For the first time in 25 years, the NSW government has launched a regional plan to support Western Sydney arts, culture and creative industries. Producer Pongyada Sootthipong joins to discuss how the plan will impact historically underfunded arts communities. Have you or a loved one fallen in love with an AI companion? Producer Eva Sikes-Gerogiannis dives into the dark world of AI-induced psychosis with AI internet goth baddie girlfriend Aphrodisiac Jenkins. While the name stands for Polycystic ...
Aug 16, 2025•42 min
Do young Australians still care about the Logies? Producer Jessica D'Souza dives into the lack of cultural representation of the Logies and the future of Aussie TV. We live in an era of constant surveillance, and online and every little bit of our info is being harvested by tech companies to more effectively sell you stuff. Researcher Lena Prosky unpacks these risks and explores how weakened privacy laws and opaque algorithms are increasingly shaping access to information, services, and digital ...
Aug 12, 2025•55 min
On Thursday the 31st July, producer Gabriella Accaria attended the Australian Communist Party's screening of 'To Kill A War Machine', a documentary about Palestine Action and their militant strategy of targeting weapons manufacturers, a group that has been designated a terrorist group by the UK. In response, documentary producers Rainbow Collective have authorised no further screenings of the film until further notice. Producer Gabriella Accaria spoke to ACP members Alice and Dan about why they ...
Aug 11, 2025•17 min
Last week, producer Jaspar McCahon-Boersma sat down with Eleanor Morley, the Secretary of the NSW Socialists party. Some of that interview made its way into his story on the launch of the party on our most recent Backchat episode below, but we wanted to bring you the full interview - and here it is. If you haven't heard the story covering the party's launch, who rocked up, and what they care about, check it out in our previous episode. Aired 2 August 2025 on Gadigal land. Want to support our sho...
Aug 08, 2025•16 min
A new trend is currently taking social media users by storm - leaving some feeling relieved… and others very confused. Producer Olivia dives into the phenomenon of bathroom camping with clinical psychologist Dr Anna Sidis. Writers are among Australia's lowest-paid creatives, earning an average of $18.5k per year. A new, permanent home for the Sydney Writer's Festival at the State Library of NSW might go some way toward addressing the issue. Festival CEO Brooke Webb came into the studio for a cha...
Aug 06, 2025•49 min
Last week, Australia signed onto a joint statement condemning some of Israel’s actions in Gaza. We discuss the Parliament’s position on Palestine - a symbolic statement or a hypocritical act? We speak to one of Aunties Fund’s founders, Indu Balachandran, about their new organisation funding culturally supportive domestic and family violence support for South Asian women in Sydney. Is Sydney really the 7th best city in the world for nightlife tourism? Amy Flanagan, head of bookings at King Street...
Jul 28, 2025•44 min
How are campus policies being used to silence university staff and students organising for Palestine? Eva Sikes-Gerogiannis takes us inside the People’s Inquiry into Campus Free Speech on Palestine hearing. Triple J’s first-ever Hottest Australian 100 drops next Saturday. We chat to musician Ben Lee about the future of Australian music and the countdown. The Federal Court dismissed a lawsuit brought by Torres Strait Islander elders to protect their lands from climate change. Lawyer Brett Spiegel...
Jul 21, 2025•54 min
Australia dropped its 2026 Venice Biennale artists just days after announcing them. Jaspar McCahon-Boersma breaks down the backlash with Dr Ben Eltham. We speak to Dr Clara Tuck Meng Soo about what Medicare changes could mean for trans healthcare ahead of the election. Dr Kean-Seng Lim joins us to unpack whether new bulk billing incentives will actually help communities in Western Sydney. Plus, Adriana Boisen from the NSW Council for Civil Liberties explains what new protest laws mean for your r...
May 22, 2025•41 min
Sydney’s train strikes have been dominating the news. Eva Sikes-Gerogiannis unpacks the union’s demands, the media’s spin, and what comes next. Parsley Bay locals are protesting construction by Sydney Water. But is this a fight for the environment or just classic Sydney NIMBYism? Conservationist Nicole McMahon from Save Parsley Bay joins us to discuss. With Mardi Gras around the corner, ACON has launched a new service for queer people in Greater Western Sydney. We speak with Director for HIV and...
Mar 09, 2025•54 min
Enmore’s Cairo Takeaway had a run-in with Daily Telegraph journos that left a particularly bad taste in our mouths. Founder of Everything is Fine, Alex McKinnon, tells us what went down. 1 in 7 Australian women are affected by endometriosis - so why is it still underfunded? We chat with QENDO CEO Jess Taylor to find out. Contraceptives just got cheaper! The government has added the pill to the PBS and increased Medicare rebates for IUDs. But do these changes actually make contraception more affo...
Feb 19, 2025•46 min
Have we witnessed the Coachella-fication of Laneway Festival? From fit checks on TikTok to performative crowds, producer Eva Sikes-Gerogiannis and Joe Hardy from SydneyMusic.net weigh in. Feeling the heat? UNSW Associate Professor Lan Ding breaks down why Western Sydney is up to 10 degrees hotter than the inner city. Jaspar McCahon-Boersma wraps up the international headlines that affect you. Neo-Nazis crashed an Invasion Day rally - is far-right extremism spreading? Dr Kaz Ross explains how the...
Feb 18, 2025•47 min
What’s happening in international news? Jaspar McCahon-Boersma brings an update on headlines that affect you. Local council dramaaaaaaa - because nothing gets Backchat going like local council tea. This story has it all - broken promises, finger pointing and a four-hour town hall. How would you feel if the government told you what medical care you were allowed to have? Necho Brocchi (she/her), service delivery manager at Open Doors Youth Service, discusses the pause on gender-affirming care for ...
Feb 16, 2025•43 min
How do you talk about Invasion Day with communities who don’t speak English as a first language? Phoebe McIlwraith breaks down the challenges of educating across languages. What makes Yabun Festival the most important First Nations cultural event of the year? Miah Wright has the answers. And Nooky is back to talk Blak Powerhouse - a night of music, storytelling, and Blak excellence. This episode of Backchat was executive produced by Bec Cushway. Hosted by Holly Payne & Dani Zhang. Audio prod...
Feb 14, 2025•23 min
This week on Backchat, we spotlight powerful diaspora perspectives one year after the escalation of conflict in Palestine and Israel. Producer Sana Sheikh speaks with Palestinian-Australian activist Sara Shaweesh about the personal and political impact of the past 12 months. We also hear from Maggie of the anti-Zionist, anti-colonial Jewish group Tzedek Collective on solidarity and resistance within the Jewish diaspora. Later, producer Euan Kielly dives into Australia’s new anti-doxxing laws. Wi...
Nov 24, 2024•28 min
This week on Backchat, producer Sumaiya Chowdhure and PhD student Lauren A. Miller unmask the mental health effects of constant self-viewing in the age of social media and augmented filters. Then, employment lawyer Seri Feldman-Gubbay from Redfern Legal Centre breaks down new reforms that make it easier for victim-survivors of workplace harassment to seek justice. Finally, we explore Green Music Australia’s new initiative to help musicians and artists use their work to fight climate change, feat...
Nov 12, 2024•20 min
This week on Backchat, producer Libby Hopper unpacks the NSW Government’s new funding for music festivals. Will it revive the local festival scene or is the industry still on life support? Next, Western Sydney University med students Jessica Mitchell and Aleisha Watson share how 2000 hours of unpaid placements impact their studies and why the government’s support scheme should include med students. Later, producer Eva Sikes-Gerogiannis explores the impact of a new AI chatbot in NSW public school...
Nov 10, 2024•25 min
This week on Backchat, we break down the issues that matter most to young people for the local government elections. Producer Sana Sheikh speaks to Greens candidate Abrar Ahmad about their proposals for South West Sydney. After that, we talk with Liz Atkins from the Greens about the future of the Inner West. What are their promises for nightlife, housing and keeping a multicultural community? Later on in the show, our producer Bridgette Donnellan dives into eating disorders and diet culture with...
Oct 01, 2024•29 min
This week on Backchat, producer Libby Hopper breaks down the recently released WGEA data on the gender pay gap of Australian companies. How does your workplace stack up? After that, in honour of remembering another year since the Stonewall riots, we’ve got Danny Lim in the studio to give us his take on the protest landscape in Sydney today. Later on the show, Eva Sikes-Gerogiannis chats to leaders from Sydney Students for Palestine about the nationwide student strike for Palestine last Thursday....
Mar 15, 2024•25 min
This week on Backchat we’re chatting all things country music. Have you suddenly got friends who are sending you country songs? Seeing it around social media? We dive into why country music is having its moment right now with producer Dani Zhang. We're also joined by the Coalition of Aboriginal Peak Organisations to hear about their new partnership agreement with the state government, focused on closing the gap in Indigenous disadvantage. And earlier this week our producer Euan spoke to Phillipe...
Feb 29, 2024•24 min
This week on Backchat we’re discussing the trending issue of doxxing and the new proposal for laws to combat this digital issue. Producer Holly Payne is chatting about Sydney’s asbestos crisis with Shane McArdle from the Asbestos and Dust Diseases Research Institute. And Nick Newington takes a look at the increasing issue of Australia’s syphilis epidemic, and how the mainstream media has been missing the story for the last decade. This episode of Backchat was hosted by Holly Payne and Nick Newin...
Feb 28, 2024•27 min
This week on Backchat, producer Sana Shaikh delved into the Hills Shire Council's recent move to halt sponsorship for drag story time events, citing concerns about content aimed at kids. The council, situated in Sydney's vibrant Bible Belt, voted 10-2 to put the brakes on such events. The segment pondered what this decision might mean for LGBTQ+ youth in the area, featuring insights from Jasmine Nour, a drag artist and former Hills resident. Plus, Backchat caught up with Greens Councillor Dr. Mi...
Feb 14, 2024•31 min
In the wake of another shark related incident in Sydney, Libby Hopper gets into the stigma around shark attacks and the do’s and don’ts for staying safe, not scared, in the water. Medicare just turned 40 - is it in the midst of a midlife crisis? Hear from GP Dr Nicole Higgins on why health providers can no longer afford to bulk bill, the Strengthening Medicare Task Force and how Medicare support differs for our most vulnerable in rural, regional and metropolitan areas. What do we need to know ab...
Feb 07, 2024•23 min
Holly and Tanita talk to Phoebe McIlwraith (@northbutsouthhh), Bundjalung and Worimi Saltwater woman on Invasion Day and the growing far-right sentiment in Sydney. Further reading: First Nations Futures | Pay The Rent Dr Peter Lewis, president of national advocacy association ANTaR , joins to discuss the future of the 26th of January. Yuin man Keiran Stewart-Assheton (@keiran_stewart_assheton) from the Black Peoples Union dials in to about the parallels between Indigenous struggles and that of P...
Feb 06, 2024•23 min
This week on Backchat, we listen to locals and producer Sana Shaikh on the chaos of the Rozelle Interchange’s first two weeks of operation. Then, hear from coastal geomorphologist Professor Rob Brander AKA Dr. Rip on staying safe in the surf this summer. This episode of Backchat aired Saturday 9th December 2023. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Feb 06, 2024•23 min
This week on Backchat, producer Nic Huntington examines the hole in pothole funding. Nic chatted to Natasha Bradshaw, Senior Associate of Transport and Cities Program at the Grattan Institute, about how the increase in holes isn't resulting in an increase in funding. Next, we take a look at some of the arrests from the ZIM and climate protests in the past week. We chat to Anastasia from Legal Observers NSW about what Legal Observers NSW has been seeing at these protests, and what your rights are...
Dec 04, 2023•23 min
This week on Backchat, producer Sana Sheikh dives into Woollahra Municipal Council's new decision to limit public parking to non-residents to 15 minutes, and provide free all-day parking for residents. This new change encompasses all parking near popular beach spot at Watson's Bay, potentially restricting access to anyone outside this postcode. We’ll be exploring whether this is fair and why some Sydneysiders get to benefit from our natural wonders whilst others can’t. Backchat chatted to Woolla...
Nov 28, 2023•29 min
This week on Backchat, we explore the groundbreaking new project from Monash University's XYX Lab, aimed at shedding light on the experience of women and gender-diverse people in NSW. The project is a crowd mapping project launched in collaboration with CrowdSpot that anonymously collects the 'safe' and 'unsafe' experiences these people have had in public spaces. Producer Bec Cushway chatted to Dr Niki Kalms to tell us more. Next, big changes to rights for stateless asylum seekers in Australia. ...
Nov 21, 2023•24 min
This episode of Backchat delves into some of the new waste programs across Sydney, and how where you live across the LGAs could make a huge difference to what you can recycle, and how much it is going to cost you. Backchat producer Sana Shaikh explains in this week's wrap. Next, with more and more young people questioning their reasons for drinking, stress and anxiety are emerging as some of the major players. Sydney University's Inroads program is an online, self-guided program for young adults...
Nov 14, 2023•24 min
This episode of Backchat comes to you following a difficult week; both in Australia and around the world. It’s been one week since Australia voted No to constitutional recognition of First Nations people via an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. It’s fair to say this has been a tough period for Indigenous people, with many choosing to take a step back to mourn. Others, however, are driven to continue the conversation as First Nations communities and broader Australia alike try to plot the steps pos...
Oct 21, 2023•27 min
It's an historic day as Australians head to the polls to vote in our first referendum since 1999. Today on Backchat, we'll be covering the vote from all angles. First up, if you’re still unsure on how today works or what is being asked of you, we’ll be going over some of the nitty gritty details of how referendums work and how to make sure your vote counts. Next, we'll be crossing to our reporters Sana and Nic who are on the ground at polling stations in Burwood and Redfern, respectively. They'l...
Oct 16, 2023•25 min
