Leah Purcell

“I was performing when I was four years old,” says cover star Leah Purcell, who would bang out a blues version of ‘Humpty Dumpty’ for her family. “Apparently, I said, ‘I’m going to be an actor. I’m going to be a star and everyone’s going to watch me.’” That little girl in Murgon, Queensland, was not wrong! Among this country’s most respected actors, writers and directors, Purcell shares her Letter to My Younger Self with us in this edition.

More highlights in this edition:

• Late capitalism, early happitalism? While most countries measure their success against the Gross Domestic Product, we take a look at those now evaluating their national rates of happiness.
• For six years running, Finland has been named the world’s happiest country. Could their approach to social housing and ending homelessness be the key?
• In The Big Picture, photographer and fisherman Corey Arnold makes waves aboard a commercial crabbing vessel on Alaska’s treacherous Bering Sea.
• BushToker man and Alone Australia contestant Rick J Petersen reveals how he survived his eye-opening stint on Aotearoa New Zealand’s wild South Island.
• Professional whistler Molly Lewis talks nostalgia, whistling through illness, and her debut album On the Lips.
• And Ready Steady Cook’s Alastair McLeod whips up Spiced Mussels With Sobrassada and Sherry.