"How we present success used to be the car or the house. Now it's how we look."

If you ask UK philosopher Heather Widdows, we're living in an "epidemic of body image anxiety".

More of us are opting for body modification than ever, and many of us are judging the choices others are making.

So Widdows is calling for a culture shift that would downgrade the status of beauty in our lives.

Would it change everything? Find out more in this article from our latest series of RN Presents, Face Value.

Next, meet Omar Sakr and George Haddad, two young Arab Australians using fiction to address complex personal and political histories.

Both their debut novels centre on bisexual protagonists whose lives unfold in Western Sydney during the racist political climate of the 2000s.

Read more in this article by Smriti Daniel.

And if you've ever wondered what's so compelling about a sad song, this article has the answer. 

Until next time,

Rosie Ryan, digital editor
 

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Many Australians wish they could change the way they look. How can we take back control of this unhealthy fixation?

They grew up without queer role models, but now these two debut novelists turn to fiction – and to bisexual protagonists – to address complex personal and political histories.

Sad music can make us feel less alone, more validated and, well, anything but sad. Here's what's going on when you crank those melancholy tunes.