Like I'm A Six-Year-Old

James Ball is a journalist and the current Global Editor of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. He worked with WikiLeaks on the Iraq War documents leak in 2010 and was part of The Guardian team that helped published the Edward Snowden sneaks about the NSA.  Last week I sat down with James in a London heatwave to reflect on Boris Johnson becoming PM, stockpiling for a no-deal Brexit, the way bullshit works in today's politics, the anti-Semitism scandal in the British Labour Party and the plight of Julian Assange.  You can be a hero in this world and support this show by becoming a Patron now if you like ENOUGH starts at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival tomorrow night! 9pm at the Monkey Barrel for the rest of the month Then ENOUGH is at the Soho Theatre from Monday September 2nd I'm on the latest episode of The Bugle with Andy Zaltzman & Nato Green @jamesrbuk jamesrball.com James' writing at The New Statesman James' writing at Buzzfeed James' writing at The Guardian James' speech Bathing in Bullshit, 2017 ARTICLE: Inside the Strange, Paranoid World of Julian Assange by James Ball ARTICLE: Chelsea Manning is in jail. Our silence is shameful by James Ball ARTICLE: Labour says it will would end the welfare freeze (BBC NEWS) ARTICLE: The Strange Case of Julian Assange by Bernard Keane Cause of the Week: Overgate Hospice (overgatehospice.co.uk)

Corey White is a comedian and writer with a pretty remarkable personal story. His memoir The Prettiest Horse in the Glue Factory is a funny, dark and brutally honest account of being raised in a violent working class home, being put through the harsh foster care system, struggling with issues of sexual identity and drug addiction and eventually becoming the comedian and man he is today. Here, Corey and I compare notes on our very different childhoods and discuss issues of class, being a member of the lumpenproletariat, the welfare state, outrage, the case for a UBI and "fusionism". We laugh a lot throughout.  Woahhh how cool you can support this show by becoming a Patron please radical, man!  Then ENOUGH is coming to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August (next week) and the Soho Theatre in September @MrCoreyWhite The Prettiest Horse in the Glue Factory through Penguin  An extract from the book  Corey's event at the Moonee Ponds Library on Monday July 29th ARTICLE: Corey White on childhood trauma, foster care and comedy: 'It's a factory for the insane'  Corey on Q&A discussing incentivised contraception Cause of the Week: The Pyjama Foundation (thepyjamafoundation.com)

Former Greens senator and lifelong campaigner Lee Rhiannon has been fighting on the Left since she was fifteen years old.  Almost a year on from stepping down as a Senator for NSW after losing preselection to Mehreen Faruqi, Lee talks to me about being spied on by ASIO from the age of seven, being raised by socialist parents, the state of the union movement, just how badly neoliberalism has knocked around the Left, the tensions that continue to frustrate the Australian Greens and how the party can find a better way to reach out to working people. Woahhh how cool you can support this show by becoming a Patron please radical, man!  I’m doing a preview of ENOUGH at The Bill Murray in London on Tuesday July 23rd Then ENOUGH is coming to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August and the Soho Theatre in September @LeeRhiannon leerhiannon.org.au ARTICLE: Outgoing Lee Rhiannon urges Greens to resist 'careerism and bullying' ARTICLE: Enemies within as Greens are caught in civil war Cause of the Week: Frontline Action on Coal (frontlineaction.org)

Playwright, commentator and activist Van Badham is back on the podcast after she joined me in July of 2015.  Since then Van has been a passionate advocate for the re-election of a Labor government and a scathing critic of The Australian Greens. I was keen to dig further into her thinking on that and ask her what she thought went wrong in the 2019 federal election (the answer might surprise you). Van mounts a vigorous defence of Labor's policies here and explains why she sees it as the major hope for the socialist Left in Australia.  Plus also you will hear her dog barking in the background.  Woahhh how cool you can support this show by becoming a Patron please radical, man!  I'm doing two previews of ENOUGH at The Bill Murray in London on July 16th & 23rd Then ENOUGH is coming to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August and the Soho Theatre in September @vanbadham Van's Facebook page Van's play Banging Denmark at the Sydney Opera House Van's opinion pieces: Labor's support for tax cuts is an unfathomable betrayal of principle Australian Labor led centre-left parties into neoliberalism. Can they lead it out? Labour has a chance if it replaces Corbyn. Look at Australia in 1983  Time to hail Hilary Clinton - and face down the testosterone left How I fell out of love with the Greens: a personal story about the Labor Party The ALP National Platform 2018 ARTICLE: Van Badham's defence of Hillary Clinton is insufferable right wing crap by Sarah Garnham ARTICLE: Van Badham's defence of Clinton is preposterous by Michael Brull ARTICLE: It wasn't Bob Brown who lost the election, it was the Labor Party by James Norman ARTICLE: How Australia's Labor Party Lost an Un-Loseable Election by Daniel Lopez Cause of the Week: The Australian Labor Party (alp.org.au) 

Josh Bornstein is an employment and IR lawyer at Maurice & Blackburn and the director at the Australia Institute. He's been increasingly concerned about the level of control that Australian employers have gained over their employees' freedom of speech and expression. So when it comes to the case of Israel Falou, he's been (controversially) outspoken about the legal ramifications for workers if we accept that your boss can fire you for saying the wrong thing.  Here Josh and I take the time to flesh out his argument on this, how one can unequivocally condemn what Falou said but still object to him losing his job and what the implications for this saga might be for anti-discrimination protections moving forward.   Be the change you want to be in the world and support this show by becoming a Patron please ENOUGH is coming to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August and the Soho Theatre in September @JoshBBornstein  joshbornstein.com.au ARTICLE: Cricket Australia's Angela Williamson won't be the last fired for having an opinion by Josh Bornstein ARTICLE: Sacked for speaking your mind? Don't expect the free speech brigade to help by Jason Wilson   ARTICLE: Integrity - it's all Greek to the hypocrites of the Right by Josh Bornstein ARTICLE: With Israel Folau the church demands a kind of free speech that keeps gays in the firing line by David Marr ARTICLE: Everyone Is Wrong About Israel Falou by Lane Sainty Winners Take All by Anand Giridharadas Cause of the Week: The Centre for Future Work (futurework.org.au)

Jeremy Poxon is a social security activist and the media officer for the Australian Unemployed Workers Union. His spicy twitter account regularly draws attention to the plight of unemployed and underemployed people in Australia, from those living on Newstart to people on Work for the Dole to folks just trying to survive in the gig economy.  Here Jeremy explains exactly how organising unemployed workers in a union works, why capitalism is antithetical to the idea of (actual) full employment, why Labor's centrism SUCKS BUTT, what's involved in a jobs guarantee and what an Australian Green New Deal might look like.   Be the change you want to be in the world and support this show by becoming a Patron please ENOUGH is on in Collingwood in Melbourne this Friday & Saturday night ENOUGH is coming to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August and the Soho Theatre in September @jeremypoxon unemployedworkersunion.com progress2019.org.au jobguarantee.org ARTICLE: Australia Needs A Green New Deal, Not More Centrism by Jeremy Poxon, Jon Piccini and Tash Neenan ARTICLE: What Good Are Billions of Surplus Dollars When People Are Starving? by Jeremy Poxon   ARTICLE: The demerit system is ruthless social policy, designed to keep the poor powerless by Jeremy Poxon ARTICLE: Living on Newstart: 'I don't eat every day. That saves some money I guess' by Gay Alcorn Cause of the Week: The Unemployed Workers Union (unemployedworkersunion.com)

Something a little bit different for you this week: highlights from a live performance of A Rational Fear at Queensland's inaugural Climate Week. There were jokes and songs and facts about the impending climate crisis, featuring myself, Dan Ilic, Melinda Buttle, Steph Tisdell, Lewis Hobba, Prof. Hilary Bambrick and Bridie Connell & Wyatt Nixon-Lloyd. Enjoy.  You can support this show by becoming a Patron which would be very very nice of you ENOUGH is coming to Newcastle this Friday night Then Sydney on Saturday night  Then Geelong and Melbourne later in the month  ENOUGH is coming to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August and the Soho Theatre in September @ARationalFear A Rational Fear on Soundcloud ARationalFear.substack.com  

Jonathan Green is a veteran journalist and broadcaster who presents at the ABC and edits the literary magazine Meanjin.  He's been working as a journo since the late 70s so I thought he'd be a good person to reflect on how the political media is serving us in 2019 (hint: it's not). We talk about exactly why Jonathan thinks politics is "bollocks", the corrosive influence of the Murdoch media empire and whether there's anything to do about it, the smallness of the "Lucky Country" and the challenges ahead for progressive politics.   If you like this show and can support a wittle bit please do so by becoming a Patron ENOUGH is coming to Newcastle, Geelong, Sydney & Melbourne A Rational Fear is coming to Brisbane for Climate Week this Thursday June 6th I’ll be back in Brisbane on Sunday June 30th for the MELT Gala ENOUGH is coming to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August @GreenJ meanjin.com.au Jonathan Green on ABC RN ARTICLE: 'Prefer to battle News Corp than Scott Morrison': Michael Miller slams Labor by Jennifer Duke ARTICLE: What counts as rich now? by Mike Seccombe Cause of the Week: The Smith Family's Sponsor-A-Child Program (thesmithfamily.com.au)

He's back! The socialist journalist, author, broadcaster and activist Jeff Sparrow is back to help make sense of the election result.  Hear what Jeff makes of the idea that the ALP should return to the "sensible centre", how unconvincing Bill Shorten was as a progressive leader, the radical response that the climate crisis requires, where to next for the #StopAdani campaign, the fate of The Greens and whether class warfare is really over (hint: it's not).  You can support the show by becoming a Patron yes please thanks ENOUGH is coming to Newcastle, Geelong, Sydney & Melbourne A Rational Fear is coming to Brisbane for Climate Week on Thursday June 6th  I'll be back in Brisbane on Sunday June 30th for the MELT Gala ENOUGH is coming to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August @jeff_sparrow Jeff's articles: Where to now for the Left?  What went wrong for Labor on climate  The environment vs jobs? We have been in this fight before Jeff's book Trigger Warnings: Political Correctness & The Rise of the Right ARTICLE: Unions' pro-Labor electoral strategy a failure by Tom Bramble  ARTICLE: Tony Burke floats Green New Deal-style approach to Labor's climate policy ARTICLE: Anthony Albanese to travel to Queensland on first day as Labor leader ARTICLE: Trumpism is taking over the world and the Left is to blame by Bret Stephens Cause of the Week: BDS Australia (bdsaustralia.net.au)

Gideon Rozner is a Liberal Party member and the director of policy at free market think tank The Institute of Public Affairs. He loves markets and freedom and shit like that.  I'd booked this discussion in prior to the weekend's election results which for SOME FUCKING BONKERS reason s3aw the Morrison government re-elected. Gideon was very pleased with the result and in this conversation we discuss what he think happened, what Morrison will actually do, his climate scepticism, "class warfare", abolishing the Fair Work Act and how much money he won by betting on the election.   You can support the show by becoming a Patron yes please thanks ENOUGH is coming to Newcastle, Geelong, Sydney & Melbourne ENOUGH is coming to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August @GideonCRozner Gideon's profile on The IPA website  20 Policies to Fix Australia by The IPA  Gideon talks Peter Ridd on Sky News Outsiders ARTICLE: Climate sceptics see a conspiracy in Australia's record-breaking heat by Graham Readfearn ARTICLE: Australian Labor's Miliband Moment by Osmond Chiu ARTICLE: We live in anti-political times by Elizabeth Humphrys Cause of the Week: Give Money To Homeless People (or alternatively support Justice Connect's Homeless Law justiceconnect.org.au)