Archive for February, 2016

Episode 129: Homophobes Can Fuck Off, We Want #SafeSchools

Posted: February 29, 2016 in Uncategorized
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safe schools

Image from @johndory49 on Twitter.

You can listen to this episode above and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes. You can also listen to this episode on Stitcher, Cyber Ears or download it on Archive.org (44mins, 37MB).

On this episode we speak out in defense of Safe Schools, a program designed to increase awareness of queer issues in schools and reduce the bullying faced by queer kids. This program is currently under attack from homophobic, transphobic and all round queerphobic assholes – some of who are politicians such as Senator Cory Bernadi, leading to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull approving an investigation into Safe Schools.

Some things you can do to support Safe Schools:

Also covered on the episode is: further discussion on activism for refugees and on the importance of not just letting them stay but also closing the camps (opposing mandatory detention and offshore processing) in light of Baby Asha being released into community detention for the short term at least, #CrushPlastic and our latest find from the street.

If you like what you hear, please support the show!

Clips:

Mary Lambert ‘She Keeps Me Warm’, Julie Goldman ‘Pro-Choice’, Omar Offendum ‘New Orient’, Anti-Flag ‘Feminism is for Everybody (with a Beating Heart and a Functioning Brain)’.

You can listen to a short (10 minute) version of this episode, which features a shortened version of our discussion on Safe Schools, below. You can subscribe to these short versions of our episodes through Omny.

Episode 128: 24 Million Questions About Population

Posted: February 27, 2016 in Uncategorized
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This image was chosen to put into context claims about Australian public transport being overcrowded (a point made during the episode) rather than to feed into the racist narrative that predominantly blames poorer countries for environmental problems. Image from http://www.shareyouressays.com

You can listen to this episode above and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes. You can also listen to this episode on Stitcher, Cyber Ears or download it on Archive.org (74mins, 57MB).

On this one we take on the controversial issue of population, with the help of town planner and environmental activist Mark Allen. We discuss population on both a global and national scale, in light of Australia’s population recently reaching 24 million people. This includes addressing some feedback we got (see the comments on this post) on episodes 115 and 116, which focused on progressive parenting. The episode is a continuation from our discussion with Mark from our previous episode, #127, which focused on addressing urban sprawl.

Mark has written about these issues in his article ‘Why The Greens’ Plan For A Liveable Melbourne Will Not Save Melbourne’ and in the zine he has co-written ‘Why We Need to Talk about Population’ – available at New Internationalist bookshop in Melbourne. Mark has also set up the Facebook groups Population, Permaculture and Planning and Sustainable Cruelty-Free Communities.

If you’d like to hear other episodes where we have covered population, we spoke about the issue at the end of episodes 15 and 44. It would also be worth checking out episode 10, where we challenged the notion of “legitimate” refugees/migrants, which came up in this episode.

If you like what you hear, please support the show!

Clips:

Morrissey ‘End of the Line’, Bad Religion ‘Against the Grain’, The Jam ‘Thick as Thieves’.

You can listen to a short (8 minute) version of this episode, which features a shortened version of our discussion on population in Australia, below. You can subscribe to these short versions of our episodes through Omny.

Episode 127: Fighting Urban Sprawl by Building Little Boxes for the Real Housewives of Melbourne

Posted: February 23, 2016 in Uncategorized
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more of the same

You can listen to this episode above and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes. You can also listen to this episode on Stitcher, Cyber Ears or download it on Archive.org (43mins, 34MB).

This time we’re joined by town planner and environmental activist Mark Allen to discuss the issue of urban sprawl, where urban development takes over previously undeveloped areas. This has a variety of negative impacts, including on humans, other animals and the environment as a whole.

Mark advocates an alternative approach to planning, including urban villages and cohousing as responses to these problems. He also argues that high rise is not the (only) response required to address urban sprawl.

If you’re interested in finding out more about and discussing these issues, join Mark’s Facebook group Population, Permaculture and Planning. If you’d like more from us on similar issues, check out our 25th episode: Get Out of Your Car! and you can also hear Nick discussing urban planning, transportation, environment and social justice on episode 47 of Critical Transit podcast.

If you like what you hear, please support the show!

Clips:

Shock Octopus ‘In a Box’, Midnight Oil ‘Your Dream World’.

You can listen to a short (10 minute) version of this episode, which features our discussion on why urban sprawl is an important issue that needs to be addressed, below. You can subscribe to these short versions of our episodes through Omny.

Episode 126: ‘We Are Not Powerless’*, We Can #CloseTheCamps

Posted: February 20, 2016 in Uncategorized
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P1060902

Our picture of the #LetThemStay banner drop at the Melbourne Arts Centre.

You can listen to this episode above and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes. You can also listen to this episode on Stitcher, Cyber Ears or download it on Archive.org (43mins, 38MB).

On this episode we give some updates on the #LetThemStay campaign, which calls for refugees to remain in Australia rather than being forced into offshore detention. We mainly focus on a recent #LetThemStay banner drop at the Melbourne Art Centre. We play an interview with Gaye Demanuele on this action (embedded below) and Coggo from the Melbourne Street Medics (also embedded below) discusses this action, as well as how the Brisbane health care workers refusing to release babies back to the harm of offshore detention are upholding their duty of care.

Also covered throughout the episode is: the statement from the two activists who did the banner drop, defending the effectiveness of the action despite critiques and shitty media coverage, extending the compassion for children to highlight the problems of ALL mandatory detention and offshore processing, similarly extending concern for a dolphin killed for selfies to more widespread animal abuse, the successful campaign to send child abuse survivors to confront Cardinal Pell and we encourage people to like/follow WACA (Whistleblowers, Activists and Citizens Alliance) on Facebook and Twitter.

If you like what you hear, please support the show!

Clips:

Missy Higgins ‘Oh Canada’, Interview with Gaye Demanuele, Interview with Coggo from the Melbourne Street Medics, Tim Minchin ‘Come Home (Cardinal Pell)’.

You can listen to a short (8 minute) version of this episode, which features our interview with Coggo, below. You can subscribe to these short versions of our episodes through Omny.

*Quote from our interview with Gaye Demanuele.

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