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As winter drags on and the rain continues to fall, eyes are not just on the skies but also on parts of the country that are still recovering from the last one-in-100-years event. When the floodwaters subside, when the decisions are made about whether to rebuild or rethink, we can be too often guilty of looking away and thinking the story is done. For the August issue of The Monthly, John van Tiggelen takes us to Lismore: to the human toll and the logistical quandaries of seeking higher ground in a time of climate crisis.

Good journalism renders familiar stories urgent, makes us understand them through a different lens. The US Supreme Court unpicking Roe v Wade might be met locally with the confidence that, on abortion, Australia’s position is more secure. But, as Sarah Krasnostein outlines in her essay, the gulf between legislative framework and lived experience in reproductive rights demands we resist complacency. And, 20 years on from the Bali bombing, not only is the story not finished, but some of the legal processes are as tangled in war-on-terror complexities as ever. Bronwyn Adcock talks us through the interminable fate of Hambali.

And if it’s long views you’re after, there are few that are longer than that afforded this month by NASA’s new James Webb Space Telescope, as explained by Paul Davies. We also present a personal tribute to the late Frank Moorhouse by Fiona Giles, and more besides.