Ten years ago, as the global financial crisis tightened its grip and Barack Obama neared the of his first successful presidential campaign, a new online magazine, Inside Story, was launched in Melbourne. Kevin Rudd was prime minister, the iPhone was still a novelty, and Donald Trump was still hosting The Apprentice.

From the deepening recession and the Victorian bushfires to the Trump presidency and the end of Malcolm Turnbull’s prime minister, the decade since has been tumultuous and often bewildering. While the media has scrambled for news and opinion, Inside Story’s contributors have stepped outside the news cycle, helping readers make sense of dramatic changes in politics, society and culture.

Inside Story: The First Ten Years features a selection of their essays, commentaries and reviews. Here is incisive, entertaining writing from Frank Bongiorno, Sophie Black, Judith Brett, Bronwyn Carlson, Tim Colebatch, Sara Dowse, Andrew Dodd, Andrew Ford, Tom Griffiths, Jack Latimore, Andrew Leigh, Shane Maloney, Peter Mares, Drusilla Modjeska, John Quiggin, Matthew Ricketson, Margaret Simons, Rodney Tiffen, Maria Tumarkin and many more.