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Darius Von Guttner Sporzynski

Darius Von Guttner Sporzynski

The Conversation

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‘Peace be with all of you’: how Pope Leo XIV embodies a living dialogue between tradition and modernity

Leo XIV will work to translate the ideal of one heart, one mind into structures that protect the vulnerable worker, the displaced migrant and the...

yesterday 4

The Conversation

Darius Von Guttner Sporzynski

Popes have been European for hundreds of years. Is it time for one from Africa or Asia?

A Filipino or Congolese pope would signal that Catholicism’s demographic heart now beats in Manila and Kinshasa, rather than Milan and Cologne.

wednesday 10

The Conversation

Darius Von Guttner Sporzynski

Women political leaders are rare – but 450 years ago, Anna Jagiellon was elected Queen of Poland

Anna Jagiellon’s story, set over four centuries ago, shows a woman could secure power through a vote, even in an era when female rulers were nearly...

05.05.2025 8

The Conversation

Darius Von Guttner Sporzynski

Who will the next pope be? Here are some top contenders

For centuries, the role has gone to a member of the College of Cardinals – and almost always to an Italian. Might we soon have our first pope from...

23.04.2025 10

The Conversation

Darius Von Guttner Sporzynski

How will a new pope be chosen? An expert explains the conclave

The conclave – one of the most secretive processes in Christendom – is rooted in centuries of tradition.

22.04.2025 10

The Conversation

Darius Von Guttner Sporzynski

Pagan loaves, Christian bread, a secular treat: a brief history of hot cross buns

Do you prefer yours with sultanas and spices, or Vegemite and cheese? How ever you eat them, hot cross buns reflect centuries of tradition – and...

15.04.2025 5

The Conversation

Darius Von Guttner Sporzynski

Why does Putin insist Ukranians and Russians are ‘one people’? The answer spans centuries of colonisation and resistance

Russia’s war on Ukraine continues, despite US attempts to broker a ceasefire. Russia has repurposed history to build its power since the 1500s...

15.04.2025 10

The Conversation

Darius Von Guttner Sporzynski

Meet Maria Clementina Sobieska, the defiant queen who pulled off a jailbreak to secure the Jacobite legacy

Maria Clementina Sobieski – one of just three women buried in St Peter’s Basilica – lived a life of extraordinary defiance and determination.

06.03.2025 7

The Conversation

Darius Von Guttner Sporzynski

These 16 nuns were guillotined in the French Revolution. Now the Pope has declared them saints

A group of 16 Discalced Carmelite nuns executed during the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution were canonised by Pope Francis on December 18.

13.01.2025 10

The Conversation

Darius Von Guttner Sporzynski

Trump won't rule out force to take Greenland - a country with a complex colonial history

09.01.2025 4

The Examiner

Darius Von Guttner Sporzynski

Trump won't rule out force to take Greenland - a country with a complex colonial history

09.01.2025 4

Canberra Times

Darius Von Guttner Sporzynski

Trump won’t rule out force to take Greenland – a country with a complex colonial history

Donald Trump first flagged buying Greenland, whose colonial history spans centuries, during his first term. Yesterday, he said he wouldn’t rule out...

09.01.2025 10

The Conversation

Darius Von Guttner Sporzynski

Psychological thriller Conclave looks at the election of the pope. What’s the real story?

The new film Conclave is a psychological thriller looking at the selection of the new pope. But what is a conclave, and where did this ritual...

08.01.2025 10

The Conversation

Darius Von Guttner Sporzynski

Isidore of Seville: the patron saint of the internet who shaped knowledge for generations

In a world where information flows freely, it’s easy to forget that, for centuries, knowledge was much harder to come by. Imagine living in a time...

01.01.2025 2

The Conversation

Darius Von Guttner Sporzynski

Nobleman, soldier, revolutionary, humanist – who was Tadeusz Kościuszko, the man behind the mountain?

Anthony Sharwood’s Kościuszko: The Incredible Life of the Man Behind the Mountain is far more than a biography of an extraordinary historical...

29.12.2024 5

The Conversation

Darius Von Guttner Sporzynski

From Camilla to the ‘ugly’ Elizabeth of Austria: a problematic history of obsessing over royal women’s looks

Throughout history, queens have often been judged on their looks. Beauty standards shaped early-modern queenship. Even today, royal women such as...

22.10.2024 4

The Conversation

Darius Von Guttner Sporzynski

From Camilla to the ‘ugly’ Elizabeth of Austria: a long and problematic history of obsessing over royal women’s looks

Throughout history, queens have often been judged on their looks. Beauty standards shaped early-modern queenship. Even today, royal women such as...

22.10.2024 2

The Conversation

Darius Von Guttner Sporzynski

Has AI hacked the operating system of human civilisation? Yuval Noah Harari sounds a warning

Just as artificial intelligence (AI) models are trained on vast data sets to learn and predict, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and Homo Deus:...

09.09.2024 2

The Conversation

Darius Von Guttner Sporzynski

Popes were once confined to Rome. Now they travel the world – and Francis’ current journey is particularly significant

Pope Francis is continuing the tradition of papal journeys, having embarked on the longest trip of his papacy yet to Asia and the Pacific. In...

08.09.2024 1

The Conversation

Darius Von Guttner Sporzynski

Who was Hannibal? How one brilliant general almost brought Ancient Rome to its knees

He lived and died more than 2,000 years ago but Hannibal is remembered as one of history’s most formidable military commanders and as “Rome’s...

27.08.2024 2

The Conversation

Darius Von Guttner Sporzynski