Like I'm A Six-Year-Old

It's been almost a year since a magistrate gave whistleblower Freya Newman a two-year good behaviour bond for “unauthorized access to information” under the NSW Crimes Act. Her leaking of private information about Frances Abbott, the prime minister’s daughter, receiving a $60,000 undeclared scholarship at the Whitehouse Institute, a private design school, ignited a furious public debate about privacy, privilege and the public’s right to know.  At the National Young Writer’s Festival in Newcastle, I got to sit down with Freya and asked her to reflect on exactly how it all happened, what it’s like to be in the centre of a media shitstorm, the failings of the media’s handling of the issue, gaps in the law and whether or not she holds any regrets about the whole episode. RJ Mitte event at the Athenaeum Theatre   My shows at the Republic Bar in Hobart, Fresh Comedy in Launceston Rally for Refugees this Sunday October 11th @freyanewmn Article on Freya: The Whistleblower   Cause of the Week: Students Support The Aboriginal Communities (on FB), Dumbartung Aboriginal Corporation (dumbartungaboriginalcorporation.org), Kyol Blakeney for Cleo Bachelor of the Year  

After another bit of a delay and SOME JOLLY CRAZY HAPPENINGS in Australian politics, we’re back. Hello.  Erik Jensen is the definition of “precocious”. He’s in his mid-twenties and he’s already won a Walkley Award and he’s responsible for the launch and editing the highly-respected Saturday Paper – a weekly, centrist newspaper dedicated to long-form narrative journalism. Plus he’s written a critically-acclaimed biography of artist Adam Cullen, he likes cool music and is very funny. What an arsehole. In this chat Erik tells me about his beginnings in and passion for journalism, the over-arching philosophy behind TSP, the media and bias, the Abbott government’s “paucity of ideas”, leaks and opinion polls and just where things might go with Malcolm Turnbull as our new Prime Minister. My upcoming stand-up gigs My blog on Just For Laughs & Edinburgh Festival Fringe @erikojensen @satpaper TSP Editorial: Kicking The Abbott TSP Editorial: Close Nauru TSP Editorial: Dutton For Punishment Cause of the Week: The Refugee & Immigration Legal Centre (rilc.org.au)  

Again, apologies for the delay, everyone. It's been a while, but I'm back with a doozy of an episode.   Philip “Dr. Death” Nitschke has been the face of the controversial right-to-die debate in Australia for almost 20 years. He is the founder and director of the pro-euthanasia group Exit International and author of The Peaceful Pill Handbook – a book describing ways to commit suicide that has been banned in Australia. I’ve always been fascinated by Philip’s arguments and his tenacity in presenting them. When I heard he was performing a one-man comedy show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival about his life and various suicide techniques, I had to find out more and jumped at the chance to sit down with him. Here Philip explains how he came to be performing this show, how he got involved in the euthanasia debate to begin with, his personal approach to death, his response to all the objections, censorship, the failings of modern medicine, “rational suicide”, what it’s like to help someone die and where he sees the debate going next. My show Taxis & Rainbows & Hatred at the Soho Theatre @philipnitschke Dicing With Dr. Death reviewed in the Telegraph, on TV Bomb  Trailer for The Last Cab To Darwin  Article: The Death Treatment for The New Yorker  Article: Don't Get Sucked In By Philip Nitschke by Chris Ilsey Article: Philip Nitschke's Edinburgh Fringe show visited by police Article: Euthanasia will fight devastates son The Peaceful Pill Handbook on wikipedia Causes of the Week: Exit International (exitinternational.net), Voluntary Euthanasia Party (vep.org.au), Big Life Foundation (biglife.org)  

Hello! I'm back! Sorry about the wait for a new episode. I'm in Scotland, so let's talk to a Scot.  Kieran Hurley is a playwright and poet based in Glasgow. His work touches on the human stories involved in political events and he was a vocal supporter of the "YES" campaign in last year's referendum on Scottish independence. Together Kieran and I talked about the UK government banning rave music in the 90s, the London riots, May's general election and what it means for British politics, Jeremy Corbyn, austerity, "Torycore", nationalism and why he's occasionally happy to be considered a "traitor". My show Taxis & Rainbows & Hatred at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (6 shows left!); at the Soho Theatre in September  The Something Wonky podcast @kieran_hurley Kieran on making Beats Kieran's 25 Reasons for Voting "YES" Tory-core explained Lost Voice Guy's stand up Lost Voice Guy's Disabilty For Dunces at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival Cause of the Week: The Black Triangle Campaign (blacktrianglecampaign.org)  

I think Damien Power is one of the most exciting comedians in Australia right now. He opened for Tenacious D on their Australian tour a few years back (I saw the show and he crushed it) and his 2015 stand up show I Can’t Believe I Cared was nominated for the Barry Award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Damien’s comedy is not only hilarious, it’s extremely well-informed and socially conscious. In this chat we covered cats (shout-outs to Jerry the Persian), what the film Jurassic World tells us about capitalism and the growth economy, anarchy, conspiracy theories and the impending World War III that’s coming to obliterate us all. Enjoy! My show Taxis & Rainbows & Hatred at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe & the Soho Theatre in London My Chortle piece on comedy and gay rights @damienpower01  damienpower.com Damien’s podcast, Power to the People Slavoj Zizek's The Pervert's Guide To Ideology and The Pervert's Guide To Cinema  Oliver Stone’s Untold History of the United States A Short History of Stupid by Helen Razer & Bernard Keane Cause of the Week: GetUp!’s campaign to shut down Manus Island and Nauru (getup.org.au)  

Van Badham exudes passion for political action. She’s a playwright, novelist, columnist for The Guardian, proud union member and vocal activist who’s appeared on Q&A, The Drum and Radio National. Van outlined the case against the federal government’s approach to arts funding and spoke to me about the importance of the arts to a society’s understanding of itself, our lazy attitude to democracy, politicians’ failure to listen to the people, asylum seekers, education, taxes, why the marriage equality debate gives her hope and tackling trolls. Wil Anderson & I talking about roasting Jimmy Carr on FOFOP My show Taxis & Rainbows & Hatred at Phoenix Fringe, Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the Soho Theatre @vanbadham vanbadham.blogspot Van’s pieces for Guardian Australia Article: Extremist groups wilt under public scrutiny by Van Badham Jean-Paul Sartre’s Dirty Hands (Le Mains sans) Richard Marles on Q&A, July 6th Causes of the Week: Yes2Renewables (yes2renewables.org), Sisters & Brothers NT Launch Pozible campaign    

Rod Quantock recently received a Medal of the Order of Australia for his 45+ years of being an outspoken comedian/environmentalist activist/shit-stirrer. He is a living legend of Australian comedy who has relentlessly used his work to explain, dissect and call out political issues that really piss him off. In this wide-ranging chat, Rod told me about his thoughts on music, his political radicalisation, the origins of his groundbreaking shows Tram and Bus, the community campaigns he’s been involved with, being physically beaten at a protest at the 2000 World Economic Forum, his plans to close down the Murdoch press, how he keeps faith in the political system (or doesn’t) and how the realities of climate change colour his view of the future. My show Taxis & Rainbows & Hatred at Phoenix Fringe, Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the Soho Theatre quantock.com.au Catch CO2: A TedX Talk by Rod Quantock  What Happened Miss Simone? trailer combatwombat.com.au The Last Tim Tam pozible campaign Save The Planet political party Cause of the Week: Quit Coal (quitcoal.org.au)  

Tim Wilson is a former policy director at the Institute of Public Affairs, Australia's Human Rights Commissioner, public commentator and tea-drinker. He describes himself as a economic and social liberal and a cultural and institutional conservative. He's passionate about his principles and isn't afraid to wade into whatever controversy those principles might him lead to. Together we discussed the criticisms he's faced since taking on his role at the AHRC, asylum seeker policy, what it's really like at the IPA, his opposition to plain packaging cigarettes, the balance of marriage equality and religious freedoms, anti-discrimination legislation and his thoughts on the recent Q&A controversy.  My show Taxis & Rainbows & Hatred at Phoenix Fringe, Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the Soho Theatre Tim on The Fifth Estate podcast with Sally Warhaft @timwilsoncomau timwilson.com.au The Australian Human Rights Commission The Forgotten Children Report The Resilient Individuals Report Article: Tony Abbott's human rights man Tim Wilson racks up $77000 in expenses Culture War Two: conservatives get high on their own supply by Jason Wilson Tim Wilson: Freedom Fighter by Tim Elliott  Religious freedom and same-sex marriage need not be incompatible by Tim Wilson Tim Wilson on Q&A episode Radicalisation, Religion & Recognition Cause of the Week: The Australian Indigenous Education Foundation (aief.com.au)  

Vegan lawyer Shatha Hamade is a former prosecutor for the RSPCA and is now the Head of Investigations for Animals Australia. She's passionate about advocating for animal rights and challenging social conditioning when it comes to the way we treat our fellow earthlings. In this chat (recorded in the AA offices, where DOGS JUST RUN AROUND FREELY IT IS SO COOL) we discuss her "wake-up" moment, the kind of godawful abuses she's witnessed, the law's approach to animals accoridng to their "use", inherited thinking, the links between animal cruelty and a myriad of other social problems, the live export and live baiting investigations and the non-humans right movement.  A warning: animal cruelty is described in explicit detail here, some listeners may find it disturbing.  The Wanda Sykes Gala at Just For Laughs 2015 Taxis & Rainbows & Hatred at London's Soho Theatre in September My opinion piece: Eric Abetz is confused about marriage equality Article: Pets at work policies proving beneficial for both humans and dogs @AnimalAus The RSPCA Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer   Article: How Lyn White rewrote the rules on animal welfare The "zombie steak" The Yulin dog-eating festival The Conquest: A Cane Toad Documentary Video: Restore your faith in humanity - humans saving animals TED Talk: Chimps have feelings and thoughts. They should also have rights by Steven Wise The Non-Human Rights Project Cause of the Week: Animals Australia (animalsaustralia.org)  

Dan Ilic is a political satirist who employs what he calls “evidence-based shit-stirring”. He loves taking the piss in all sorts of media; his sensibilities can be found in The Ronnie Johns Half-Hour, Can of Worms, The Mansion, Hungry Beast, his ads for GetUp!, his labour of love satire collective A Rational Fear and more recently his work for Al Jazeera’s AJ+.  In this chat (recorded in a very SPECIAL LOCATION featuring a SPECIAL CAMEO), Dan and I reflect on the furore surrounding Q&A and discuss his amazing family story, how his “inner rage” fuels him to do what he does, the saga surrounding his piece (that was originally titled) Beaconsfield: A Musical In A Flat Minor, why he recently got fired and where he sees Australian political satire going in the future. My show at the 2015 Phoenix Fringe in London Taxis & Rainbows & Hatred at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2015 Article: ABC cowers in the face of Q&A fallout by Jonathan Holmes Article: Malcolm Turnbull doesn't understand the concept of an independent broadcaster by Jonathan Holmes Article: Democracy means even a jerk get a say by Annabel Crabb The Saturday Paper Editorial: Furore over ABC's Q&A mishandled Article: Arrogant ABC's left bias lets down taxpayers by Janet Albrechtsen ($) @danilic danilic.com A Rational Fear on Facebook Sketch: Where the bloody hell are you? Sketch: David Hicks on MTV’s Cribs Sketch: Censordyne Sketch: Fuel Watch Sketch: Climate Cleverer Sketch: The National Muslim Hotline Sketch: Jihadi Joe Sketch: Corby’s Political Fix-O-Kit Bad Ground: Inside The Beaconsfield Rescue by Tony Wright  Media reaction to Beaconsfield: The Musical AJ+ on youtube Cause of the Week: Sanfilippo Children's Foundation (sanfilippo.org.au)