Like I'm A Six-Year-Old

Sami Shah is a comedian who just so happens to be an ex-Muslim atheist "militant leftist". Raised in conservative Karachi, Pakistan, and now living in Melbourne (after 5 years living in regional WA), Sami has appeared on QI and Australian Story and regularly performs stand-up all across the country.  Here Sami explains how a book made him a revolutionary and discusses Pakistani politics, the difficulties in criticising Islam and the failures of the refugee rights movement in Australia.  The World Keeps Happening at the Sydney Comedy Store, July 9th The World Keeps Happening at the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe Festival samishah.com @samishah Sami Shah on Facebook Sami's podcast Sami Says on iTunes  Sami's YouTube channel Sami's episode of QI "Northern Exposure", Sami's Australian Story How to fail at being brown by Sami Shah Dan Carlin's Hardcore Histories Sami Shah's second life as a comedian   Article: Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in turmoil amid toxic culture claims Cause of the Week: Edhi Foundation (edhi.org)  

Eva Orner is an Academy Award-winning documentarian who is exposing Australia's shameful offshore detention regime with her new film Chasing Asylum. The documentary features never-before-seen footage from inside the camps on Nauru and Manus Island and brave whistleblowers speaking out about the horrific things they've witnessed.  I've seen it and (unsurprisingly) it made me cry and it made me even more furious. Here Eva details her motivation to make work that speaks to power, torture, her frustrations with the refugee debate in Australia, the parallels between the persecution of Jews under Nazi Germany and Australia's detention system today, government secrecy and what might just help change the conversation.  The World Keeps Happening at the Sydney Comedy Store, July 9th The World Keeps Happening at the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe Festival @evaorner @chasingasylum chasingasylum.com.au Chasing Asylum screenings Take Action GetUp petition - Bring Them Here It's Okay To Compare Australia In 2016 With Nazi Germany, And Here’s Why by David Berger Taxi To The Dark Side trailer Cause of the Week: Go see "Chasing Asylum"!   

Edward Bourke is a 15-year-old right-wing conservative who loves the monarchy, Margaret Thatcher and Donald Trump. In fact, he loves Trump so much he’s launched The Trump Campaign to support the billionaire’s presidential bid and has been interviewed by Vice, Sunrise and news.com.au – and now me. In this lively discussion, Edward and I cover class, immigration, the importance of morals, Indigenous Australians and why he finds The Donald so appealing. Despite all our disagreements, I really couldn’t help but find myself quite liking the guy. See what you reckon. I'm at the Sydney Comedy Store this week The World Keeps Happening at the Sydney Comedy Store, July 9th The World Keeps Happening at the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe Festival SBS's The Feed's video on Peter Dutton: The douche that keeps on giving Outstanding claims - The Saturday Paper's editorial @edwardbourke  edwardbourke.com thetrumpcampaign.com remembermaggie.com  bourkecapital.com Cause of the Week: Saving the Lion (savingthelion.org)     

Rebecca Shaw is a writer, podcaster and twitterer extraordinaire. You may know her best as Brocklesnitch or have chuckled at her parody twitter account, @NoToFeminism (a book is on the way). She writes satire and opinion for SBS Comedy and Guardian Australia.  Bec makes me laugh a lot throughout this chat as we discuss the purpose of satire, queerphobia in country Queensland, feminism and the kind of feedback you can expect if you're a woman who dares to express her opinion on the internet. Oh also bad tattoos. change.org/gaypanic chasingasylum.com.au The ABC's Party Room podcast, The Guardian's Australian Politics Live with Lenore Taylor & Katharine Murphy, Something Wonky's Wonk The Vote The World Keeps Happening at the Sydney Comedy Store, July 9th The World Keeps Happening at the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe Festival @brocklesnitch @notofeminism brocklesnitch.com Bec's Patreon SBS Comedy's The Backburner Women Against Feminism Bec on The Guardian Bec's podcast with Peter Taggart, Bring A Plate Cause of the Week: Minus 18 (minus18.org.au), youreaccepted.com.au  

First Dog On The Moon is a dog and a Walkley award-winning cartoonist. His work has appeared in Crikey and now Guardian Australia and it is funny and silly and dog-based and sad and great.  Here Dog and I discuss the origins of his work, the importance of being a good political hater, the problems with empathy, his horrible lefty family, civil disobedience penguins, brussels sprouts and mountain chicken frogs. The ABC's Vote Compass   My piece for Fairfax: Those Fighting Against Offshore Detention Don't Need All The Answers  The Pacific Solution's brutal truth: we need it by Jonathan Holmes  My piece for Guardian Australia: Stop the votes! A message from the Prime Minister of Canberra LGBTIQ+ Issues in St Petersburg & Around The World (happening tonight!) Me, Lehmo & Genevieve Morris at Sooki Lounge on May 12th Ridiculous Laws: A Justice Connect event (Wednesday May 18th) @firstdogonmoon firstdogonthemoon.com.au First Dog's Walkley-award winning cartoon ...then where will we be?  We Have A Serious Problem by Douglas McGrath Cause of the week: Oscar’s Law (oscarslaw.org)  

Writer, engineer, former political candidate and now pollster Osman Faruqi has written for Guardian Australia, Junkee and SBS and regularly tweets like a mofo. He's the son of Mehreen Faruqi, the first female Muslim to be elected to any Australian parliament (for the Greens, no less) and has recently launched his own polling site, Metapoll, dubbed "the most reliable poll ever".  Here Osman tells me how he and his mum first became engaged with politics, the dire state of climate politics in Australia today,the lack of diversity in the Greens and the ALMIGHTY POWER OF THE POLLS.  Room At MyPlace The World Keeps Happening encore show at the Sydney Comedy Store Me, Lehmo & Genevieve Morris at Sooki Lounge on May 12th @oz_f metapoll.com.au Osman's writingatGuardian Australia Osman's writingatmedium Osman's writingatoverland.org.au Cause of the Week: The Refugee Advice & CaseworkService (racs.org.au)  

Ben Eltham is the National Affairs Correspondent for New Matilda, the Industry Columnist for Arts Hub and has written for Guardian Australia, the ABC's The Drum, Crikey and many other outlets. He's a Research Fellow at Deakin University's Faculty of Arts and Education and a Fellow of the Centre for Policy Development.  Basically, he's a major smarty-pants.  Ben's very, very good at explaining things and in this chat he kindly took the time to explain to me what the hell negative gearing is and what it means for Australia's housing crisis. We also discuss the myth of a "classless Australia", tax dodging, neoliberalism, the government's attacks on the arts and how the 2016 election is shaping up.  The World Keeps Happening at the Sydney Comedy Festival this week for TWO NIGHTS ONLY My speeches at the MICF Great Debate, "Everyone's Entitled To An Opinion" Five Reasons The Myth About Liberals Running The Economy Best Must Die by Costa A Human Rights Commissioner Gillian Triggs Speaks Out by Ramona Kavol We Are The Forgotten People: The Anguish of Australia's Invisible Asylum Seekers by Ben Doherty & Abdul Karim Hekmat @beneltham Ben's writing at New Matilda Ben's writing at Crikey Why Labor Are Right To Chase Turnbull's Wealth by Ben Eltham Don't bank On ASIC Saving The Day: The Case For A Royal Commission Is Open and Shut by Ben Eltham The Baaing Of Our Artists by Andrew Bolt Neoliberalism: The Ideology At The Root Of All Our Problems by George Monbiot RRR radio New Matilda Cause of the Week: Alzeihmer's Australia (fightdementia.org.au)  

Nayuka Gorrie is a Kurnai/Gunai, Gunditjmara, Wiradjuri and Yorta Yorta woman who's passionate about progress for Indigenous Australians. After reading her piece for Vice entitled Fuck Your Constitutional Recognition, I Want A Treaty, I scurried into her (beautiful) bedroom (with her permission) to talk about the problematic nature of recognition, the echoing trauma of the Stolen Generation, white Australia's denialism, what an Indigenous treaty might look like and, of course, Andrew Bolt. The World Keeps Happening at the Sydney Comedy Festival for TWO NIGHTS ONLY My final blog for TheMusic.com.au, wrapping up MICF 2016 @nayukagorrie Nayuka on the Foundation for Young Australians Maddee Clarke on twitter - @intoreceiving Welcome to Country App Colouring The Rainbow Peopling The Empty Mirror Gregory Phillips: Should Australian Cities Bear Indigenous Language Names?   Causes of the Week: Aboriginal Family Violence Prevention & Legal Service (fvpls.org, Sisters' Day Out), Seed Indigenous Youth Climate Network (seedmob.org.au)  

Journalist, anthropologist and broadcaster Sally Warhaft is a former editor of The Monthly, host of The Wheeler Centre's Fifth Estate podcast and mother to one-year-old twins.  In this wide-ranging chat, Sally diagnoses the current state of Australian politics, laments the lack of great political oratory today, explains why Malcolm Turnbull is politically "rooted", shares her thoughts on the cruelty of the death penalty and her friendship with Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran and gives me a bit of an insight into anthropology.  I gots nominated for the 2016 Barry Award golly gee! The World Keeps Happening at the Melbourne Comedy Festival Boundless Plains To Share at the Melbourne Comedy Festival The World Keeps Happening at the Sydney Comedy Festival The 2016 MICF Great Debate on tenplay Article: "I've cried researching my comedy show about refugees" The Wheeler Centre's Fifth Estate podcast Well May We Say: The Speeches That Made Australia   Cause of the Week: Reprieve Australia (reprieve.org.au)  

YES I KNOW IT'S BEEN QUITE A WHILE I'VE BEEN VERY BUSY SORRY LOL.  The good news is this episode is well worth the wait. Simon Hunt is a political satirist, film maker, lecturer, sound designer, musician and activist who's best known for his creation "Pauline Pantsdown" - a hugely popular and scathing parody of the One Nation politician Pauline Hanson.  In this extraordinary chat (recorded on the day of Mardi Gras 2016), Simon recounts his experiences of growing up gay in NSW in the 80s and explains his his fascination with religious right-wingers like Fred Nile and Anita Bryant, his politicisation in the face of the AIDS crisis, how he came to create Pantsdown and what Hanson says about us as a country today. Plus he's got some stories that are fucking funny.  The World Keeps Happening at the Melbourne Comedy Festival Boundless Plains To Share at the Melbourne Comedy Festival My episode of Wil Anderson’s Wilosophy My piece for The Saturday Paper on visiting detention centres and writing a comedy show about refugees  SBS’s The Feed story on Boundless Plains To Share @PPantsdown   Pauline on Facebook Pantsdown clips on YouTube Pauline Pantsdown on the Star Observer Electoral Guerilla Theatre in Australia: Pauline Hanson vs. Pauline Pantsdown by Lawrence M. Bogad Cause of the Week: minus18 (minus18.org.au)