Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Head of Government and External Engagement at UNICEF Australia, Elliot Stein. Elliot joins the show to break down the Albanese government’s first Federal Budget, cos that’s what you get to do when you win elections. Elliot unpacks the key details of the budget and what implications it will have on the Australian economy as we negotiate uncertain economic conditions heading into 2023. The presenting sponsor of the Socially...
Oct 28, 2022•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Democratic consultant and former campaign manager for the successful 2021 Georgia Senate run-offs, Jonae Wartel Jonae provides us with her insider preview on the Democrats prospects in the upcoming Midterm elections this November. With less than 18 days till polling day, Jonae discusses the impact the Biden administration’s recent policy wins (and promises kept) will have on voter turnout and if the controversies from the...
Oct 21, 2022•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Assistant to the President at the Retail, Wholesale Department Store Union (RWDSU), Jessica Garcia. In a follow up to last year’s episode with Lawrence Ben on the union’s campaign to unionise an Amazon warehouse in Alabama, Jessica fills us in on the progress the union has made in its campaign to help Amazon workers unionise. Jessica also discusses the union’s work with NY agricultural workers, cannabis workers in the new...
Oct 14, 2022•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by former Obama Speechwriter, Terry Szuplat. Terry discusses his upbringing in Massachusetts, in particular his introduction to speech writing via a JFK speech compilation gifted to him by his mother, and how it influenced him to become a voice for others. He details how he crafts speeches for many different people, most notably President Barack Obama during his tenure, and how stories can influence and inspire people in eve...
Oct 05, 2022•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Australian writer, activist, and co-host of the weekly podcast Week on Wednesday, Van Badham. Van discusses her time in student politics and how these wild experiences influenced her evolution into a successful activist, playwright, and journalist. She chats about her work researching conspiracy theories and, in celebration of the Melbourne Writers Festival, which kicks off this week, about her bestselling non-fiction boo...
Sep 15, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by the National Secretary of the Transport Workers Union, Michael Kaine. Qantas is regarded as a cultural icon and for many a source of national pride. However, under the leadership of Alan Joyce, the red roo’s reputation has been tarnished with cuts to staff, outsourcing to labour hire, all the while taking pandemic payments and dishing out directors bonuses. On this week’s episode Michael returns to discuss how Qantas’ got...
Sep 08, 2022•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by the director of the Sydney Policy Lab at the University of Sydney, Kate Harrison Brennan. Does Labor have a “religion” problem? And does the Church have a problem with politics? Kate draws from her experience in public policy and leading christian organisations to unpack these questions and explore the historic and at times disconnected relationship between people of faith, their institutions and the world of politics. Th...
Sep 01, 2022•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Associate Professor in the Department of Politics, Media and Philosophy at La Trobe University, Dr Andrea Carson. Andrea returns to the show to break down the Australian Media's performance and its role within the Federal Election, as she did back in 2019, except this time after a victory. Andrea shares her expertise on the media and the role that it plays in politics, discusses the accuracy of the polls, and how the...
Aug 25, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Senator for Victoria, Jana Stewart. Jana shares her story, from growing up in Swan Hill to working with the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency and the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Nat Hutchins. The Senator explains how her life experiences and family influences shaped her into the proud Mutthi Mutthi and Wamba Wamba woman she is today. Outlining her goals as a new Senator, she discusses her areas of policy focus i...
Aug 18, 2022•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Democratic campaign strategist and organizer, Katie Parsons. Katie calls in from Chicago, IL to breakdown the last few months of politics in the United States. Starting with the Supreme Court’s latest Dobbs v Jackson ruling, she unpacks the reversal of Roe v Wade and the national response, including the amazing turn out of Kansan voters who voted to protect abortion rights in their state. She also discusses why, despite t...
Aug 11, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by the freshly re-elected member for MacNamara, Labor’s Josh Burns. Josh joins Stephen to give a brief post election debrief, mainly how the close race for the seat of MacNamara was won and how he correctly predicted Labor winning the seat of Higgins, followed by a recap of the first sitting week of parliament under the Albanese government. Josh unpacks the goings on of the sitting week, including the first speeches from new...
Aug 05, 2022•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by two former Victorian ALP branch secretaries, Erik Locke and David Feeney. Erik and David break down the findings and recommendations from the Bracks/Macklin review into branch stacking, cultural and structural reform and where Labor failed to act. They unpack last week’s final report by the IBAC/Ombudsman and their public investigation into the misuse of public monies within ministerial and electorate offices following th...
Jul 29, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Betoota Advocate and Decode’s Wendell Hussey. Wendell chats about the Betoota Advocate and their rise from rural conservative newspaper to national media juggernaut. He discusses how Betoota’s new podcast, “Decode”, aims to break down federal politics for everyday Australians who want something a little bit different. Wendell also talks about how the media covered the federal election, how the mainstream platforms need to...
Jul 21, 2022•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Chairwoman for the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA), Esther-Mirjam Sent. Esther shares how she was raised in a political household, her parents sharing their passion for activism with her, as well as how exploring her interest in economics led to a career in the Dutch government and into the role of Chairwoman of the PvdA. Esther also shares her insights into the PvdA’s history, the current challenges the party faces, and a wide...
Jul 15, 2022•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Leader of the Irish Labour Party, Ivana Bacik. Ivana shares her story, from student activism fighting for women’s abortion rights, teaching law, to her entry into politics and her recent election to Leader of the Labour Party. She remarks on the poignant progressive changes Ireland has taken in recent years, such as the same sex marraige and abortion referendums, and how progressive issues remain at the forefront of Irish...
Jul 08, 2022•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by former WA Labor Assistant Secretary and Senior Partner at Newgate, Lenda Oshalem, for our final post election breakdown; this time tackling the great state of Western Australia. Lenda reflects on the major structural and cultural changes WA Labor undertook years ago that laid the foundations for the successes on election night, which helped get the Albanese government to the magical number 76. The presenting sponsor of th...
Jun 30, 2022•1 hr 12 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by SA Labor Secretary, Aemon Bourke, and Managing Director of Defiance, Jack Milroy. In the penultimate episode of our state by state Federal Post Election Breakdowns, Aemon and Jack join Stephen in covering the results in South Australia and Tasmania. First up, Aemon unpacks the great results in SA, where Labor won the elusive seat of Boothby and almost jagged the seat of Sturt. Jack follows, breaking down the tough campaig...
Jun 23, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Director at Hawker Britton, Elliot Stein. In the next chapter of our 2022 federal election breakdowns, we head to New South Wales, where Elliot unpacks Labor’s gains and the Liberal’s losses. Elliot also discusses voter fatigue with Morrison and Covid and the role that played in their voting habits, the impact of the Greens Political Party and the independent’s campaign, and “what happened in Fowler?” The presenting spons...
Jun 16, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Executive Director of the McKell Institute, Ryan Batchelor. Continuing our state by state breakdown of the 2022 federal election, Ryan joins the show to unpack the results in Victoria, and how the Massachusetts of Australian politics achieved an even higher watermark for Labor seats. Ryan discusses the key to Labor’s gains and the warning signs for Labor’s primary across metropolitan Melbourne. The importance of regional ...
Jun 09, 2022•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Director of Acanta Strategies and former Secretary for Queensland Labor, Evan Moorhead. As part of a state by state breakdown of the election, Evan joins the show to unpack what happened in the sunny state of Queensland, how voters voted and why, and where to from here for Labor. Evan analyses the wins and loses, why Labor had swings in outer Brisbane but lost in the inner city, and why Labor continues to be strong at a s...
Jun 02, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Executive Director for Per Capita, Emma Dawson, and former Federal Member for Batman, David Feeney. After 6 weeks of covering the Federal Election, Emma and David return one last time to unpack Labor’s victory, election day itself and all the events surrounding it. Stephen, Emma, and David, in true organiser style, break down the pluses, deltas, and takeaways of the Labor campaign state by state. They also revel in the Li...
May 27, 2022•2 hr 31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Executive Director for Per Capita, Emma Dawson, and former Federal Member for Batman, David Feeney, for Socially Democratic’s FINAL weekly recap of the 2022 federal election campaign. For the last time before E-Day, David and Emma unpack the latest events in the campaign, starting with the Liberal Party’s campaign launch in Brisbane earlier this week, where they finally made policy announcements, including the “Raiding Wo...
May 19, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser, Stephen Donnelly, was joined by a panel of political campaign experts including Lenda Oshalem, Elliot Stein, Linus Power MP, and David Feeney for this special Federal Election bonus episode to break down the key battleground seats that are Labor’s pathway to government. This is the form guide you will need for election night. What seats do Labor need to hold? What seats are Labor competitive in and will they flip it? Can Labor get to 76, and what is t...
May 15, 2022•3 hr 38 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Executive Director for Per Capita, Emma Dawson, and former Federal Member for Batman, David Feeney, for Socially Democratic’s weekly recap of the 2022 federal election campaign. Once again Emma and David dive into the week that was, starting with the final two leader debates (or lack thereof), unpacking channel 9 and 7’s coverage, the lack of moderation, the schmozzle of a voting service provided by channel 9, the post de...
May 12, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by digital campaigner and Managing Director of Defiance, Jack Milroy. With both parties shifting significant campaign dollars to beef up their online presence, Jack draws on his online campaign experience with leading progressive organisations in Australia and Canada, to discuss the digital campaign at this federal election. Jack details the evolution of digital campaigning in liberal democracies and the tools available to c...
May 10, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Executive Director for Per Capita, Emma Dawson, and former Federal Member for Batman, David Feeney, for Socially Democratic’s weekly recap of the 2022 federal election campaign. It was a big week with Labor officially launching their campaign, new policy announcements made, a federal interest rate rise, and a Treasurers debate. And we recap it all. Emma and David also discuss the impact early voting has on campaign and co...
May 06, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by fellow podcasters, Labor activist, Ben Davison and Guardian columnist, Van Badham, for a special crossover episode: Socially Democratic meets The Week On Wednesday. Ben, Van, and Stephen join forces to unpack the midpoint of the 2022 Federal Election campaign, sharing their thoughts on the campaign so far, the performance of both party leaders, the impact of media coverage on voters, and the shift in campaign strategies a...
May 04, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Executive Director for Per Capita, Emma Dawson, and former Federal Member for Batman, David Feeney, for Socially Democratic’s third weekly recap of the 2022 federal election campaign. From record high inflation figures to the Solomon Islands policy disaster, this week Emma and David discuss the terrible week of campaigning from the Coalition. In contrast, we unpack a great week for Labor. While Anthony Albanese campaigned...
Apr 28, 2022•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Executive Director for Per Capita, Emma Dawson, and former Federal Member for Batman, David Feeney, for Socially Democratic’s second weekly recap of the 2022 federal election campaign. Emma and David unpack the week that was including the first leaders debate which was held in Queensland on Wednesday night. They discuss the risks and rewards these debates have on the campaign, as well as analyse the performance of both le...
Apr 22, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Executive Director for Per Capita, Emma Dawson, and former Federal Member for Batman, David Feeney, for Socially Democratic’s first of our weekly episode recaps of the 2022 federal election campaign. Emma and David bring their expertise and insights into the discussion of the opening week of the 2022 campaign, analyzing how the Albanese Labor opposition set themselves up heading into this election from a policy standpoint...
Apr 14, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
