Neil McMahon

‘It’s a bit addictive’: why the sport of pickleball is surging in Australia

By Neil McMahon January 14, 2023 — 1.40pm , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Julie Campbell could hardly be more steeped in Australian tennis tradition — she was a successful junior, and daughter of a Wimbledon winner — and later in…

ABC delivers a largely controversy-free New Year’s Eve broadcast

January 1, 2023 — 1.54am , register or subscribe to save articles for later. It was, as ABC co-host Charlie Pickering said at the kick-off of the New Year’s Eve broadcast, almost normal. “After a few rough years, life is now as normal as it can be,”…

As 2022 becomes 2023, we’re waiting to reach the end of the queue

By Neil McMahon December 31, 2022 — 5.30am , register or subscribe to save articles for later. As 2022 staggers to an end, there are deep questions to ponder, so let’s start with this one: what the hell was that? In search of a metaphor to match the…

Novak’s coming back, and hoping for Melbourne’s Open heart

December 6, 2022 — 10.27am , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Novak Djokovic will come to Australia at the end of this month with a bag full of hopes, the biggest one being that he can make history with a 10th Australian Open title.…

Let’s not pretend Elon Musk suddenly made Twitter awful

November 1, 2022 — 2.45pm , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Twitter, what is to become of you? We can’t live with you. And we can’t live without you. Or can we? As Elon Musk takes charge, we are about to find out. Let me be clear:…

A kitchen full of silver linings

This week a Facebook Memory reminded me of the single silver lining I should take away from two years of isolation: the joy I found in endless hours in the kitchen. But my experience of the pandemic years was different to most. Some things are best…

Going to the dogs at the dinner table

There is increasing evidence that dogs are taking over the world, and the world includes places where we eat food. Should dogs be allowed in the kitchen? At the table? In a restaurant? In a cafe? In a bar? In a world increasingly run by humans for…

I knew Olivia Newton-John, and she was exactly who you thought she was – and more

By Neil McMahon August 10, 2022 — 5.30am , register or subscribe to save articles for later. In 2017, when Olivia Newton-John announced that her breast cancer had returned, the world was once again united in willing her to recovery. In private, it…

Judith Durham valued adversity and blessings in disguise

By Neil McMahon August 7, 2022 — 1.57pm , register or subscribe to save articles for later. It took tragedy for Judith Durham to realise just how much Australia and the world loved her. As she lay in hospital in 1990 after a car accident that had…

Lunch with the Neighbours? I should be so lucky

I was 18, and so were most of the people I was having lunch with this day, early in 1986. I’d never met any of them, nor heard of any of them. How strange it is to write that now, looking back at what came next. (For them, not me, I should note.) One…

Measuring Melbourne’s mood as the city weathers another COVID winter

By Neil McMahon July 16, 2022 — 7.52pm , register or subscribe to save articles for later. As Melbourne faces another winter blighted by COVID, Catherine Williams speaks for many when she says simply: “I’m exhausted.” Williams has more reason to be…

Do Australian fans like Kyrgios? It’s complicated

July 7, 2022 — 4.01pm , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Wimbledon still has a couple of days to go, which is helpful because 48 hours gives us time to have another 48 opinions on Nick Kyrgios, to add to the thousands of opinions…

The rise and (slight) fall of a liveable city

Let me tell you a story about my hometown, and along the way ponder the idea of what makes a city ‘liveable’? Liveability is an odd preoccupation to have, but once you dive into the subject it becomes quite diverting, and this is certainly true for…

From Kerry O’Brien to Leigh Sales: Have ABC send-offs become too self-indulgent?

By Neil McMahon July 1, 2022 — 5.30am , register or subscribe to save articles for later. The ABC may be marking the grand age of 90, but the old girl doesn’t do low-key celebrations like it used to. As Leigh Sales departs the broadcaster’s most…

All hail the humble dimmie

Whenever I’ve been abroad, there has always been one thing I’ve hankered for when I get off the plane in my hometown. As food icons go, Melbourne’s favourite locally invented snack is a humble one, but comes with a hint of the exotic and is…

Teal, Green and hung: When a colourful election result makes for gripping TV

By Neil McMahon Updated May 21, 2022 — 11.34pmfirst published at 9.49pm , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Federal election 2022 Full election results ALP 71 LNP 52 IND 10 GRN 3 OTH 2 76 seats needed for a majority 13 Still to call…

Inside MasterChef Australia – much more than a cooking show

There’s no show quite like MasterChef if you’re looking for a warm hug. And MasterChef Australia offers the warmest hug of the genre. TGIFood’s Neil McMahon, who lives in the city that is home to the globally beloved show, gives a homeboy take on the…

Was Masterchef worth skipping to watch the first leaders’ debate?

April 20, 2022 — 9.26pm , register or subscribe to save articles for later. On Masterchef they call it a “croquembouche”. In politics, they call it “a leaders debate”, but it’s much the same thing: very hard to get through it without mucking up and…

How Nigella saved Australia’s food capital from its pandemic blues

I am happy to report this works for people and for cities, as my hometown of Melbourne discovered this past weekend when the (ironically) self-titled Domestic Goddess came to town to help us celebrate the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. Now, to…

With Warnie’s passing, a little bit of Melbourne has also gone

March 5, 2022 — 4.43pm , register or subscribe to save articles for later. The MCG will now have its S.K. Warne stand, but when it comes to choosing a corner of Melbourne to honour him we are surely spoiled for choice. What about a bathing box at…