The Bug Issue!

21 February 2014 #452

Cover Story: The Bug Issue!

They might be small, but Australia’s insects punch, sting, sing and crawl well above their weight. This edition, we’re focusing on all things creepy-crawly: entomologist Ken Walker explains why Australia is a bug-lover’s paradise, Sam Rodgers reveals his bed-bug horror story, Howard Goldenberg warns of antibiotic-resistant superbugs and Alan Attwood waxes nostalgic on his first car – a VW Beetle.

Rebecca Harkins-Cross meets moustachioed movie maverick John Waters; Dan Rule chats with Afrobeat icon Femi Kuti; Emily Laidlaw talks Middlemarch with George Eliot-enthusiast and literary critic Rebecca Mead, and, in ‘Roving Eye’, we present images of Perth’s Mobile GP, a medical service available to homeless and marginalised people in the Western Australian capital.

The star of this edition’s ‘Vendor Profile’ is Alfred from Brisbane. And we have ‘Streetsheet’ contributions from Malcolm in Perth, Colin C in Melbourne, Karra S in Adelaide and Marc L, Bradley W, David S and Helen in Sydney. There’s some info, too, on our upcoming Melbourne Barefoot Bowls fundraiser. We’ve roped in Clare Bowditch, Tim Rogers and Mick Thomas and the Roving Commission to perform live on Sunday 2 March. More info at trybooking.com/cieb.