Joan Westenberg As the backlash against the inclusion of trans and non-binary Australians continues, medical experts fear media rhetoric may hurt the wellbeing of gender-questioning youth.

Drew Rooke With overseas countries rejecting more and more of Australia’s recycling, the federal and state governments are finally working towards a solution – 10 years after industry experts warned of the impending problem.

Paddy Manning According to a confidential report, Australia’s largest private training college raked in hundreds of millions in public money before its collapse, despite abysmal completion rates. A senior figure in the sector fears it could happen again.

Bri Lee On their second album, Wild Seeds, Seeker Lover Keeper took a more collaborative approach to songwriting. While the process was challenging, it created a more cohesive record and deepened the three musicians’ friendship. “It’s a real relief when you can relax and lean into that,” says Sarah Blasko. “You don’t have to get everything right or have all the perfect ideas. It’s really nice to see each person take the song forward at a different moment and you can kind of rest in that.”

Lidia Thorpe The cruel irony in this standoff for the protection of our cultural heritage is that it occurs against a backdrop of the Andrews Labor government’s current process to negotiate a treaty with Victoria’s First Nations. The way our concerns, elders and cultural values are being dismissed gives us no confidence they will undertake the current treaty negotiations with Traditional Owners in good faith.

Stan Grant ‘What would they know, what would they know, what would they bloody know, about being a blackfulla.’ It is a penetrating line in the documentary The Australian Dream. Gilbert McAdam – an Indigenous football hero – reminds us of an enduring truth in Australia. Too many white Australians just don’t know what it is to be Indigenous. Most Australians still admit they have never met an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person. What would they know about invasion, dispossession, stolen children, segregation? What would they know about the harsh realities of black lives in Australia?

Paul Bongiorno Whoever chose the venue for the first day of the federal parliamentary inquiry into press freedom had a sense of humour. At least, it tickled the funny bones of journalists assigned to the story when they learnt the inquiry was to be held at the New South Wales Masonic Club in Castlereagh Street, Sydney. Famous for centuries as a secret society, that organisation is not so furtive these days, and the hope of Australia’s major media organisations and human rights campaigners is that our government and its agencies will follow suit.

It’s an old, persistent lie: that traffic is a race issue, that failing infrastructure is the responsibility of migrants rather than the governments that build it. Said often enough, it allows politicians to blame congestion on people who look different. This is a useful trick and it’s one Scott Morrison is playing.

Jonathan Pearlman Top Russian nuclear scientists killed; Scott Morrison at Pacific Islands Forum summit in Tuvalu; Hong Kong protests continue as Chinese media gets involved; conspiracy theories surround death of well-connected sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Richard Ackland Well, that was a fine start to the post-Hayne banking royal commission litigation. The regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, went down in a heap in its action against Westpac, where it alleged the bank was in breach of responsible lending laws in relation to more than 260,000 home loan applicants. ASIC claimed the lending formula applied by the bank meant borrowers could be led into hardship because their ability to service the loan was insufficiently appraised. Not at all, said Justice Nye Perram in the Federal Court. Borrowers could simply refine their spending habits when times got tough, citing a money-saving move away from wagyu and shiraz to something more affordable – Spam and rice, perhaps.

Brodie Lancaster With their brilliant new album, The Center Won’t Hold, Sleater-Kinney’s defiantly feminist brand of punk remains vital as ever, 25 years after they began making music.

Ella Donald After almost 50 years, major technical problems and multiple legal challenges, the film recording of Aretha Franklin’s legendary Amazing Grace performances has been released at last – and it’s worth the wait.

Alice Whitmore A cup of tea at home with musician Gabriella Cohen.

David Moyle

Ann Deslandes The Mexican state of Guerrero offers iconic beaches, culinary delights and a pleasing climate. But for tourism promoters trying to sell it as a dream destination it has one major hitch – a frighteningly high crime rate.

Tracey Holmes Swimmer Mack Horton’s stand against drug cheats, while admirable, brings into focus the double standard over who is doping and who is seen to have made an innocent mistake.

Cindy MacDonald Test your general knowledge with our weekly quiz.