200 – Dominic Kelly

Posted on by

It’s episode 200! Hurrah.

Dominic Kelly is a political historian and Honorary Research Fellow at La Trobe University. His 2019 book Political Troglodytes and Economic Lunatics: The Hard Right in Australia examines the activities and influence of four Australian right-wing single-issue advocacy groups: the H.R. Nicholls Society (focussed on industrial relations), the Samuel Griffiths Society (constitutional issues and federalism), the Bennelong Society (Indigenous issues) and the Lavoisier Group (climate change). All four groups were created and steered by three central figures: mining executive Hugh Morgan, his speechwriter Ray Evans and former public servant John Stone. It’s a fascinating and (blackly) amusing history.

Here Dominic lays out just how far these four societies have pulled Australia to the right over the past thirty years, what the Left can learn from them and what it shows us about the role that mining interests play in Australian politics.

If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron

Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you

I was recently on another episode of The Little Dum Dum Club alongside the very funny Nick Capper

Join me online in conversation with Melissa Davey discussing her book The Case of George Pell on Tuesday August 18th

@dominickelly_

Buy Political Troglodytes and Economic Lunatics on Black Inc. Books

Cause of the Week: Australian Unemployed Workers’ Union (unemployedworkersunion.com)

Direct download    |      iTunes     |     Spotify    |     libsyn

199 – Max Chandler-Mather

Posted on by

Max Chandler-Mather is a former union activist and active member of the Queensland Greens. He was the party’s candidate for the seat of Griffith in last year’s election, when he increased the Greens vote by 7.2%, the biggest Greens swing in the country.

I find the more explicitly Leftist approach taken by Max and the Queensland Party really exciting because they’re pushing good, anti-neoliberal polices and, more importantly, it’s really working for them. Here I ask Max to explain how a democratic socialist like him is making this happen and why it’s been successful. We talk about renters’ rights, building the foundations of a mass party, door-knocking, selling “common sense and popular” ideas and the perennial Greens/ALP conflict.

If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron

Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you

I was on Twink Revolution again with the one and only Aimee Terese to chat about what the “Left” is

Join me online in conversation with Melissa Davey discussing her book The Case of George Pell on Tuesday August 18th

@MChandlerMather

maxforgriffith.com

Max’s Facebook page

ARTICLE: The Right to the City by David Harvey 

The Queensland Greens policies for the state election announced thus far

How Labour Built Neoliberalism by Elizabeth Humphrys

Max’s writing at Flood Media

Max’s writing at Overland Journal 

My episode with Emerald Moon

Cause of the Week: The Queensland Greens (greens.org.au/qld)

 

 

Direct download    |      iTunes     |     Spotify    |     libsyn

198 – Alison Pennington

Posted on by

Alison Pennington is a Senior Economist at The Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work. She has a Masters of Political Economy from the University of Sydney and she rules.

After a week of changes to the JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments, the government’s “mini-budget” announcement, a torrent of shitty “deficit politics” and some ominous talk about industrial relations reform, Alison talks to me about the state of play for Australian workers right now. We discuss the possibilities of reimagining the entire welfare system in this country right now, why debt doesn’t matter, why working from home might really suck for workers’ rights and what the future of the trade union movement might look like.

If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron

Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you

Join me online in conversation with Melissa Davey discussing her book The Case of George Pell on Tuesday August 18th

@ak_pennington

The Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work

The Follow the Money podcast

Alison’s report for the CfFW: Collective Bargaining “Reform”: What Does Business Want? And What Would Actually Fix the System?

ARTICLE: In the Middle of a Pandemic, the Australian State is Pummelling Workers  by Alison Pennington

ARTICLE: Woolworths to cut 1,350 jobs and admits it owes at least $90m more to underpaid workers

ARTICLE: JobSeeker cut to push 370,000 into poverty, including 80,000 children by The Australia Institute

ARTICLE: Jobless opt for dole as business struggle to find workers despite unemployment surge ($) 

Cause of the Week: Living Incomes For Everyone Australia (LIFE) (facebook.com/LifeAustralia, on YouTube)

Direct download          iTunes          libsyn

197 – Dave Donovan

Posted on by

Dave Donovan is the founder and editor of Independent Australia, a progressive journal focussed on Australian federal politics, democracy and economics.

In a time of a declining media industry slashing jobs left right and centre, I think supporting independent Australian media is vital, and I for one find it refreshing to read explicitly progressive takes on the news in IA. Here Dave talks about his background in the Republican movement, just how much neoliberalism has reshaped Australia over the past 40 years, class confusion, the overwhelming conservatism of Australian media and the attacks on the ABC.

If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron

Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you

Join me online in conversation with Melissa Davey discussing her book The Case of George Pell on Tuesday August 18th

@davrosz

IndependentAustralia.net

IA’s coverage of AshbyGate

ARTICLE: Poll finds 62% believe our head of state should be an Aussie

ARTICLE: What is really wrong with the country: 10 years of Quiet Australians by Dave Donovan

ARTICLE: Fox News banned in Canada? by Snopes

ARTICLE: The palace letters: read the full documents from the National Archive here

Cause of the Week: The Federal ICAC Now Party (federalicacnow.org)

Direct download          iTunes          libsyn

196 – Sunili Govinnage (Part Two)

Posted on by

CW: This conversation involves discussion of sexual assault 

This is the second part of my conversation with human rights lawyer and self-described “social justice witch” Sunili Govinnage.

Here we continue our conversation about what cancel culture is and what it isn’t, privilege, oppression, intersectionality and class; topics that have certainly SPICED UP over the past week.

If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron

Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you

Join me online in conversation with Melissa Davey discussing her book The Case of George Pell on Tuesday August 18th

@sunili

sunili.net

Sunili’s writing at The Guardian

Ezra Klein’s podcast with sujatha baliga on restorative justice

Exiting the Vampire Castle by Mark Fisher 

Chapo Trap House’s latest (patreon) ep on “cancel culture” with Matt Taibbi is worth a listen

The Harper’s Letter, On Justice and Open Debate

ARTICLE: Arguing over the arts is sort of the point by Sami Shah

ARTICLE: Overdosing on Symbolism by Ben Burgis

ARTICLE: Beshear promises health insurance for all Black Kentuckians

Cause of the Week: NATSILS Stop Black Deaths In Custody GoFundMe Campaign

Direct download          iTunes          libsyn

195 – Sunili Govinnage (Part One)

Posted on by

Sunili Govinnage is an Australian human rights lawyer and self-described “social justice witch” who has recently come to some realisations about themselves and their politics.

In the first part of this frank conversation we discuss her “decolonising journey”, her focus on dismantling the “colonialist-capitalist-heteropatriarchy”, anti-racism and cancel culture. We identify areas that we agree on and some points where we have different perspectives – differences that will be further fleshed out in part two.

If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron

Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you

@sunili

sunili.net

Sunili’s writing at The Guardian

ARTICLE: Western Australia’s King Leopold Ranges renamed Wunaamin Miliwundi Ranges

My episode with Dr. Chelsea Bond

Cause of the Week: Stop Black Deaths In Custody GoFundMe Campaign

Direct download          iTunes          libsyn

194 – Sophie Payten (Gordi)

Posted on by

Sophie Payten records and performs as Gordi. She makes powerful, sweeping, personal indie-pop and last week released her sophomore album, Our Two Skins. I am a fan and it is good.

I wanted to talk to Sophie about her other job (she’s a qualified doctor and has been on standby during the pandemic) and explore the political ideas surrounding her recent discovery of her queer identity and the loss of her beloved grandma. We reflect on the 2017 marriage equality plebiscite, the political stasis that Millennials are trapped and having difficult conversations with people who have different politics.

If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron

Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you

I’ll be on Josh Earl’s Don’t You Know Who I Am? podcast this Saturday: you can buy tickets and stream it here 

Please check out the new comedy venue from my mates Alex Dyson, Kyran Wheatley and Alex Dyson, Comedy Republic

@GordiMusic

gordimusic.com

You can buy Our Two Skins here

Watch Unready here

Gordi’s supporting Bon Iver on their 2021 tour

ARTICLE: Singer-songwriter Gordi by Nick Buckley (Saturday Paper)

ARTICLE: Australian singer Gordi releases song to raise funds for the RFS 

Cause of the Week: North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (naaja.org.au)

Direct download          iTunes          libsyn

193 – Dr. Chelsea Bond

Posted on by

Dr. Chelsea Bond is a Munanjahli and South Sea Islander woman and a senior lecturer at the University of Queensland. She’s worked and researched extensively in the area of Aboriginal health and regularly writes and speaks about race and racism in Australia today.

In this conversation, Chelsea reflects on how the recent Black Lives Matter uprising has played out in Australia, her personal experiences with the police, the fierceness of Black women in this struggle and the intersection of racial power structures and class.

If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron

Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you

I’m performing at Easey Comedy this Thursday night, you can stream it via Zoom

@drcbond

Chelsea’s radio show Wild Black Women on Brisbane’s 989FM 

ARTICLE: In Australia, black lives do matter by Aaron Patrick [$]

ARTICLE: Dr. Chelsea Bond delivers a masterclass in Indigenous excellence by Nat Cromb & Luke Pearson

ARTICLE: How to learn from Indigenous people about the Black Lives Matter movement in Australia by Tahnee Jash

ARTICLE: ‘Anger has the hour’: How long must Indigenous Australia wait for change by Stan Grant

ARTICLE: White skin, black squares by Sam Kriss 

ARTICLE: Class is the new black: The dangers of an obsession with the ‘Aboriginal middle class’ by Dr. Chelsea Bond

ARTICLE: If Black men could talk: why we need an accurate portrayal of urban Indigenous masculinity by Dr. Chelsea Bond

Cause of the Week: Inala Wangarra (inalawangarra.com.au)

Direct download          iTunes          libsyn

192 – Andy Zaltzman

Posted on by

Andy Zaltzman is a British comedian, the co-host of the hugely popular satirical podcast The Bugle and (sadly) a fanatical cricket fan.

I’ve been lucky enough to become friends and work with Andy over the past five or so years and have been meaning to have him on as a guest for quite a while now, to laugh about everything in the world and ask him some (mildly) serious questions about his political outlook. Here discuss sport, statues, Fawlty Towers, the failures of the Corbyn moments, his “radical centrism” and the future of Brexit Britain.

If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron

Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you

I’m performing at Easey Comedy next week, you can stream it via Zoom

This Saturday is World Refugee Day: please support the ASRC’s Telethon

Or you can join me and the likes of Najeeba Wazefadost and Craig Foster for the ARAN Online Forum “Imagining a More Welcoming Australia”

@ZaltzCricket

thebuglepodcast.com

andyzaltzman.co.uk

The latest episode of The Bugle with Nish Kumar & Nato Green, Statuesque

Cause of the Week: The Sick Children’s Trust (sickchildrenstrust.org) 

Direct download          iTunes          libsyn

191 – Gavin Stanbrook

Posted on by

Gavin Stanbrook is a revolutionary socialist who hails from Gumbanyggir country on the NSW mid-north coast. He’s a member of Socialist Alternative who’s been campaigning for justice for Aboriginal families for years and who helped organise last week’s #BlackLivesMatter protest in Sydney.

In this conversation Gavin tells me how about tearing down statues, the revolutionary potential of this moment, police violence, the tragic cases of Aboriginal deaths in custody, his personal involvement in the #JusticeForBowraville campaign and why he thinks the police should be abolished.

If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron

Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you

I was on the latest episode of The Bugle podcast with Andy Zaltzman and Hari Kondabolu

@StanbrookG 

Gavin’s speech at the 2018 Invasion Day Rally in Redfern

ARTICLE: We can transform society in our interests if we unite to smash the system by Gavin Stanbrook

ARTICLE: There cannot be 432 victims and no perpetrators by Amy McQuire

ARTICLE: Aboriginal deaths in custody: Black Lives Matter protests referred to our count of 432 deaths. It’s now 437 by Lorena Allam, Calla Wahlquist & Nick Evershed

ARTICLE: Justice for Bowraville! by Gavin Stanbrook

ARTICLE: Tear down Australia’s racist statues by Rebecca Barrigos

ARTICLE: Our cops are killers too by Jasmine Duff

ARTICLE: Democrats are already trying to co-opt the movement. Drive them out by Daniel Taylor

Cause of the Week: The Justice for David Dungay Jnr. GoFundMe

 

Direct download          iTunes          libsyn