progressivepodcastaustralia

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We’re joined by awesome independent journalist Antony Loewenstein (@antloewenstein). He discusses Australian troops set to enter Iraq and Syria, his article ‘Of course Australia is going back to Iraq: That’s how a US client is expected to behave’, hysteria about terrorism in Australia and the poor state of (most of) the Australian media. You can hear more from Antony Loewenstein on our 41^st episode.

We also draw on The Hunger Games to question whether this truly is a “humanitarian” mission, especially after Australia recently cut all foreign aid to Iraq. We discuss the reactions to the military intervention from different states at the UN security council and the need for UN reform. We also analyse whether the proposed air strikes are terrorism, according to s1 of the UK Terrorism Act.

Other issues covered on the episode are: Thai people read George Orwell’s book 1984 in public (as a form of protest against the dictatorship), “biological” sex as a social construct, and another direct action in Melbourne – this time activists take on Lockheed Martin. You can hear more about direct action on our 65^th episode.

This episode is brought to you by “Timothyyy!!”. Thanks a lot to “Timothyyy!!” for becoming a member of our show – you can become a member and sponsor an episode too.

Clips:

Nerina Pallot ‘Everybody’s Gone to War’, The Hunger Games ‘Catching Fire’, Interview with Antony Loewenstein, Lowkey ‘Terrorist’, Peep Show ‘Series 7, Episode 2’, Lowkey ‘Cradle of Civilisation’.

You can listen to a short (10 minute) version of this episode, which features a shortened version of our interview with Antony Loewenstein, here: Antony Loewenstein On Australian Troops Back In The Middle East. You can subscribe to these short versions of our episodes through Omny.