Robert Phiddian teaches in Renaissance and Eighteenth Century literature and has a special interest in political satire, parody, and humour. He researches political satire, especially current Australian political cartoons with Haydon Manning. He has been Chair of the Adelaide Festival of Ideas, Director of the Australasian Consortium of Humanities Research Centres (ACHRC), and a Board member of the Australian Book Review and of the international Consortium of Humanities Centres and Institutes (CHCI). Most recently he is the author of Satire and the Public Emotions (Cambridge UP, 2019) and co-author (with Julian Meyrick and Tully Barnett) of What Matters?: Talking Value in Australian Culture (Monash UP, 2018).