Miranda slurps the Cater Kool-Aid. The Australian‘s frenzy of excitement over the release of Nick Cater’s book The Lucky Culture — see here, here, here, here and here — has spilled over into the News Limited tabloids today. Columnist Miranda Devine says the book, written by The Oz‘s opinion editor, “feels like a defining moment in the Australian narrative”. That could, she admits, just be because they’re mates. Nevertheless:

“Cater’s book is the spiritual sustenance our maligned nation needs. The Lucky Country should be on the curriculum of every high school history class, along with the complete works of Geoffrey Blainey.”

Perhaps the 1964 Donald Home book The Lucky Country should be … but what about Cater’s new book, The Lucky Culture?

Devine also notes: “Cater’s thesis, formed during the 2010 election, is that Australia has become increasingly polarised, not between right and left, but between people he calls the insiders and the outsiders.”

Where have we heard that before? Oh yes, it was then-rising ALP star Mark Latham in 2002: “The political spectrum is best understood as a struggle between insiders and outsiders — the abstract values of the powerful centre versus the pragmatic beliefs of those who feel disenfranchised by social change.”

April 15: The Age of eternity. Loyal readers of The Age‘s obituaries page have felt as if they’ve woken up on Groundhog Day recently. On April 15 the “On this Day” section featured events from April 15 (as you’d expect). But so did April 22:

And April 23:

We’re glad to report normal transmission has resumed today.

Headline of the day. The Daily Tele kicks one straight through the posts today.

Video of the day. British entertainer Stephen Fry has used his Twitter clout — he’s got over 5.5 million followers — to promote a short film written by a 17-year old Sydney playwright. The film tells the story of a young man who realises he is in love with his best friend while sitting a French exam.