Think Again

Jennifer interviews Donna Stolzenberg about The Kala Space, which is an Op Shop and social enterprise that employs homeless people. Donna explains how people become homeless through circumstances beyond their control. They may have been homeless since their teens, or increasingly with COVID, they may be newly homeless after losing their job and normal income. The Kala Space offers flexibility to e...

Jacques and Jennifer pull together themes from past programs and look at new evidence showing how our system is rigged in favour of the wealthy and the powerful. They suggest some of the paths we need to take together if we are to find our way out of this. Piketty, T. (2020) Capital and Ideology  Cambridge (MA): Belknap Press (Harvard Uni. Press_  

Jacques and Jennifer reflect on the year 2020 and how it was covered in the program, including COVID-19 and all of its effects and revelations. We certainly learnt a lot about ourselves as a society, and had pause to think about better ways of organising ourselves and caring for each other and all living things.   

Jacques and Jennifer revisit the theme of 'relationality' from their very first program i.e. the idea that we do not really exist as separate individuals, but as part of living networks of relationships with each other and nature. We need to rid ourselves of the western notion that people are the centre of creation, who can exploit nature with impunity. Instead, for our very survival, we need to n...

Jacques and Jennifer talk about the widespread crisis of violence against women – where it comes from and whom it serves. They look at how we can move to a world of co-caring, gender equality and respectful, violence-free relationships 

Jacques and Jennifer talk about the latest scandals around the 19 SAS soldiers in allegedly committing murders in Afghanistan - whether this can be put down to 'a few bad apples', or whether it is a natural extension of our military's ways of doing things...?    

Jacques and Jennifer look at the recent US election, and the dirty electioneering tricks that reached a new low under Trump. Can we learn anything about power and politics in general, and are there parallels with the situation in Australia? 

Jacques and Jennifer look at our PM’s faux horror that the recent head of Australia Post gave four Cartier watches worth 20,000 dollars to executives, and they contrast that with all the other ways that billions of dollars of our common wealth are funnelled up to the higher end of town and to corporate mates, not to mention blatant pork barrelling – much of this by the PM’s own government 

Jacques talks with two community services workers who have been involved in making sure that hundreds, if not thousands, of international students are getting the basics for their survival, housing, food, health...They and their families paid huge amounts of money to come and study here and then got stuck because of COVID-19.And there has not even been one attempt by the government to include them...

Jacques and Jennifer give a potted history of public housing in Victoria, including the trend to privatise public housing as discussed the previous week. As the 'Great Australian Dream' of home ownership becomes impossible for many, the presenters look at other forms of social and cooperative housing that are more prevalent in other countries. They suggest the time is ripe to consider and promote...

Jennifer interviews Kate Shaw from the School of Geography, University of Melbourne. Kate explains the difference between public housing and community housing, and she makes the case for more state-built public housing in Australia. Kate also explains why Australian governments, peak housing bodies, and research centres fail to champion public housing. Once more, the neoliberal trend toward privat...

Jacques and Jennifer dissect the recent Federal Budget, taking us beyond the spin and lies. They argue it is set to entrench long term inequality and disadvantage, and it fails to address the urgency of climate change. They finish with a call for resistance and to become more informed about what's really going on...

Jacques and Jennifer look at what we can learn from mistakes made in Victoria that led to COVID-19 spreading from hotel quarantine into communities. It seems that certain problems have been in play long before the pandemic. These include the outsourcing of essential public services, the loss of expertise in management of the area being managed (such as health), and the inability of bureaucracies t...

 Jacques talks with Bill Genat who is involved in movements to resist the plans of energy giant AGL to establish a massive Liquid Natural Gas import facility with Floating Storage and Regasification Unit at Crib Point and a gas pipeline to Packenham in Melbourne’s south-east. Apart from its gruesome size (300m long, 50 m wide, 50m high the size of the Ruby Princess cruise ship) is intrudes and end...

Jennifer interviews Mark Zirnsak from the Tax Justice Network Australia about the federal government's proposal to bring forward tax breaks for the wealthy in the time of the pandemic. Not only would these tax breaks go to the most well-off, according to the experts, they would not stimulate the economic recovery anyway. Moreover, these tax gifts to the high end of town would mean less funding for...

Jennifer interviews Pauline Galvin who is standing for election for Moreland Council. Pauline proposes a holistic approach to social, environmental and economic wellbeing. She advocates for a 'public health' model that is preventive and locally embedded. In addition she believes that communities should be truly involved in decision making on an ongoing basis.

Jacques and Jennifer look at the inequities in our health and overall system and how the most disadvantaged people and groups bear the brunt of the coronavirus. At the same time they support the Victorian government's precautionary approach to keep us all safe from the virus, and they finish with some good news for people living alone.

 The bHive Cooperative in Bendigo: one example of creating sustainable social and ecological change at the 'bottom'; Jacques has a conversation with Ian McBurney, one of the initiators of Bendigo's bHive Cooperative. Their website: www.bhive.coopLeadership and Change Blog Series: http://ianmcburney.com/blog/2019/2/4/where-leadership-began-the-campfire-blog-series-part-1 Talking ecoLogical Card set...

Jacques and Jennifer talk about what is happening with the economy and the climate under COVID-19, and what we can learn to create a sustainable future. Liegey, Vincent & Nelson, Anitra (2020) Exploring Degrowth: An introduction to the Degrowth Movement London: Pluto PressNew Economics Foundation (2020) Beyond the Gig Economy: empowering the self-employed workforce www.neweconomics.orgBollier, Dav...

In the midst of the COVID pandemic, the local media have been waging a strident campaign against the Victorian premier and his government. Certainly, the likes of Murdoch's press, the Herald Sun, and Nine Entertainment's Age have not let the truth get in the way of their stories. Jacques and Jennifer discuss some of the low points, and the problematic concentration of Australia's media in a few (r...

Jacques and Jennifer look at how are society is created on a day to day basis, how everyone is involved in this, and how everything in the universe is interconnected - including us with the surrounding ecology. They suggest it is important to think about this so we can best direct our efforts toward beneficial social change. Ref: Bohm, D. (1980) Wholeness and the implicate order. London: Routledge...

Homelessness can happen to anyone, as explained by Gavin O'Dee. He describes how he found himself homeless after a long career and many years in private rental. Gavin also tells how he found his way back into secure housing and who helped along the way. Jacques and Gavin agree that we need to build much more public and social housing.

Jacques and Jennifer explore the idea of a world divided into 'goodies and baddies' - whether this describes the world we live in, and whether this thinking is useful for social change.

Jacques and Jennifer revisit the concept of relationality from their first program, and the idea that we only exist as interdependent beings. They look at current events with COVID-19 through this lens and discuss the implications for doing things better for a healthy and sustainable world. Ref. Godbout, Jacques with Caillé, Alain (1998) The World of the Gift Montréal & Kingston: McGill-Queens Uni...

Jacques talks to Kate Wheller, Executive Officer of Community Information and Support Victoria, or CISVic for short. CISVic is the peak body for community information and support services in Victoria. The discussion centres on the need to raise Centrelink payments like Jobseeker permanently.