ChangeMakers

In a world of increasing crisis and stress - from global threats like polarisation and climate change to more localised pressures around hosing and cost of living - what does it take for people to make change in the cities that they live? Our host Amanda Tattersall and her colleague Kurt Iveson have been asking this question for many years, conducting long term research in five cities (Cape Town,...

On 1 September 2026, students at Saint Expuery High School began protesting the conditions they were learning under. Within two weeks, more than 1000 students were protesting, by mid October protests filled the streets of Paris and beyond. The protests were met by a violent police response, and small groups of masked protesters then began burning cars and buildings. In this digest we try to make s...

The idea that sharks are predators hunting humans feels like common sense. It is on the big screen in movies like Jaws and it is tragically affirmed in fatal shark encounters that have increased in the past few years. Should we be scared? And if so, is the response to kill these rouge sharks? In this conversation with Associate Professor Chris Pepin-Neff (University of Sydney), a world expert on p...

In May we launched a new kind of ChangeMaker content - the ChangeMaker Digest. Its a conversation between Samuel Chu and Amanda Tattersall, two experienced organisers keen to reflect on the world and their practice by turning to topic - big and small - and thinking through them together. The digest releases every fortnight, in opposite weeks to the ChangeMaker Chats - making the ChangeMakers Podca...

Voluntary assisted dying is back in the news this week, following the death of former ABC news anchor Richard Morecroft. For a decade, Andrew Denton has been at the forefront of the fight for the right to choose how we die when facing terminal illness. This week, he addressed the National Press Club, reflecting on what the Go Gentle movement has achieved and the work still to be done. But how did...

In September, Alternative for Germany (the AfD) dominated two regional elections. Ahead of the next federal election, it is polling well ahead of its political rivals. When far-right populism takes hold in Germany, as it is in most Western Countries, it needs to be taken seriously. In this conversation, Samuel shares what he has learnt from working in Germany over the past decade while Amanda tran...

Gary Gerstle is one of the most important historians of twentieth century America. He developed the concept of a "political order" to define longer stretches of political consensus that retain beliefs, approaches and methods for government behind the whims of elections. In this conversation, recorded with the support of the UCL Policy Lab and in front of a live audience of policy fellows...

In August, ChangeMakers Podcast host Amanda Tattersall released a new book called Conscious Tribes: Thinking Differently about Making a Difference . It is available in Australia and New Zealand in physical and audio formats. On 12 August it was launched at Gleebooks with an interview by Craig Reucassel (ABC Breakfast, Chaser, War on Waste). This episode is a recording of that conversation. For mor...

Jennifer Robinson has spent her career working at the intersection of law, power and social change. An Australian barrister based in the UK, Jennifer is a leading media and human rights lawyer. She represented Amber Heard in Johnny Depp’s UK defamation case against The Sun, acted for Julian Assange for 14 years, and has become a prominent advocate for women confronting violence, abuse and legal sy...

Last week in Hong Kong, long time democracy advocates - including Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung - were found guilty of inciting subversion. Along with hundreds of others who were part of the 2019 protests against the Extradition Bill, they have been in jail for many years, imprisoned under the Chinese National Security Law. Samuel leads a discussion to try and digest what their sentencing means...

In public life, we know that people see the world differently — through different opinions, attitudes, beliefs and experiences. But what happens when we become better at embracing those different perspectives? Can changing how we see also change how we make a difference? Alina Gozin'a is one of Australia's most celebrated photographers, having photographed some of Australia's and the world's most...

Across the northern hemisphere in summer 2026 there are heatwaves and fires burning at an unprecedented intensity because of climate change. Yet the threats of authoriarianism and polarisation have taken climate change off the political agenda, with movements finding it hard to engage decision makers. How might we rethink how to build movements in response to climate change? How do we hold urgent...

Over the past 6 months the Cockroaches Junta Party has taken India by storm, challenging the rule of Modi's BJP in response to its failures in how it runs the Medical exams. What do those in the West not know about this movement, and what does it have to teach about change? How does it compare to other movements like Gen Z and Arab Spring, and how does it interconnect what it fights for with how i...

Dom Kelly has spent almost his entire life advocating for disability rights. He lives with cerebral palsy and he is the founder of New Disabled South based in the US. He tells us about his extraordinary life story that has moved from rock music to disability justice advocacy, while also offering a history of the US Disability Movement. He talks about the waves of change led by that movement and ho...

In this digest Amanda and Samuel look at if and when writing and reading help us make a difference. Amanda shares some of her reflections in writing her new book Conscious Tribes, and together they compare the idea of writing as a conversation with the reader and writing as an act of persuasion used to convince the reader of a particular way of thinking. Borrowing insights from Chris Nolan's adapt...

Peter Garrett was not only the lead singer for one of Australia's most iconic bands, he has spent his life trying to make a difference. He has achieved so much, beginning with protests against Vietnam War and apartheid, to playing a leading role in environmental and anti-nuclear movements, to deciding to join the Australian Labor Party and make change from the inside as a government minister. In t...

We jump on the World Cup band wagon to talk about what team support and our collective enthusiasm for it tells us about organisations, associational life and democracy. Of course, there is plenty to chat about given all the political interference in these games - and we do talk about Trump and his sporting "knowledge" - but we focus on what we know, the analogies and lessons about strong and weak...

Anna Funder is one of Australia's most successful and accomplished writers. She has used her craft to explore power abuse and people's response, whether through stories about life under the Stasi in East Germany, the rise of Hitler, or by giving voice to the agency of Eileen O'shaughnessy - the wife of George Orwell. In telling new stories about power she has challenged the narratives of the power...

The Prime Minister of the Labour Party in the UK just resigned, and looks set to be replaced by Andy Burnham. It got us thinking, what can you change (and not change) when you change leaders? We aren't particularly focused on the specifics of the UK situation - but we wanted to reflect broadly on what it means for organisations to change leaders, and what it takes to change organisational culture,...

Leisel Jones is an Australian household name. She is a champion swimmer with 3 Olympic Gold medals and participated in four Olympics. In her post-Olympic career she has become a powerful advocate, lifting the lid on the kind of pressures and pain that are put onto young hopeful Olympians and sharing her own mental health struggles. She has written about these stories with Felicity McLean in the bo...

Dr Daniel Nour considers himself an accidental change maker, but he is also a pretty prodigious one. A doctor, inspired by the health care that helped his brother as a child, it was an experience offering emergency medical care to a homeless man in London during his medical studies that left him unable to ignore the gaps in the healthcare system, especially for marginalised communities. In respons...

Democracy is in trouble right now. In the US, Trump’s authoritarian impulses are closing over the checks and balances that used to make space for people to participate. In the UK the success of Reform in May’s local government elections reveal that people are increasingly seeing politics as elite sport - choosing to attack the system as a whole. In Australia, the success of One Nation in recent bi...

What is this? Today we are releasing a new podcast format on the ChangeMakers Channel - the ChangeMakers Digest where we take an issue in the news or that has grabbed our attention and try to make sense of it - "digesting" it - to draw out lessons and meaning for how we make change. It is hosted by Amanda Tattersall with Samuel Chu, a long time US based community organiser. Our aim is to release t...

Since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, US politics has polarised sharply - with the rise of Trump and right-wing populism, but also a renewed class-based left around figures like Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes and Zohran Mamdani. Part of what has given rise to these candidates is a Democratic Socialist political movement - and a key part of that movement is the publication Jacobin , whi...

Antoinette Lattouf not only fought and won a battle against the ABC - who unfairly dismissed her for sharing posts about the genocide in Gaza - but while she was doing that, she wrote a book about women who have fought and won across Australian history. Its called Women Who Win , and it was launched last week. In this chat we unpack what she found about what it takes to win - reflecting on her jou...