Like I'm A Six-Year-Old

Hello! This week's ep is a bit early: my plan is to (try) to start posting multiple episodes a week if possible. Let's see how we go.  Sean Kelly is a writer who writes for a range of Australian publications. He's a former adviser to Prime Ministers Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard.  I've always been a fan of Sean's analysis and writing and was keen to get his thoughts on how COVID-19 is unfolding in Australia, particularly in terms of the Morrison government's response. We take a look back at how the Coalition has tackled the crisis since January (sometimes okay but generally pretty bad!), why Sean thinks it's vital we see the modelling the government is relying on, the possibilities of nationalisation, the threat of "disaster capitalism" and how the ALP has responded to this situation.  Please note that just after minutes we finished recording, the government announced the $130 billion JobKeeper economic package. My show GRANDILOQUENT has been cancelled at the Brisbane and Melbourne Comedy Festivals: all tickets will be refunded in full  The show’s season at the Belvoir Theatre in Sydney in June and at the 2020 Edinburgh Fringe Festival are, at this stage, still going ahead  The live instalment of LIASYO with Andrew Denton at MICF has also been cancelled   Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron @mrseankelly  Sean's writing for the Nine Fairfax papers Sean's writing for The Monthly Sean's writing for The Saturday Paper ARTICLE: Morrison must give us more detail if we are to trust his judgment by Sean Kelly ARTICLE: Scott Morrison's efforts at hazard reduction by Sean Kelly ARTICLE: After the Coronavirus, Australia and the world can never be the same again by Katharine Murphy ARTICLE: Scott Morrison's COVID-19 two-person rule explained from ABC News ARTICLE: How each state will be enforcing the coronavirus two-person rule on gatherings from midnight from ABC News Cause of the Week: The Indigenous Literacy Foundation (indigenousliteracyfoundation.org.au)  

Emerald Moon is a Brisbane-based Leftist activist and former candidate for the Australian Greens who's passionate about climate action and renters' rights. Emerald ran for the Greens in the safe Liberal seat of Bowman in 2019 and is currently working on the up-coming Brisbane local and Queensland state election.  Amid the insanity of COVID-19 (I hope you're all okay!), I ask Emerald about how she arrived at her socialist politics, how the Queensland Greens are making real progress with socialist ideas and policies, the truly cooked housing situation in Australia and how we can have a revolution while also practising social distancing.  My show GRANDILOQUENT has been cancelled at the Brisbane and Melbourne Comedy Festivals: all tickets will be refunded in full  The show’s season at the Belvoir Theatre in Sydney in June and at the 2020 Edinburgh Fringe Festival are, at this stage, still going ahead  The live instalment of LIASYO with Andrew Denton at MICF has also been cancelled   Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron I'm on the latest episode of The Bugle with Andy Zaltzman and Nish Kumar, many LAFFS about the virus  I was on the latest episode of The Little Dum Dum Club live in Adelaide in front of what is now an illegal-sized crowd   @emeraldxmoon The Queensland Greens classwarxxx.bandcamp.com ARTICLE: The Politics of the Virus by Mick Armstrong ARTICLE: Here's a mad thought: let's save the real things like, er, the people by Guy Rundle ARTICLE: What I like about the Coronavirus by Slavoj Zizek Cause of the Week: Australian Unemployed Workers Union (unemployedworkersunion.com)

Welp. Gosh. Here we are, then. I hope you're doing okay.  Amidst the chaos of the global Coronavirus pandemic, previous LIASYO guest Osman Faruqi joins me (via Skype) to reflect on what the hell is happening. Osman is a journalist is the editor of The 7am Podcast for Schwartz Media and has been tweeting and writing a lot about the unfolding situation.  Here we discuss the most egregious examples of capital exploiting this crisis and the insane contradictions about this economic system it exposes, the Australian government's shitty response and how much needs to change in our society to make sure this kind of thing can never happen again.  It was a slightly depressing but very cathartic conversation and I hope it gives you some comfort and ferments your (justifiable) rage towards those in power in these wild times.  My show GRANDILOQUENT has been cancelled at the Brisbane and Melbourne Comedy Festivals: all tickets will be refunded in full  The show's season at the Belvoir Theatre in Sydney in June and at the 2020 Edinburgh Fringe Festival are, at this stage, still going ahead  The live instalment of LIASYO with Andrew Denton at MICF has also been cancelled :(  Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron @oz_f 7ampodcast.com.au ilostmygig.net.au ARTICLE: Should I keep my children home from school due to Coronavirus? (ABC)  ARTICLE: Super-rich jet off to disaster bunkers amid Coronavirus outbreak by Rupert Neate UNICEF's Coronavirus Appeal Cause of the Week: Support Act (supportact.org.au)

Michael West is a Walkley Award-winning independent journalist covering the rising power of corporations over Australian democracy. After years working for both NewsCorp and Fairfax, Michael eventually went out on his own to cover the crimes of the corporate world and how big business get away with dodgy shit and poison our politics. Here Michael lays out his experiences in and philosophy on journalism (plus some insights into Murdoch empire), the conflicts of interest in the big business of media corporations, the state of tax avoidance and political donations in Australia and how it's very clear that the economic creed of neoliberalism and privatisation has failed.   I’m doing LIASYO live at the 2020 Melbourne Comedy Festival with special guest ANDREW FREAKING DENTON. Tickets are on sale now! My show ENOUGH is on now the 2020 Adelaide Fringe, tickets available here My new show GRANDILOQUENT is coming to the 2020 Brisbane Comedy Festival and the 2020 Melbourne International Comedy Festival GRANDILOQUENT is coming to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August, it’s on sale now  Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron @michaelwestbiz Michael's YouTube channel Michael's writing at The Independent Dirty Power: Big Coal's Network of Influence over the Coalition government by Michael West and Greenpeace  ARTICLE: Ranking Australia's billionaires as taxpayers by Michael West  ARTICLE: Australia's Top 40 Tax Dodgers 2019  ARTICLE: Liberal party received $4.1m in donations from property tycoon's company by Paul Karp, Christopher Knaus & Nick Evershed Cause of the Week: Support Michael's site and his journalism (michaelwest.com.au) 

Alex Bhatal is a social worker and activist. From 2001 to 2018 she was a six-time Greens candidate for the inner-city seat of Cooper (formerly Batman) but in 2019, Alex quit the party having been subjected to a campaign of abuse and “relentless organisational bullying” for years. Here Alex lays out for her me her journey into politics, her passion for refugee rights and social work, why the Tampa incident inspired her to join the Greens and her experience of running in the same seat for 17 years.  I also ask Alex to explain exactly what happened between her and the Darebin branch of the Greens, how bad it got for her and what it tells us about the state of the party today. Alex is extremely frank and honest talking to me about what was clearly a painful time in her life and for that I’m very grateful.  I’m doing LIASYO live at the 2020 Melbourne Comedy Festival with special guest ANDREW FREAKING DENTON. Tickets are on sale now! My show ENOUGH is on now the 2020 Adelaide Fringe, tickets available here My new show GRANDILOQUENT is coming to the 2020 Brisbane Comedy Festival and the 2020 Melbourne International Comedy Festival GRANDILOQUENT is coming to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August, it’s on sale now  Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron @alexbhathal alexbhathal.com ARTICLE: Alex Bhathal and discord in the Greens by Martin McKenzie-Murray ARTICLE: Batman: How it went wrong for the Greens by Martin McKenzie-Murray Alex's statement on why she resigned from the Greens From solidarity.net.au: Alex Bhathal resigns - the latest victim of Greens' drift right Cause of the Week: Refugee Legal (refugeelegal.org.au)  

Oliver Yates is the former CEO of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. Last year he quit the Liberal Party and ran as an independent candidate for the seat of Kooyong in the 2019 federal election. Oliver invited me into his house to chat about how his Tory/Liberal MP dad influenced his politics, his experience working at the CEFC, why he left the Liberals, his thoughts on capitalism's role in the climate crisis and why his passion for integrity in politics has fuelled his court challenge over Liberal Party elections signs used at polling booths last year. He also kindly answered my basic questions about the state of renewable technology in Australia today and just how quickly we could move our country to a renewable economy.  I’m doing LIASYO live at the 2020 Melbourne Comedy Festival with special guest ANDREW FREAKING DENTON. Tickets are on sale now! I’m bringing my show ENOUGH to the 2020 Adelaide Fringe NEXT WEEK, tickets on sale now My new show GRANDILOQUENT is coming to the 2020 Brisbane Comedy Festival and the 2020 Melbourne International Comedy Festival GRANDILOQUENT is coming to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August, it’s on sale now  Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron @_Oliver_Yates oliveryates.com Oliver's podcast Tip of the Iceberg ARTICLE: Coal Coal Coal and soaring emissions - as a Liberal, I have had enough by Oliver Yates ARTICLE: Josh Frydenberg, Gladys Liu keep seats after court challenge over election signs ARTICLE: Former Liberal party state director won't be referred to high court over Chinese election signs  ARTICLE: The problem with taking politics out of climate change by Jeff Sparrow Cause of the Week: Fauna & Flora International (fauna-flora.org)

Greg Jericho is a Walkley Award-winning economics writer for Guardian Australia. He lectures in journalism at the University of Canberra and tweets at @GrogsGamut.  Here I ask Greg about his political worldview, his thoughts on economics and GM closing Holden in Australia his time in the public service (and the state of the service now), and how the media's obsession with "balance" is completely failing us when it comes to covering climate change.  I’m doing LIASYO live at the 2020 Melbourne Comedy Festival with special guest ANDREW FREAKING DENTON. Tickets are on sale now! I’m performing at Laugh Out Proud at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras on Thursday February 27th I’m bringing my show ENOUGH to the 2020 Adelaide Fringe in March, tickets on sale now My new show GRANDILOQUENT is coming to the 2020 Brisbane Comedy Festival and the 2020 Melbourne International Comedy Festival GRANDILOQUENT is coming to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August, it's on sale now  Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron Greg's writing at Guardian Australia ARTICLE: The Trouble with Journalism by Greg Jericho Cause of the Week: The Outer Sanctum Podcast (outersanctum.com.au)  

This is a CROSS POD, BABY: an extract of my appearance on the podcast Red Flag Radio in which I discuss revolutionary socialism with Roz Ward, Liam Ward and Sarah Garnham. We chat about what Bernie Sanders' campaign represents, the failings of electoralism, a vision for a socialist society and vacuum cleaners.  Check out RFR for the full episode and subscribe to them for more great episodes, please and thank you.  I’m doing LIASYO live at the 2020 Melbourne Comedy Festival with special guest ANDREW FREAKING DENTON. Tickets are on sale now! I’m performing at Laugh Out Proud at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras on Thursday February 27th I’m bringing my show ENOUGH to the 2020 Adelaide Fringe in March, tickets on sale now My new show GRANDILOQUENT is coming to the 2020 Brisbane Comedy Festival and the 2020 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron Listen and subscribe to Red Flag Radio  redflag.org.au  Socialist Alternative website - sa.org.au Cause of the Week: The Refugee Council of Australia's Operation Not Forgotten

Jon Piccini is an historian at Australian Catholic University and co-host of the anti-capitalist podcast Living the Dream. He's written books about human rights and the Australian far left in the 60s and 70s and is partial to putting out some spicy tweets on @JonPiccini.  Here Jon and I discuss his critique of human rights discourse and how it's seen Australia forget about economic rights, just how "radical" we can say Australia is politically and how our history might suggest that the Green New Deal isn't impossible at all.  I’m doing LIASYO live at the 2020 Melbourne Comedy Festival with special guest ANDREW FREAKING DENTON. Tickets are on sale now! I’m performing at Laugh Out Proud at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras on Thursday February 27th I’m bringing my show ENOUGH to the 2020 Adelaide Fringe in March, tickets on sale now My new show GRANDILOQUENT is coming to the 2020 Brisbane Comedy Festival and the 2020 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron Jessie Whyte's The Morals of the Market on Verso Books The Far Left in Australia since 1945, edited by Jon Piccini, Evan Smith & Matthew Worley How Labour Built Neoliberalism: Australia's Accord, the Labour Movement and the Neoliberal Project by Elizabeth Humphreys ARTICLE: Old left, new left and Australia in the 'long 1968' by Jon Piccini & Evan Smith ARTICLE: A White Working Man's Country by Jon Piccini ARTICLE: We need a political vision by Alison Pennington ARTICLE: Australia Needs a Green New Deal, Not More Centrism by Jon Piccini, Jeremy Poxon & Tash Neenan ARTICLE: Australia Needs a Green New Deal by Adam Bandt Cause of the Week: Save Deebing Creek Association (on Facebook here)

Lidia Thorpe is a Gunai-Gunditjmara woman, First Nations activist, a former Greens MP in the Victorian parliament and the current National Aboriginal lead for Amnesty International.  In the wake of the Invasion Day rallies that Lidia helped organise over the long weekend, we discuss the emotional toll of January 26th, First Nations sovereignty, the failings of the Uluru Statement and the Victorian Treaty process and what it really means for non-Indigenous Australians to pay the rent.  I'm doing LIASYO live at the 2020 Melbourne Comedy Festival with special guest ANDREW FREAKING DENTON. Tickets are on sale now! This Saturday I'm performing at the Midsumma Extravaganza at the Hamer Hall I'm performing at Laugh Out Proud at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras on Thursday February 27th I’m bringing my show ENOUGH to the 2020 Adelaide Fringe in March, tickets on sale now My new show GRANDILOQUENT is coming to the 2020 Brisbane Comedy Festival and the 2020 Melbourne International Comedy Festival Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron @lidia__thorpe ARTICLE: Without A Treaty, Australia Day Will Always Be Invasion Day by Lidia Thorpe ARTICLE: Victoria has chosen spin over substance in its Indigenous treaty whitewash by Lidia Thorpe ARTICLE: Black power in White Australia: An Interview with Gary Foley by Sian Vate An ABC explainer on the Victorian treaty process An explainer on the Uluru Statement from the Heart The Yorta Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation's statement on the treaty process, "Trick or Treaty?"  Pay the Rent: a Buzzfeed video  Cause of the Week: Pay The Rent (paytherent.net.au)