Backchat

A new trend is currently taking social media users by storm - leaving some feeling relieved… and others very confused. Producer Olivia dives into the phenomenon of bathroom camping with clinical psychologist Dr Anna Sidis.  Writers are among Australia's lowest-paid creatives, earning an average of $18.5k per year. A new, permanent home for the Sydney Writer's Festival at the State Libr...

Last week, Australia signed onto a joint statement condemning some of Israel’s actions in Gaza. We discuss the Parliament’s position on Palestine - a symbolic statement or a hypocritical act? We speak to one of Aunties Fund’s founders, Indu Balachandran, about their new organisation funding culturally supportive domestic and family violence support for South Asian women in Sydney...

How are campus policies being used to silence university staff and students organising for Palestine? Eva Sikes-Gerogiannis takes us inside the People’s Inquiry into Campus Free Speech on Palestine hearing. Triple J’s first-ever Hottest Australian 100 drops next Saturday. We chat to musician Ben Lee about the future of Australian music and the countdown. The Federal Court dismissed a l...

Australia dropped its 2026 Venice Biennale artists just days after announcing them. Jaspar McCahon-Boersma breaks down the backlash with Dr Ben Eltham. We speak to Dr Clara Tuck Meng Soo about what Medicare changes could mean for trans healthcare ahead of the election. Dr Kean-Seng Lim joins us to unpack whether new bulk billing incentives will actually help communities in Western Sydney. Plus, Ad...

Sydney’s train strikes have been dominating the news. Eva Sikes-Gerogiannis unpacks the union’s demands, the media’s spin, and what comes next. Parsley Bay locals are protesting construction by Sydney Water. But is this a fight for the environment or just classic Sydney NIMBYism? Conservationist Nicole McMahon from Save Parsley Bay joins us to discuss. With Mardi Gras around the...

Enmore’s Cairo Takeaway had a run-in with Daily Telegraph journos that left a particularly bad taste in our mouths. Founder of Everything is Fine, Alex McKinnon, tells us what went down. 1 in 7 Australian women are affected by endometriosis - so why is it still underfunded? We chat with QENDO CEO Jess Taylor to find out. Contraceptives just got cheaper! The government has added the pill to t...

Have we witnessed the Coachella-fication of Laneway Festival? From fit checks on TikTok to performative crowds, producer Eva Sikes-Gerogiannis and Joe Hardy from SydneyMusic.net weigh in. Feeling the heat? UNSW Associate Professor Lan Ding breaks down why Western Sydney is up to 10 degrees hotter than the inner city.  Jaspar McCahon-Boersma wraps up the international headlines that affect you...

What’s happening in international news? Jaspar McCahon-Boersma brings an update on headlines that affect you. Local council dramaaaaaaa - because nothing gets Backchat going like local council tea. This story has it all - broken promises, finger pointing and a four-hour town hall.  How would you feel if the government told you what medical care you were allowed to have? Necho Brocchi (s...

How do you talk about Invasion Day with communities who don’t speak English as a first language? Phoebe McIlwraith breaks down the challenges of educating across languages. What makes Yabun Festival the most important First Nations cultural event of the year? Miah Wright has the answers. And Nooky is back to talk Blak Powerhouse - a night of music, storytelling, and Blak excellence. This epi...

This week on Backchat, we spotlight powerful diaspora perspectives one year after the escalation of conflict in Palestine and Israel. Producer Sana Sheikh speaks with Palestinian-Australian activist Sara Shaweesh about the personal and political impact of the past 12 months. We also hear from Maggie of the anti-Zionist, anti-colonial Jewish group Tzedek Collective on solidarity and resistance with...

This week on Backchat, producer Sumaiya Chowdhure and PhD student Lauren A. Miller unmask the mental health effects of constant self-viewing in the age of social media and augmented filters. Then, employment lawyer Seri Feldman-Gubbay from Redfern Legal Centre breaks down new reforms that make it easier for victim-survivors of workplace harassment to seek justice. Finally, we explore Green Music A...

This week on Backchat, producer Libby Hopper unpacks the NSW Government’s new funding for music festivals. Will it revive the local festival scene or is the industry still on life support? Next, Western Sydney University med students Jessica Mitchell and Aleisha Watson share how 2000 hours of unpaid placements impact their studies and why the government’s support scheme should include...

This week on Backchat, we break down the issues that matter most to young people for the local government elections. Producer Sana Sheikh speaks to Greens candidate Abrar Ahmad about their proposals for South West Sydney. After that, we talk with Liz Atkins from the Greens about the future of the Inner West. What are their promises for nightlife, housing and keeping a multicultural community? Late...

This week on Backchat, producer Libby Hopper breaks down the recently released WGEA data on the gender pay gap of Australian companies. How does your workplace stack up? After that, in honour of remembering another year since the Stonewall riots, we’ve got Danny Lim in the studio to give us his take on the protest landscape in Sydney today.  Later on the show, Eva Sikes-Gerogiannis chats to leader...

This week on Backchat we’re chatting all things country music. Have you suddenly got friends who are sending you country songs? Seeing it around social media? We dive into why country music is having its moment right now with producer Dani Zhang.  We're also joined by the Coalition of Aboriginal Peak Organisations to hear about their new partnership agreement with the state government, focused on...

This week on Backchat we’re discussing the trending issue of doxxing and the new proposal for laws to combat this digital issue.  Producer Holly Payne is chatting about Sydney’s asbestos crisis with Shane McArdle from the Asbestos and Dust Diseases Research Institute.  And Nick Newington takes a look at the increasing issue of Australia’s syphilis epidemic, and how the mainstream media has been mi...

This week on Backchat, producer Sana Shaikh delved into the Hills Shire Council's recent move to halt sponsorship for drag story time events, citing concerns about content aimed at kids. The council, situated in Sydney's vibrant Bible Belt, voted 10-2 to put the brakes on such events. The segment pondered what this decision might mean for LGBTQ+ youth in the area, featuring insights from Jasmine N...

In the wake of another shark related incident in Sydney, Libby Hopper gets into the stigma around shark attacks and the do’s and don’ts for staying safe, not scared, in the water.  Medicare just turned 40 - is it in the midst of a midlife crisis? Hear from GP Dr Nicole Higgins on why health providers can no longer afford to bulk bill, the Strengthening Medicare Task Force and how Medicare support...

Holly and Tanita talk to Phoebe McIlwraith (@northbutsouthhh), Bundjalung and Worimi Saltwater woman on Invasion Day and the growing far-right sentiment in Sydney. Further reading: First Nations Futures | Pay The Rent Dr Peter Lewis, president of national advocacy association ANTaR , joins to discuss the future of the 26th of January.  Yuin man Keiran Stewart-Assheton (@keiran_stewart_assheton) fr...

This week on Backchat, we listen to locals and producer Sana Shaikh on the chaos of the Rozelle Interchange’s first two weeks of operation. Then, hear from coastal geomorphologist Professor Rob Brander AKA Dr. Rip on staying safe in the surf this summer.  This episode of Backchat aired Saturday 9th December 2023. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Backchat, producer Nic Huntington examines the hole in pothole funding. Nic chatted to Natasha Bradshaw, Senior Associate of Transport and Cities Program at the Grattan Institute, about how the increase in holes isn't resulting in an increase in funding.  Next, we take a look at some of the arrests from the ZIM and climate protests in the past week. We chat to Anastasia from Legal Obs...

This week on Backchat, producer Sana Sheikh dives into Woollahra Municipal Council's new decision to limit public parking to non-residents to 15 minutes, and provide free all-day parking for residents. This new change encompasses all parking near popular beach spot at Watson's Bay, potentially restricting access to anyone outside this postcode. We’ll be exploring whether this is fair and why some...

This week on Backchat, we explore the groundbreaking new project from Monash University's XYX Lab, aimed at shedding light on the experience of women and gender-diverse people in NSW. The project is a crowd mapping project launched in collaboration with CrowdSpot that anonymously collects the 'safe' and 'unsafe' experiences these people have had in public spaces. Producer Bec Cushway chatted to Dr...

This episode of Backchat delves into some of the new waste programs across Sydney, and how where you live across the LGAs could make a huge difference to what you can recycle, and how much it is going to cost you. Backchat producer Sana Shaikh explains in this week's wrap.  Next, with more and more young people questioning their reasons for drinking, stress and anxiety are emerging as some of the...

This episode of Backchat comes to you following a difficult week; both in Australia and around the world. It’s been one week since Australia voted No to constitutional recognition of First Nations people via an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. It’s fair to say this has been a tough period for Indigenous people, with many choosing to take a step back to mourn. Others, however, are driven to continue...