In this episode of Subclass 500, Elliot Rodriguez speaks with fellow international students about struggles with language barriers. At the University of Melbourne professors are strict about translation rules for assignments, making it even harder for some students to do their assessments. However, the language barrier doesn't just affect non-native English speakers, Elliot discovers throughout the episode that he too has faced similar problems with the Australian accent since arriving from Miam...
Oct 24, 2023•12 min•Season 1Ep. 66
From the rule changes that make hard to earn a living, to the challenges of a long-distance relationship, from the freedoms of being a woman in Australia, to the cage made by paperwork designed to keep you out, all while learning to speak in a new language. These are some of challenges faced by international students at the University of Melbourne, and this is a podcast revealing those stories.seven-part series coming very soon from the Centre for Advancing Journalism. Episode 1 will be released...
Oct 24, 2023•2 min•Season 1Ep. 65
For the first time in four years, Australia is facing an El Nino — a weather pattern that can cause extreme heat. These increased temperatures would make Bendigo especially vulnerable to droughts. But an adaptation plan to restore the region’s waterways will provide a much-needed safeguard. Today, we’re bringing you an interview with journalist Sasha Gattermayr about her reporting on Bendigo’s waterways. Her article was co-published by The Citizen and The Bendigo Advertiser. It’s part of an ongo...
Oct 17, 2023•13 min•Season 1Ep. 64
This weekend, millions of Australians will vote on whether to enshrine an Indigenous voice to Parliament in the constitution. For most young Australians, it will be their first ever referendum. It’s also the first to take place in the era of social media — and misinformation has been rife. Today, we’re taking a break from our Regional Reporting series to bring you a special report on the referendum from CAJ journalist Gwen Liu. She spoke to University of Melbourne Students about how they’re maki...
Oct 11, 2023•11 min•Season 1Ep. 63
Fires and droughts are only the flashpoints of rising temperatures. Heat-induced health issues, though less conspicuous, are also a risk. Bendigo’s socio-economic landscape makes it especially vulnerable to this creeping problem, and its residents are suffering — both physically and mentally. Today, we’re bringing you an interview with CAJ student Jerome Des Preaux about his reporting on health and heat. His article was co-published by The Citizen and The Bendigo Advertiser. It’s part of an ongo...
Sep 27, 2023•9 min•Season 1Ep. 62
This week, we’re investigating a controversial strategy to control Bendigo’s pests by reintroducing an apex predator — the dingo. It’s a response to Victoria’s growing Kangaroo population, which has increased by approximately one million since 2017. The national icon is decimating crops, causing car accidents, and destroying ecosystems. Hundreds of thousands are culled by hunters every year, but critics say this ignores the root of the problem, and Bendigo is now considering a more innovative so...
Sep 22, 2023•9 min•Season 1Ep. 61
When we encounter unexpected information, our brains enter what psychologists call “the surprise sequence”. Whether positive or negative, the sequence begins with a state of heightened emotions and extreme curiosity. After this, our points of view shift to make sense of a new reality. Sometimes fundamentally. This week, we’re bringing you three stories about being humbled by new information and fresh perspectives. It’s the third episode of Dark Matters. A series about the fundamental essence of ...
Sep 06, 2023•18 min•Season 1Ep. 60
Back in January, China’s education ministry made a snap decision. Effective immediately, online study at foreign universities was banned. Tens of thousands of students scrambled to secure visas and book flights to Australia in time for semester one. To make matters worse — their new home was in the midst of a rental crisis. This week, we’re bringing you two interviews about The Citizen’s coverage of Melbourne’s housing shortage. And how international students are especially vulnerable to rental ...
Aug 23, 2023•17 min•Season 1Ep. 59
Blind spots are easy to see in others. It’s much harder to see our own. This discrepancy is called the blind spot bias, and psychologists believe almost all of us suffer from it. This week, we’re bringing you three stories about blind spots and misunderstandings. Stories about biases clouding our judgment and making us blind to nuance. It’s the second episode of Dark Matters. A series about the fundamental essence of life and how so much of it remains a mystery to us. These stories were produced...
Aug 16, 2023•17 min•Season 1Ep. 58
When we imagine great mysteries we think of distant galaxies or unexplorable ocean depths. But one of the greatest mysteries is a lot closer to home. It’s in our heads. The human brain is the most complex data processor in the known universe. But we still have very little idea how our own consciousness actually works. This week, we’re bringing you three stories that shed light on the intricacies of our minds. It’s the first episode of Dark Matters. Our new series about the fundamental essence of...
Aug 08, 2023•17 min•Season 1Ep. 57
Today, we’re bringing you three student-produced stories about a topic close to home — The University of Melbourne itself. Stories about how global issues like the rise of AI are playing out on campus, as well as stories more specific to the university. It’s the third and final episode of Hyperlocal. A series about the big issues impacting small communities in Melbourne. Featuring stories by Yongxin Yu, Nuoxin Li. and Runren Zeng, See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jun 21, 2023•12 min•Season 1Ep. 56
Today, we’re bringing you three stories about the shortcomings of Melbourne’s roadways and how to fix them. Stories about the life-changing — and even life-saving — potentials of transport engineering. It’s the second episode of Hyperlocal, a series about the big issues impacting small communities in Melbourne. Featuring stories by Timothy Evetts, Bridget Collier, and Xiyan Wang. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jun 14, 2023•11 min•Season 1Ep. 55
This week, we’re bringing you three stories about neighbours banding together — either to help each other out or unite against a mutual adversary. It’s the first episode of Hyperlocal, our new series about the big issues impacting small communities in Melbourne. Featuring stories by Filment Ho, Jerome Des Preaux, and Amelia Costigan. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 07, 2023•11 min•Season 1Ep. 54
For the last seven years, producers from the podcast All the Best have mentored Melbourne University's audio journalism students. It’s part of an initiative that teaches emerging storytellers the ins and outs of audio production, culminating in a series of student-produced documentaries. Today, we’re bringing you a collection of All the Best’ s all-time favourite audio stories from these mentorships. They were recently included in an All the Best episode commemorating our seven-year relationship...
Jun 02, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 53
Today, we're bringing you another episode of News Bites — a series of live interviews showcasing the work of local journalists. This week’s guest is Erik Jensen, the editor-in-chief of Schwartz Media. Erik’s career has been multipronged. He began working as a music critic when he was only fifteen. After high school, he went on to join the Sydney Morning Herald and won a Walkley Award. Later, he became the founding editor of the Saturday Paper. Since 2018, he's also overseen the Monthly and Schwa...
May 25, 2023•18 min•Season 1Ep. 52
The Pacific island of Kiribati could be completely submerged by rising sea levels in just seventy years, but the nation is among the world’s lowest emitters of C02. Australia, on the other hand, is among the highest. In 2019, we emitted twenty-one times more C02 per capita than Kiribati. Today, we’re bringing you three stories about climate injustice — stories about the world’s richest countries accelerating climate change, and the developing countries paying the price. Reporting by Timothy Evet...
May 17, 2023•13 min•Season 1Ep. 51
Eco-anxiety is the chronic fear of environmental doom. While the American Psychiatric Association acknowledges its existence, it doesn’t classify it as a pathology. It’s a rational response to the world around us. And it’s especially prevalent among young people. At best, eco-anxiety can motivate collective action. But it can also lead to paralysis and despair. This week, we’re bringing you stories from both sides of the spectrum. It’s the first episode of Climate Generation. A two-part series a...
May 10, 2023•11 min•Season 1Ep. 50
Victoria’s coastlines are receding, inland waterways are flooding more frequently, and things are only expected to get worse. This week, we’re bringing you two more interviews about The Citizen’s environmental reporting. One about Gippsland abandoning fossil fuels in the face of a coastal climate crisis. Another about the beachside suburbs of Port Phillip unprepared for rising seas. The articles are part of a special series called Neighbourhood Watch , which puts a local spotlight on burning iss...
May 03, 2023•16 min•Season 1Ep. 49
Melbourne’s West has a pollution problem and residents are fed up with government inaction. This week, you’ll hear about original reporting from students working on two separate projects — one looking into freight truck exhaust fumes, another investigating years of fires at a landfill near residential properties. Both issues are severely affecting local health. The projects are part of a special series called Neighborhood Watch , which puts a local spotlight on burning issues. Student reporters ...
Apr 20, 2023•17 min•Season 1Ep. 48
The moral panic about gender has been dominating conservative headlines lately, but gender nonconformity is nothing new. The Hijra people of South Asia have been recognised as an additional gender for centuries, as have the Faʻafafine of Samoa, and the Femminielli of southern Italy. This week, we’re bringing you three stories about people challenging gender norms just as they’ve always done. Stories about being gender diverse, as well as people rebelling against their expected gender roles. It’s...
Apr 12, 2023•17 min•Season 1Ep. 47
There’s this word — “Solastalgia”. It describes homesickness when you’re still at home... because that home is changing in ways you can’t control. This week, we’re bringing you three stories about our relationship to place. Places in flux and places that aren’t what we thought they were. It’s the fourth episode of Breaking the Binaries, a series about the intersections that blend, blur, or break society’s binary codes. These stories were produced in collaboration with All the Best mentors for th...
Apr 05, 2023•18 min•Season 1Ep. 46
Today we're bringing you another episode of News Bites, a series of live interviews showcasing the work of local journalists. This week, we’re joined by Matilda Boseley, The Guardian’s TikTok queen whose videos often garner tens of thousands of views. We’re also joined by Zara Seidler, the co-founder of Instagram-focused news service The Daily Aus. It’s one of the fastest growing news sites in Australia, with 430 thousand followers, and thirty-seven million impressions a month. For News Bites, M...
Mar 29, 2023•29 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Today, we're returning to our News Bites series. It spotlights the work of staff and students at the Centre for Advancing Journalism. This week’s guest is Lecturer and audio journalist Sami Shah. Sami got his start in a Pakistani newsroom. Since then, he’s moved to Australia where he’s hosted the ABC Melbourne Breakfast show and made radio documentaries on free speech and race for ABC’s Earshot series. Most recently, he’s produced a thrilling audio drama for Audible called The Missed. For News B...
Mar 22, 2023•22 min•Season 1Ep. 44
In medieval times, humans were confident they knew how the universe was ordered. One fourteenth century illustration – known as the Great Chain of Being – depicts God at the top of the heap, sitting amongst the clouds. Below him is a tier of humans. Below them , is a lowly tier of animals swimming, flying, or grazing. And below them, plants and minerals. But nowadays, we’re often humbled by evidence that our dominion over non-humans isn’t as self-evident as we once thought. And that doesn’t even...
Mar 15, 2023•18 min•Season 1Ep. 43
This week, The Yarn is confronting taboos. We're bringing you four stories about what happens when doing the right thing means breaking the rules. It’s the second episode of Breaking the Binaries, our new series about the intersections that blend, blur, or break society’s binary codes. These stories were produced in collaboration with All the Best mentors for the Science Gallery’s new show, an immersive exhibition about breaking binaries which is open now. Reporting by Sean Ruse, Aania Tandon, S...
Mar 07, 2023•22 min•Season 1Ep. 42
“From chatbots and virtual assistants to self-driving cars and smart homes, AI is becoming an increasingly pervasive presence in our lives, raising questions about privacy, ethics, and the future of work.” So pervasive that the sentence you just read wasn’t written by a human. It was written by Chat GPT, an AI chatbot. In today’s episode, we’re bringing you three stories about the boundaries between machines and humans, the real and virtual. It's the first episode of our new series, Break the Bi...
Feb 26, 2023•17 min•Season 1Ep. 41
In the aftermath of the Vietnam War, tens of thousands of refugees fled their country to start a new life in Australia. Many of them found jobs as outworkers — fashion workers who sewed from home instead of at garment factories. Although they played an important role in Australia's fashion industry, their work was often overlooked, unregulated, and deeply exploitative. This week, we're bringing you the first episode of the Critical Fashion Studies Podcast, a series about how sustainability and d...
Dec 09, 2022•27 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Our fifth News Bites guest is Jenny Cai, a former University of Melbourne journalism student who now works in the ABC's Asia Pacific newsroom. She spoke to Louisa Lim about getting a foot in the door, covering the war in Ukraine, and how to survive and thrive in a fast-paced newsroom. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nov 30, 2022•17 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Our fourth News Bites guest is Louisa Lim, a senior lecturer who spent a decade as an audio journalist in China for the BBC and NPR. During that time, she was on the ground for some of the region’s most consequential events, including the aftermath of the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake. More recently, she published a book about Hong Kong called Indelible City and produced a related podcast series for the ABC called The King of Kowloon. The latter tells the story of a Hong Kong folk hero whose distincti...
Nov 23, 2022•22 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Our third News Bites guest is Dr. Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson, a journalist who has spent over 20 years reporting on climate change, human rights, and other issues affecting the Pacific Islands. She spoke about Australia's coverage of the Pacific with Petra Stock, a Citizen reporter, and Kate Lyons, the Pacific editor for Guardian Australia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Nov 15, 2022•20 min•Season 1Ep. 37
