This week's tweeter is the Brown Falcon. It's a medium-sized bird of prey, measuring about 40- to 50-centimetres. And, like its close relatives, females tend to be larger than males. If you see it perched on a fence post, you might notice its distinctive, dark "tear-drop" stripe running down from the eye. It hunts creatures such as small mammals, birds, lizards, snakes and insects across Australia and New Guinea.
Peter de Waal arrived in Australia in 1957 from the Netherlands as a young man uncertain about his sexuality. Within ten years he had found his life partner Peter Bonsall Boone known as Bon and together they joined the first gay activist movement CAMP and remained campaigners for a better life for the gay community for the rest of their lives. From appearing on television for the first male to male kiss, attending the first mardi gras, they even campaigned for marriage equality. Sadly Bon died b...
There’s a city wide Open House in Melbourne this weekend. Churches, banks, numerous private houses and public buildings - even an Egyptian style mausoleum - have thrown open their doors for the event “Open House Melbourne” run by the independent not-for-profit also called Open House Melbourne. GUEST: Tania Davidge Executive Director of Open House Melbourne.
Whether you favour a thumbs up, a laughing face, or a smiling poop, chances are you’ve used an emoji. There’s currently 3790 different emojis sitting in your phone. And the ominous-sounding Unicode Consortium is in charge of exactly which images of flags, faces and faeces are allowed. Emojis have captivated society, from love-hearting posts on Instagram, to rating our bathroom experience on a scale of smiley faces. They capture something that words alone do not. New ones are regularly added like...
The United Kingdom has just announced that it will be lowering the voting age to 16 for all future elections. But the UK is not the first country to make these voting reforms, with several countries in Europe and Latin America already allowing 16 and 17 year olds to vote, either nationally or regionally. Social scientist Christine Huebner, has spent years researching youth voting, and her conclusion is - lowering the voting age does not have any negative side effects for democracy. Guest: Christ...
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Western Australian woman, Donna Nelson was in Japanese court this week, appealing her 6 year sentence for drug smuggling. Romance scam expert, Monica Whitty, gave evidence for Nelson's defence that was rejected as part of the appeal. But Monica's report leaves little doubt that Nelson was a victim of organised crime that specialised in using romance scams to trick victims into becoming unwitting drug mules. Guest: Monica Whitty, Professor of Human Factors in Cyber Security in the Faculty of Info...
It's a microscopic single cell organism, known by the scientific name Karenia Mikimotoi. And right now this micro-algae is wreaking havoc on a large stretch of the South Australian coast, forming a destructive algal bloom that's grown to 4,500klms in size - or about twice the size of the ACT. GUEST: Professor Shauna Murray Marine Biologist, at the UTS School of Life Sciences.
Actor Yael Stone had finally secured a Green Card - that ticket to the American dream that gives outsiders the legal right to live and work in the United States. Something coveted and potentially life-transforming it’s literally the prize in an annual lottery. So not many people give up something like that, and especially if that card has allowed you to star in a hit series on Netflix. Guest: Yael Stone Actor and environmental activist. Currently performing in Mother Play for the Melbourne Theat...
Malaria killed an estimated 600,000 people globally in 2023 and 94% of those deaths were in Africa. Advances in genome editing means that it may now be possible to eradicate the malaria carrying mosquito. Paul Ndebele is a bioethicist from George Washinton University who grew up in a malarial zone of the Zambezi Valley so brings a personal perspective on whether plans to eradicate the mosquito should proceed. Guest: Paul Ndebele, bioethicist and Professor in George Washington University’s Depart...
How good are you at Microsoft Excel? Not as good as the young people in a new documentary called Spreadsheet Champions. Having its Australian Premiere at the MIFF, the documentary follows six national Excel champions from Guatemala, Cameroon, Vietnam, Greece, Australia and the USA as they compete in the World Championships. Guests: Kristina Kraskov director Spreadsheet Champions and Guatemalan Excel champion Carmina Solares Spreadsheet Champions is having its Australian Premiere at the Melbourne...
While city streets teeming with robots might feel like a scene from a sci-fi movie, service robots are already commonplace in the public spaces of cities like Tokyo and Singapore. But while the technology forges ahead, the regulators that plan the public policies for our cities are being left behind, leaving a potential for a gulf between what populations needs from service robots and what is delivered. Professor Michael Mintrom shares the findings from his study into what policymakers need to c...
Sotheby's sold a meteorite from Mars for US$5.3 million last Wednesday to an undisclosed buyer. Sotheby's claims is the largest Martian meteorite in the world, at nearly 25kgs. But for planetary scientist like Professor Gretchen Benedix , the value of Martian meteorites is beyond the imaginations of most private collectors. She shares the science that has been used to analyse meteorites, and the potential discoveries that might be made from access to such a large Martian rock. Guest: Professor G...
It is hard enough to complete a PHD, but imagine doing it without access to libraries or the Internet. One inmate from the maximum security Macquarie Correctional Centre in Wellington in Central West NSW has completed a PHD designing and constructing hydroponic garden that grows fresh vegetables for the prison population. How did he do it? Guest: Dr Christian Tietz, Senior Lecturer, Industrial Design, UNSW How maximum security prison inmates and officers worked together to create a farm behind b...
Tasmanians are going back to the polls, after a successful no-confidence motion was made against the Premier Jeremy Rockliff. The snap poll comes just over a year since the last election, and its likely whoever wins will have to once again navigate a politically diverse crossbench. GUEST: Richard Eccleston Professor of Political Science, University of Tasmania
Audio from the ABC Archives of Bob Moore interviewing Paul Eslanda Robeson, during their 1960 Australian visit.
Audio from the ABC Archives of Bob Moore interviewing Paul Eslanda Robeson, during their 1960 Australian visit.
Blak Douglas has spent his artistic career painting bold and graphic artworks infused with political commentary of the realities of First Nation experiences in modern Australia. He describes his work as "parody, irony, truth". But before he found his voice as an Indigenous artist, Blak had to find a path out of the mono-cultural and prejudiced outer-western suburbs of Sydney, after generations of family members who had been robbed of their indigenous heritage. Guest: Blak Douglas, Dunghutti man,...
This week's mystery caller is small of stature but sings energetically with a powerful voice – the Inland Thornbill.
When Paul Robeson toured Australia in 1960, it was not only a concert tour, but also a political tour. Paul Robeson was a hero to the political left across the globe and in Australia he met peace activists, Indigenous leaders, and union leaders. His impressive wife Eslanda was an author and correspondent for the United Nations and she met with women's organisations across Australia and New Zealand. What was the legacy of the tour for both Australian activists and the Robesons? Guest: Ann Curthoy...
Fleuranne Brockway is the first Australian singer to win the Montreal International Musical Competition in its 23 year history. She faced singers from around the world, competing for a prize valued at $85,000 AUD. The mezzo-soprano singer from Perth has had a meteoric rise as an opera singer Europe, but has returned to Perth this July for rehearsals for Western Australian Opera's Madama Butterfly . Guest: Fleuranne Brockway, Australian Mezzo-Soprano. You can see her winning performance here ....
Is there really the problem with ADHD over-diagnosis? GPs are now licensed in multiple states to prescribe ADHD medication, while shortages of those medications are being felt nation-wide. Is the disorder being over-diagnosed, or do we need to find alternative solutions to support the supply chain? Guest: Dr David Coghill, President of the Australian ADHD Professionals Association
What do Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal have in common? They were all invited to the USA-Africa Summit hosted by President Trump to discuss the move to trade from aid and other security and migration issues. And will the peace deal between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo negotiated by the Trump administration hold? Guest: Nosmot Gbadamosi writes the Africa Brief for Foreign Policy.
Former Director of War Studies for the Australian Army, Albert Palazzo, shares his vision for a radical rethink of Australia's National Security strategy, that he has laid out in his new book The Big Fix. He proposes moving away from our dependency on sovereign powers like the US, futureproofing our military by investing in drones and unmanned vessels, and re-prioritising our defence priorities to focus less on the threat of China, and more on the potential security threats that might come as cl...
This week's mystery caller could be a beneficiary of unusually wet conditions on the east coast – the nectar-loving Regent Honeyeater.
Gill Hicks was the last survivor to be pulled from the wreckage of a bomb blast, when 4 bombs went off in a co-ordinated attack across London on July 7, 2005. Despite the permanent injuries she suffered, including the loss of both her legs, Gill chose not to let the bombings consume her with anger or a desire for retaliation. Instead she has spent the last 20 years dedicating her life to creating peace, diffusing extremism, advocating for survivors and celebrating life through music and the arts...
Axolotls are the gold medallists when it comes to limb regeneration. Researchers from Northeastern University have discovered not only how an axolotl starts to regenerate a limb, but also how it knows just how much of the limb needs to be regenerated - whether it is just a finger or a whole arm. The research has implications for humans and our healing processes. Professor and Chair at the Department of Biology at Northeastern University
Before Bluey, before B1 and B2, even before Play School, there was Mr Squiggle. The puppet man from the moon with a pencil for a nose was a fixture of kids television on the ABC for 40 years from 1959 and 1999 . And now Mr Squiggle is back - not on television, but in a new free exhibition at the National Museum of Australia. GUEST: Rebecca Hetherington Daughter of Norman Hetherington and former presenter of Mr Squiggle and Friends. Mr Squiggle and Friends: The Creative World of Norman Hetheringt...
Australian university sector is in crisis, with headlines repeatedly warning of job cuts, declining enrolments and concerns over the cuts to face-to-face teaching. Professor Graeme Turner shares insights from his new book, Broken: Universities, Politics and the Public Good, tracing how and why our universities have reached this crisis and Australia needs to do to pull out the sector out of this tail spin. Guest: Professor Graeme Turner, Emeritus Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of...
Reena Ghelani has been working in humanitarian aid for over 25 years crossing the globe supporting communities in crisis. Born in Uganda, but raised in Melbourne, she has recently been appointed to lead international aid agency Plan International at a time of increasing need and decreasing support from governments around the globe, in particular America. Guest: Reena Ghelani, CEO of Plan International
