James Ball is a journalist and the current Global Editor of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. He worked with WikiLeaks on the Iraq War documents leak in 2010 and was part of The Guardian team that helped published the Edward Snowden sneaks about the NSA. Last week I sat down with James in a London heatwave to reflect on Boris Johnson becoming PM, stockpiling for a no-deal Brexit, the way bullshit works in today's politics, the anti-Semitism scandal in the British Labour Party and the pligh...
Jul 30, 2019•1 hr 9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Corey White is a comedian and writer with a pretty remarkable personal story. His memoir The Prettiest Horse in the Glue Factory is a funny, dark and brutally honest account of being raised in a violent working class home, being put through the harsh foster care system, struggling with issues of sexual identity and drug addiction and eventually becoming the comedian and man he is today. Here, Corey and I compare notes on our very different childhoods and discuss issues of class, being a member o...
Jul 24, 2019•1 hr 20 min•Transcript available on Metacast Former Greens senator and lifelong campaigner Lee Rhiannon has been fighting on the Left since she was fifteen years old. Almost a year on from stepping down as a Senator for NSW after losing preselection to Mehreen Faruqi, Lee talks to me about being spied on by ASIO from the age of seven, being raised by socialist parents, the state of the union movement, just how badly neoliberalism has knocked around the Left, the tensions that continue to frustrate the Australian Greens and how the party ca...
Jul 16, 2019•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Playwright, commentator and activist Van Badham is back on the podcast after she joined me in July of 2015 . Since then Van has been a passionate advocate for the re-election of a Labor government and a scathing critic of The Australian Greens. I was keen to dig further into her thinking on that and ask her what she thought went wrong in the 2019 federal election (the answer might surprise you). Van mounts a vigorous defence of Labor's policies here and explains why she sees it as the major hope...
Jul 09, 2019•1 hr 21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Josh Bornstein is an employment and IR lawyer at Maurice & Blackburn and the director at the Australia Institute. He's been increasingly concerned about the level of control that Australian employers have gained over their employees' freedom of speech and expression. So when it comes to the case of Israel Falou, he's been (controversially) outspoken about the legal ramifications for workers if we accept that your boss can fire you for saying the wrong thing. Here Josh and I take the time to fles...
Jul 02, 2019•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jeremy Poxon is a social security activist and the media officer for the Australian Unemployed Workers Union . His spicy twitter account regularly draws attention to the plight of unemployed and underemployed people in Australia, from those living on Newstart to people on Work for the Dole to folks just trying to survive in the gig economy. Here Jeremy explains exactly how organising unemployed workers in a union works, why capitalism is antithetical to the idea of (actual) full employment, why ...
Jun 25, 2019•1 hr 11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Something a little bit different for you this week: highlights from a live performance of A Rational Fear at Queensland's inaugural Climate Week . There were jokes and songs and facts about the impending climate crisis, featuring myself, Dan Ilic , Melinda Buttle , Steph Tisdell , Lewis Hobba , Prof. Hilary Bambrick and Bridie Connell & Wyatt Nixon-Lloyd . Enjoy. You can support this show by becoming a Patron which would be very very nice of you ENOUGH is coming to Newcastle this Friday night Th...
Jun 11, 2019•1 hr 18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jonathan Green is a veteran journalist and broadcaster who presents at the ABC and edits the literary magazine Meanjin . He's been working as a journo since the late 70s so I thought he'd be a good person to reflect on how the political media is serving us in 2019 (hint: it's not). We talk about exactly why Jonathan thinks politics is "bollocks", the corrosive influence of the Murdoch media empire and whether there's anything to do about it, the smallness of the "Lucky Country" and the challenge...
Jun 04, 2019•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast He's back! The socialist journalist, author, broadcaster and activist Jeff Sparrow is back to help make sense of the election result. Hear what Jeff makes of the idea that the ALP should return to the "sensible centre", how unconvincing Bill Shorten was as a progressive leader, the radical response that the climate crisis requires, where to next for the #StopAdani campaign, the fate of The Greens and whether class warfare is really over (hint: it's not). You can support the show by becoming a Pa...
May 28, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Gideon Rozner is a Liberal Party member and the director of policy at free market think tank The Institute of Public Affairs . He loves markets and freedom and shit like that. I'd booked this discussion in prior to the weekend's election results which for SOME FUCKING BONKERS reason s3aw the Morrison government re-elected. Gideon was very pleased with the result and in this conversation we discuss what he think happened, what Morrison will actually do, his climate scepticism, "class warfare", ab...
May 21, 2019•1 hr 10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Singapore-based fund manager Alex Turnbull is the son of the ousted PM Malcolm and self-described "activist in most senses of the word". Since the leadership coup in August of last year, Alex has been publicly scathing of the state of the Liberal Party and has actively campaigned to get centrist independents elected in traditionally safe Liberal seats. Alex joined me via Skype to talk with me about about his new approach to politics and public debate, what the heck the "sensible centre" really m...
May 14, 2019•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast Richard Di Natale is a Senator for Victoria and the leader of the Australian Greens . His seat isn't up this election but he is out there campaigning hard for the Greens to retain their positions in the Senate and potentially pick up some lower house seats too. In this conversation we covered a lot, from Richard's thoughts on the egging of the PM to the ghosts of social media past sinking young people's political careers to his party's political fortunes to capitalism to MDMA. But it's clear tha...
May 08, 2019•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast My childhood friend Alex Dyson is a very nice and very funny man who I got to host the triple j breakfast show with for four years. Now, somewhat insanely, he is running as an independent candidate in our home seat of Wannon in south-west Victoria. It's a seat that's been held by the Liberals for 64 years and is currently held by Minister for Education Dan Tehan by a margin of 10%. We drank a lot of wine, watched the godawful Leaders' Debate and had a long and fun and slightly-tipsy chat about h...
Apr 30, 2019•1 hr 25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Kath Larkin is a unionist and socialist activist. She’s the Victorian Socialists candidate for the seat of Cooper (formerly Batman) in the 2019 federal election, running against Labor’s Ged Kearney. In this conversation Kath told me about asking Jordan Peterson a question on Q&A (that he didn’t like), her history of union organising, why she’s running in Cooper (and whether she’s going to win), her vision of a socialist future in Australia and she maintains hope in the idea of achieving radical ...
Apr 24, 2019•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Simon Holmes à Court is an energy transition expert. He's a Senior Advisor to at the Climate Energy College at Melbourne University, sits on the board of the Smart Energy Council and spends a lot of his time on twitter correcting the likes of Josh Frydenberg and Chris Uhlmann when they say silly wrong things about climate and energy issues issues. In this conversation (recorded on an unseasonably warm April day), Simon talks me through the influence of fossil fuel money, the dumb culture war bet...
Apr 18, 2019•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast Greg Larsen is one of the funniest people I've ever met in my whole bloody life. He and I worked together on Tonightly where we made some very silly and naughty comedy together before we were cruelly cancelled by the FASCIST LIBERAL GOVERNMENT. In this chat I ask Greg to reflect on the Tonightly months, his political punk band The Feminazis, wokeness, debate and the pointlessness of protests. You can become a Patron of the show and help cover the basic costs of making this thing happen (please) ...
Apr 09, 2019•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast Sorry about the delayed episode, all! My bad. Comedy Festival is on and all that. Anyway. Sally McManus has been the Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions since 2017. She's the public face of the trade union movement in Australia and she takes little to no shit whatsoever. We recorded this chat on the day the ACTU launched their call for the minimum wage to be raised to a living wage. I asked Sally to explain what that means, as well as her stances on democratic socialism, neoliber...
Apr 02, 2019•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast Samah Sabawi is a playwright, poet and activist who is passionate about fighting for the rights of the Palestinian people. Just days after the horrific massacre in Christchurch, Samah explains to me why she was "disappointed but not shocked" by the horrific attack and how nearly two decades of poisonous Islamophobia has led us to this point. Samah also lays out what life is like for Palestinians in their own land, what the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions movement is calling for and why it's impo...
Mar 20, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast Melissa Davey is the Melbourne Bureau Chief for Guardian Australia . She’s done brilliant reporting about lots of different things over her career, but over the past few weeks has been diligently covering on the trial and conviction of George Pell. As Pell receives his sentencing today and as we learn more about his case for appeal, Melissa explains what it’s been like following this massive story, the journalistic ethics at play, the judicial process and the reactions from the media and the Chu...
Mar 12, 2019•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Emma is in Year 11, Anthony has just started uni and together they're involved in organising the second School Strike 4 Climate on Friday March 15th . It's a nation-wide, non-partisan, student-led protest demanding our political leaders take some GODDAMN REAL ACTION on climate change for once please. It was an honour to sit down with these two passionate, funny, committed young people to discuss their motivations for organising the march, their hopes for what it might achieve and their thoughts ...
Mar 06, 2019•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast Giordano Nanni is a historian and satirist and the driving force behind The Juice Media . He was the co-creator of the hugely successful Rap News series which has tallied millions of views and featured cameos from the likes of Noam Chomsky and Julian Assange and since 2016 he's been collaborating in his lounge room with his partner Lucy and actors Ellen and Zoe to make the very-funny-and-extremely-on-point Honest Government Ads series. The series has tackled everything from net neutrality to Eas...
Feb 26, 2019•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast Aimee Terese is a law student, podcaster and socialist. Until this week she was the co-host of the Dead Pundits Society podcast in which she picked apart US politics from a Leftist perspective, filling my brain with a bunch of smart insights and funny jokes. She doesn't suffer contradictions or bullshit and I loved getting to pick her brain during this conversation about the origins of her politics, electoralism, "lesser evil voting", Jordan B. Peterson and Bernie Sanders. Become a Patron of the...
Feb 19, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast I'M BACK, BABY. It's a new year and I'm unemployed so what better time to restart this podcast. This is just a cheeky little tease ep, but a brand new episode with a fascinating guest will be out this Wednesday. Hurrah. I have set up a Patreon for the show, not to become a billionaire but to try to cover the basic costs associated with making this thing (transport/time/snacks). I really appreciate anything you can give (if you can afford it). PLEASE NOTE THERE WILL BE NO REWARDS FOR BECOMING A P...
Feb 18, 2019•8 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is part two of an interview I recorded live at the inaugural Yack Festival at Giant Dwarf a few weeks ago. Stan Grant is a journalist, author and presenter who has worked all over the world for the likes of CNN, Sky News, SBS World News, NITV, the Guardian and the ABC. He is a Wiradjuri man who writes and speaks about race, racism and history in Australia, most recently in his Quarterly Essay released last year, The Australian Dream . He has just become the ABC’s Chief Asia Correspondent an...
Dec 18, 2017•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Hello! I know this has been a long time coming. Apologies: I have been busy writing jokes about Bob Katter. This is part one of an interview I recorded live at the inaugural Yack Festival at Giant Dwarf a few weeks ago. Stan Grant is a journalist, author and presenter who has worked all over the world for the likes of CNN, Sky News, SBS World News, NITV, the Guardian and the ABC. He is a Wiradjuri man who writes and speaks about race, racism and history in Australia, most recently in his Quarter...
Dec 11, 2017•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Hello everyone! I am sorry I have not posted an episode in a while. I have a reasonably good excuse: I am going to host a TV show. I'm still interviewing Stan Grant live onstage at the Yack Festival in Sydney on Saturday November 11th though @tonightly AND if you're in Sydney you can come watch the show being taped live! Register your interest here please...
Oct 29, 2017•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Geoffrey Winters is a native title lawyer who ran against Tanya Plibersek as the Liberal Party candidate for the seat of Sydney in the 2016 election. He's a Gamillaroi man who's openly gay and who regularly appears on ABC's The Drum . This is a frank discussion, featuring me trying to get my head around where Geoffrey is coming from as an Indigenous queer man who's also a conservative. From the marriage equality survey to being in a party alongside people he disagrees with with to being "pragmat...
Oct 05, 2017•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast Alex Greenwich is an independent MP in the NSW parliament and the National Convenor of Australian Marriage Equality. He's been campaigning for equal marriage for 10 years now and kindly gave me some of his time to reflect on how the postal survey is going, from the incidence of violence to the notion of "respectful" debate to what will happen if the No side is successful (an annoyingly real possibility). **COME SEE LIASYO LIVE @ YACK FESTIVAL WITH STAN GRANT, NOVEMBER 11th** Find a "Yes" calling...
Sep 26, 2017•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Owen Jones is an activist (first) and celebrated writer (second). He's the author of bestselling books Chavs: The Demonisation of the Working Class and The Establishment And How They Get Away With It , is a regular Guardian columnist and has a cracking YouTube channel . He's a major Leftist voice in UK politics and quite frankly, I was pretty stoked when he agreed to give me some of his time. Here we talk about democratic socialism, what Corbyn's political rise means for that cause, the dangers ...
Sep 14, 2017•1 hr 10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Acclaimed comedian and all-round nice guy Ahir Shah was just nominated for the big award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for his passionate, insightful and hilarious show Control . It's a brilliant treatise on the fallout of Brexit and Trump and humankind's inability to learn from its past mistakes. Here Ahir tells me about how the racist debate surrounding Brexit affected him personally, why he couldn't vote for Jeremy Corbyn in this year's election, the "economic anxiety" argument used to exp...
Sep 05, 2017•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
