Fiona Jack Radio Podcasts

This week's guest, Robert 'Redgum' Roberts, is an environmentalist and self-taught propagator, a white bloke ruffling the feathers of the squatocracy with his adoption of the ancient practise of lighting fires. Robert has Authority Defiant Syndrome, like most of our guests, and was no teacher's pet, carving out his own unique life with his family, …

Hello! This week we’re talking about dyslexia—how we need to improve its recognition in our society and understand the contribution people with dyslexia can make. At least 1 in 10 people in the UK are estimated to have dyslexia and are still facing barriers to inclusion in the classroom, the workplace and society more broadly. We speak to Andy Cook…

It was a lovely treat to have this week's guest, Brendan Bonsack, in the studio regaling us with tales from his childhood in Macedon, including vivid memories of being caught up in Ash Wednesday. Brendan is a very talented person, being a poet, musician, film producer and co-host of 3CR's Spoken Word. This was a delightful, fun conversation we hope…

Hello! This week we’re looking at the government's proposal to sell off broadcaster Channel 4. Started in the 80s with a remit to commission unique and original programming from independent production companies, Channel 4 has been informing and entertaining us for decades. To find out why the government would want to privatise Channel 4 now, and ho…

Our guest this week is political beast, local government expert and temple builder, Sen, a familiar, friendly face on the 3CR reception desk and programmer since 1985. Sen shares with us the history of his land, Sri Lanka, before colonisation and after and the best times of his life working as an engineer in Zambia and Botswana. Sen has always been…

Hello! This week we’re looking at the huge cost of childcare, an often ignored part of the cost of living crisis. New research has found that almost two thirds of families are paying more, or the same, for their childcare as they do their rent or mortgage, with one in four parents saying they had to cut down on food, heat and clothing to afford chi…

This week's guest couldn't come in as their boss didn't like the idea, so we revisited our 2016 conversation with supremo sound engineer, Lara Soulio. Lara's a great gal and shares with us the story of how she became one of those rare breed female sound engineers and how she came to work on 3CR's Burning Vinyl, putting live bands to air every Frida…

Hello! America has seen a wave of recent union victories by Amazon and Starbucks workers, and this week we’re looking at why they’ve succeeded where many others have failed, and what UK unions can learn. We’re joined by Starbucks organiser Casey Moore, Director of CLASS, Ellie Mae O’Hagan and General Secretary of Prospect Union, Mike Clancy. Plus, …

This week's guest is Stephanie Sabrinskas, a Lithuanian-Dutch rebel from Moe who is currently co-producing a documentary and accompanying podcast on life after coal in the Latrobe Valley. How good is that! Stephanie has always been a creative person and an animal lover and in this conversation she recalls memories of her time growing up with her fa…

Happy Easter! To celebrate, we have a special episode on the magic of the wildlife on our doorstep. 83% of us live in urban areas and are surrounded by myriad known and not-so-well known wildlife wonders including birds, insects, hedgehogs and yes, foxes and rats. But our furry and flying city-dwellers are vital to our ecosystems, and there are unt…

This week's guest is none other than Aran Mylvaganam, currently running in the 2022 federal election to represent the Victorian Socialists in the senate. Aran shares with us the remarkable story of his life so far, from Tamil refugee to lifetime human rights activist. Aran's a lovely guy and we wish him all the best in the election. Make sure to li…

Hello! This week we’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of Newsround, and finding out how the way our children get their news has changed over the years. To celebrate the milestone, we’re joined by Newsround Editor Lewis James, and to hear more about other ways kids access current affairs, we’re joined by Anna Bassi, Editorial Director of The Week …

On this week's show we welcome Vicky Vacondios, a community services teacher trainer who is passionate about making a better system based on her lived experience of accessing family violence and housing services as a single mum. Vicky has been a hard worker all her life after growing up in Broady with her Greek family. She became politicised after …

This week we’re going behind the headlines on the so-called Great Resignation - which has seen record numbers of job vacancies advertised as people leave and move roles. Has Covid really revolutionised the world of work? And who is benefiting from the changes? To find out, we’re joined by Joe Fuller from Harvard Business School, David Zentler-Munro…

'Get out there and do it. Don't have a fear of failure. And listen to 3CR'. This week's Radical Australia guest, host of 3CR's Doin' Time, Marisa Sposaro, has been listening to the little radio station since she was a teenage rebel, curious about the world and eager to experience everything it had to offer. Maria was born blind and in this conversa…

This week we’re giving Ed another reason to talk about his swimming, and diving into our rivers. Rivers are such an important part of our landscape, ecosystems and communities. They provide two thirds of our water supplies and support a vast array of wildlife, but are in bad shape. Only 14% of our rivers pass the bar for ecological health, and farm…

Born in Devonport in the year of Woodstock, we are delighted that Rose Turtle Ertler graced our shores this week. In case you didn't know, Rose is a humble but extraordinary artist, playing ukelele the past 22 years, some of that with the Black Orchid String Band, but having lived a full life immersed in artistic escapades, here in Australia and in…

Hello! This week Ed and Geoff are off to the pictures, as they find out how cinemas have survived covid, and why they’re still so important to our communities and culture. To usher them through the episode they’re joined by Phil Clapp, CEO of trade body the UK Cinema Association, Kevin Markwick, who runs 2 independent cinemas successfully, and star…

This week we’re looking at energy storage, and the technologies being developed to improve how we store and use renewable energy. Clean energy storage is vital to decarbonising the economy, so to get to grips with it we have Jillian Ambrose, energy correspondent at the Guardian, Simon Skillings from E3G, and Nina Skorupska from The Association for …

On this week's show we are delighted to welcome Herb Patten, a gum leaf player extraordinaire who has been dedicated to the art since childhood when he started mimicking the sounds of the birds and wildlife around him. Herb grew up in East Gippsland near Orbost before going on to tuna fishing and spotting from the crow's nest. He's always had good …

Hello! This week we’re joined by podcasting royalty, as David Runciman, host of Talking Politics, joins Ed and Geoff for his victory lap. After 6 years, David and co-host Helen Thompson are hanging up their headphones on one of the smartest political podcast of our time. Ed and Geoff find out why they’re stopping in the middle of arguably one of th…

Special repeat broadcast from July 2019fatherbobs.comBy Melbourne icon

Hello! This week we're looking at the legislation passing through parliament which would have British Sign Language recognised as an official language in the UK. Eighty-seven thousand people in the UK say BSL is their preferred language, but they are discriminated against in everyday life, from using essential services to speaking to doctors, their…

On this week's show we welcome Margaret Bannan, a radical Catholic woman who has pretty much dedicated her life to advocating for the marvellous natural world we all share in. Margaret was born in Bendigo in 1948 and came home from the hospital in horse and carriage. When not looking after her eight siblings, Margaret always enjoyed sport and she w…

Hello! This week we’re talking about the crisis of fuel poverty as people are hit by rocketing energy bills. Torsten Bell from the Resolution Foundation sets the incoming energy bill rises in context, Adam Scorer from National Energy Action tells us how people are facing the crisis up and down the country, and Dr Elizabeth Blakelock shares some int…

3CR Thursday Breakfast and Women on the Line producer, Priya Kunjan, was our guest this week. Priya is one of those really smart people who excels in academia, currently researching their PhD on January 26th and media representation, but they already have a whole life of learning in anatomy and neuroscience behind them. Priya is enjoying their time…

Hello! This week we're discussing the impacts of the climate crisis on our mental health, and how we can support ourselves and each other in response. From the trauma of the effects of extreme weather events like floods and droughts, to worrying about climate change in our every day lives, there’s a growing body of evidence which shows more and mor…

On this week's show we are extremely honoured to welcome the indefatigable Laurie Levy, a man who was there during the beginnings of whale rescue in Australia in the late 1970s and who has dedicated half his life to banning duck and waterbird shooting in Australia. Before his activism, Laurie was a cameraman at GTV9 when television began and worked…

Hello! This week we’re looking at the role of Magistrates in our justice system. Little is widely known about the volunteer system which presides over 90% of criminal cases, and as the government launches a campaign to get 4,000 new magistrates to apply, we find out how what more can be done to raise awareness and increase diversity. We’re joined b…

The Popcorn Princess. That's what we can also call this week's guest, Bree Taylor, the founder of Melbourne Duck Save. Bree was born in '77 Melbourne and she's really good at 'The Claw', winning many stuffed toys and such courtesy of the teachings of her grandfather. Bree has been a union organiser and has worked on campaigns for the Greens. Before…

Hello! This week we're looking at the circular economy, a system that could transform our lives and contribute mightily towards reducing carbon emissions. In the UK, per person we produce the second highest amount of electronic waste by throwing away our unwanted phones and laptops. In a circular economy, we reduce usage of materials, reuse them an…

This week's guest is Tjiwarl mother, grandmother and activist, Vicky Abdullah. Vicky joins us on the blower from the side of the road on country as she looks over a mining dump. Vicky has always been caring for country and learnt this from her mother. Her father was a cammalier from Queensland and Vicky grew up going from station to station. In her…

Hello! This week we’re joined by the wonderful Jon Ronson for a special episode. The acclaimed journalist, documentary maker and author, talks to Ed and Geoff about his new podcast series ‘Things Fell Apart’, which explores the extraordinary human stories behind the origins of what have become known as the culture wars. Ed gets into the kitchen, an…

This week we get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the private life and upbringing of Pas Forgione, one of the hardworking activists fighting for the rights of low income people everywhere, but in Adelaide, as part of the fantastic anti-poverty network. When Pas isn't doing awesome work elevating the voices of people on Centrelink, he loves getting …

Hello! This week we continue our foray into all things Web 3.0 by taking on NFTs, or Non-Fungible-Tokens. If you’re lost already then don’t worry, so were we, until we spoke to our enlightened guests Anthony Cuthbertson from the Independent, Holly Jean Buck from Buffalo University, and Andrea Baronchelli, from City University and the Turing Institu…

Our special guest this week, Alison Broinowski, has initials after her name. Is that a first for the little radio show?.. Alison, who turned 80 years young recently, has lived a rather marvellous life travelling the world with her husband as part of the Department of Foreign Affairs, at a time when women were few and far between, and has lived and …

Hello! This week we head for the peatlands, get in the sea, and go in search of UK's lost rainforests to explore ecosystems beyond the trees. Could restoring these habitats play a significant part in achieving net-zero? And what else needs to be done to tackle the UK's nature crisis? Joining us are Kate Jennings (with a canine cameo), Guy Shrubsole…

Happy New Year! To start 2022, Ed and Geoff talk to one of the UK’s most acclaimed and prolific scriptwriters, Jack Thorne (Help, Kiri, His Dark Materials, The End of History, This Is England.) Jack is a co-founder of Underlying Health Condition - a pressure group campaigning for proper inclusion and representation of disabled people in the enterta…

A Summer Special, 'Limerick Fightback', with Canberra Corresponent, Kerry Crossley. Listen as Kerry covers everything from politics to space by way of a limerick. She's a marvel!By Kerry Crossley

Hello! Well, what a year 2021 has been... thank you for being with us throughout. Here are some of 2021's very best bits for your delectation. Best wishes from your friends at Reasons to be Cheerful HQ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week's guest, and returning guest at that, is Adele O'Connor. Adele has written a PhD on the complex, nerver-ending history that is Indonesian populism and oligarchy. In this conversation she speaks about the history of Indonesia, including the involvement of the Dutch East India Company when the islands where known as the Spice Islands. Adele…

As last year's Christmas AMA was such a huge success *there were no major repercussions*, we thought we'd do it again. Ed and Geoff answer (and avoid) your questions, from sandwiches of choice in the make-your-own-sandwich shop to which cabinet member Ed would prefer to take on in a royal rumble. (Guess which of those Ed answered, and which he avoi…

Barrie Sutherland started taking pictures of the surf at Bells, year after year, in the 70s, with his family living just up the road in Torquay since the 40s. If anybody has seen Torquay change over time, it's Barrie, and he has strong views about it. On this week's show, Barrie speaks fondly of his parents and recalls the time his father came home…

In the fourth and final episode about how progressive victories were won, we're taking a look at the introduction of the national minimum wage. It feels unthinkable now that there shouldn't be a minimum rate that workers are paid, but it wasn't too long ago that hourly rates of £1 or £1.50 were commonplace. The road to a national minimum wage was l…

On this week's show we welcome Prue Licht, a Grandmothers for Refugees activist who spent 25 years and many long hours working in the welfare system, predominantly with women and families. Prue originally hails from England but has lived here in the Dandenongs ever since she arrived on these shores in the 1970s. Prue was involved in the amazing No …

In the latest episode of our series about progressive advances, we're taking a look at the history of the fight for race equality in the UK. It is one that goes back centuries but we want to explore what progress has really been made in modern times and what have been the drivers--the combination of activism, movements, law and cultural change both…

'Question everything'. That's the motto this week's special guest, Maria Millers, has lived by ever since she was turned onto philosophy many moons ago. Maria was born in Harbin in 1937, a Russian city in the far north-east of China, to a family of Russian intellectuals in a time of Japanese occupation and has lived in Australia since she was a bab…

In the second of our episodes about how progressive victories were won, we're looking at gender equality and why the Nordic nations seem to be so far ahead of most of the world. What is it about the culture, society, and politics of the region? What role did women's movements play? And is there something in the water/snow, or can it inspire us to d…

On this week's show we have a soulful conversation with journalist, radio broadcaster and sound engineer, Kirstyn Lindsay, currently working with First Nations Media. KIrstyn hails from Logan City, Brisbane, and got her early learnings in listening at Musgrave Park among its Murray elders. Spending time in Sydney's anarchist, punk and feminist circ…

We're doing a little shimmy, into the past. In the first part of our mini-history series on how progressive victories were won, we're looking at the NHS. How did this complex institution, that's beloved in the UK and revered around the world, manage to even get off the ground? Who were the key players? How did they win over opposition (and why was …