Streets of your Town podcast series

The first of 2 interviews with internationally established artist and former Brisbane Deputy Mayor David Hinchliffe. David talks about his home in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley and in particular about the history and former resident characters of Hynes Street where he had been living for the past 20 years.

In this context he reflects on changes in Brisbane’s city landscape and on the rise of inner city communities. He also remembers his childhood and the compelling attraction of Brisbane as a place to live and work.

Podcast interviewees talk about the lifestyle associated with three contrasting beach locations in South-East Queensland:

In the first interview lifesavers Clinton and TJ discuss their role as lifesavers on Main Beach, Southport and reflect on the appeal and experience of volunteering their time to help patrol the beach in their local area.

In the second interview married couple John and Jane, former Gold Coast residents, are temporarily staying at the Helens Vale Caravan Park, having travelled “halfway around Australia and back”. They talk about their favourite places en-route (in particular Paronella Park in North Queensland), about the attraction of meeting people in a variety of different locations and about the risks involved in ventures of this kind.

In the last interview First Nations artist Delvene Cockatoo-Collins speaks about her life and work on Minjerribah / North Stradbroke Island and about the experience of growing on Quandamooka country. Her conversation touches on her early childhood memories, her long connection there with her family and ancestors and the importance of preserving the local Jandai language. 

Established contemporary fine artist Matt Stewart and street artist Spectator Jonze (artist moniker of Deena Lynch), both based in Brisbane, speak about a collaborative artistic initiative designed to raise project money and awareness about mental health.

This collaboration is part of a web series sponsored by Anglican Care Arts and Minds in which experienced and emerging artists work together to create a work of art in eight hours. Artists who are given a topic in advance (in this instance it was the word “release”) discuss their mental health and their art as they work side by side. In this interview the two artists consider the inspiration for their artistic works.

Marcus Brady, also known locally as that Tourism Guy, talks - during the course of a bush walk - about the experience of living a rural existence in the depths of the North Queensland rainforest. He lives on 2 hectares of rainforest near the small town of Speewah about 30km west of Cairns and commutes daily to Cairns where he works in the tourism industry.

The focus of Expressions Dance Company (now known as the Australasian Dance Collective) is on the evolution of contemporary dance in Australia and throughout the world. The Company’s programs include regional, national and international touring; an education program, professional training and the provision of development opportunities for emerging performers and choreographers.

In her 10th year as Artistic Director Natalie Weir speaks about the Company’s China Australia Dance Exchange initiative. The program to date has involved a partnership with three Chinese companies under the artistic directorship of Willie Chow. At the time of this interview, in 2018, Expressions Dance Company was in a collaborative performance arrangement with the Hong Kong based City Contemporary Dance Company. Based on a Max Richter reinterpretation of Vivaldi’s violin concertos, The Four Seasons, the performance involves 6 Australian and 12 Chinese dancers working with Australian choreographer Christine Chang. Performances are planned at QPAC in Brisbane, at the Darwin Entertainment Centre and in Beijing.

In the first of two conversations which take place in Lockhart River a township located 800km north of Cairns, on the east coast of the Cape York Peninsula, the Principal of Lockhart State School, Siobhan Jackson, talks about the school, its achievements and opportunities, and about the special experience of living in such a remote and isolated community.

The second conversation is with internationally renowned Aboriginal artist Patrick Butcher. Born in Lockhart River Patrick was part of an early group of artists, who in the mid 1990s formed the Lockhart River 'Art Gang'. Using his hands rather than a paintbrush, Patrick's artworks draw on Dreamtime stories associated with cultural and linguistic traditions and with the land and sea which surround his community. 

In this Brisbane interview two returned soldiers talk about Stand Tall 4 PTS, a convoy raising awareness initiative focused on post traumatic stress disorder, that, in mid September 2018 was about to make its way through a number of Australian country towns.

Their message, based on personal experience, was intended to encourage sufferers to recognise the symptoms, to take account of the impact of PTS and to seek support. 

JusZ Cosplay is a Canadian-born and Australian-based award-winning cosplayer, host, actor and published model. She has been hosting cosplay with Oz Comic-Con since 2017 and regularly speaks on convention panels, acts in fan films and MCs fan events around the country. Her costume work has been featured by Marvel and WWE.

In this Brisbane interview Justine Gaudreau-Fewster (aka JusZ Cosplay) talks about her passion both for creating the costumes and for transforming herself into the characters. Through makeup, wigs, fabric and armour she brings her chosen characters to life and connects with fans around the world.

An interview with Michael Bulloch, owner and operator of Coffee in Cylinder’s, a collapsable, pop-up coffee shop on Cylinder Beach on North Stradbroke Island / Minjerribah. The coffee cart is regularly set up right on the beach amongst bushes and under the pandanus palms leaves, with little or no environmental impact. Local artists produce compostable cups and reuse of cups is encouraged. Michael speaks of his childhood growing up on Stradbroke Island, his appreciation of the natural beauty of his surroundings (unspoiled beaches, clear water, sunsets, abundance of wildlife) and of his concern about the environmental impact of future development.

Leigh Winsor was one of thousands of people caught in the floods that swept through Brisbane and Ipswich in January 2011. Like many others in the western suburbs Leigh lost his home during the floods, along with most of his possessions. From the Sherwood Neighbourhood Centre, Leigh talks about the chaotic experience of living through the floods and their traumatic aftermath, the community and government based assistance offered to him, the kindness of friends during the recovery and rebuild. Having survived the experience, Leigh continues to volunteer at the Sherwood Centre where he has been teaching computer skills since 2002.

Benjamin Parsons who works at the Hub Neighbourhood Centre in Inala, speaks in the context of his personal experience about the support offered by such centres to people disadvantaged by poverty, mental illness, addiction and other forms of social disadvantage.

While his own recovery is the direct result of the vital help offered by support groups, he recognises that there is an urgent need for increased state and federal government funding to support centres struggling to meet community needs. 

Kurt Phelan, award winning actor, singer, writer and choreographer, best known for playing Johnny in the Australian production of the musical Dirty Dancing, talks about his acting career.

The conversation ranges over his childhood growing up on a mango farm in Ayr, North Queensland, his early career in Sydney, his love of the Brisbane lifestyle and his current experience of living between Brisbane and New York. At the time of the interview Kurt was in Brisbane to record an album for the song cycle Any Moment.

Relocated to Tasmania from Queensland Julia Price, former cricketer for the Australian Women's Cricket Team, talks about her career as a cricketer, coach and now cricket commentator and reflects on changes in women’s sport over the past 20 years.

Julia, a wicketkeeper, made her first-class debut in 1995 for Queensland Women and her Australian Test debut against New Zealand in the following year. She retired from international Test and one-day international cricket in 2005 before beginning the next stage of her career with Tasmania in 2009. Julia Price was named an honorary life member of Lord's Marylebone Cricket Club in 2017.

Artist and social advocate Kagi Kowa migrated to Australia as a refugee in 2015 and describes her cultural background as belonging to the Indigenous people of Sudan. At the time of this interview Kagi had been living in Forest Lake in Brisbane’s westside for three years.

She speaks about her journey from Sudan - and subsequently Kenya - at a young age, about the origin and storytelling aspect of her artwork and about the two cultures which influence her painting. She regards her art as an instrument to communicate and to bring about social change.

At the time of this interview with visionary director Natano Fa’anana, during the 2018/2019 Woodford Folk Festival, Casus Circus (now a part of Casus Creations) was embarking on a tour around Australia. The company was also planning to perform at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. 

Casus Circus - then a small company - was the first all indigenous touring contemporary circus. Natano talks about the evolution of Chasing Smoke, its impact on contemporary audiences and about the contribution of the six artists whose stories are represented in the performance.

An interview with journalist and Bond University lecturer Rob Layton who specialises in mobile journalism and smartphone photography.

Rob who lives at Burleigh Beach on the southern end of the Gold Coast, talks about his work in a unique seaside environment and about the future of mobile phone based photojournalism.

Former Pakistani refugee Imtiaz Ali had to leave his whole family and the only home he’d known at 15 years old because his life was in danger. After seven years, a journey across the seas in treacherous waters (during which the boat he was in capsized killing 90 people) and many months spent in detention centres in Malaysia, Indonesia and on Christmas Island, Imtiaz Ali is now an Australian citizen.

From his home in Brisbane, Imtiaz talks about his childhood in Pakistan, the journey to Australia and about his plans for the future.

The Mon Repos Conservation Park which takes up a small stretch of beach at the southern most tip of the Great Barrier Reef, near Bundaberg, is a vital landing point for endangered loggerhead turtles. Mon Repos supports the largest concentration of nesting marine turtles on the eastern Australian mainland and has the most significant loggerhead turtle nesting population in the South Pacific region. The success of nesting and hatching turtles at Mon Repos is critical for the survival of the endangered loggerhead turtle.

In this interview, Cathy Gatley, Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) Ranger in Charge, talks about the work involved in balancing tourism - which supports the Turtle Centre‘s important conservation work and ongoing research programs - with the protection of endangered turtles.

“Stories of Survival” was recorded on International Womens Day 2019 in collaboration with the community support group, the Southwest Wellness Collaborative. The interviewee had spent much of her adult life working towards a good life for her husband and children. So it was a shock to her when soon after her husband died, she became homeless. Community workers are increasingly needing to help older women who for a range of reasons, have unexpectedly become homeless.

Imagine having to catch the train to work when you’re not able to see. Imagine what it feels like when someone grabs your hand and drags you on to the train, leaving you unsure both about where you are and whether you are safe. This has happened to Brendon Donohue more than once on his way to his job as a compliance officer in central Brisbane.

Brendon spends his spare time lobbying for fair access to public facilities for all people, regardless of their disability status. In this interview Brendon speaks in particular, about the numerous practical difficulties experienced by people with a disability and about the consequent need for awareness raising in the general community.

This interview with Artistic Director and leading international pianist Kathryn Stott anticipates the 2019 Australian Festival of Chamber Music which was to take place in Townsville over 10 days in late July and early August. 

The Australian Festival of Chamber Music (AFCM), which in 2019 included 22 concerts, is an international festival focused on chamber music. Chamber musicians from around Australia and the world converge on Townsville each year to perform and teach emerging musicians. Five works were to receive their world premieres at the festival, five of the 42 artists performing at the festival were performing in Australia for the first time and three unusual and large-scale chamber works were to be featured.

A car accident in 2001 left Carol Taylor a quadriplegic, paralysed from the chest down and unable to move her fingers. Since then Carol has, in the face of very significant difficulties, become a mother and she has also returned to her profession as a lawyer, becoming Principal of her own law firm Taylor Law & Conveyancing in 2015.

Carol’s other area of achievement is in the area of art and fashion design. Following her accident and as a first step towards recovery, she taught herself to use her paralysed hands to draw and paint and subsequently began designing clothing for people with a disability. The story of this evolution as a creative fashion designer for people in wheelchairs is the subject of this conversation. The interview was recorded during the 2019 Brisbane exhibition Agency by Design: Expressive Design for Disability at artisan.

Nance Haxton talks about her passion for telling stories through the medium of the podcast episode. Her work as an interviewer involves highlighting injustice by revealing stories that aren't usually heard - and taking those stories to a wider audience.

One of Australia’s leading investigative reporters Hedley Thomas, co-creator and presenter of the phenomenally successful true crime podcast Teacher’s Pet talks about his experience as a journalist .

He’s the kid from Brisbane’s tough outlying northern suburbs who went on to win two Walkley Awards for his powerful feature writing. Now Trent Dalton adds screenwriter and international bestselling author to his credits.

Peter Greste is a journalist with decades of experience as an international correspondent, reporting from countries such as Afghanistan, the former Yugoslavia, Africa and South America. But it was in December 2013 when he was imprisoned in an Egyptian jail for 400 days that he rose to international prominence as a foreign correspondent.

In this interview Peter speaks of his shock in realising that reporting on what he describes as a run of the mill story could have such serious consequences. He has come to see that the bigger picture informing these events was associated with a crackdown on media freedom. He warns that Australia is on a similar slippery slope, a situation which prompts him to call for an urgent review of a number of national security laws passed by Federal Parliament.  He says these changes have eroded media freedom to the point where they limit and even criminalise the legitimate work of journalists, with deeply damaging ramifications for the very foundations of our democracy.

Australian investigative journalist for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Mark Willacy has been awarded an Australian Walkley Award on seven occasions. The awards recognise his coverage of: the Iraq War in 2003, the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011, Australian environmental contamination in 2015 (with producer Mark Solomons), a Four Corners report into the Tham Luang cave rescue and his reporting on a joint investigation with producer Alexandra Blucher into local government corruption.

He has also been awarded two Queensland Clarion Awards for Queensland Journalist of the Year which recognised his reporting on the Mindanao massacre in the Philippines (2010) and his Four Corners investigation into children being locked up in adult watch houses (2019).  Willacy was awarded a Eureka Prize in 2011 for Environmental Journalism in reporting alleged systemic corruption inside Japan's scientific whaling program. And he was part of the Four Corners team that won the Logie Award for Most Outstanding News Coverage or Public Affairs Report for their Thai cave rescue story in 2019.

In this interview Mark Willacy speaks about his passion for journalism, tracing his career from his early experience as an ABC reporter in regional north Queensland, about the crucial role of investigative journalism in preserving democracies and about the relative status of press freedom and independence in Australia.

Isabella relates her story of the racism she’s experienced and overcome growing up as an Indigenous woman in Australia. She talks as well about the extent to which it has informed her award winning reporting.

Seasoned ABC foreign correspondent and current co-host of ABC News Breakfast,  Lisa Millar recalls the many moves she has made as a foreign correspondent over the years to go to where the stories are breaking.

As a journalist reporting from the highlands of Papua New Guinea Maureen Mopio-Jane has covered some of Papua New Guinea’s most difficult stories - stories such as the riots in Lae Morobe Province and the scourge of domestic violence in her community.

In this episode she talks about the critical importance of radio as a news medium in Papua New Guinea and about how, from a very young age, she wanted to be the voice coming out of the radio. Maureen now works as a producer and broadcaster for 4EB Radio in Brisbane. She continues to argue for a more inclusive and diverse range of stories - with particular emphasis on the Pacific region - in the international media. 

Dominique Schwartz has been shot at in the Middle East and she has provided witness accounts of devastating mine collapses and attempted rescues in New Zealand and Chile. These are examples of a few of the challenging  journalistic assignments she has worked on around the world.

Reflecting on where her career as an investigative journalist has led her, Dominique says “The bottom line is you need to be curious, you need to be able to ask questions … And you need to listen.”

Highly acclaimed international speaker, radio broadcaster, social commentator and reporter for Channel 7’s Great Day Out program, Karni Liddell was diagnosed with a neuromuscular wasting disease when she was a year old. By the age of 14, Karni had broken a world swimming record. She has gone on to win medals at two Paralympic Games events, ultimately being recognised as the Captain of the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Swimming Team. She is also the National Disability Insurance Scheme QLD Ambassador and a member of Dame Quentin Bryce’s Domestic and Family Violence Council.

Karni’s speaking engagements, all of which have been strongly influenced by her passion for social justice, have raised more than one million dollars for various disability charities. In this conversation Karni speaks about the frustration of having assumptions made about her capabilities on the basis that she uses a wheelchair. She expresses the hope that she can soon stop talking about the disability discrimination she sees every day for the reason that it no longer exists.

Investigative journalist, author and broadcaster Amanda Gearing has covered national and international news for The Australian,The London Times,  ABC Radio National  and Crikey. Her work has led to law reform and to investigative inquiries in both Australia and England. Amanda has won numerous awards for her print and broadcast journalism including a Walkley Award in 2012 for her radio documentary coverage of the 2011 flash flood disaster in Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley in “The Day that Changed Grantham”.

She has also covered an international child sexual abuse scandal in institutions such as schools and churches in Australia. In this interview Amanda talks about her work as a journalist and about her philosophical approach to reporting significant stories and exposing corruption.

This three-time Walkley award winner anchored one of the ABC’s flagship television programs 7.30, presenting the current affairs show for a decade in one of Australia’s most competitive work environments.

In this episode Leigh Sales has just won the 2019 Walkley Book Award for “Any Ordinary Day”,  a publication which subsequently sold more than 100,000 copies in Australia. As the Walkley Award judges stated when awarding her Best Book, “In a writing world steeped in memoir, Leigh Sales turned her personal story into journalism”.

For renowned journalist and multi-award winning author Matthew Condon protecting his sources and listening are cornerstones of his  successful 35 year reporting career. In this episode of The Journo Project podcast Matthew talks about his enduring commitment to journalism.

At this critical juncture in our history, the role of a robust Fourth Estate in keeping governments accountable is more important than ever. The lynchpin here is press freedom. In this podcast, some of Australia’s best known journalists - Matthew Condon, Kate McClymont, Peter Greste, Leigh Sales, Mark Willacy, Hugh Riminton, Trent Dalton among them - talk about how they are caught in the crossfire of the press freedom debate in this country and about the critical importance of a free press to democracy.

Between 1863 to 1904 more than 60,000 South Sea Islanders were coerced or deceived into leaving their native lands on ships bound for Australia. They frequently worked in cruel conditions and were paid a pittance as indentured labourers employed on sugar plantations.

Dr. Dinesh Palipana’s refusal to accept the loss of his dream is a truly inspirational story. Ten years ago, halfway through completing his medical degree, Dinesh’s car crashed on the Gateway Motorway leaving him a quadriplegic. Dinesh had lost all sensory and motor function below his chest. Following seven months spent recovering in the Princess Alexandra Hospital he emerged still determined to become a doctor.

Nestled in the far north Queensland Wet Tropics rainforest that stretches from the surrounding mountains to the ocean is the small settlement of Mission Beach. The World Heritage Area looks out to the Great Barrier Reef and the tropical paradise of Dunk Island in the distance. Conservationist and artist Liz Gallie has made this town her home for several decades.

In this interview Liz talks about her fight to protect the environment and endangered wildlife - the cassowary in particular - from encroaching development. The conversation takes place at her stall at the Mission Beach markets where she sells the distinctive, hand crafted silver jewellery she has created in her home based studio, taking inspiration from the surrounding rainforest.

Mel Manley is the owner of The Imperial Hotel at Eumundi, a hinterland town on the Sunshine Coast. Mel supported the establishment of an orphanage and charity in Nepal, in the hope of giving children there a safe place where they could receive an education.

Years later she discovered those children were not in fact orphans and had living families. Mel is now chief advocate for the charity Forget Me Not, which has reunited 700 orphans from Nepal, Uganda and India with their families.

Internationally renowned Australian singer and songwriter Katie Noonan has produced more than 20 albums and won five Arias for her innovative body of work. In addition to a successful solo career encompassing opera, jazz, pop, rock and dance, Katie was the singer in the band George (1996-2004) and is currently the singer in the band Elixir. She was also, in 2016, the first woman to be appointed artistic director of the Queensland Music Festival (2017-2019). Her most recent release at this point is the 2020 album The Sweetest Taboo  which puts a jazz spin on a collection of 80s pop songs.

This interview was recorded during the final week of rehearsals in the leadup to the debut of her then recent creation, Australian Vocal Ensemble, or AVÉ, Australia’s first professional classical vocal quartet, in April 2021, at the Queensland Conservatorium Theatre at Southbank. The eclectic repertoire included Indigenous songs and newly commissioned Australian music as well as late Renaissance and Baroque masterpieces. 

While Australia’s history of blackbirding is becoming better known and understood, there are many local histories that are only now coming to light. A garden and gathering place near the Caboolture River at North Harbour, just north of Brisbane, stands as tribute to the South Sea Islanders, many of whom were brought against their will from islands throughout the Pacific, to become labourers at the Moray Field plantation.

Today their descendants gather at this place to remember their ancestors and to pay tribute to their role in establishing Queensland’s agricultural prosperity.

An interview with trailblazing Aboriginal entrepreneur and proud Wiradyuri man Birrunga Wiradyuri. Birrunga is the co-founder and principal artist of the multi award winning Birrunga Gallery & Dining, in Brisbane. The gallery exhibits and sells collectable art from contemporary First Nations artists, prison art, established artists and emerging artists.

Birrunga is a practicing visual artist whose narrative works explore the spirituality of the Wiradyuri people in historical and contemporary contexts. He is dedicated to fulfilling his cultural responsibilities and to following the central Wiradyuri law of Yindyamarra.

It’s a giant grass that many Australians would be familiar with seeing, but not so familiar with eating.  Bamboo is nutrient-rich, and is in fact a staple of many Asian country’s diets. Big Heart Bamboo founder, farmer and entrepreneur Becky Dart is forging a new industry on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast - growing, cooking and preserving bamboo to eat.

“Dig In”, a volunteer based service which offers wholesome meals to homeless people living rough in the city, hasn’t missed a single service since it was started by four school friends and their families in 2017. From that modest beginning the service has evolved into a large, complex and successful operation which involves partnerships with a number of other charities and “a couple [of] hundred volunteers” from the Brisbane community.

Dig-in’s story, its logistics and its philosophy are discussed with co-founder Lucas Ryals and brand ambassador and fellow lawyer Brad Marland. 

The focus of this interview is on the evolution and impact of the 2021 documentary, Scattered People, a film which explores the healing power of music through the perspective of two Iranian musicians, Saha and Mas.

The Scattered People are a band of Brisbane based musicians who, over a period of six years, play, write and record the music and stories of asylum seekers they encounter in detention and community centres.. Contributing to this interview are project co-founder and documentary filmmaker Lizzi Swatland and choir mistress Jani Mills who volunteered her musical expertise to the choir.

On Friday July 30 2021 Bundaberg Mayor Jack Dempsey became the first representative of any government in Australia to say sorry for the practice of kidnapping Pacific Islanders and paying them a pittance for their backbreaking work on sugar plantations. In doing so he acknowledged that the practice of blackbirding amounted to slavery.  This gesture was a significant step in addressing a long history of exploitation and shame.
 

Dale Mundraby is from Mandingalbay Yidinji country in Far North Queensland. Mandingalbay Yidinji country straddles two great world heritage areas in far north Queensland, the Wet Tropics and the Great Barrier Reef, stretching out to the Coral Sea.

In 2014 Dale was engaged by Djunbunji Ltd as the Executive Director to deliver the Djunbunji Ltd Working on Country Ranger Program. Dale oversees an expanding operation that focuses on protection of natural and cultural values and on providing work related opportunities for the wider community.  The indigenous Ranger Program has ten full-time Indigenous employee rangers undertaking natural resource management on their country, conducting research, rehabilitating degraded country and greatly reducing marine debris that was damaging the fragile environment.

In this interview Stephen O'Grady talks about International Rules, the hybrid game that combines Gaelic football with Aussie Rules to come up with a game that both countries play against each other as the international competition. As Stephen explains, Gaelic football is as much about identity, Irish emigration and the longing for what was left behind, as it is about who wins or loses.

Tucked away in the hustle and bustle of Cairns’ famous Rusty’s Markets in the middle of town on Sheridan Street is a local institution with a significant reputation. Billy’s Coffee, established in 2004, attracts a loyal gathering of locals every market day. And behind the coffee machine, coordinating the barista symphony, is the ever-smiling Billy Hoade. 

Billy came from Papua New Guinea as a student in 1996 and found himself drawn to Cairns and its lifestyle. Today Billy’s Coffee serves up authentic Papua New Guinea coffee and the business has expanded to the point where Billy is running his own roastery.

North Stradbroke Island is known to the Quandamooka Aboriginal people - who have a connection to the island going back more than 20,000 years - as Minjerribah, meaning “island in the sun”. Delvene Cockatoo-Collins is a respected First Nations artist who like generations of her family before her, is based here. The artist has built an impressive body of work, with many people coming to know her art during the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, where her designs of the rare white whale Migaloo were featured on the commemorative medals, and in the opening ceremony.

From the tip of Cape York to the borders of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia, the Torres Strait, now increasingly known as Zenadth Kes, covers 200 islands and an area of more than over 48,000 square kilometres. In April 2022 the Queensland Museum brought a touch of this beauty and complexity to Brisbane, giving city people a rare glimpse of these remote islands in the exhibition Island Futures: What lies ahead for Zenadth Kes?   

In this interview co-curator, renowned broadcaster and proud Torres Strait Islander Rhianna Patrick talks about the exhibition.

Karen Jacobsen's voice is familiar to the users of more than a billion devices worldwide, as the voice of Siri. But her movements in the past year are less well known than her voice, which has directed people to their destination through GPS devices around the globe.

At the time of this interview Karen, having recently released her latest album “Ready for What I Came Here For” (which she started recording in New York)  was waiting out the Covid-19 pandemic in the Whitsundays .

This interview was recorded in advance of the 60th anniversary of the Brisbane Writer’s Festival which, in 2022, was about to celebrate its status as the longest running writers festival in Australia.

Renowned author, poet, cultural activist and social commentator Dr Anita Heiss, a member of the Wiradjuri nation of central New South Wales, was a special guest at the 2022 Festival. She reflects in this interview on the achievement and role of writers’ festivals in Australia, the case for celebrating books, authors and literature and specifically, about the impressive renaissance in First Nations writing over the past decade. 

Reviving Indigenous languages through song is the driving force behind Rochelle Pitt-Watson’s music and her Quandamooka and Meriam heritage underlie all of her songs. Rochelle was one of the First Nations artists taking centre stage at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre in May 2022 for Clancestry - A Celebration of Country. Clancestry is an annual First Nations festival programmed, curated and run by Australian First Nations People, supporting more than a hundred First Nations artists every year.

In this interview Rochelle talks about the significance of being part of a festival that showcases and celebrates First Nations artists on land that for thousands of years has been a meeting and cultural place for Indigenous people The festival celebrates First Nations arts, stories and cultural practices through a range of performances over the festival’s 50 events and features more than 130 First Nations artists.

Rising from impoverished beginnings in communist China, to international ballet dancer and author of best selling autobiography Mao’s Last Dancer, Li Cunxin has lived an enormous life on stages around the world.

This interview was recorded at a point which marks Li’s 10th anniversary as Artistic Director of Queensland Ballet and the official opening of Queensland Ballet’s new home at the Thomas Dixon Centre, a transformation he envisioned from when he first started with the company. Li Cunxin reflects on the achievement and phenomenal growth of Queensland Ballet over the past 10 years.

An interview with Maestro Umberto Clerici, the world renowned cellist with a vision to take the music of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra to the world stage.

Appointed the QSO’s Chief conductor designate for a three-year term which commenced in January 2023, Clerici  believes that music, and classical music in particular, has values behind the note. It is something he says, “that half educates a society and half makes the society think.”

The Queensland Museum exhibition Connections Across the Coral Sea: A Story of Movement, which ran from Dec 2021 to Oct 2022, brought together First Nations knowledge and archaeological research, revealing an extensive pattern of international trade and relationships between ancient seafaring cultures of southern New Guinea, Torres Strait and the north-east coast of Queensland.

In this interview Jiigurru Traditional Owner and Dingaal spokesman Kenneth McLean, a traditional owner whose expertise was pivotal in bringing this exhibition together, talks about the significance of the exhibition. The episode also includes a conversation with one of the key archaeologists involved in this research, Ian McNiven Professor of Indigenous Archaeology at Monash University.

With a career spanning more than five decades, 22 albums and countless chart topping singles and multi-platinum records globally, Marcia Hines is one of Australia’s most beloved musical treasures. This conversation takes place as she is about to embark on a national tour which kicked off at the Wynnum Fringe.

Starring as The Diva in the show Velvet Rewired, Marcia was joined by a cast of internationally acclaimed circus and dance performers and vocalists in a fusion of boogie wonderland disco, glamour, glitz and jaw-dropping circus skills.

Critically acclaimed actor, singer and composer/lyricist Vidya Makan, a Queensland Conservatorium graduate, talks in this interview about her role playing Catherine Parr in Six, the Australian production of the musical comedy based on the lives of Henry VIII's wives.

Such was the popularity of the show that the original Broadway album of the soundtrack was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album in 2023. Songs from the show have been streamed more than 23 million times worldwide, making it one of the most successful recordings in musical theatre history.

This interview features a band called The Moving Stills.  It takes place on the occasion of the 2022-23 Woodford Folk Festival, an annual gathering held during the week leading up to New Years Day.  Now known as Woodfordia, the 500-acre block of land just outside the township of Woodford where the Festival is staged was purchased in July 1994 to give the festival a secure and ongoing home.

In this conversation Moving Stills vocalist and guitarist Tom Mahler talks about the experience of playing at the Woodford Folk Festival and about the band’s first album Sunshine Corner.

A conversation with talented actor and Wiradjuri man Callan Purcell on the eve of the Brisbane launch of the mega-hit musical Hamilton. 

Callan took on one of the most renowned roles in musical theatre, that of Aaron Burr, in the Australian production of this Broadway sensation. The show follows Alexander Hamilton’s life, as one of the founding fathers of the United States, to the tune of hip-hop, jazz and rhythm and blues.

Parvyn Kaur Singh is a Punjabi Australian singer and dancer who is best known as a vocalist in the 11-piece Australian cult psychedelic band The Bombay Royale. Her performance is influenced by electronica and jazz and also by her background in Sikh devotional music and training in Indian classical music and dance.

In this episode Parvyn is interviewed at the 2022 Woodford Folk Festival where she talks about her solo debut album Sa  which synthesises a lifetime of work and represents a new step in her musical career. Sa  was nominated for the 2022 ARIA Award for Best World Music Album. She also reflects on her long history attending the Woodford Folk Festival and being part of the folk community.

True Spirit is a 2023 Australian biographical film based on the 2010 memoir of Jessica Watson who, in 2009, at the age of 16, set out to sail solo and unassisted around the world. She was named the 2011 Young Australian of the Year and in 2012 was awarded the Order of Australia Medal. 

Mostly filmed on Queensland’s Gold Coast, the film (which was made available for streaming on Netflix in February 2023) follows Jessica’s courageous feats in navigating some of the world’s most challenging stretches of ocean. In this interview Jessica and Director Sarah Spillane speak about the extended but rewarding experience of collaborating on the script and subsequently of working with the actor who played her character, Teagan Croft.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, American songwriter, actor, filmmaker, playwright - and creator of the blockbuster musical 'Hamilton' - was a celebrated guest at a sell-out performance at QPAC in Brisbane in early 2023.

The Tony, Grammy, Emmy, Olivier and Pulitzer Prize winning artist came to Brisbane to watch the Australian company perform Hamilton - his worldwide musical juggernaut that combines jazz, hip hop, R&B and Broadway musical styles to tell the story of American founding father Alexander Hamilton.

Performing in the national spotlight is far from being a passing phase for Julian Kuo, whose dedication to his craft from an early age has been rewarded with a prized place in the Australian cast of Hamilton.  The multi-award winning musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda is winding up its Australian run with the Brisbane season ending in April 2023.  One of the many interesting aspects of the show is that it relies substantially on rap to tell the story of Alexander Hamilton, one of America’s founding fathers. It also features a diverse cast from a range of cultural backgrounds. 

In this interview Angus MacDiarmid, former teacher, demolisher and builder talks about his life as an artist in the small town of Boonah in Queensland’s Scenic Rim. In addition to sketching portraits, many of them in a local restaurant, Angus paints landscapes, streetscapes and still life which celebrate the unique architecture, geography and lifestyle of his local environment.

Angus lives in a converted church, built in 1907 from hoop which he was able to restore as a home without compromising its original design features.

Born in 1986 to immigrant parents in Brisbane, Matt Hsu is an award winning Taiwanese-Australian musician and composer who records and performs as Matt Hsu's Obscure Orchestra. In 2020, Matt established a live ensemble consisting of Brisbane indie musicians, hip-hop artists, classically trained musicians and multi-disciplinary artists. He composes all the music that the Obscure Orchestra performs and his otherworldly, joyful compositions celebrate difference, promoting inclusivity and gender equity. The troupe is made up of diverse people from all walks of life – queer, transgender and non-binary artists, people of colour, First Nations people, people from refugee backgrounds and people with a disability.

This interview was recorded at the Museum of Brisbane where the orchestra’s exhibits were brought to life with a roving performance. Members of the 22 piece orchestra were also anticipating the next collaboration of Matt Hsu’s Obscure Orchestra at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre where they were to play alongside First Nations rapper singer and poet Sachem in The Bigger Picture.

Following the success of Six in which she starred in the role of  Catherine Parr, one of Henry VIII's wives, acclaimed actor, singer and composer/lyricist Vidya Makan has since debuted her own original musical, written in collaboration with co-creator/director Sonya Suares. Their production The Lucky Country, a chamber musical that explores Australian identity and belonging, challenges Australia’s idea of itself, retelling the grand narratives of Australian identity from the perspective of those on the margins.

Through thirteen cheerful, humorous, catchy and sometimes sombre tunes, Makan and Suares showcase Australia’s many contradictions. Vidya is interviewed backstage at Sydney’s Hayes Theatre.

This podcast episode takes place at the Brisbane Jazz Club and it features artist David Hinchliffe. David Hinchliffe was a Brisbane City councillor for almost 25 years, serving as deputy mayor for a four year term prior to his retirement in 2011. Now a full time artist he has travelled and painted widely in the United States and UK and is represented by galleries in Brisbane, interstate and overseas. His work is principally oils on canvas or linen and his style has been described as "contemporary impressionism".

In this conversation David talks about his life as a professional artist and he reflects on how his work has changed in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.