Like I'm A Six-Year-Old

I was happier than a pig in shit to have a chat with comedian Robin Ince last week. I've been a fan of Robin's comedy ever since I saw him supporting Ricky Gervais on his tour DVDs years ago and his recent work has really excited me as an atheist and as a novice student of science.  Robin is in Australia touring his Happiness Through Science show in association with the Atheist Foundation of Australia, critiquing silly religious ideas and celebrating the natural world through jokes. We talked and laughed about Australia's religiosity, Robin's journey to and conception of atheism, the "great big tumour of existence", the danger of dogma, morality, Islam, the quantum qualities of plants, having children and whether or not he actually has sat on ham.  @robinince robinince.com Robin's Happiness Through Science tour in Australia The Sunday Assembly  Dignity In Dying  Robin's TEDx Talk: The Mind Is A Choas Of Delight  Cause of the Week: Water Aid (wateraid.org/au)

Freelance journalist Andrew McMillen writes about all sorts of fascinating stuff. While I was in Brisbane I sat down with him to briefly discuss dead bodies and Wikipedia, but we spent most of our time focussed on getting high. Andrew's book Talking Smack: Honest Conversations About Drugs saw him interview big names in Australian music about their relationship with and opinions on illegal drug use. I asked him what he learnt from putting the book together and we talked about the history of drug criminalisation, the relationship between drugs and creativity, the problems with the public debate about the issue, why people take drugs, how to buy them and where he sees the conversation going next.  @andrew_mcmillen andrewmcmillen.com Article: How I Snuck Through Wikipedia's Notability Test Article: Meet The Ultimate Wikignome Lisa Pryor's A Small Book About Drugs FriendlyJordies on sniffer dogs Cause of the Week: Headspace (headspace.org.au)  

Clementine Ford is a self-described "feminist killjoy to the stars". As a Daily Life columnist, speaker and activist, Clem is a proudly outspoken advocate for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault and a staunch critic of rape culture and all that entails.  Our conversation covered the perceptions of and challenges faced by modern-day feminism, society's attitude towards the perpetrators and victims of rape and sexual assault, men's role in feminism, checking one’s privilege, "rape jokes" and more.  Please note this discussion comes with a strong trigger warning; details of sexual assaults and victim blaming are mentioned. @clementine_ford Clementine on Tumblr Clementine’s TED Talk: Your Vagina Is Not A Car Opinion piece: It Was Easy For Bayley To Stalk, Rape And Murder Article: Comedian Ray Badran Tells Audience Member To Die For Objecting To Rape Joke My blog on rape jokes after the Daniel Tosh controversy Opinion piece: There’s Nothing Funny About Misogyny Opinion piece: How the Offence Debate Misses The Point Of Comedy by Helen Razer triple j’s Hack program: Are rape jokes ever OK?   Cause of the Week: Safe Steps Family Violence Response Centre (safesteps.org.au)  

Journalist and comedy writer Richard Cooke has worked with the likes of The Chaser, The Checkout, The Saturday Paper, The Guardian and The Monthly.  He gave me some of his time to sound off on Aussie hip hop, Australian political satire, the theory of "mutual obligation" and tax evasion and the role of polling in today's politics.  @rgcooke richardcooke.net Matty B's Fridays Article: Why I Have Resigned From The Telegraph Article: Much Obliged Article: The People Versus The Political Class Cause of the Week: Doctors Without Borders (doctorswithoutborders.org)    

Ben Riley describes himself as a classical liberal, a Queenslander and a larrikin. He's a former president of the Young Liberals and the current Vice President of the International Young Democractic Union. We came together to find out exactly where we do and don't agree on things like the privatisation of public assets, the State's role in our lives, puppy farms, same-sex marriage, diversity in politics, the environment and our Prime Minister's character.  Plus we laughed about that time he got drunk and was a bit silly.  @benrileyQLD  Malcolm Fraser Obituary Bootgate 2013 Cause of the Week: The Young Liberal Movement of Australia (youngliberal.org.au), Oxfam Australia (oxfam.org.au)    

Adelaide's Welcome Centre is an initiative of Welcome To Australia, an organisation dedicated to changing the conversation around Australia's immigration policies and to providing support to asylum seekers, refugees and new arrivals.  My guests were Kate Leaney, the Centre's manager, and Ali, an Iranian refugee who was kind enough to share his story of fleeing his homeland and coming to Australia by boat. We discussed the notion of being welcoming, faith, children in detention, fear and hope.  My Brisbane Festival blog for The Daily Review @welcomecentreSA #youarewelcomehere The Welcome Centre on Facebook  Article: Turning Back The Boats Is A Moral And Legal Failure Say Academics Article: Goodwill Letters To Asylum Seekers On Nauru Returned Unopened  Cause of the Week: Welcome To Australia (welcometoaustralia.org.au), @welcome2aussie   

The one-and-only Arj Barker is hilarious on stage, but serious when it comes to reports and lore surrounding Unidentified Flying Objects. He told me about the cases and evidence that have influenced his thinking, the philosophy surrounding the idea of extra-terrestrials and the nature of belief.  We also covered his interest in meditation and his former life as a bit of a stoner.   @arjbarker arjbarker.com The Marijuana-Logues Arj investigates UFOs for The 7PM Project Jacques Vallée’s Passport To Magonia President Jimmy Carter on his UFO experience I Know What I Saw The 1966 Westall Incident The Ruwa, Zimbabwe Incident The Kelly Cahill Case Japan Airlines Flight 1628 The Pascagoula Abduction Cause of the Week: The RSPCA on the greyhound racing industry (rspcavic.org/)  

Jimblah (aka James Alberts) is a producer, MC and vocalist based in Adelaide, SA. He hails from the Larrakia Nation and on his two albums to date, Face The Fire and Phoenix, he’s produced smart, self-aware, passionate and original music. Our conversation covered his recent philosophical evolution and the focus for his new album, pervasive racist systems, Australia/Invasion/Survival Day, love, power and eating meat. @jimblah2500 Jimblah on Elefant Traks Jimblah performs "March" live on triple j Article: Hip Hop A Poor Cop In A White Man’s World Trailer for Cowspiracy Cause of the Week: The Hilltop Hoods Initiative (hilltophoods.com), AIME (aimementoring.com)  

Quentin Kenihan is a movie star, a TV presenter and producer, friend to celebrities, disability advocate and enthusiastic Jewel fan. Brought into the national spotlight as a 7-year-old boy with osteogenesis imperfecta (or "brittle bone syndrome"), the Q has experienced the dizzying heights (and lows) of fame, sex and drug use. As he brings his autobiographical show I'm 40...Now What? to the Adelaide Fringe, we chatted about everything from sex workers to inspiration to the late Stella Young to the death penalty to his own funeral.  I even met his dog.  @qkenihan Frances Ryan on actors "cripping up" Stella Young's TED Talk Stella Young's memorial service Quentin on the Osher Gunsberg podcast Medium article on young paedophiles  Cause of the Week: The Attitude Foundation (attitude.org.au)  

Comedian, writer, TV & radio host and outspoken activist Nazeem Hussain escaped the watchful gaze of ASIO to join me in my house for a chat. The creator and star of Legally Brown discussed comedy, the white media landscape and his intense martial arts training, as well as reflecting on his approach to Islam and his single mother's role in fostering his commitment to helping other people. @nazeem_hussain The Lupe Fiasco Alien Abduction Interview Aamer Rahman on reverse racism John Safran's article on Musa Cerantonio My opinion piece on children in detention Cause of the Week: RISE (riserefugee.org)