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Episodes
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Good conversations — with writer and poet Ian WIlliams (CBC Massey Lecture 5)
What makes a good conversation? And do good conversations have anything in common? Ian Williams studies his daily conversations and explores how our age has left many people in what he calls a "drought of loving voices.
Published: with Natasha Mitchell
Who can speak for whom to whom about what? — with writer and poet Ian Williams (CBC Massey Lecture 4)
We're in an era where many people feel an ownership over certain words, and how a community expresses itself. The term "appropriation" has come to create guardrails around what can be said and by whom.
Published: with Natasha Mitchell
Choices created Australia's housing mess, what choices will fix it? Natasha Mitchell and guests
Australia's housing crisis hasn't always been with us. So what choices created it, and what choices are now needed to fix it? Buying a house is now out of reach if you're on an average wage, and rental options are expensive and precarious.
Published: with Natasha Mitchell
Today — you choose your family
The structures of families have gotten complex, even messy. Patchwork families are increasingly common. You can a birth mother, a genetic mother and a social mother. People choose friends as kin. How have families and communities changed?
Published: with Natasha Mitchell
Animals — Us and them? The true and the ugly of wildlife documentaries
Satyajit Das presents a provocative examination of the use and abuse of images of wild animals, and how they shape our relationships with the natural world.
Duration: 43 minutes 23 seconds
Published: with Natasha Mitchell
Animals — Us and them? What is the purpose of zoos in an extinction crisis?
Zoos are changing — they are no longer just places for us humans to gawk at animals in cages. In the midst of a global extinction crisis, they are now playing a vital role. So what is their future?
Duration: 52 minutes 22 seconds
Published: with Natasha Mitchell
Animals — Us and them? The cat catastrophe – pet or pest?
Cherished companions, or cunning predators? Cats kill five million native animals in Australia every day — so how can we better manage our feline friends?
Listen to the rest of our special series Animals — Us and Them?
Speakers
Alex Patton
Duration: 53 minutes 59 seconds
Published: with Natasha Mitchell
Animals — Us and them? Are you having a whale of a time?
Seeing a whale in the wild takes your breath away. But so much of what they do remains mysterious. Join Natasha Mitchell with two world leading whale researchers unearthing the secret world of cetaceans.
Duration: 53 minutes 47 seconds
Published: with Natasha Mitchell
SOS Democracy with Niki Savva — Can politicians and journalists do better?
One of Australia's most seasoned political journalists Niki Savva has seen the fractures in our democracy up closer than most. Hear her timely advice for journalists, politicians and citizens.
Duration: 47 minutes 7 seconds
Published: with Natasha Mitchell
SOS Democracy with Fintan O’Toole — The US elections and the politics of self-pity
Irish Times columnist and author Fintan O'Toole draws on the Irish experience to explain the rise of populism and authoritarianism in the United States.
Duration: 54 minutes 24 seconds
Published: with Natasha Mitchell
SOS Democracy with Niall Ferguson and Barrie Cassidy — Is democracy doomed?
Ninety years ago, in the face of communism, fascism, and the Great Depression, Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies, asked the question 'Is democracy doomed?' Today, we're asking that same question – with some answers that might surprise you.
Duration: 53 minutes 57 seconds
Published: with Natasha Mitchell
SOS Democracy with Jon Faine — Can democracy survive social media?
From mis and disinformation to election interference, parts of the internet have become dystopian, due to a lack of regulation. What is this doing to our democracies, and how are governments around the world trying to reign the tech giants in?
Duration: 57 minutes 29 seconds
Published: with Natasha Mitchell
Australians love cheap books. Here's why that's a problem
Australians' love of cheap books is driving independent bookstores and writers out of business. These prominent authors believe there is a simple solution.
Published: by Fiona Pepper
What drives a woman to reject a career and family — in favour of a pact with God?
From The Sound of Music to Sister Act, nuns have captivated our collective imagination. But what drives a woman to reject a career and family in favour of a spiritual pact with God? And how has the role changed over the past century?
Published: by Siobhan Marin
Edna Walling designed gardens for the Murdoch and Packer families, and she remains Australian gardening royalty
Edna Walling was one of Australia's most influential garden designers, known for her use of low stone walls, meandering pathways and self-seeding plants.
Published: by Fiona Pepper and Claire Slattery
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