thing we have to Italy’s coastal ristorantes. But is it worth the the drive? Callan Boys takes a punt.
14.5/20

Sydney: Cottage Point Inn

The former boathouse is the closest thing we have to Italy’s coastal ristorantes. But is it worth the the drive? Callan Boys takes a punt.

  • Callan Boys
Good Weekend Quiz online index image

Good Weekend Quiz

Trivia buffs: test your knowledge.

Other editions

The March 28 edition

The friends who took Aussie style to the world | The ‘three fs’ that made a Perth author a global hit| Nike’s battle of the brands | Making a perfect lamington

  • 13 stories

The March 21 edition

Stephanie Alexander and The Cook’s Companion at 30 | Free-diver Ant Williams | Debra Adelaide and Gabrielle Carey | How to deliver a baby on a plane

  • 11 stories