Welcome to Crikey Weekender.

In anticipation for the long weekend, we dedicated Thursday’s supersized Crikey Insider to the supersized issues Australia is staring down, and our writers did not disappoint.

There’s a Guy Rundle epic on the collapsing system (by way of an Easter story), Bernard Keane on the ‘peculiar disease’ of Australia’s parliamentary disdain, Inq’s continued exposure of the Ruby Princess disaster, a look at the global power of traditional Chinese medicine, and the question of how Hollywood will handle COVID-19.

Add to this a sprinkling of the best stories of the week — covering everything from George Pell to Australia’s fraught economic experiments — and you have a recipe for a long weekend filled with the best independent media going (just the thing to take your mind off lockdown).

These are trying times for all of us. But they will end, and Crikey is here to help you get there.

GUY RUNDLE 9 minute read

Our whole way of life has been dependent on a system that fell apart at the first challenge. Now they'll try and kill us to keep it going. This is a chance to change things for the better that we must not squander

ADAM SCHWAB 3 minute read

Chief Medical Officer Brendan Murphy said 'our testing has probably been the best in the world'. Where do we actually rank?

BERNARD KEANE 3 minute read

Unlike their overseas counterparts, Australian politicians have given themselves a holiday while the pandemic rages. Why are they so different?

BERNARD KEANE 4 minute read

Young people are paying the highest price for our response to the crisis, and will be doing so for decades to come. We need to start repaying our debt to them.

DAVID HARDAKER 7 minute read

After the Ruby Princess fiasco, Inq asks whether Carnival, with its political connections and multibillion-dollar industry, is too big to sink...

JOHN FITZGERALD 11 minute read

How the coronavirus started remains a burning question. But the answer most favoured by the Chinese regime raises even deeper questions about the role played by traditional medicine in the growth of the country's global influence

CHARLIE LEWIS and KISHOR NAPIER-RAMAN 5 minute read

Crikey checks in with the scientists in Australia and around the world racing to find a vaccine for COVID-19.

CHRISTOPHER WARREN 3 minute read

Last weekend, an Insiders panellist briefly opened a window into the strange relationship between News Corp and the ABC.

JORDYN BEAZLEY 6 minute read

Young people are feeling the pinch of the coronavirus lockdown, with casual jobs lost and career opportunities put on hold. But could there be some positives to come out of this crisis?

KISHOR NAPIER-RAMAN 4 minute read

The federal government has released its coronavirus modelling. We spoke to the experts to find out whether it matters.

LAUREN ROSEWARNE 4 minute read

It will be fascinating to see what Hollywood produces in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

STEPHEN MAYNE 4 minute read

The travel giant has managed to stave off disaster, but it's not out of the woods yet.

CLINTON FERNANDES 3 minute read

Just as planning for post-World War II reconstruction began in December 1942, planning for post-COVID-19 should begin now.

BERNARD KEANE 4 minute read

The war against industry super funds by the Liberal Party and sections of the media is unceasing — even a global pandemic is an excuse to attack them.