Essays On Air

A scene at the Aquarius Festival, Nimbin, 1973. Flickr/Harry Watson Smith, CC BY-SAIn the north-east corner of Australia’s most populous state of New South Wales is a small former dairying and banana farming community. Today, however, that village is unrecognisable. Nimbin is now widely acknowledged as Australia’s counter-cultural capital, a sister city to both Woodstock in New York State and Freetown Christiania in Denmark. Among Nimbin’s tourist attractions today are its Hemp Embassy and the annual Mardi Grass festival in early May, which argues for the legislation of marijuana for personal and medicinal use. The village’s transformation from a rural farming community to its present form can be traced to 1973, when Nimbin became the unlikely host of the Aquarius Festival – a counter-culture arts and music gathering presented by the radical Australian Union of Students. A scene from the Aquarius Festival in Nimbin, 1973. Flickr/harryws20/Harry Wat

I had never encountered the word 'curry muncher' until I arrived in Australia 10 years ago. ShutterstockOpening Night, Melbourne Comedy Festival 2018. Dilruk Jayasinha’s introductory salvo: This is so exciting. I honestly… Sorry, it’s unbelievable — that I get to do stand-up comedy here at the Palais in Melbourne. Because I… I’m from Sri Lanka! And I used to be an accountant. Yeah. A Sri Lankan accountant!!! So — not just a money cruncher, but a curry-munching money cruncher! Thaaat word … is it back again? For someone who has spent the last 30 years of her life specialising in English literary, postcolonial and cultural studies, I had never encountered it until I arrived in Australia 10 years ago. On today’s episode of Essays On Air, a podcast from The Conversation, I’m reading my essay, titled The politics of curry. Find and subscribe to Essays on Air in Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts or wherever you get your podcasts. Read more: When a suburb's turn for gentrification com

Detail from Little Big Woman: Condescension, Debra Keenahan, 2017. Designed and made by Debra Keenahan, Photograph by Robert Brindley., Author provided (No reuse), Author providedFor centuries, women with dwarfism were depicted in art as comic or grotesque fairytale beings. But artists are challenging these portrayals and notions of beauty and physical difference. Essays On Air, a podcast from The Conversation, brings you the best and most beautiful writing from Australian researchers. Today, Western Sydney University researcher Debra Keenahan is reading her essay, titled The female dwarf, disability, and beauty. Find us and subscribe in Apple Podcasts, in Pocket Casts or wherever you get your podcasts. Additional audio Snow by David Szesztay Oboe Sonata in C minor “Farewell” by Dee Yan Key Game of Thrones quote from HBO (used under fair dealing) Sound effects from Orange Free Sounds and Free Sound Today’s episode was recorded by Sunanda Creagh and edited by Jerwin De Guzman.

In the 1980s, Australian geographer Maurice Daly exposed the urban planning system as a policy toolkit developers could capitalise on to drive subdivision and speculation – an insight that remains true even today. AAP Image/Lukas CochAustralia’s property market is slowing and many people are contemplating a possible bust. But today’s episode of Essays On Air reminds us that even since colonial days, Australia’s property market has had its ups and downs. Essays On Air, a podcast from The Conversation, brings you the best and most beautiful writing from Australian researchers. Today, University of Sydney urbanism researchers Alistair Sisson and Dallas Rogers narrate a recent essay they wrote for the journal Australian Geographer on boom and bust cycles in major Australian cities. It’s titled Property speculation, global capital, urban planning and financialisation: Sydney Boom, Sydney Bust redux. It was recorded and edited by Dallas Rogers and written with Alistair Sisson and Chris Gibson for the 100th ann

The battle for the Franklin River runs far deeper than simply providing the backdrop for a political tug-of-war. PETER DOMBROVSKIS/ LIZ DOMBROVSKIS/AAPOn 1 July 1983, in a dramatic four-three decision, the High Court of Australia ruled to stop the damming of the Franklin River. It ended a long campaign that helped bring down two state premiers and a prime minister, as well as overseeing the rise of a new figure on the political landscape – the future founder of the Greens, Bob Brown. But the battle for the Franklin River runs far deeper than simply providing the backdrop for a political tug-of-war. In today’s episode of Essays on Air - the audio version of The Conversation’s Friday essay series - writer and historian Billy Griffiths reads his essay on how archaeology helped save the Franklin River. Its rich history and significance to the Tasmanian Aboriginal community made the proposed dam a controversy that captivated the nation. Today’s episode was recorded and edited by Sybilla Gross. Find us and su

Ben Quilty, Life vest, Lesbos. 2016, oil on polyester, 60 x 50cm Australian War Memorial Before the early 19th century, war was commonly depicted as a heroic venture, while death was both noble and surprisingly bloodless. Then came Goya with his collection of etchings called Disasters of War to show the full horror of what Napoleon inflicted on Spain, during the Peninsular War from 1808 to 1814. The art showed, for the first time, the suffering of individuals in the face of military power. On today’s episode of Essays on Air - the audio version of The Conversation’s Friday essay series - Conversation intern Sybilla Gross is reading my essay on the transformational power of art in our collective social conscience. Through countless wars and humanitarian crises, art has always depicted the crimes of our times. Putting aside whether or not art can actually change the world, there is always an important message it conveys - should we choose to listen. Maybe, that is all we can ask of it. Today’s episode wa

The Loch Ness Monster and other folk tales might not be pure fiction, but actually based on memories of events our ancestors once observed. ShutterstockSo you think the Loch Ness Monster never existed? Think again. The science of “geomythology” is breathing new life into such stories. The Loch Ness Monster and other folk tales might not be pure fiction, but actually based on memories of events our ancestors once observed. On today’s episode of Essays On Air, the audio version of The Conversation’s Friday essay series, I’m reading my essay on the geographical truths behind some of humankind’s most mysterious myths. Traditional stories about age-old events might actually reveal clues about the geological history of the Pacific. Through research of ancient oral knowledge, we have opened up opportunities for understanding the minds of our ancestors, more than we ever thought possible. Today’s episode was recorded by Michael Lund and edited by Sybilla Gross. Find us and subscribe in Apple Podcasts, in Pocke

Why did this woman, so devoted to her political cause and to her vision of a united France, chose to be burnt at the stake at the age of 19 instead of acquiescing to her judges’ directives? shutterstock.comOne need not be a parent of a young child, as I am, to be conscious of the full-blown resurgence of the superhero in contemporary popular culture. But there is more to a hero than courage and strength. On today’s episode of Essays On Air, the audio version of The Conversation’s Friday essay series, I’m reading my essay on Joan of Arc, our one true superhero. She’s been depicted as a national heroine and a nationalist symbol (and also, to my and many a leftists’ dismay, a popular mascot by French ultra-nationalists), a rebellious heretic and a goodly saint. A feminist role model and a belligerent military leader, an innocent mystic and a tortured victim. However one may choose to view her, there can be no denying that she is, and will continue to be, one of the most singular and significant exemplars of o

Eva Blue/Flickr, Southern Cross Austereo, CC BY-SASecond wave feminists protested against women’s magazines and beauty pageants. Today, however, beauty and fashion editors such as Elaine Welteroth (recently of Teen Vogue) are some of the most high profile voices of a resurgent feminist movement. On my most Pollyannaish days, I want to cheer online publications that mix politics with fashion and beauty for the way they are mainstreaming feminism. On closer inspection, though, this lashing together of feminist politics with a women’s magazine sensibility has produced some odd results. In today’s episode of Essays On Air - the audio version of The Conversation’s Friday essay series - I’m reading an edited version of my recent essay, The personal is now commercial – popular feminism online. With the #metoo movement bringing feminism right to the centre of mainstream debate, it’s time to take a closer at how popular feminism plays out online. Find us and subscribe in Apple Podcas

Marchers at the 1978 Mardi Gras parade. Sally Colechin/The Pride History Group, Author providedOn a cold Saturday night in Sydney on June 24, 1978, a number of gay men, lesbians and transgender people marched into the pages of Australian social history. I was one of them. On today’s episode of Essays On Air, the audio version of The Conversation’s Friday essay series, Conversation editor Lucinda Beaman is reading my essay on the Sydney Mardi Gras march of 1978. On the eve of the 40th anniversary of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, it’s worth revisiting the events of that night and reflecting on the remarkable lesson that, for oppressed minorities, there comes a time when enough is enough. Much has been achieved, but it would be a major mistake to relax and assume that history is progressively improving. Join us as we read to you here at Essays On Air, a podcast from The Conversation. Find us and subscribe in Apple Podcasts, in Pocket Casts or wherever you get your podcasts. Today’s episode was

In July 2017, new research was published that pushed the opening chapters of Australian history back to 65,000 years ago. Marcella Cheng/The Conversation, CC BY-NC-NDIn July 2017, new research was published that pushed the opening chapters of Australian history back to 65,000 years ago. It is the latest development in a time revolution that has gripped the nation over the past half century. In today’s episode of Essays On Air - the audio version of our Friday essay series - we’re reading you Billy Griffiths, Lynette Russell and Richard “Bert” Roberts’ essay When did Australia’s human history begin? This essay seeks to move beyond the view of ancient Australia as a timeless and traditional foundation story to explore the ways in which scientists and humanists are engaging with the deep past. Find Essays On Air in Apple Podcasts, in Pocket Casts or wherever you get your podcasts. Additional audio Snow by David Szesztay Tourism Australia advertisement Didgeridoo by Jimmie P Rodgers I am Australian b

Fairy tales are extremely moral in their demarcation between good and evil, right and wrong. Marcella Cheng/The Conversation NY-BD-CC, CC BY-SAOriginally for adults, many fairy tales can be brutal, violent, sexual and laden with taboo. When the earliest recorded versions were made by collectors such as the Brothers Grimm, the adult content was maintained. But as time progressed, the tales became diluted, child-friendly and more benign. Adults consciously and unconsciously continue to tell them today, despite advances in logic, science and technology. It’s as if there is something ingrained in us – something we cannot suppress – that compels us to interpret the world around us through the lens of such tales. That’s what we’re exploring on the latest episode of Essays On Air, the audio version of our Friday essay series. Today, Marguerite Johnson, Professor of Classics at the University of Newcastle, is reading her essay Why grown-ups still need fairy tales. Join us as we read to you here at Essays On Air,

From the initial avalanche of mail triggered by Germaine Greer's book The Female Eunuch grew a collection of 50 years of letters, emails, faxes, telegrams and newsletters. Marcella Cheng/The Conversation NY-BD-CC, CC BY-SAFrom the initial avalanche of mail triggered by Germaine Greer’s book The Female Eunuch grew a collection of 50 years of letters, emails, faxes, telegrams and newsletters from academics, schoolchildren, radicals and housewives all over the world. They’re now stored in 120 grey, acid-free boxes at the University of Melbourne Archives. Lachlan Glanville, assistant archivist of the Germaine Greer Archive at the University of Melbourne has pored over these letters. In the latest episode of Essays On Air, the audio version of our Friday essay series, Glanville says the collection offers a powerful, often amusing, sometimes perplexing glimpse into the lives of the people affected by her work, as well as the many faces of Greer herself – academic, feminist, provocateur, confidant. Today, Co

The much heralded 'death of the book' has nothing to do with the death of reading or writing. It is about a radical transformation in reading practices. Marcella Cheng/NY-CC-BD, CC BY-NC-NDIn the age of the globalisation of everything – and the privatisation of everything else - libraries can and must change. In fact, it’s already underway, as new technologies take books and libraries to places that are, as yet, unimaginable. That’s what we’re unpacking today on Essays On Air, where we bring you fascinating long form essays in audio form. Today, Camilla Nelson, Associate Professor of Writing at the University of Notre Dame, reads her essay, titled Why libraries can and must change. Nelson takes us from the ancient Library of Alexandria to the New York Public Library and explores the problems that arise when books are excluded, destroyed, censored and forgotten. And, indeed, when libraries are decimated. Join us as we read to you here at Essays On Air, a podcast from The Conversation. Find us and

Ongoing controversy around wild horses in Australia encompasses debate about their impact and their cultural meaning, argues Michael Adams. Marcella Cheng/The Conversation NY-BD-CC, CC BY-NC-NDWhile Australia debates how to reduce our wild horse numbers, other countries are working to re-establish wild horse herds in Europe and Asia. Could Australia’s attempts to “manage” brumbies be an act of hubris? That’s the question asked in the latest episode of Essays On Air, where we read to you the best essays penned by Australian researchers. Today’s moving and deeply personal essay, titled The cultural meanings of wild horses, is by Michael Adams, a geographer and writer who researches human-nature relationships. He explores how cultures across the world have represented and related to horses and asks whether attempts to manage wild horse populations mean we need to rethink the concept of “wildness”. Join us as we read to you here at Essays On Air, a podcast from The Conversation. Find us and subscribe in Ap

A central convention of Greek mythological narratives called katabasis, the hero’s journey to the underworld or land of the dead. Marcella Cheng/The Conversation NY-BD-CCA central convention of Greek mythological narratives is katabasis, the hero’s journey to the underworld or land of the dead – and it’s a theme modern directors return to again and again. That’s what we’re exploring today on our first episode of Essays On Air, a new podcast from The Conversation. It’s the audio version of our Friday essays, where we bring you the best and most beautiful writing from Australian researchers. In this episode, Paul Salmond, Honorary Associate in Classics and Ancient History at La Trobe University, reads his essay Journeys to the underworld – Greek myth, film and American anxiety. Here, he explains how films like Chinatown, The Silence of the Lambs and Apocalypse Now evoke narratives played out in Homer’s Iliad, the story of Theseus and the minotaur and other classic Greek tales. Join us as we read to you h

Our first episode is from Paul Salmond, an expert on the Classics and Ancient History at La Trobe University, reading his essay 'Journeys to the underworld – Greek myth, film and American anxiety'. Wes Mountain CC-BY-ND, CC BYThe Conversation is launching a new podcast, Essays On Air. It’s the audio version of our Friday essays, where we bring you the best and most beautiful writing from Australian researchers. In each 10 to 15 minute episode, we’ll read aloud fascinating, meticulously researched essays penned by academics who are experts in their fields. These authors bring real knowledge, depth and love to the topics they unpack – and they write beautifully. Our first episode is from Paul Salmond, Honorary Associate in Classics and Ancient History at La Trobe University, reading his essay Journeys to the underworld – Greek myth, film and American anxiety. We’ll also be hearing a moving and deeply personal essay from Michael Adams, Associate Professor of Human Geography at the University of W