Episode 30: Welcome to Australia – Changing Attitudes on Refugees

Posted: June 18, 2013 in Uncategorized
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Image from Welcome to Australia.

You can listen to this episode and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes here. You can also listen to this episode on Cyber Ears here or download it on Media Fire here (44MB).

This time we bring you a refugee-themed episode for Refugee Week, which runs from the 16-22 June. We start the episode by discussing Australia excising itself from the migration zone, drawing on the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Melissa Phillips and Bianca Hall. We also discuss the similarities between the two major parties on the issue of refugees, some different ideas on refugees from minor parties at the Now That’s a Party event, the Gillard government’s asylum seeker policy adviser quits, problems with ASIO’s security assessments and a recent case where this has affected a family, and finally a positive story on Australian’s attitudes towards refugees! The main focus of this episode is giving people advice on effectively changing attitudes refugees, mainly drawing on Amnesty International’s Activist Resources. We encourage people to bust myths on refugees and get the facts out to people who need to know them, as well as promoting Amnesty’s pro-asylum seeker pledge.

We also cover some creative ways to make change on refugees and other issues, including through: apps, computer games, board games, comedy and music. Other stuff covered is: Nick guest hosting the punk show Burn the Airwaves (6 June 2013 episode), Worldwide Vegan Activism (features Nick, as well as Marcus and Ruth from The Species Barrier podcast), Gary Francione’s commentary on talking to non-vegans about veganism, shock jock Howard Sattler gets fired, the activist well-being group Plan to Thrive, Noam Chomsky’s recent interview on anarchism, Reaction Podcast’s review of our show, and we critique arguments in favour of restricting migration to Australia for environmental reasons, instead arguing in favour of welcoming people coming to Australia – whether they are fleeing persecution or coming here for economic reasons. We finish by promoting the Walk Together event, which has this message – find an event near you here.

Clips:

ABC News ‘Parliament Excises Mainland from Migration Zone’, Sleater Kinney ‘Off With Your Head’, Scrubs (Season 6, episode 7), Wil Wagna ‘I Don’t Want to Live Here Anymore’, Aamer Rahman ‘Politics’, Bill Hicks ‘Sleep and the Message’, The Herd ‘77%’, Monty Python and the Holy Grail ‘Dennis the Constitutional Peasant’, Howard Sattler “mash up” from interviews with Nick on humane slaughter and horse meat, Sam Wainwright and Scott Ludlam from the Now That’s a Party event, True Blood ‘Season 3, Episode 6’, Bill Hicks ‘Australia’, Billy Bragg ‘Economic Migrants’, Anti-Flag ‘Underground Network’.

Episode 29: Melbourne Street Medic Collective on Occupy, Democracy, Anarchism and Activism

Posted: June 6, 2013 in Uncategorized
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Image from Melbourne Street Medic Collective.

You can listen to both parts of this episode and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes here. You can also listen to both parts of this episode on Cyber Ears here or download part 1 on Archive.org here (40MB) and part 2 on Archive.org here (33MB) or Media Fire here (33MB).

This episode has been released in two parts. Part 1 of this episode has a discussion with Coggo, CJ Wallace and Jazz from the almighty Melbourne Street Medic Collective. We cover the history of the collective, what they’re doing now, experiences with Occupy and police repression, creating alternative institutions to the state, working with other street medics to make their work relevant for activists and activist burnout. Other issues covered on the episode include: travelling, the gift economy, computer use, viewing protest marches as just one of many possible tactics, graffiti for refugees and we encourage people to support Bradley Manning.

Part 2 of the episode has the second part of our interview with Melbourne Street Collective. In this part of the interview, the issues covered include: Occupy Sandy, Occupy and democracy, creating coalitions with different groups around Australia and beyond, and small-scale affinity groups reporting to larger spokescouncils, as a way to ensure greater democracy and put anarchism into practice. In part 2 of this episode, we also encourage people to organise a flash mob in their city, with the help of Reproductive Choice Australia, and we discuss some feedback and additional stories on our 28th episode ’Beyond Same-Sex Marriage’, including: the word “queer”, hippies, the same-sex marriage campaign attempting to “normalise” queer relationships, “couples privilege” and the French government pledges tougher penalties for homophobia.

Book Recommendation (from part 2):

Chomsky on Anarchism by Noam Chomsky.

Clips (part 1):

Frank Turner ‘The Road’, The Checkout ‘Foxtel’, Star Fucking Hipsters ‘Dumpster to the Grave’ and ‘Death or Fight’, The Checkout ‘Access vs Ownership’, 5E Community ‘I’m Your Medic’, Part 1 of interview with Melbourne Street Medic Collective, Promoe ‘These Walls Don’t Lie’, Coggo’s speech at the #FreeBrad Rally in Melbourne, The Desaparecidos ‘Anonymous’.

Clips (part 2):

Rap News ’#Occupy2012’, Foeknawledge ‘Knowledge is Key’, Peep Show (Series 1, episode 5), Good Riddance ‘Defusing the Popular Struggle’, Part 2 of our interview with Melbourne Street Medic Collective, Bob Dylan ‘Maggie’s Farm’, The Simpsons ‘Super-liminal Recruiting’, Frenzal Rhomb ‘I Went Out With a Hippy & Now I Love Everyone Except for Her’, Peep Show (Series 3, episode 2), The Soviettes ‘Multiply and Divide’.

Episode 28: Beyond Same-Sex Marriage

Posted: May 2, 2013 in Uncategorized
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Image from Ron Paul Delegates.

Listen to this episode and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes here. You can also listen to this episode on Cyber Ears here or download it on MediaFire here (40MB).

We begin this episode by discussing same-sex marriage in Aotearoa (New Zealand), drawing on the article ‘NZ’s Same-Sex Marriage Go-ahead Puts Our Leaders to Shame’ by Steve Dow. We then play our interview with Dani Wright on the way in which even same-sex marriage excludes some people eg intersex people, as well as covering other queer issues beyond same-sex marriage, including homelessness amongst queer youth and trans issues. Dani Wright is Co-ordinator of the Freedom Centre, WA State Director of the National LGBTI Health Alliance and Board Vice-Chair of WA Gay & Lesbian Community Services. We finish the episode by arguing for marriage abolition, drawing on Katie’s article ‘Why I Will Have a Wedding But Not a Marriage’ on Ethical Bride and also the article ‘Why Is There A Law On Marriage?’ by Elle Hardy. Other topics covered include: Offbeat Bride, bisexuality, vegan anti-war Anzac cookies, child soldiers in the UK, neoliberalism in Australia, and an article on vegan cats in the Fremantle Herald (pages 6-7) which features an interview with Nathan Verney on his vegan cat Luna – we interviewed Nathan on this topic on Episode 26.

Book Recommendation:

Getting Bi – Voices of Bisexuals Around the World by Robyn Ochs and Sarah E Rowley.

Clips:

NZ Parliament Bursts into Maori Song, Maurice Williamson ‘Rainbow Across My Electorate’, Sweeney Todd ‘Ladies and their Sensitivities’, Nick Pendergrast interviews Dani Wright on Perth Indymedia on RTR 92.1FM (22nd April 2013 episode), Foeknawledge ‘Knowledge is Key’, Austin Powers, Bill Hicks ‘Hooligans’, That Mitchell and Webb Sound – Series 3 ‘Friends of Maid Marion’, Goldfinger ‘Walk Away’, Doug Stanhope ‘On…Marriage, Gay and Otherwise’, Scrubs ‘Season 3’, Against Me! ‘Baby, I’m an Anarchist!’.

Episode 27: Don’t Glorify the Dead, Activate for the Living

Posted: April 22, 2013 in Uncategorized
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Listen to this episode and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes here. You can also listen to this episode on Cyber Ears here or download it on MediaFire here (38MB). 

We’re back and once again we take aim at a nationalistic celebration – this time we set our sights on Anzac Day – a day where Australians celebrate soldiers running into machine gun fire for the sake of Western imperialism. To help us move beyond the simplistic slogans we hear around Anzac Day, Ederm Koc joins us. He is a journalist and journalism lecturer at La Trobe Uni, as well as editor of Upstart Magazine. We encourage people to read his great article on Anzac Day, ‘Anzac Debate Marches Down Wrong Track’. We also discuss conservative politician Steve Irons’ pamphlet on Anzac Day, Ruby Murray’s article ‘The false nationalism of Anzac Day and football’, Indigenous Australians being excluded in discussions about war, militarism and sport, neoliberalism and “corporate wars”, anti-war activism, the documentary The Weather Underground, and 10 Excellent Reasons Not to Join the Military.

We also cover minimalism and sustainability, good news for abortion rights in France, Derren Brown’s psychology, the death of former UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Chumbawamba’s CD, as well as comments from Billy Bragg and Australian human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson on Thatcher’s death.

Book Recommendations

1984 by George Orwell and An Ordinary Persons Guide to Empire by Arundhati Roy.

Clips

Gallipoli, Propagandhi ‘Bullshit Politicians’, South Park movie, Blackadder ‘Series 4’, Bill Hicks ‘Polls‘, Bill Hicks ‘Gays in the Military’, Nick Pendergrast interviews Erdem Koc on Perth Indymedia on RTR 92.1FM (1st April 2013 episode), Propagandhi ‘Dear Coaches Corner’, CNNNN, Rap News ’Big Brother is WWWatching You’, Austin Powers, Vegan Smythe ‘Preachy Vegan Dogs’, Scrubs ‘Series 5, Episode 16’, Billy Bragg on Margaret Thatcher – on Democracy Now!, Warsaw Pact ‘We Conquer’, Rise Against ‘State of the Union’, Naomi Wolf ‘Fake Activism’, System of a Down ‘B.Y.O.B.’.

Episode 26: All about Companion Animals – Vegan Diets, Adoption, Humane Training and Much More!

Posted: April 1, 2013 in Uncategorized
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Our rescued, vegan dog Charlie – at about 12 years old! (with his friend…his faithful friend)

Listen to this episode (in two parts) and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes here. You can also listen to this episode (in two parts) on Cyber Ears here. You can download an MP3 file of part 1 through Archive.org here (24MB) and part 2 through Media Fire here (32MB).

This episode is in two parts, in part 1 we are joined by Dr Andrew Knight, DipECAWBM (WSEL), PhD, MRCVS, FOCAE, who is a European Veterinary Specialist in Welfare Science, Ethics and Law and Fellow, Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics. In our interview with him, he discusses vegan diets for cats and dogs, as well as some tips for making sure our companion animals are happy and healthy. There is lots of great information about vegan cats and dogs at his website vegepets.info. You can also hear Nick interviewing Andrew Knight about the scientific and ethical issues surrounding animal experimentation and his new book ‘The Costs and Benefits of Animal Experiments’ here and you can also read Andrew Knight’s vegan fitness profile here. We also discuss Alana Stevenson’s alternative approach to dog training and her book Training Your Dog the Humane Way. Other issues covered on part 1 are some more of our second-hand finds, the environmental reasons to feed your companion animal vegan food (drawing on Nick’s comments on the article ‘What About Your Carbon Pawprint?’), the animal rights reasons for feeding your companion animal vegan food (drawing on Nick’s comments on the article ‘Vegan Pet Food Triggers Meaty Debate’), Nick’s interview on 6PR on the horse meat scandal, and Nick’s vegan fitness profile.

We open part 2 with an interview with Craig Dearth who gives practical advice on how he keeps his rescued, vegan dogs healthy. The interview with Craig was at the vegan café and shop PAWS. Craig is President of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union and you can hear another interview with him on Go Vegan Radio here. We also discuss Nick’s article ‘Raising Happy, Healthy Vegan Dogs’, the free E-book Vegan Dogs, a list of 100 vegan dogs from the website The Vegan Truth, and Marcus and Ruth from The Species Barrier podcast articles on vegan dogs and vegan cats. We also have an interview with Clare Middlemas and Nathan Verney on their rescued, vegan cat Luna and how they keep her happy and healthy – see pages 6-7 of the Fremantle Herald for an article which features Nathan and Luna. Clare and Nathan are refugee advocates with the Refugee Rights Action Network WA and you can hear us interview them about refugees on our 8th episode. They recommend the book on vegan cats: Obligate Carnivore.

In part 2, beyond companion animals, we also cover: comedian John Robertson’s rant on the conservative party winning the election in Western Australia, the video Tony Abbott Grand Slam, David Graeber on Occupy and Anarchism, Bob Geldof on the Occupy movement, whatthefuckhasoccupydone.com, Nick’s interview with Nicole Styles on IWD and gender inequality today – 4th March 2013 episode of RTR 92.1FM Indymedia, Reproductive Choice Australia’s flash mob in Adelaide and pledge against abortion shaming, reconciling atheism and veganism with your cultural identity, Living Vegan magazine, the rise of veganism amongst African Americans – see here and here, the impact of train lines on non-human animals and ways to reduce these impacts, and Roger Yates’s website on animal rights.

Book Recommendation (from part 2 – thanks to Marcus from The Species Barrier podcast for this recommendation):

Bramble – The Dog Who Wanted to Live Forever by Anne Heritage.

Clips (part 1):

Quarry Girl ‘The Vegan Soundboard’, Resist and Exist ‘Everylast Life’, The Checkout ‘The Rational Consumer’, Flight of the Conchords ‘Season 2, Episode 6’, Flight of the Conchords ‘Season 1, Episode 2’, The IT Crowd ‘Series 3, Episode 1’, The Office (UK) ‘Series 1, Episode 5’, Sweeney Todd ‘My Friends’, The Checkout ‘Complaint Letter: Purina Cat Food’, Nick Pendergrast interviewed by Howard Sattler on 6PR – on the issue of humane slaughter, Nick Pendergrast – discussion on horse meat – from the 25th February 2013 episode of RTR 92.1FM Indymedia, Dr Andrew Knight interviewed by Nick Pendergrast on vegan diets for cats and dogs, Wil Wagna ‘Laika’.

Clips (part 2):

Maroon ‘Stillborn’, Nick Pendergrast interviews Craig Dearth on vegan dogs, CNNNN, Austin Powers, Craig Dearth on the Occupy movement, Lateline ‘Jones and Geldof Say Business Must Do Good’, George Carlin ‘Pro Life is Anti Woman‘, Derek ‘Season 1, Episode 3’, Peep Show (Series 8, episode 4), Nick Pendergrast interviewing Clare Middlemas and Nathan Verney on vegan cats, Propagandhi ‘Without Love’.

Episode 25: Get Out of Your Car!

Posted: March 5, 2013 in Uncategorized
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Listen to this episode and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes here. You can also listen to this episode on Cyber Ears here or download it on Archive.org here (37MB).

In this episode we encourage people to get out of their cars and move to alternative forms of transport like walking, cycling and public transport. Ben Rose, convenor of the Sustainable Transport Coalition of Western Australia, joins us to discuss this, the health benefits of getting out of your car, the alternative transport proposals from the various political parties at the upcoming election in Western Australia and an energy calculator to determine the impact of your car travel. On sustainable transport, we also discuss people overestimating public transport time and underestimating car travel time, financial benefits to moving away from car travel, the Critical Transit sustainable transport podcast, the Greens 2029 Bike Plan for Perth, transport and class issues, as well as mentioning that train use has doubled in Perth in the last 8 years – but car sales have also increased in Australia and particularly Western Australia, and Australian cities remain the most car-dependent outside the United States.

We also give some updates on feminism, the topic of our the last two episodes, including criticisms of One Billion Rising, Derrick Jensen’s CD ‘The Other Side of Darkness’ and progressive stand-up comedy from Tien Tran. Beyond sustainable transport and feminism, we play Nick’s talk on Occupy and Animal Rights from the Occupy Perth event Occupy Cottesloe – you can also listen to the package Nick has put together with a range of performances for the day on the 04/03/2013 episode of RTR 92.1FM Indymedia, we discuss Nick’s interview with Anita Creasey on universities running like businesses and how the Australian elections this year will effect students (from the 25/02/2013 episode of RTR 92.1FM Indymedia), Tame Iti (who we discussed on episode 15) has been released from prison…and has gone vegan?, Anti-Flag’s song to benefit Amnesty International, Team Earthling animal rights podcast, The Species Barrier’s episode on growth and the environment, and Katie rants about refugees and points out that asylum seekers living in the community are 46 times less likely to commit crimes than the general population and 24 times less likely than politicians – despite what Liberal party politician Scott Morrison might say.

Clips:

Peep Show (Series 8, episode 5), Holger Dalkmann ‘Sustainable Cities’, Rise Against ‘Collapse Post-Amerika’, Interview with Ben Rose on Perth Indymedia on RTR 92.1FM by Nick Pendergrast (18/02/2013 episode), Nick Pendergrast on Occupy and Animal Rights – at Occupy Cottesloe, Scrubs (Season 2, episode 14), The Office (UK) ‘Season 1, Episode 3’, Anti-Flag ‘Toast to Freedom’.

Episode 24: One Billion Rising – Strike Dance Rise!*

Posted: February 8, 2013 in Uncategorized
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*Both this slogan and the above image are from the One Billion Rising website.

Listen to this episode and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes here. You can also listen to this episode on Cyber Ears here. You can also download an MP3 file for this episode on Archive.org here (25MB).

This episode covers the One Billion Rising event, which encourages people to: ‘STRIKE, DANCE, RISE in your community & Demand an end to violence’. To help us discuss this, we are joined by feminist activist Elena Trethowan, who is helping to organise One Billion Rising events. For an event near you, see here and for those in Australia, you can also view the One Billion Rising Australia Facebook page. Before we get onto this event, we discuss some other feminist-related issues, including a feminist-themed ‘What you HAVEN’T learnt from the media this week’, how men also suffer from gender roles, “nice” guys, comedian Jamie Kilstein’s opposition to rape culture in stand-up comedy (see from 1.44.10 onwards of this video) and the tables turning on “slut shamers”.

Other topics beyond feminism that we cover are: Ruth DeSouza’s account of her first Invasion Day, Australian opposition leader Tony Abbott “cashing in” on natural disasters, Chief Theresa Spence from the Idle No More movement ends her hunger strike, John Pilger’s videos, the website Our Vegan Pregnancy, Avenue magazine, and being concerned about ALL forms of oppression rather than being “single-issue”.

Alternative Media:

feministe.us

Clips:

Pink ‘Stupid Girls’, DJ Mydnyt ‘Corporate Network (pull the strings)’, That Mitchell and Webb Look (series 3, episode 5 & series 3, episode 2), Rafael Casal ‘Barbie & Ken 101’, The IT Crowd (series 1, episode 3), Austin Powers, Flight of the Conchords ‘Too Many Dicks (on the Dance Floor)’, Interview with Elena Trethowan on Perth Indymedia on RTR 92.1FM – with Katie, Anti-Flag ‘Feminism is for Everyone (with a beating heart and functioning brain)’ – lyrics here.

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