I was reducing a creative life down to public recognition. Anne Carson’s career deserves more respect than that, and so does mine

I am one of those funny little people who is creative and has made the dubious decision to try to make a career out of it.

I didn’t fully commit until I was about 30, and I’ve spent the last 14 years in an up and down ride, trying to chip away until I reach the mysterious and elusive level of success where nothing bad happens ever.

I don’t flip a table every time this happens – but I actually do mind when it’s the default decision with no discussion

Being a lesbian in a heretofore heteronormative society means having to go along with lots of things that don’t make sense to your beautiful lesbian brain. One such thing for me is the ongoing expectation that women who marry men should change their surname to their husband’s.

Last week my tolerance was tested again when it was revealed that after a decade of marriage, Margot Robbie has changed her surname to that of her husband, Tom Ackerley.

What’s exciting to me isn’t who took home the statue but what the creators behind these women-driven comedies will do next

• Emmys 2026: Widow’s Bay dominates as Matthew Rhys and Jean Smart land historic wins

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There are three essential things to know about me: I love comedy, I love women and I love television. So as you can imagine, the centre of my world is women in TV comedies. Going into the 2026 Emmy awards, there was a big beautiful battle shaping up between two women-driven comedies: Hacks, a truly masterful hilarious show that just finished up with its fifth season, and Widow’s Bay, a truly original hilarious show that took us by storm with its first season. Conveniently for me, these were also my favourite two comedies of the year.

The two opening awards set the stage perfectly. Supporting actress in a comedy was a stacked category, won by Kate O’Flynn, and extremely deservedly, according to me. Patricia on Widow’s Bay was my favourite new character of the year. O’Flynn played her with incredible physicality, finely honed comedic skill, and a vulnerability that made me want to cry as often as I laughed.

Using weight loss drugs like Ozempic is not ‘cheating’ – and why does it matter how a person changes their body anyway?

As you might know if you read my columns, see me a mile away, or talk to me for five seconds, I am a card-carrying lifelong member of the Fat Lesbian Club. However, ever since I first laid eyes on the television show Roseanne (very important to me) as a small child, the actor John Goodman has held a special place in my heart. It was confusing for me: did I want to be Dan Conner, or be with Dan Conner? I’m still not sure. He has always been so hot to me, from Dan on Roseanne to Fred Flintstone to Walter in The Big Lebowski. His body has now drawn attention in the last week or so, after a photo of him showing significant weight loss went viral.

It’s not Goodman’s 74-year-old body (his choice) I want to discuss, but instead the arguments that broke out about how he lost the weight. On one side there were many people congratulating him on his hard work. Then there were people claiming he had taken Ozempic so it wasn’t actually hard work, and then there were people defending that by saying he’d been losing weight for years, so he’d done it the “right way”, actually.

If you have to Google an internet or gen Z/alpha slang term, you absolutely shouldn’t be using it. I’m accepting this milestone with quiet dignity

I’ve just reached an important adult milestone. Getting married? No. Having a baby? No. Buying a house? Don’t be ridiculous, I’m a writer in Australia. This milestone was small but important: I finally had to Google a gen Z slang term.

I know this may be something many of you have passed already, along with your houses and babies, but I am someone who has been online for a long time. It’s been necessary for my career but it’s also my favourite hobby: going on the internet.

Rebecca Shaw is a writer based in Sydney

In a remake-riddled TV landscape, its fresh combination of jokes and intrigue offers something for everyone – the casual and obsessive viewer alike

In the last few weeks, you may have been seeing a lot of buzz around a show called Widow’s Bay. I am here to provide more buzz, like a loyal bee foot soldier to the queen (television).

In this dire existing-IP-driven remake-riddled landscape, an offering this fresh is the best thing in the world. The tone of the show is what has grabbed me the most, striking the exact right balance (in my correct opinion) between scary mystery vibes and hilarious comedy. At no point does it sacrifice comedy for the more serious parts, and I really appreciate that. For example, in the penultimate, thrilling, everything’s-about-to-happen episode, they slow down for an eight-minute scene involving a side character named Rosemary, which moves the plot forward slightly but is mainly there to shine a light on the incredible comedy chops of actor Dale Dickey.

It is such a pleasure to watch the unique and freaky ways my friends connect to each other

Last week I went to a beloved friend’s 40th birthday, and I got to witness something I deeply believe about friendship distilled in one room.

Sitting around a table full of mutual friends, screaming and laughing in a way that would usually be annoying, the subject of how everyone had become friends with the birthday boy came up. I’ll call him Ben.

In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets.

Rebecca Shaw is a writer based in Sydney

With the release of Michael and not one but four Beatles feature films under way, I am once again calling for a moratorium on these films (with one exception)

In the past few weeks, there has been a lot of discussion around the new Michael Jackson biopic. It is a film that has seen huge success at the box office, while receiving mixed (mostly negative) reviews.

It has been skewered as a shallow film, more like a well-performed playlist of Michael Jackson songs than a deep dive into his complicated story. The movie also ends in 1988, a seemingly deliberate choice to avoid having to reckon with the darker aspects of his life that followed.

Rebecca Shaw is a writer based in Sydney

With widespread praise for Colin from Accounts and the release of Bad Company, Australian TV comedy is finally getting its flowers

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Last week, Parks and Recreation star, and most importantly Megan Mullally’s husband, Nick Offerman, was asked on Amy Poehler’s podcast what he’s been laughing at recently. He revealed he has been loving the Australian comedy Colin from Accounts. A few days later, during promo for The Devil Wears Prada 2, award-winning actor and the Princess of Genovia herself, Anne Hathaway, also said she loves Colin from Accounts (maybe less surprising given it features her DWP2 co-star).

In both those instances, I felt an unfamiliar sense of national pride. I’m genuinely excited to see an Australian TV comedy getting its flowers like this. Not because it means it will get more American viewers, but because it’s external validation that the comedy we make in this country can be excellent. We can be world class – if we are given the chance.

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It’s a relief to see the pontiff decrying brutality, because it seems most current world leaders lack the necessary spine

I have never been a religious or spiritual person, even though I grew up in a religious area and had friends (and strangers) throughout school and university trying to lure me into whatever prayer disguised as organised fun they were up to. I did try it out shortly for a desperate period when I was young, attempting to pray to a God I didn’t really believe in to make me not gay, but blessedly he never answered.

Despite my resistance to organised religion, I have always had a soft spot for nuns and their counterparts. The girlies.

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In my mind, Nigella Lawson should already be spending her life where random people just prepare delicious things for her to have bites of

Last week, I was sent an exciting news story by a friend. This was a surprise for two reasons: I’m chronically online so I usually see everything first, and also there are no good news stories any more in this life. But it was real, and for many people, including me, this one piece of blessed news was equal to three or four regular pieces of good news.

It is a rat king of good news, a fatberg of good news clogging up my pipes. It had been announced that *trumpets heralding* *doves released* the iconic Nigella Lawson is joining the iconic The Great British Bake Off!!!!!! (I don’t know how many exclamation marks are allowed in the Guardian style guide, I might be pushing it.)

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How can a Normal understand what it feels like to turn my head and suddenly feel like the floor has smashed violently into my face?

A couple of years ago I experienced something that turned my world upside down. I mean that literally (and I mean literally literally). I experienced vertigo. Specifically benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.

I personally have a huge issue with the inclusion of the word “benign”, just because something isn’t going to kill you doesn’t mean it’s not going to make you feel like you might die. Trying to explain BPPV makes me sound like a spiritual healer, because it happens when tiny crystals in your inner ear shift out of place. Yes, tiny crystals. The shifting of the tiny crystals tells your brain that your body is tumbling in space, but in a fun twist – it isn’t. The earth can suddenly and completely jolt off its axis while you are standing still, let alone turning your head.

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Rebecca Shaw is a Guardian Australia columnist

In order to be less scared, I imagine the huge Australian huntsman as a girlie, just chilling and listening to us yap. It sounds dumb, but it worked (a little bit)

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I am someone who believes it is never too late to change. I think you can in fact teach an old dog new tricks, as long as the old dog is open-minded and willing to learn. As long as the old dog is willing to admit when it was wrong, and work to become a better dog.

OK yes, I am the old dog. And the trick I am trying to learn, even though I am decrepit? It is an important one, something I have struggled with, frequently, for my entire life. I have been trying … to become less scared of huntsman spiders. Apologies to all the other spiders that exist; I have to be realistic about my possible growth as a human. It also has to be the huntsman because it is large, in charge, and the one I encounter most often. Including three times in the last week. Inside my home. You can’t see me but I’m shaking my head and grimacing as I type.