Like I'm A Six-Year-Old

Nayuka Gorrie returns to unpack Episode 2 of First Contact with me. It's bloody tough going as the episode looks at overcrowded housing and poverty in the NT town of Elliott and survivors of the Stolen Generation.  What does the airing of this show actually mean for Indigenous Australians? Why do some react to the stories of the Stolen Generation with blatant denialism? How can non-Indigenous people (try to) be better allies? The World Keeps Happening is being filmed for Stan at the Comedy Theatre this Saturday December 3rd Watch Episode 2 on SBS On Demand here "It Throws Black People Under The Bus": Black Reactions to First Contact by Nayuka & Paul Gorrie First Contact: Poverty Porn And Trauma TV, With Bonus Celebrities by Amy McQuire First Contact interview: Ray Martin StolenGenerationsTestimonies.com A story on Richard Campbell's beautiful art is here Cause of the Week: Indigenous Literacy Foundation (indigenousliteracyfoundation.org.au)  

Episode 1 of First Contact has arrived.  The kind Nayuka Gorrie joined me for a viewing of the show and to share her thoughts. We discuss #DefineAboriginal, the difficulty in making a show like this and the issues and attitudes it exposes.  Watch Episode 1 on SBS On Demand here Read my piece for Guardian Australia on the show here Hear my previous episode with Nayuka here @nayukagorrie Check out some discussion of the show from Indigenous voices on the NITV website here  

Jamila Rizvi is a writer, commentator, former Labor staffer and political junkie. She was raised in Canberra by her immigrant public service parents, joined the Labor Party at 18 and has worked for the Rudd and Gillard governments.  In this frank and funny chat, Jamila reflects on her political pragmatism, the "Labor tragedy" that was the Rudd/Gillard/Rudd years and what her passionate exchange with Steve Price on The Project revealed to her about trolls, debate and PC.    The World Keeps Happening is being filmed for Stan at the Comedy Theatre on Saturday December 3rd   First Contact series 2 starts Tuesday November 29th on SBS    jamilarizvi.com.au   @jamilarizvi   Jamila's writing on Mamamia   Jamila's writing on news.com.au   change.org petition: Call for The Project to apologise to Steve Price live on air   A message to Steve Price and his supporters: grow up and get over it by Clementine Ford    Cause of the Week: CARE Australia (care.org.au)

On the dancefloor at Mardi Gras this year, I met Tim Rosenberger. He is a gay, conservative, Republican law grad from Ohio. And he has supported Donald Trump's candidacy for President of the United States. That candidacy was successful. And now we're here.  Here I have a lengthy chat with Tim via Skype about why he thinks Trump and Pence will be good for LGBTIQ+ Americans, racial politics, "pussy-gate", the electoral college, Clinton, climate change PC, identity politics and much more. I listened. It was hard and frustrating. But useful. I hope. #MAGA 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 @TimJRJR @twinksfortrump Article: Aftermath - 16 writers on Trump's America in The New Yorker Article: Trump warms to Electoral College, 4 Years After Calling it a "Disaster For Democracy" Article: Reports of anti-LGBTQ extremists tapped for major roles on President-Elect Trump's transition Article: Trump's Muslim register database - an explainer on Vox Article: The Democrats are screwing up the resistance to Donald Trump by Jamelle Bouie Article: Bursting the Facebook bubble - we asked voters on the left and right to swap feeds Article: Virginia's governor restores voting rights for 13,000 felons Article: China will soon trump America: the country is now the global leader in climate change reform  Article: Trump in the White House - an interview with Noam Chomsky Cause of the Week: Safe Schools Coalition (safeschoolscoalition.org.au), Log Cabin Republicans (logcabin.org)  

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  

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 that decision has cost him, how he reconciles his faith with his sexuality and how we can have better conversations about critiquing Islam and certain oppressive cultural attitudes.  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)  

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 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)  

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 crisis 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)