In these times of uncertainty and fear, I speak to my mum and dad.

Neil and Judy tell me about their political beliefs, the changes they’ve seen in their lifetime, what they make of the election of Donald Trump and how they think progressive change can happen.

I learnt and laughed a lot. I hope you enjoy it.

The World Keeps Happening is being filmed for Stan at the Comedy Theatre on Saturday December 3rd

Boundless Plains To Share at Belvoir Theatre in January 2017

Boundless Plains to Share at Adelaide Fringe in February 2017

Article: Where the Devil is in the Detail by Julian Burnside 

Like I’m A Six-Year-Old LIVE! with Adam Bandt, Sunday December 4th

Article: Stop asking me to empathize with the white working class by Kali Holloway

Article: Neoliberalism: the deep story that lies beneath Donald Trump’s triumph by George Monbiot

Article: We need to understand why Trump won to stop it happening again by Osman Faruqi

Cause of the Week: Amnesty International (amnesty.org.au)

It happened. Donald J. Trump is going to be the next President of the United States.

I am very sad.

I don’t know about you, but I want to help. I want to make things better.

Support queer rights by donating to allout.org

Support refugees by donating to UNHCR Australia

Support the fight against climate change by donating to 350.org 

Support gender equality by donating to Emily’s List Australia

Slate’s Trumpcast

The Republic Repeals Itself by Andrew Sullivan

It was the rise of the Davos class that sealed America’s fate by Naomi Klein

Democrats, Trump, and the Ongoing, Dangerous Refusal to Learn the Lesson of Brexit by Glenn Greenwald

The Terrorists Have Won – Keith Olbermann

The US has elected its most dangerous leader. We all have plenty to fear by Jonathan Freedland

Stephen Colbert tries to make sense of all this

Direct download            iTunes          libsyn

Nur Warsame is Australia’s first openly gay imam.

Yep.

He’s an incredible man with a fascinating story that I think is really important to hear. If you’re like me and want to call out and stand up against any religious bigotry towards queer people BUT you also don’t want to pile on to the current shitstorm of Islamophobia that’s swirling around this country at the moment, there’s a lot to be learnt here from Nur. Here we discuss his journey to coming out publicly, what it’s cost him, how he reconciles his faith with his sexuality and how we can have better conversations about this stuff.

The World Keeps Happening is being filmed for Stan at the Comedy Theatre on Saturday December 3rd

Boundless Plains To Share at Belvoir Theatre in January 2017

Boundless Plains to Share at Adelaide Fringe in February 2017

Meet Australia’s First Openly Gay Imam on SBS’s The Feed

Article: Nur Warsame: Australia’s First Openly Gay Imam

Article: The secret mosques opening their doors to LGBTI Muslims

Nur on SBS’s Insight: How Do People Make High Stakes Decisions? 

Fields of Blood: Religion & The History of Violence by Karen Armstrong

Article: New national snapshot finds 60% of Australians would be concerned if a relative married a Muslim 

Article: Half of all British Muslims think homosexuality should be illegal, poll finds

Cause of the Week: Marhaba (@marhaba_Melb)

Direct download         iTunes       libsyn

Activist, writer, engineer, motoring enthusiast and outspoken young Muslim woman of colour Yassmin Abdel-Magied is kicking arse on multiple levels right now and I felt very lucky indeed to have this opportunity to chat with her.

Earlier this year, Yassmin sparked a large controversy in the literary world when she walked out on author Lionel Shriver’s speech on cultural appropriation at the Brisbane Writers Festival. Here she reflects on that experience and further explores her thoughts on why an awareness of what cultural appropriation is and how it works is important.

Last week’s guest Gay Alcorn had a different take on this subject; you can listen back to that episode here.

The World Keeps Happening is being filmed for Stan at the Comedy Theatre on Saturday December 3rd

Boundless Plains To Share at Belvoir Theatre in January 2017

The Greens’ petition against the lifetime visa ban for people seeking asylum

Welcome to Eltham’s video

@yassmin_a

Why does my headscarf mean to you? Yassmin’s TED talk

Lionel Shriver’s speech in full: I hope the concept of cultural appropriation is a passing fad

I walked out of the Brisbane Writers Festival keynote address this is why by Yassmin Abdel-Magied

We need to talk about cultural appropriation: why Lionel Shriver’s speech touched a nerve by Stephanie Convery

What happened in Brisbane by Suki Kim

Identity politics doesn’t deserve Lionel Shriver’s contempt, but it can be limiting by Nesrine Malik

Will the Left survive the Millenials? by Lionel Shriver

A call for difficult conversations not censorship by Yassmin Abdel-Magied

Why the shaming of Lionel Shriver leads to a literary ghetto by Anson Cameron

Confronting Lionel Shriver by Maxine Beneba Clarke

White Fragility: why it’s so hard to talk to white people about racism by Dr. Robin DiAngelo

White Nonsense Round Up on Facebook

Cause of the Week: Mumtaza (mumtaza.agency) 

Gay Alcorn has been a journalist for over 25 years. She’s been a Fairfax Washington correspondent, edited The Sunday Age, won three Walkley Awards and is now the Melbourne editor for Guardian Australia.

I wanted to talk with Gay about a whole many things (we began by talking about this week’s 4Corners report on the refugee children of Nauru and the roles and biases of journalism), but the bulk of our chat became focussed on the notion of “political correctness”: the nature of our public discourse, section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, identity politics and cultural appropriation.

Gay describes herself as a progressive person but is a staunch advocate of the freedom of speech and has concerns about the way we go about talking with each other. Is it now longer possible for us to “reasonably disagree”?

This piece by Gay on PC is the basic starting point for our chat, I’d recommend reading that first before listening here. We also got on to Lionel Shriver’s speech at the Brisbane Writer’s Festival and the ensuing furore; this will also be the focus of next week’s episode with Yassmin Abdel-Magied.

Boundless Plains To Share at Belvoir Theatre in January 2017

The World Keeps Happening is being filmed for Stan at the Comedy Theatre on Saturday December 3rd; details on comedy.com.au

@gay_alcorn

Gay’s writing at Guardian Australia

The Media’s Moment of Truth by Frank Bruni

Hunt For The Radical Centre: Confronting Welfare Dependency by Noel Pearson 

The Pacific Solution’s brutal fact: we need it by Jonathan Holmes

Those fighting offshore detention don’t need all the answers by me

Section 18C Explainer: What is it, and why do some politicians want it changed? by Luke McNamara

We need to talk about cultural appropriation: why Lionel Shriver’s speech touched a nerve by Stephanie Convery

Cause of the Week: Guardian Australia (theguardian.com/au), Oxfam Australia (oxfam.org.au)

Direct download       iTunes      libsyn

TIME TO MEET ANOTHER HERO, EVERYONE! Shen Narayanasamy is the Human Rights Campaign Director at GetUp!. She’s an outspoken activist for refugee and migrant rights who is seriously shaking shit up at the moment and she was nice enough to explain to me why (and how) she’s doing it.

From her Di Gribble address on “The Great Immigration Con” to taking on the private companies that are complicit in human rights abuses through the operation of offshore detention centres to the task of defeating the philosophy behind the “detention regime” in its totality, I reckon this is a really illuminating and (mildly) hopeful discussion.

Boundless Plains To Share at the Belvoir Theatre, January 2017

Walk Together 2016 is happening THIS SATURDAY October 22nd

Trailer for Netflix’s 13th

@GetUp

ABC’s Q&A: Australia’s Sovereign Borders

Article: Burning The Stakeholders by Chloe Hooper

Article: Lunch with lawyer and asylum seeker advocate Shen Narayanasamy

Article: A solution to our refugee criss by Robert Manne, Tim Costello, Frank Brennan & John Menadue

GetUp!’s #BringThemHere campaign

Pathways to Protection: A human rights-based approach to the flight of asylum seekers by sea by the Australian Human Rights Commission

Cause of the Week: No Business In Abuse (nobusinessinabuse.org)

Direct download         iTunes       libsyn