The March 21 edition

I remember very consciously choosing not to study home economics, as it was then called, when I was at high school. My rationale was that learning to cook was a retrograde act for any self-respecting young feminist. Which is why Stephanie Alexander’s The Cook’s Companion was such a lifeline when it became apparent to me, as a young adult, that being able to cook was a life skill, not a political statement. Her book arrived at a time when there was no internet to search, or social media to refer to, for recipe inspiration. Instead, there was the authoritative Alexander and her comprehensive advice on any culinary dilemma. It’s estimated one in every 20 Australian households has a copy. Amanda Hooton sat down with Alexander ahead of the re-release of her seminal tome to explore how the nation’s food landscape has changed in the past 30 years. Her story is just one celebrating game-changers in today’s edition – the subject of our cover profile, Melbourne-based Ant Williams, has broken several free-diving world records, despite not being a particularly sporty teenager at school. He still holds one of those records: for swimming a distance of 182 metres beneath Arctic ice. – Melissa Stevens, editor