Playing Barbie

From swimsuit model to CEO, lunar astronaut to 90s rapper, Barbie’s CV boasts 250 careers and counting. Now, she’s finally getting her big-screen break, with the live-action Barbie movie out this month. In this edition, we speak to Barbie herself Margot Robbie, director Greta Gerwig and the film’s all-star cast about their out-of-the-box approach to putting the living doll on the big screen. And we trace the influence and infamy of the world’s most recognisable doll, since her debut in 1959.

More highlights in our edition:

• Barbie devotee Melanie Saward inherited her nanna’s love of dolls, but the plastic playthings don’t just connect the author to her past – they open up a bright, colourful, fun future for her adult self.
• In The Big Picture, photographer David Parise takes playing with Barbie to a whole new level, care of his irreverent happy snaps.
• Meet the Street Socceroos heading to the Homeless World Cup! Eight of our finest Big Issue Street Soccer stars are on their way to the USA for a shot at glory in the beautiful game.
• Living legend Ernie Dingo talks slow TV, being a multihyphenate, and how he gets such candid interviews on his travel show Going Places With Ernie Dingo, as the fifth season hits screens.
• Author Vidya Madabushi reveals how she turned her life “in the shadows” as an international student into her new novel, The Days Toppled Over.
• After almost 13 years making experimental pop music as Collarbones, Marcus Whale and Travis Cook are breaking up the band with one last hurrah.
• Writer Colin Varney learns to stop worrying and hugs his dad.
• Plus, in Tastes Like Home, MasterChef contestant Tommy Pham shares his family recipe for bò kho – a beef stew that connects him to his Vietnamese heritage.