Smith Journal – Volume Ten

Oh, and plenty of exclamation marks! So in the spirit of this flimsy theory, here is: “Six Reasons This Volume Will Blow Your Socks Off!”.

Content

• Fast food mysteries solved! One of the great unanswered questions of modern society is: “What’s inside a Chiko Roll?” We remove the greasy wrapper to find out about this Australian icon.
• Beer! Beer! And more beer! A profile on the father and son team behind a fast-growing Victorian craft brewery; a tasty brew from Wagga Wagga reviewed; and a chat with some Brisbane folk pairing craft beer with bakery treats.
• Bogans, Rednecks, Zefs and Neds! You probably recognise a couple of these labels, but leave any biases behind because we spent over six months getting interviews with these four, and their words and insights might surprise you.
• A plan for the end of the world! Heard of a seed bank? It’s where scientists attempt to collect samples of every plant on earth, just in case it all goes belly up and we need to start over again. We tour the most impressive of them all – at least when it comes to nicknames – which is the Doomsday Vault, near the North Pole.
• Die socialist scum! Do you choose to be a communist or capitalist or are you simply born one? Where you grew up and what school of thinking you’ve been fed plays a huge role. We kick around the idea that ’70s South America might have changed the economic universe, if it had been left alone.
• Hollywood’s very own James Franco! We had five writers choose a classic video game and spin it into a dark piece of contemporary fiction. Mr Franco was one of the authors, and you won’t believe what he’s done to Zelda.