Armando Iannucci in Conversation with Tony Martin
Similar but not the same  Podcast episode Armando Iannucci in Conversation with Annabel Crabb  /  Satire Armando Iannucci is the brilliant comedic mind behind Veep’s Selina Meyer, The Thick of It’s Malcolm Tucker and, in collaboration with Chris Morris on The Day Today, the irrepressible Alan Partridge. If you’re familiar with Iannucci’s work, you’ll know he’s also responsible for some of the...
1hr 7m May 08, 2017
1hr 7m
Armando Iannucci in Conversation with Annabel Crabb
Similar but not the same  Podcast episode Armando Iannucci in Conversation with Tony Martin  /  Satire Armando Iannucci is the brilliant comedic mind behind Veep’s Selina Meyer, The Thick of It’s Malcolm Tucker and, in collaboration with Chris Morris on The Day Today, the irrepressible Alan Partridge. If you’re familiar with Iannucci’s work, you’ll know he’s also responsible for some of the m...
1hr 12m May 08, 2017
1hr 12m
Politics and Parenting in Palestine: Laila El-Haddad
For years, Palestinian writer Laila El-Haddad has been documenting daily life in Gaza. She’s done it with a journalist’s eye for detail, a chef’s instinct for taste and smell and a mother’s hopes and anxieties for the future. Laila El-Haddad As a reporter, El-Haddad’s work has appeared in the Washington Post, New Statesman and the Guardian and on the BBC, CNN and al Jazeera. Some of her most ...
58m May 01, 2017
58m
A League of One’s Own: The AFL, and Women’s Sport
There’s nothing new about women playing Australian Rules Football – they’ve been doing it for as long as men have. Local clubs for girls and women have existed for decades; there are now almost 1,000 of them around the country. Last year, participation jumped by 19% – with 380,000 Australian women playing throughout the year. It’s always been clear that many women love the game; they comprise ...
1hr 23m Apr 09, 2017
1hr 23m
A.C. Grayling: The Origins and Future of Humanism
‘Humanism is the philosophy that you should be a good guest at the dinner table of life.’ In recent years, the eminent British philosopher A.C. Grayling has been a respectful and emphatic voice within the New Atheist movement. During his distinguished career, he’s celebrated ideals of human rationality and progress, arguing for humanism as a powerful, practical alternative to religion. The aut...
1hr 6m Apr 09, 2017
1hr 6m
Direct Line: Manus Island and The Messenger
Aziz, via Skype, with the audience (inset) Abdul Aziz Muhamat – originally from Sudan, now a refugee detained on Manus – has been using a smuggled phone to give Australians a first-hand account of life in detention. Since March 2016, Aziz has been corresponding with Melbourne journalist Michael Green, using WhatsApp to relay voice messages. The Messenger is a ten-part podcast series from the W...
54m Apr 03, 2017
54m
Question Time: Technology and the Brain
In the first Question Time session of the year, host Madeleine Morris is joined by a brains trust of experts to talk brains, technology, policy and wellbeing. Strap in for a fascinating hour of audience Q&A with Michael Arnold and Olivia Carter. Socrates railed against the invention of the alphabet, worrying that the written word would erode human memory. Imagine how he would have felt about G...
59m Apr 02, 2017
59m
Partners in Crime: Tom and Meg Keneally
How do you bond with your dad? Go to the cricket? Walk the dogs? How about writing a book together? How about writing twelve books together? Chris Flynn, Tom Keneally and Meg Keneally That’s what Meg Keneally has been doing with her dad, although it’s not such a strange idea in her case. Meg’s father is an icon of Australian literature, a Booker Prize-winner, a Miles Franklin-winner, and the ...
1hr Apr 02, 2017
1hr
Represent: Paul Daley and Jack Latimore on Black Stories and Media
Jack Latimore and Paul Daley How do we write about race in Australia today? Does the race of the writer affect the way stories are written, received and interpreted? And what does it mean when a white person writes about Indigenous Australia? Two writers from different backgrounds, Paul Daley and Jack Latimore, pose and tackle these questions. The pair, who admire each other’s work, both writ...
1hr 4m Apr 02, 2017
1hr 4m
Kyle Wiens: Right to Repair
Join the world’s most influential maintenance man for a discussion of tech waste, consumption, economic opportunity and a new kind of DIY revolution with tech commentator and radio broadcaster Vanessa Toholka. Kyle Wiens and volunteer Leo ‘When you fix something – just for a moment – entropy loses its iron grip on the universe,’ Kyle Wiens has written. ‘When you fix something – just for a mom...
57m Mar 21, 2017
57m
In the Dark: Secrecy and Democracy
Can secrecy be justified in the name of national security? At this forum event, three speakers respond specifically to this provocation. Join host Gael Jennings, human rights lawyer Madeline Gleeson, philosopher Raimond Gaita and media ethics expert Denis Muller for a discussion of the dark corners of democracy. Gael Jennings, Madeline Gleeson, Denis Muller and Raimond Gaita What level of sta...
1hr 16m Mar 14, 2017
1hr 16m
Jessa Crispin: Why I Am Not a Feminist
Jessa Crispin has made her name as a contrarian. Founder of the uncompromising review blog Bookslut and editor of literary magazine Spoila, she’s railed against comfortable consensus in American publishing, burning bridges and throwing grenades at holy grails. Crispin fights on the side of literary ambition, experimentation, rigour and intellectual independence. Her new book, by its very name...
58m Mar 14, 2017
58m
Life on Mars: Carmel Johnston
Carmel Johnston, an environmental scientist, was the crew commander of NASA’s most recent Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) project. As part of this mission, she spent an entire year living with five other scientists in an 11-metre-wide geodesic dome on the Mars-like slopes of Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii. The focus of the study, which concluded in August last year, was p...
1hr Mar 06, 2017
1hr
Lindy West on Feminism, Fat and Fighting Trolls
Lindy West — Photo: Jon Tjhia Lindy West joins Anne Summers for a lively conversation that traverses bodily autonomy, popular and intersectional feminism, and finding both validation and hate online. In her first book, Shrill, Lindy West offers this memorable take on the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland: ‘She is the perfect feminazi caricature: fat, loud, irrational, violent, overbear...
1hr 4m Mar 05, 2017
1hr 4m
More Than Words: Translation and Interpretation
Join some brilliant translators for a discussion that focuses on translation in and beyond the arts. Our panellists, including Nobuko Aiso and Kylie Bracknell, will discuss the mysterious processes – as well as the perceived and inevitable barriers – of their work. Who gets translated and why? What are some specific challenges of translation in the arts? How does a translator’s own experience (...
1hr 1m Mar 05, 2017
1hr 1m
Madeleine Thien: Displacement and Defiance
'I do not find the increased heft of China and its role in the world surprising. I do find the speed of the decline of America surprising.' Madeleine Thien is an author continually drawn to themes of displacement, individual expression and revolution. Thien is Canadian and of Chinese-Malaysian descent and she’s dramatised the traumatic upheavals of 20th-century Asian history in some extraordin...
1hr Mar 05, 2017
1hr
American Misadventure with Nathan Hill
Critics have likened him to John Irving; Irving has likened him to Charles Dickens; and Dickens, though very much dead, might have appreciated the humour, heart and panoramic scope of his work. Nathan Hill is the American writer of the moment. His debut novel, The Nix, is a sprawling, postmodern social satire that skewers contemporary American politics, media and academia. In 2016, it made Hil...
59m Mar 02, 2017
59m
Gold Rush: Australia's Obsession with Winning
What does it mean to win? Why are so many of us motivated by the prospect of glory? How does our obsession with winning in sport shape our culture and sense of nationhood? And does this obsession spill over into our attitudes towards art, education and our careers? In this conversation, hosted by broadcaster Francis Leach, we examine the concept of winning from some fresh angles. Leach is join...
1hr 1m Feb 28, 2017
1hr 1m
Bent Merriment: Queer Comedy
The word ‘gay’ started out as a synonym for mirth and hilarity – and its modern usage isn’t just a coincidence. Tom Ballard and Steven Oliver In this discussion, hear stories from three queer comedians about what they’ve encountered along the way. How did they begin, and how has their comedy developed alongside their sexuality? In which ways does queer comedy operate as a kind of activism? Sh...
1hr 6m Feb 13, 2017
1hr 6m
Introducing our newest podcast series, The Messenger
To begin 2017, in partnership with volunteer-run oral history project Behind the Wire, we launched a new podcast series. It's called The Messenger, and we'd like to share its first episode with you. The Messenger brings you into the Australian immigration detention centre on Manus Island – and reveals, in intimate detail, one man's experience of what it's really like to flee tragedy and seek a...
28m Feb 12, 2017
28m
The Show of the Year 2016, Part Two
The horror, the glory, the sublime and the ridiculous – 2016 served it all up in enormous doses. Join us for part two of the Wheeler Centre's annual Show of the Year – celebrating a year’s worth of highlights and lowlights. Benson Saulo — Photo: Jon Tjhia What happened in 2016? Well, the Panama Papers dropped. The Louvre flooded. A woman in New Jersey got stuck up a tree while playing Pokémon...
1hr 1m Dec 19, 2016
1hr 1m
Radiolab, Risk and Genius: Jad Abumrad and Andrew Denton
Radiolab is one of the world’s most popular podcasts. Admired for its gentle explorations of big questions, the show – which was collecting listeners in their millions long before podcasting arrived at the mainstream’s door – has won many significant awards. Abumrad himself has been awarded a prestigious MacArthur Genius Grant, and his incredibly labour-intensive sound designs complement killer...
1hr 14m Dec 19, 2016
1hr 14m
The Show of the Year 2016, Part One
The horror, the glory, the sublime and the ridiculous – 2016 served it all up in enormous doses. Join us for part one of the Wheeler Centre's annual Show of the Year – celebrating a year’s worth of highlights and lowlights. What happened in 2016? Well, the Panama Papers dropped. The Louvre flooded. A woman in New Jersey got stuck up a tree while playing Pokémon Go in a cemetery. And Brangelina...
1hr 13m Dec 19, 2016
1hr 13m
25 Years … and Counting: The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody
It’s 25 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody handed down its final report. The commission investigated the deaths of 99 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, generated 200 shelf metres of records and made 339 recommendations. One of the key findings, was that a reduction in rates of imprisonment would mean a reduction in risk of deaths in custody. But Indig...
57m Dec 16, 2016
57m
Creative Non-Fiction
For this discussion, hosted by creative non-fiction author, editor and teacher Lee Kofman, we've brought together some stars of Australia’s creative non-fiction scene. Our panellists discuss their own research and writing practices, their rules to write by and their heroes in the genre. What defines creative non-fiction? How are attitudes towards creative non-fiction changing among writers, pu...
1hr 2m Dec 12, 2016
1hr 2m
Masha Gessen on Donald Trump's Lessons in American Democracy
Acclaimed New York-based journalist Masha Gessen believes US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is ‘a thoroughly American creation that poses an existential threat to American democracy’. At this Wheeler Centre talk in Bendigo, she discusses the historical, economic and cultural circumstances that have enabled the ascendance of this utterly unorthodox political figure. ‘Whatever th...
1hr Dec 12, 2016
1hr
The F Word Address: Caroline Wilson
At the first F Word Address in November – the Wheeler Centre's inaugural feminist year in review – Caroline Wilson reflects on the year that was. How have the last 12 months altered or entrenched her personal sense of feminism? How do milestones, such as the launch of the AFL Women’s League this year, bolster her sense of progress? What does she see as the wins this year for Australian women an...
1hr 1m Dec 08, 2016
1hr 1m
Naomi Klein in Conversation
In Australia to receive the 2016 Sydney Peace Prize, Naomi Klein joins Aamer Rahman for a conversation at the Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne. What are the specifics of Klein’s ideas for a new economic model? In the Australian context, how does Klein see climate action intersecting with other social justice causes, such as the Indigenous land rights movement? And how can the threat of climate ch...
1hr 5m Dec 08, 2016
1hr 5m
Question Time: Public vs Private Education
‘An investment in knowledge pays the best interest’, Benjamin Franklin said, and it seems most people agree that education is important. Unfortunately, we disagree on the details: what constitutes a good education? And who should pay for it? Education reform has featured in the ambitions of all prime ministers in this last decade of revolving-door leadership. Most recently, Malcolm Turnbull ha...
1hr Dec 07, 2016
1hr
New News: Writer’s Block: Adblocking and Distribution
People want free content. Publishers want to pay their bills. Editors want to reach audiences. Brands want to reach customers. But people don’t want to see ads – and adblockers are seriously disrupting what may have been an imperfect but tolerable financial model for many publishers and audiences. So: how are media outlets dealing with different consumer tactics for avoiding ads, and grappling ...
1hr 2m Nov 18, 2016
1hr 2m
New News: Reporting Islam
Has greater media coverage of Muslims and Islam increased understanding … or fuelled the opposite? How can journalists achieve greater accuracy and fairness in reporting? Can more nuanced and diverse stories offset the persistence of stereotypes – and the ol’ ‘us versus them’?
1hr Nov 17, 2016
1hr
New News: Media Policy: Has Australia Got One, and Does it Need One?
Governments used to micromanage the broadcasting business and agonise about what newspaper, TV and radio moguls thought of their policies on media. As users shift to other sources for their news, information and entertainment, are media policy makers asleep at the wheel?
1hr 2m Nov 16, 2016
1hr 2m
New News: The Amazing Race: Reporting on Elections
Serious news to sustain democracy, or all the fun of the fair? Nowhere are recent changes and developments in journalism more apparent than in election reporting: live counts, AR data visualisation, real-time statistical modelling and visual storytelling still leave one question hanging – how much influence does media have over elections? A recording of this event29 Oct 2016Past event New New...
1hr 3m Nov 02, 2016
1hr 3m
New News: Beyond the Soundbite: The Art of the Longform Interview
Don’t just get the quotes – get the story. In an age of snack-sized news, are audiences hungry for a meatier tale? For many, nourishing narrative journalism and slow-cooked longform interviews satisfy an appetite for immersion; we’ll talk to the best in the business about how to steer a rich, often tender, conversation. A recording of this event29 Oct 2016Past event New News by the Centre for...
1hr Oct 31, 2016
1hr
New News: Why Journalism Matters
Does journalism matter – and if so, why? As newsrooms shrink, what does the public lose? A team of researchers led by the Centre for Advancing Journalism at the University of Melbourne has been investigating the role journalism plays in Australian civic life. They discuss the how and why of journalism’s impact, and unveil their latest findings.
1hr 1m Oct 30, 2016
1hr 1m
New News: Branded Content and Native Advertising: Threat, saviour, or something else?
The lines continue to blur between advertising, reporting, public relations and opinion. Unexpected players are emerging as ‘media outlets’ – while publishers are increasingly drawing on commercial partnerships. Is this simply a way of making journalism more sustainable, or is something else afoot? And is it as new a phenomenon as commentators would have us believe?
1hr 5m Oct 30, 2016
1hr 5m
New News: Future Views, Future News: Experiments in Storytelling
Virtual reality, Snapchat, Facebook Live and the humble little podcast that could. A rapidly expanding digital toolbox is changing the way we report stories. But are they game changers or simply gimmicks? As audience habits of news consumption change, how can these tools be mobilised to enrich journalism and increase engagement?
1hr 4m Oct 30, 2016
1hr 4m
New News: Michelle Guthrie: 2016 Keynote
Presenting a keynote address at New News 2016, hear from new ABC Managing Director Michelle Guthrie about digital disruption and the role of the ABC in Australian democracy. What vision does she put forward for the national broadcaster? Spoiler alert: it includes diversity, dexterity, collaboration … and new digital initiatives including a Facebook Messenger-driven news bot and the creation of...
1hr 3m Oct 28, 2016
1hr 3m
New News: Not Just News to Us: Disruption and Indigenous New Media
Indigenous voices are flourishing online, but are any being heard? What impact is the proliferation of Black media having on mainstream news values and journalistic practices? Has it improved the representation of Indigenous people? Are these active voices disrupting and contesting other important forums? This panel discusses the civic impact of new media enabled First Nations news outlets, how...
1hr Oct 28, 2016
1hr
New News: Neighbourhood Watch: Reporting on the Asia-Pacific
The Asia-Pacific region plays host to a range of complex and pressing environmental, development and humanitarian concerns. Are Australians well informed about the issues playing out so near them? And how do changes in journalism impact the way Asia-Pacific news is covered? This panel explores the challenges and potential opportunities for journalism in our part of the globe. A recording of th...
1hr 1m Oct 28, 2016
1hr 1m
New News: Nauru: Access and Control
Offshore detention presents legal, ethical, jurisdictional and humanitarian challenges. Australian journalists seeking to report on Nauru confront grey areas around access and control that are increasingly contradictory and divisive. Our panellists share their own differing experiences of reporting on detention there. A recording of this event28 Oct 2016Upcoming event Booking fast New News by...
1hr 5m Oct 28, 2016
1hr 5m
New News: Changing the Story: Reporting on Violence Against Women
How did violence against women progress from its position on the fringes of newsworthiness … and move to prominence on front pages and news bulletins? Our team of researchers and journalists shed some light. A recording of this event27 Oct 2016Past event New News by the Centre for Advancing Journalism Changing the Story: Reporting on Violence Against Women  /  Media With Denise Ryan-Costell...
1hr 1m Oct 28, 2016
1hr 1m
New News: So You Want to be a Journalist?
How do you make your start – and your mark – in today's media industry? The people who hire and the people who watch them talk about traditional, radical and surprising ways to break into the journalism industry. A recording of this event27 Oct 2016Past event New News by the Centre for Advancing Journalism So You Want to be a Journalist?  /  Work With Andrew Dodd, Margaret Simons, Julie Pos...
1hr 3m Oct 28, 2016
1hr 3m
New News: The Pitch
You can write. But can you pitch? In this panel discussion, followed by audience Q&A, you'll hear from some of Australia's leading editors on the pitching process. Ideally suited to emerging writers and freelancers. Learn how to get your stories heard. A recording of this event27 Oct 2016Past event New News by the Centre for Advancing Journalism The Pitch  /  Media With Simon Crerar, Simon ...
1hr 8m Oct 28, 2016
1hr 8m
Green Cleaver
From left: Sam Cooney, Sam van Zweden, Tammi Jonas and Richard Cornish — Photo: Sophie Quick Discussions around eating meat tend to gravitate quickly towards polar positions. We often talk in terms of total abstinence – vegetarianism or veganism – or unexamined, carnivorous abandon. But this conversation, hosted by Sam Cooney, dodges both finger-wagging and caveman-style chest-beating. Our pa...
1hr Oct 26, 2016
1hr
Robert Lepage
The audience and the critics and whoever writes or talks about the show or writes comments, collaborates with the show – whether it’s good criticism or not. You continue editing it and making it new and making it whatever it is. Robert Lepage Robert Lepage, a Canadian, is one of contemporary theatre’s greats – a master of grand spectacle known for marrying vast and extravagant instincts with ...
1hr 1m Oct 24, 2016
1hr 1m
HEY GIRL: As You Are: A Trans Teen Story
Earlier this year, in an interview for Australian Story, Melbourne teenager Georgie Stone described the confusion of her early childhood. She was a girl, inside the body of a boy. ‘I felt like a mythical creature,’ she said. ‘I wasn’t really real’. For transgender and gender-diverse youth, the disparity between the way they see themselves and the way they are seen by others can be the cause of...
1hr 3m Oct 20, 2016
1hr 3m
The Art of Discomfort
Art is often an expression of society’s most uncomfortable questions; a place where audiences’ unresolved dilemmas find some company. How – and why – is art equipped to take on topics that might otherwise be off-limits? We talk to some people familiar with the question. D.A. Calf is a theatremaker with The Guerrilla Museum, whose immersive live art has looked closely at death. Scott Price is a...
1hr 1m Oct 20, 2016
1hr 1m
HEY GIRL: Fighting Like a Girl in the 21st Century
Both Clementine Ford and Anne Summers have been described as feminist voices of their respective generations. In this conversation – as part of our HEY GIRL series – the pair focus on the notion of girlhood and discuss how experiences in their early lives shaped their ideas around feminism. How has the feminist fight changed? Has progress stagnated or are we in a moment of renewed feminist vigo...
54m Oct 14, 2016
54m
Shen Narayanasamy on the Great Immigration Con
The Di Gribble Argument returns for a third year, pushing us into constructive disagreement in efforts to break a conversational deadlock. This year we’re taking on one of the most intractable conversations in Australian public life: stopping the boats. We are – proudly – a flourishing multicultural society. Most of us carry family histories of migration, seeking safety and prosperity in this ...
1hr 7m Oct 08, 2016
1hr 7m