A tinge of sadness in this June 2017 edition of Meanjin: it includes the last Commonplace column filed by John Clarke before his death in April. Published with the kind permission of his family it is a beautifully turned and now poignant piece.

Clarke's longtime home, the ABC, is the subject of the major essay in this Meanjin edition. Margaret Simons takes a long hard look at the broadcaster's past and present … and a future very much in contest. Katharine Murphy 'who'd be a politician'; Terry Barnes argues for the rise of the 'sensible centre'; and Shannon Burns writes in defence of the white working class. There's new fiction from A.S. Patric and Stephanie Bishop and as always a fine selection of new Australian poetry, including work from Judith Beveridge, Anthony Lawrence, Ben Walter and Owen Bullock.