The Afghan war, hotel quarantine, and forgotten rural violence

On this episode of The Grapevine, Dylan flies solo and gets on the line with Walkley-Award winning writer, editor and broadcaster, Jeff Sparrow, to discuss the Biden administration’s decision to pull out of Afghanistan and Australia following suit. Sparrow reflects on the lack of discourse in Australia joining the NATO allies in Afghanistan and on our part in the 20-year-long 'forever war'.

Then, as 36,000 Australians remain stranded overseas a year on from the initial international travel ban, PHD Candidate at Melbourne Uni's Melbourne Law School, Elizabeth Hicks, calls in to talk about her policy brief on repatriation of those stranded Australians and her recommendations to expand and improve on Australia’s quarantine system.

And cultural historian Luke Stegemann chats about his new book Amnesia Road, Landscape, violence and memory, an exploration and contrast of the historic violence in rural areas of Australia and Spain.