HandleBar Adelaide - pub on wheels

The HandleBar Adelaide uses vehicles devised by brothers Henk and Zwier Van Laar in Amsterdam in the 1990s. The four-wheel, open frame vehicles, the size of a family car, have allowed fans to take in dozens of US, European and Asian cityscapes, beer in hand, since the vehicles were first tested. Americ-an Stephen Lindsay and Australian Jason Seris operated 9 of the Amsterdam-manufactured vehicles in the U.S since they took up the venture in 2012. The vehicles were brought to Adelaide in 2016 by Lindsay & Seris because the 2 men found the project has most positive impact in smaller cities. The two men chose Adelaide because they liked the size. From experience in the USA, they found that a somewhat smaller city was generally more receptive

Driving down Franklin St

Experience Adelaide

The men met extensively with Adelaide City Council and State Government agencies to ensure compliance in safety, food and alcohol service, waste disposal, suitable city routes and stopping points. The final stages of securing a liquor licence for the vehicles was critical.

Australia’s first pub on wheels in Adelaide is an open framed, pedal-powered mobile music, fun and drinking experience, offering two-hour tours of the city centre. The bike allows 16 customers to book a tour, pedalling around the CBD at 10 ks per hour, and the company provides the driver. They are tot-ally powered by the pedalling passengers with the driver-bar handler guiding its braking and direction. Each side also has a seat over the wheels, which means they don’t have pedals. Each bike also has a bench in the back that seats 3 people who want a rest and is perfect for those who don’t fit the height (5’3” min) and weight limitations (136 k max).

The HandleBar is great for pre-wedding parties, birthdays, corporate team building and Christmas parties. Australia’s only pedal pub ride includes beer, Adelaide wine, pre-mixed spirits and cider that can be pre-ordered and prepaid online while pedalling around Adelaide’s city centre. Wear sunscreen and hat in summer, comfortable clothes and avoid high heels! The pedal-power exercise is VERY energetic!

 

The driver controls the steering wheel and brakes

Adelaide Mums' Group

Though the vehicle’s speed is provided collectively by the pedalling drinking passengers, steering-braking is the sole responsibility of the driver/bar handler. And while they’re cruising around the city, the bike itself the license making it legal to drink on. So the designated driver  maintains control of the vehicle at all times and the riders don’t have control of steering or braking. And the Adelaide City Council controls vehicle compliance and safety, food and alcohol service, waste disposal, suitable city routes and hotel stopping points en route have been satisfied. Lindsey, who drives one of the vehicles, says he and Seris were in discussion with local bars about stopping off during the tours, choosing handpicked, small pub-crawl stopping points for their customers. For comfort onboard, drinks are pre-organised and paid for online before leaving the starting point, so there no need for cash. If a customer thinks that pedalling tends to make him peckish, he can bring snacks on board. If the whole group pre-books food, everyone can enjoy progressive dinner sampling at some of Adelaide's favourite eateries.

The HandleBar Homebase

Tripadvisor

While the tour drives around,  the customers pedal the streets of Adelaide, enjoying a drink to remain hydrated. Making 2-3 stops along the way, and waving to pedestrians, it is heaps of fun! Sip and sing through Adelaide's vibrant WestEnd aboard a giant party bike. HandleBar trips are Adelaide's most talked-about experiences.

A vehicle can operate with as few as 6 people, people who can decorate the bike, and play their own tunes for a personal touch. There is only one thing I, Helen, cannot find i.e confirmation that the bikes feature electric assistance so groups can pedal less and party more if they choose. I hope it is true. I broke the bottom of one leg 2 legs ago and could not pedal even some of the time.

An organised tour filling two vehicles

Adelaide Mums' Group

Bookings for groups cost $400 Sun-Thu, $500 Fri-Sat. The minimum number per bike is 6, the maximum per bike is 16. Larger parties can rent multiple bikes, the price per party bike remaining fixed regardless of party size. Get details and start planning the adventure at The HandleBar.

Reducing injections for US children :(

I’ve cited Kat Lay’s “What effect will Donald Trump’s childhood vaccine recommendations have in the US and beyond?” Since appointed in 2025, Secretary Health & Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr sought to loosen vaccine regulations. Kennedy is a leading vaccination sceptic who has for years increa-sed dishonesty about vaccines. A study found he was the top super-spreader of Covid-19 vaccine deception on Twitter/X in 2021. He tried to reshape US vaccination schedules but his attempts were blocked by federal judges. So reporters were told that judges’ rulings were not the same as an Executive Order. In a CNN interview, Kennedy insisted he’d never questioned the MMR vaccine’s efficacy. The proposed changes were to give parents choice, not to limit access to vaccines.

Pres Trump signs order to reduce childhood vaccines & reduce autism 

and Sec of Health Kennedy is the witness

Aug 2026, WSJ

A new Executive Order from US Pres Donald Trump wants wide changes to childhood vaccine recom-mendations. His plans would result in fewer vaccines being recommended overall; the combined measles, mumps and rubella/MMR vaccine being replaced with 3 separate vaccines, and all childhood immunisations being administered during separate medical visits widely spread out. Is there any science behind the Order? And what are the likely implications?

The main outcome could be parental uncertainty, American Academy Paediatrics said, with conflicting messages delaying vaccinations. Noting measles cases are already at a 35-year high in US, the concern was that with any extra delay, more children could be harmed with deadly vaccine-preventable diseases. Clearly an executive order has no legal effect on the public, but it’s likely to pressure US states to change vaccination requirements before children can attend schools. And it prepares for legal challenges against states that implemented their own vaccine recommendations.

The Order won’t be copied in other countries, said Prof  of Global Health & Development, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. No country wants to deal with the costly outbreak responses that occur, but the short-term risk is that non-USA parents get the false impression that the vaccines offered aren't safe. The long-term risk is that poor information will lead to lower vaccination rates in the nation, and the world will see a resurgence of previously prevented diseases. Finally non-vaccinated U.S children might visit other countries and spread diseases abroad.

Why did Trump do this? He’d often claimed that vaccinations causes autism and made the same link when signing this Order. After the Order, World Health Organisation-WHO reiterated the science-based process used to set child immunisation schedules in many nations. WHO told a press conference that vaccine schedules must be made by science experts, free of political control.

Do MMR vaccines cause autism? Prof Child Public Health at Uni College London found no link in any scientific studies; in fact the vaccine has saved millions of lives. False claims linking the MMR vaccine and autism were made by British Dr Andrew Wakefield in 1998 in Lancet Medical Journal. His paper was retracted and Wakefield was struck off the UK’s medical register. But he’s been lauded by anti-vaxxers and he attended Trump’s 1st inauguration.

Is there any science supporting the breaking up of MMR vaccines into separate injections? The 3 vaccines have never been administered as separate doses to young children in U.S policy, so that policy’s safety statements are untrue; just by delaying protection it could be a serious step backwards for protecting children’s health. Giving them separately.. leads to risking children’s health.

Prof Paediatrics at Bristol Uni asked would these proposals affect vaccination rates? Studies of communities with low vaccination rates typically find that, while hesitancy can be an issue, accessibility also plays a role eg getting children to many health appointments. Spacing vaccines across separate visits increases the likelihood of delayed or missed doses, leaving children susceptible for longer.

ACRC trials poster

Protect yourself and your family from measles with vaccinations

Instagram

Trump signed an Executive Order to limit childhood MMR vaccines, claiming a link between vaccines and autism. Decades ago children got only a small fraction of the vaccines required today, he said. In those times, people were much healthier and of course the high rates of autism now observed did not exist. The President has long cast doubt on the safety of MMR vaccines, even though studies found no connection between MMR vaccines and autism.

Medical experts criticised Trump’s Order, saying it could reduce vaccination rates & expose children to disease. The Order recommends that the number of childhood vaccines drop to 11 from today's 18, given by American Academy of Paediatrics: measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, polio, chicken pox etc. Trump's Order isn't as a mandate, since injections required for school attendance are set by the states, not by the federal government.

Trump stated the MMR vaccine could be quite lethal if given at once, comparing it to pouring a bottle of soda into a child's body. FDA noted a single dose of MMR is 0.5ml so when a reporter asked for evidence of the lethal claim, Trump said What I've heard is that there are some people that say it is that way. We're reducing the vaccines, and they’ll be done in a series of visits to the doctor.

Paediatrician prepares to administer a measles vaccination

during Washington's outbreak

Mother Jones

Centres for Disease Control and Prevention/CDC reported the MMR vaccine carries little risk of febrile seizures for todd-lers; those with health issues eg severe allergies should consult doctors beforehand. Getting the vaccine has proven much safer than getting measles/mumps/rubella. CDC found no published scientific evidence that shows any benefit in separating the mixed MMR vaccine into 3 individual shots. Experts say that allowing time between injections makes children more likely to contract diseases then or more likely to miss later appointments. (I’ve the best memory in this nation yet embarrassingly I forgot to return for my 6th Covid injection!!). Nashville’s Vanderbilt Uni School of Medicine reported the more future bookings made, the harder for doctors to track, plus it would add to expenses.

Trump officials have said the order means U.S children would receive fewer than the number recommended by the existing vaccine schedule. Pres of American Academy of Paediatrics Dr Racine said Trump's Order was not based on quality science. Delaying injections is risky; measles will spread once children go back to school.

A Danish 2002 MMR Study, in New England Journal Medicine, tracked 537,303 children born 1991-8. Another nationwide cohort study evaluated 657,461 children born 1999-2010, carefully looking at children with high-risk factors. The 2025 study, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, analysed data from 1.2 million+ children born 1997–2018. The three Danish studies found no association, reaffirming that the MMR vaccine does not increase autism risk.

It's not my business what other nations do, but I have 3 first cousins in US & would be devastated if their babies died.

The best Art History texts to read

ARTNEWS ass­emb­led a list of 11 must-haves books that cover art history, from class­ical antiquity to now. Art history is a flexible discipline, subject to revisions as things change. Below I have included the books I know and found excellent.

Gombrich

The Story of Art

1. Penelope & Davies et al, Janson’s History of Art For 60+ years, Horst Janson’s large book was the key text for first Art History courses, promising a wide overview of painting, sc­ulpture and architecture from earliest history on. For the most part, only women artists were criticised. $250.

But a 2006 revision largely wrote Janson out of his own book, though the title remained. Works cited as masterpieces eg James Whistler Whis­t­ler’s Mother (1871) were ignored, while  ignored arts (photo-graphy, decorative arts) were added. As were female artists. And it replaced Janson’s focus on the male artist as genius with a more comprehensive reading that considers race, class and gender. Though this most recent edition (2013) is now old, it remains useful.

2. Hal Foster, Rosalind Krauss et al, Art Since 1900 Compiled by contributors associated with October, the art-critical quarterly known for its dense writing, Art Since 1900 was published in 2005 as a corrective to st­and­ard art histories, while being aimed at a broad­er readership. Now published as a 2-volume set, the book retains Oc­t­ober’s thorny attit­ude; it is sceptical of the notion that art em­bodies indiv­idual ex­p­res­sions that transcend time. So the book does­n’t follow the develop­ment of modernism, anti-modern­ism and post-modernism through movements or artists. Rather it treats C20th art to a textual deconstruction with short essays tied to cultural or hist­oric­al events for each year 1900-2003, starting with the publication of Sig­mund Freud’s Interpret­ation of Dreams. $160

3. Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Artists.  Vasari (1511-74)’s biographies of the Italian Renaissance’s key players introduced the concept of art history we know. Many of his subjects were his near contempor­aries, making the text a primary source for studying the era that ushered in art’s Western tradition. First published in 1550, Lives covers the period bracketed by Cimabue (1240–1302) and Mich­elangelo (1475–1564) and is prefaced with a gen­eral treatise on ar­chitecture, sculpture and painting. Later historians faulted Vas­ari for being too focused on Florence’s and Rome’s artists, though the book was enlarged in 1568 to include Venetian artists like Tit­ian. But while Lives didn’t look beyond Italy, its influence sp­read rap­idly in Europe, the first translation being in the Dutch Republic (1604).

Janson's History of Art: The Western Tradition

by Davies & Hofrichter, 2015

5. HH Arnason, History of Modern Art (1968) It has 650+ daunting pages, but ever since its appearance it has served as the essential account of C20th art. The book begins with C19th Paris when artists like Manet, Monet, Gaugin, Van Gogh, Seurat and Cezanne created the first modernism. It contin­ues by recounting the major move­ments: Cubism, Dada, Bauhaus, Surr­ealism, Abstract Express­ionism and Pop Art that impacted the past 100 years of painting, scul­pture and architecture. Using good illust­rations and clear lang­uage, read the story of a rev­olutionary era that trans­formed our thinking about the world and art’s place in it. History of Modern Art is often updated.

6.  Ernest Gombrich The Story of Art, 1950 He noted there was real­ly no such thing as Art; there were only artists. Thus he set the tone of what has become one of art history’s most pop­ular works. Avoiding sweeping discussions of movements, Gombrich focused on individual works of art and the figures behind them. Ex­cept for a few divers­ions into ancient and tribal art, this invar­iab­ly meant Western, male paint­ers. Still Gombrich took a re­mark­able stance for an art historian by maintaining that art his­tory can obscure, as well as clarify the experience of art by relaying inf­or­m­ation unnecessary to the act of seeing. Linking artists as diverse as Raphael and Cez­anne across time, Gombrich insists that they all faced similar chal­lenges in their work. Their intentions matter.

7. Phaidon eds, The Art Book Smart and lavishly produced, this directory of artists across history is valuable. Ranging from the Middle Ages on, the book features 500 artists, each given a lush treatment: a full-colour reproduction of a key work printed with breath-taking det­ail. Each entry has a brief text with a clear career over­view of the artist. Since the artists are pres­ented alphabet­ic­ally, meet unexpected juxtapositions of eras and styles eg one pairing C17th Dutch painter Hendrick ter Brugghen and contemporary Frenchman Daniel Buren. Though The Art Book loves painting, it also covers sculpture, photo­gr­aphy & installations.

Vasari,

Lives of the Artists

8. Richard Shone and Jean-Paul Stonard eds., Books that Shaped Art History: From Gombrich & Greenberg to Alpers & Krauss While an art history book about art history books is self-referential, this compilation of essays covering C20th milestones is a reminder of how closely de­velopments in art are tied to changes. Linking a wide-ranging group of leading sch­olars & curators, The Books that Shaped Art History examines 12 volumes that introduced critical con­cepts understand, starting with Relig­ious Art in C13th France by Émile Mâle in 1898. An early study of medieval art, Mâle’s book was one of the first to use icon­ography to unlock the mean­ing of images. Heinrich Wölfflin’s Princ­iples of Art History (1915) form­ulated the now common method of comparing artworks on style. The Books that Shaped Art History looks closely at how writing has shaped art and vice versa. 

**

To read the books I was not familiar with, go to ARTnews September 7, 2023:

Mary Beard and John Henderson, Classical Art: From Greece to Rome; 

Sharon F Patton, African-American Art; 

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood eds, Art in Theory 1900–2000; and 

Whitney Chadwick, Women, Art and Society)

epidemics - Clean Body: Modern History

The Clean Body, by Peter Ward

2019

In the midst of the global Covid pandemic, the author of The Clean Body: a Modern History (2019) showed that not only has the concept of clean been in flux throughout modern history, but that it is a social construction. Peter Ward made a convincing argument that what constit­uted cleanliness was a shifting ideal that could rest on one’s ability to pay for it.

In Ward’s timelines it became clear that from C16th-C17th, the body was not the main object of cleanliness. Instead the focus was linen undergarments. Clean people were those who had washed their vis­ib­le skin and who wore freshly washed underwear, something that many of the poor could not afford. As Ward explained in ab­sorb­ing detail, washing laundry was a physically demanding pursuit, requiring hours of difficult manual labour and a substantial amount of water in a world without plumbing and space to wash and dry.

  

Even as cleanliness became bodily, the poor faced challenges. When indoor plumbing is taken for granted, it is easy to forget that the emergence of bathrooms was very gradual. Bourgeois enthusiasm for regular bathing may have taken root in the late C18th, but the poor did not have the space or resources to do it, even with the emerg­ence of charitable and commercial public baths from 1840s on.

In many ways, technology was the major force behind the upsurge in personal cleanliness. What Ward called the Laundry Revolution ush­er­ed in an era where, from 1937, mechanised laundry cut labour drama­tically and allowed for clothes to be cleaned in the home or in a launderette. Simultaneously, the emergence of hot and cold running water allowed for daily washing.

These developments were exploited by clever advertising on the part of soap and detergent companies. Cleanliness was now a health goal, a beauty standard that was aggressively marketed. The expect­ations created by such marketing clearly took hold to a great extent.

Ward has written a rare thing: a history of the clean body, and also a history of societal expectation, technological innov­at­ion, class, privacy and spare time. This is one of those uncommon works that makes the everyday hardship of the past come to life, while at the same time making the reader critique their own exp­ect­ations about the world. This is a masterful work, to be recommended.

**

As I have shown in this blog, sanitation legislation was not passed in Britain until two public health acts arrived: the 1st Public Health Act of 1848 and the 2nd Public Health Act of 1875. The 1848 Act was passed in the wake of a cholera out­break that killed 52,000 people and provided a framework for local authorities. The 1875 Act gave local author­ities new pow­ers such as being able to pur­chase and repair sewers, and to cont­rol water supplies. So the later C19th saw a boom in pub­lic conven­iences across Britain, on high streets, railway stations and work­places. How could citizens even keep their hands clean until then, let alone their bodies?

The Cholera Pandemic of 1846-8 probably started in Mecca, spread to Russia, Great Britain and eventually to the USA. Lack of treatment of human faeces and lack of treatment of drinking water greatly facilitated the spread of the disease, and bodies of water were found to serve as a reservoir.

Now the question is: how much would body cleanliness reduce the rampant spread of infectious diseases across the world? Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported the following findings:

50% of healthy people have Staphylococcus aureus living on their nasal passages, throats, hair or skin.

In 15 minutes of bathing, average people shed 6 x 106 colony forming units of Staphylococcus aureus.

Each swimmer contributes 0.14 gm of faecal material to the water, within 15 minutes of entering. Show-ering with soap before swimming helps stop germ spread by removing faecal material from the body.

Washing hands with soap and water could reduce diarrhoeal disease-associated deaths by up to 50%.

A large percentage of foodborne disease outbreaks are spread by dirty contaminated hands.

Using alcohol gel hand sanitiser in classes showed a 20% reduction in absenteeism, due to infect­ion. 

And NB that handwashing can reduce even the risk of respiratory infect­ions by 16%!

A mask that totally covered the mouth and nose,

and social distancing

Recommended or mandated in 2020

So even though pandemics were spread via coughing, sneezing, sex, birds, farmed swine etc, the respiratory route was the mechanism most likely to lead to pandemic spread in 2020-1. Of course global travel has greatly increased the proportion of the globe open to infection and the speed of the spread across the interconnected world.

  

So with the recent pandemic, the timely detection of disease, av­ailability of basic care, tracing of contacts, quarantine pro­ced­ur­es and preparedness outside the health sector remain very crit­ical factors. As does public health infrastructure, including water and san­itation systems. The Clean Body book was not wrong; it just could not totally account for the control of modern epidemics like Covid19. Thank you to Dr Eleanor Janega for her review.

Scientists and doctors who opposed Covid vaccinations, masks and careful hygiene were very dangerous. And not just Covid. The theme for World Health Organisation Conference in 2020 reinforced the importance of handwashing with soap in order to prevent infection from other infectious diseases eg lassa fever, cholera, common cold, some foodborne diseases and some gastrointestinal disorders. 

Heritage architecture: Robin Boyd Aus

Kitchen with built-in cupboards and timber benchtops 

architectureau

Joseph Eichler’s (1900-74) name became synonymous with the single-family, modern homes that helped define suburban Los Angeles and San Fran­cisco from 1949 on. Hiring progressive archit­ects, his designs fo­cused both on modern Californian taste and on pleasant Calif­ornian climates. So his designs grab­bed attent­ion: 

streamlined kitchen built-ins, 

multi-purpose room adjoining the kitchen, 

radiant-heated floors, 

wood panelling, 

gabled ceilings, 

floor-to-ceiling glass walls and 

classic atrium that melded indoor-outdoor living.  The post-&-beam construction, and open floor plans were de­signed around the cen­tral atrium. The California Modern style was indebted to Frank Lloyd Wright & Mies van der Rohe.

After Eichler in the USA, Robin Boyd (1919-71) started to de­sign his version of Californian Modern in Australia, mainly from the early 1950s on. One home over 2 lots in Tannock St in Bal­wyn, in Mel­b­ourne’s leafy east, was an early example of Boyd's influent­ial work: 1949. The house was originally de­signed for pharmacist Don Wood and was called Wood House. The home is one of the few sur­viving examples of Boyd’s early work as a sole practit­ioner, prior to his famous partner­ship with Roy Grounds and Frederick Romberg .

 As published in Australian Home Beautiful in Oct 1950, Boyd’s Wood House became famous for its split level planning and its small foot­print that maximised the space and out­look. The Wood family com­missioned Boyd to sympathetically ex­tend the house in 1959 with two more bed­rooms, a re­creation room and a flat-roofed garage. The second sympathetic extension occurred in 1971 when Boyd added across the street frontage.

Some years ago, this innovative Melbourne house by Boyd was at risk of demol­it­ion, after the property was listed for sale and described as an opp­ortunity to buy vacant land by the estate agent. Note that no images, no architectural details and no historic information about the house were included in the listing.

A detailed report was written by Research by Built Heritage in 2015 for Boroondara City councillors. This heritage study noted the house was an early, innovative & in­t­act example of Boyd’s work from the austere early post-war period. They urged that Wood House was an architecturally significant heritage site that needed protection. Yet an ap­plic­ation to subdivide the land was soon made, on hold because there was no demolition app­lic­ation.

So why did the councillors reject the advice to protect the home? They rejected the Heritage Study’s recommendations re protecting prop­erties, citing "the financial impact of the proposed herit­age cont­rols". So although the house was one of the first projects Boyd undertook after opening his own solo practice, and was among relatively few surv­iving examples from his special work, the Council would not give Wood House heritage protection.

TV room with a glass wall and glass doors to the patio

The Age

In Aug 2020 an online pet­it­ion called for the home to be pro­tect­ed, started by senior lecturer at Monash Architecture Dr Jacqui Alexander. It said: it was one of three outstanding early and sub­st­antially intact houses by Robin Boyd in the study area which coll­ectively provided rare and valuable evid­ence of the in­novation and bold design approach­es of a young architect starting an illus­trious career. Archit­ect­ur­ally the house was a signif­icant achieve­ment in modern home-building at a time when materials and labour were still due to war-time restrict­ions. The house showed many ideas eg open-planning, split-levels and window walls that were very inn­ov­ative in 1949. Later adopted by others, these elements recurred throughout Boyd's own career.

Dr Al­exander called on Boor­an­dara Council to heritage protect the home and prevent it from demolition. “It is a tragedy that this important exam­ple of post-war Australian modernism looks likely to succumb to the same fate as many other significant homes in Bor­oon­dara. From the social and cultural perspective, it documents the kind of upward mobility of families in the post-war period".

The petition encouraged the Council to officially recog­nise this home and prot­ect it from potential demolition, hoping to raise awareness of this house’s existence, att­racting a buyer who saw its architectural value. She described the house as ‘an important ex­am­ple of mid-century modernism in Melbourne, and in spite of material shortages at the time it was built, the de­s­ign was innovative and ambitious.’ The house incorporated fine ideas that revolutionised Aust­ral­ian domestic design, promoting a new, optim­is­tic image of the suburbs of Melb­ourne. It offered the prom­ise of affordable and dignified design for working Australian families.

Looking into the open-planned family room from the tv room

Wood House by Robin Boyd, 1949

architectureau

Protected homes in Boroondara had been demolished under a controv­ersial 2018 state planning amendment that allowed property owners with an existing council building permit to demolish buildings, de­spite interim heritage orders. Happily the govern­ment has since reversed the amendment; hopefully the new heritage will stop hist­orically significant properties being demolished. Bor­oondara coun­cillors un­anim­ously agreed to write to Planning Min­ist­er Richard Wynne to ask that inter­im and permanent protect­ions be extended to the home. I think Joseph Eichler would have been proud.

Who'll win 2026 Booker Prize, by John Self

2026’s International Booker Prize shortlist writers are a diverse group, both geographically and in style, from main-stream blockbuster to experimental wittiness. Independent presses are rewarded for their efforts in promoting translated fiction, and recognising the translators.

1.German-Iranian novelist Shida Bazyar in her novel The Nights Are Quiet in Tehran (Scribe), translated by Ruth Martin, reminds that Iranians are the victims of history many times over. The story comes from 4 members of an Iranian family over 30 years. In 1979, young Behzad greets the Islamic revolution that deposes the Shah, but his hopes for a communist utopia are thwarted. Instead he’s surrounded by people who have been waiting for the chance to become bullies for life. He and his wife Nahid flee to Germany: she takes the story in 1989 & their daughter takes it in 1999.

Laleh visits Iran, amazed by the cultural differences from Germany. In 2009, Laleh’s brother Mo hears about protests across the Middle East, and his excitement: As soon as Ahmadinejad is gone, it’ll kick off in Egypt too and eventually all the dictators will be out; this is even more heart breaking given Iran today. A timely novel doesn’t always deliver but this one’s empathy could make it worthy.

2.The Witch (Vintage) translated by Jordan Stump is a deep cut from French novelist Marie NDiaye’s back catalogue in 1996. When my daughters turned 12 I initiated them into the mysterious powers, it opens irresistibly. Narrator Lucie has divination powers and can see people’s futures, and when she does, she cries tears of blood. She dislikes being a witch but still teaches her daughters, as her mum taught her.

Set against this weirdness is a complex comedy of domestic discontent: Lucie’s timeshare-salesman husband runs off with the family money; then she tries to reunite her separated parents. She begins to lose everyone, and her powers fail to help her; thus the book raises knotty questions about making use of our capabilities. This accessible but surprising novel is perfect for newcomers to NDiaye, but the acceleration of events as the story proceeds and the arbitrary ending is frustrating. It probably won’t win.

Shortlisted books in 2026

The Booker Prizes

3.In Brazilian Ana Paula Maia’s previous novel Of Cattle and Men, cows were slaughtered. Now in On Earth As It Is Beneath, translated by Padma Viswanathan, it’s the men’s turn. A penal colony for the worst criminals started out with 42 inmates: now there are only 3 prisoners as the warden, eaten away by the system he defends, keeps releasing, hunting and shooting them. Authorities are coming to close the colony down!

Strangely this book has classic sitcom elements: people who can’t get along, stuck together & facing one mess after another. The tension between absurdity and grotesque violence gives the book an effervescent energy, and turns it into an existential thriller, all in 100 pages. Confusion reigns, power balances shift, and nobody on the outside cares what happens to the men anyway. This brilliant novel is loosely connected to Of Cattle and Men; an eccentric but very deserving contender.

4.The most formally inventive book on this year’s shortlist is Bulgarian Rene Karabash’s She Who Remains (Peirene), translated by Izidora Angel. It’s narrated by a 33-year-old woman in rural Albania living under archaic traditions. The narrative jumps about, mostly told in a prose poetry without full-stops. Details bubble up through repetition: her violent father’s disappointment (your father wanted a son, but out came you); how years ago Bekija jilted her fiance and revenge was exacted by his family. Bekija decided to become a sworn virgin, i.e a woman who lives as a man.

There is powerful eye-catching and stomach-turning activity, plus a love story hidden deeply in the backstory, but the book’s eccentric form keeps the reader at a distance, and many elements will only make sense retrospectively. This may have benefited the novel in the Booker stakes, where the judges gain the benefit of things a first-time reader might miss. Still, this spiky story looks unlikely for the prize.

5.Equally experimental but more approachable is Taiwan Travelogue by Taiwanese writer Yáng Shuāng-zi, translated by Lin King. What’s going on here? What’s going on is a novel disguised as a rediscovered travel memoir, complete with multiple afterwords and fictional footnotes alongside the translator’s real ones. It’s set in 1938, where a Japanese-Taiwanese novelist Aoyama goes on a food tour of Taiwan.

Aoyama has monster appetites, which may be concealing something else: she grows fond of her female guide Chi-chan, but struggles to articulate it. Whenever I start craving something, anything, my stomach burns with this insatiable greed. You’ve been the only one to appease this monster. But social strictures of gender & class (Chi-chan is a concubine’s daughter) make things harder. This is a simple love story that educates as it entertains, though it takes a long time to get to where it’s going. The complex structure seems more like window dressing than essential to its ideas. It will charm many, but may not be weighty enough to win.

6.Daniel Kehlmann’s The Director (Riverrun), translated by Ross Benjamin, is the most mainstream novel here: delightful and illuminating literary fiction that animates the wartime experiences of German film-maker GW Pabst, one of the great directors. A master, a legend. Trapped in Germany when the borders close, Pabst must decide whether he will work for the Nazis if that’s the only way he can get to keep making films. The book is full of big characters, real and invented, an obsequious anti-Semitic caretaker; a threatening government minister; Leni Riefenstahl with her skull-like smile. Pabst believes I’m not a political person, but he must learn that everything is political now. No one can ignore what is happening: not film-makers; not prisoner of war PG Wodehouse, who narrates one chapter; not even humble critics. Critics? We have no critics! Criticism is a Jewish genre that no one needs. It is not only its traditional form and direct plot that make The Director stand out on the shortlist, but its range, wit and chilling relevance. This would be a very popular winner and a fully deserving one. The winner will be announced on 19th May.

What should win this year’s International Booker? by John Self Mon 18 May 2026. Winner to be announced at Tate Modern London, Tuesday 19th May 2026.

Life expectancy 2025, country & gender

Life Expectancy at birth of the world's populations, based on the latest United Nations Population Division estimates.

World Map Life Expectancy at Birth, UN 2023, Wiki:

Dark green: Aus & NZ, Canada, Japan, W & Sth Europe etc

Light greens: USA, Brasil, Peru, Chile, China, Russia, Algeria..

Yellow & Orange: Sth Africa, Egypt, Libya, Zambia, Angola..

Countries ranked by life expectancy (2025): 

Rank	Country	Life Expectancy both sexes	Females Life Expectancy	Males Life Expectancy
1	Hong Kong	85.77	88.39	83.1
2	Japan	85	88.03	81.99
3	South Korea	84.53	87.4	81.44
5	Switzerland	84.23	86.06	82.34
6	Australia	84.21	85.97	82.43
7	Italy	84.03	86.01	81.94
8	Singapore	84	86.48	81.53
9	Spain	83.96	86.59	81.27
11	Malta	83.63	85.51	81.69
12	Norway	83.61	85.09	82.11
13	France	83.58	86.31	80.73
14	Sweden	83.58	85.34	81.84
15	Macao	83.42	85.49	81.26
16	UnArabEmir	83.23	84.44	82.37
17	Iceland	83.15	84.57	81.8
19	Canada	82.88	85.03	80.74
20	Israel	82.77	84.81	80.67
21	Ireland	82.75	84.72	80.79
22	Portugal	82.72	85.37	79.89
23	Qatar	82.68	83.6	81.96
24	Luxemb'g	82.49	84.06	80.91
25	Neth'lands	82.45	83.98	80.89
26	Belgium	82.43	84.57	80.26
28	New Zealand	82.39	84	80.77
29	Austria	82.29	84.57	79.97
30	Denmark	82.25	84.1	80.39
31	Finland	82.24	84.91	79.6
32	Greece	82.22	84.6	79.74
33	Puerto Rico	82.08	85.5	78.5
34	Cyprus	81.99	83.93	80.05
35	Slovenia	81.94	84.58	79.33
36	Germany	81.71	84.01	79.42
37	U. Kingdom	81.6	83.45	79.72
38	Bahrain	81.58	82.26	81.03
39	Chile	81.54	83.37	79.67
41	Costa Rica	81.19	83.72	78.6
42	Taiwan	80.94	83.88	78.09
43	Kuwait	80.78	82.15	79.63
44	Oman	80.45	82.21	78.95
45	Czechia	80.11	82.85	77.35
46	Panama	79.96	82.84	77.1
47	Albania	79.95	81.74	78.12
48	United States	79.61	82.11	77.22
49	Estonia	79.48	83.3	75.35
50	Saudi Arabia	79.19	81.51	77.56
51	New Caldnia	79.07	81.53	76.63
52	Poland	78.98	82.61	75.31
53	Croatia	78.92	81.95	75.8
54	Slovakia	78.65	81.84	75.41
55	Uruguay	78.45	82.17	74.59
56	Cuba	78.45	80.84	76.06
57	China	78.37	81.25	75.65
58	BosniaHerz.	78.24	81.23	74.88
59	Jordan	78.13	80.46	76.06
60	Peru	78.12	80.45	75.82
61	Colombia	78.09	80.77	75.36
62	Lebanon	78.08	79.99	76.02
63	Iran	78.05	79.99	76.22
64	Antigua Bar	77.94	80.6	74.93
65	Sri Lanka	77.85	80.9	74.65
66	Turkey	77.82	80.82	74.94
67	Ecuador	77.76	80.46	75.08
68	Argentina	77.69	80.16	75.14
69	Nth Maced	77.68	79.83	75.41
70	Guam	77.63	81.74	73.89
71	Montenegro	77.43	80.6	74.12
72	FrenchGuian	77.37	80.3	74.52
73	Hungary	77.33	80.46	74.07
74	Curaçao	77.17	81.1	72.87
75	Serbia	77.14	80.35	73.89
76	Malaysia	76.99	79.67	74.63
77	Tunisia	76.9	79.5	74.34
78	Thailand	76.83	81.17	72.65
79	Algeria	76.69	78.13	75.3
80	Aruba	76.64	79.06	73.99
81	Barbados	76.49	78.91	73.93
82	Latvia	76.48	80.72	71.94
85	Lithuania	76.32	80.92	71.61
86	Romania	76.25	79.82	72.74
87	Brazil	76.2	79.3	73.14
88	Armenia	76.01	79.73	71.76
89	Bulgaria	75.96	79.51	72.52
90	US Virgin Is	75.92	81.6	70.95
91	Morocco	75.68	77.96	73.54
92	Brunei	75.67	77.9	73.65
93	Grenada	75.52	78.64	72.67
94	Mexico	75.45	78.17	72.63
95	Mauritius	75.27	78.5	72.28
96	Nicaragua	75.27	77.74	72.64
97	Bangladesh	75.19	76.94	73.55
98	Vietnam	74.88	79.49	70.23
99	Ukraine	74.86	79.54	69.99
100	Bahamas	74.86	78.46	71.21
101	Georgia	74.82	79.36	69.93
102	Belarus	74.79	79.37	69.94
104	Kazakhstan	74.67	78.65	70.43
105	Paraguay	74.11	77.22	71.14
106	DomincnRep	73.99	77.23	70.79
109	North Korea	73.86	76.02	71.66
112	Russia	73.52	79.32	67.69
115	Libya	73.19	75.26	71.23
117	St. Palestine	73.1	76.86	69.72
118	India	72.48	74.13	70.95
119	Syria	72.99	75.42	70.58
120	Guatemala	72.89	75.21	70.57
121	Venezuela	72.84	76.82	69.05
122	Uzbekistan	72.66	75.7	69.68
123	Iraq	72.53	74.33	70.59

Apologies for the other (mainly tiny) countries that I ran out of space for.

Our World In Data explains a problem. The term "life expectancy" refers to the number of years a person can expect to live. By definition, life expectancy is based on an estimate of the average age that members of a particular population group will be when they die. In practice, however, things are often more complicated. 

An important distinction is the difference between cohort and period life expectancy. The cohort life expectancy is the average life length of a particular group of individuals born in a given year. When we can track a group of people born in a particular year, many decades ago, and observe the exact date in which each one of them died, we can calculate this cohort's life expectancy by simply calculating the average of the ages of all members when they died.

You can think of period life expectancy in a particular year as the age a person born in that year would expect to live if the average age of death did not change over their lifetime. It is of course not possible to know this metric before all members of the cohort have died. Imagine that every over-65 year old in USA died in the 3 years of  Covid, the average age of the U.S population would have gone down marginally by 2024; new-born babies born in 2024 would not have been impacted by the epidemic. Imagine, however if every 18-25 year old male died in the Ukrainian War, the country's average age would have fallen severely. And since women live longer on average than men in every country, killing mainly men in war would make the gender difference even more in favour of (lonely) women.

Women enjoying their retirement together

Cascade Living Group

Because of that, statisticians commonly track members of a particular cohort and predict the average death age for them using a combination of observed mortality rates for past years and projections about mortality rates for future years.

Gloral average life expectancy rose from 32 in 1900.. to 73 in 2023

Our World in Data