Radical Australia

Our guest this week is political beast, local government expert and temple builder, Sen, a familiar, friendly face on the 3CR reception desk and programmer since 1985. Sen shares with us the history of his land, Sri Lanka, before colonisation and after and the best times of his life working as an engineer in Zambia and Botswana. Sen has always been interested in politics and was always going to en...

This week's guest couldn't come in as their boss didn't like the idea, so we revisited our 2016 conversation with supremo sound engineer, Lara Soulio. Lara's a great gal and shares with us the story of how she became one of those rare breed female sound engineers and how she came to work on 3CR's Burning Vinyl, putting live bands to air every Friday arvo. It was fun revisiting this conversation. W...

This week's guest is Stephanie Sabrinskas, a Lithuanian-Dutch rebel from Moe who is currently co-producing a documentary and accompanying podcast on life after coal in the Latrobe Valley. How good is that! Stephanie has always been a creative person and an animal lover and in this conversation she recalls memories of her time growing up with her family in Moe before moving to the big smoke and wor...

This week's guest is none other than Aran Mylvaganam, currently running in the 2022 federal election to represent the Victorian Socialists in the senate. Aran shares with us the remarkable story of his life so far, from Tamil refugee to lifetime human rights activist. Aran's a lovely guy and we wish him all the best in the election. Make sure to listen to his story. He tells it better than us. Tha...

On this week's show we welcome Vicky Vacondios, a community services teacher trainer who is passionate about making a better system based on her lived experience of accessing family violence and housing services as a single mum. Vicky has been a hard worker all her life after growing up in Broady with her Greek family. She became politicised after working as a peer for Council to Homeless Persons,...

'Get out there and do it. Don't have a fear of failure. And listen to 3CR'. This week's Radical Australia guest, host of 3CR's Doin' Time, Marisa Sposaro, has been listening to the little radio station since she was a teenage rebel, curious about the world and eager to experience everything it had to offer. Maria was born blind and in this conversation she tells us about some of the curious little...

Born in Devonport in the year of Woodstock, we are delighted that Rose Turtle Ertler graced our shores this week. In case you didn't know, Rose is a humble but extraordinary artist, playing ukelele the past 22 years, some of that with the Black Orchid String Band, but having lived a full life immersed in artistic escapades, here in Australia and in Europe. These days Rose grows food back on the Ap...

On this week's show we are delighted to welcome Herb Patten, a gum leaf player extraordinaire who has been dedicated to the art since childhood when he started mimicking the sounds of the birds and wildlife around him. Herb grew up in East Gippsland near Orbost before going on to tuna fishing and spotting from the crow's nest. He's always had good eyes and this runs in the family. In this conversa...

Special repeat broadcast from July 2019fatherbobs.com

On this week's show we welcome Margaret Bannan, a radical Catholic woman who has pretty much dedicated her life to advocating for the marvellous natural world we all share in. Margaret was born in Bendigo in 1948 and came home from the hospital in horse and carriage. When not looking after her eight siblings, Margaret always enjoyed sport and she went on to become a religious education teacher whe...

3CR Thursday Breakfast and Women on the Line producer, Priya Kunjan, was our guest this week. Priya is one of those really smart people who excels in academia, currently researching their PhD on January 26th and media representation, but they already have a whole life of learning in anatomy and neuroscience behind them. Priya is enjoying their time at 3CR, having learnt the ropes pretty much throu...

On this week's show we are extremely honoured to welcome the indefatigable Laurie Levy, a man who was there during the beginnings of whale rescue in Australia in the late 1970s and who has dedicated half his life to banning duck and waterbird shooting in Australia. Before his activism, Laurie was a cameraman at GTV9 when television began and worked alongside greats such as Don Lane and Bert Newton...

The Popcorn Princess. That's what we can also call this week's guest, Bree Taylor, the founder of Melbourne Duck Save. Bree was born in '77 Melbourne and she's really good at 'The Claw', winning many stuffed toys and such courtesy of the teachings of her grandfather. Bree has been a union organiser and has worked on campaigns for the Greens. Before that she was on a healing journey for a while aft...

This week's guest is Tjiwarl mother, grandmother and activist, Vicky Abdullah. Vicky joins us on the blower from the side of the road on country as she looks over a mining dump. Vicky has always been caring for country and learnt this from her mother. Her father was a cammalier from Queensland and Vicky grew up going from station to station. In her early adulthood, Vicky set out on her own, travel...

This week we get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the private life and upbringing of Pas Forgione, one of the hardworking activists fighting for the rights of low income people everywhere, but in Adelaide, as part of the fantastic anti-poverty network. When Pas isn't doing awesome work elevating the voices of people on Centrelink, he loves getting away to New Zealand and hiking its southern island...

Our special guest this week, Alison Broinowski, has initials after her name. Is that a first for the little radio show?.. Alison, who turned 80 years young recently, has lived a rather marvellous life travelling the world with her husband as part of the Department of Foreign Affairs, at a time when women were few and far between, and has lived and learned in countries as diverse as Myanmar, Iran,...

A Summer Special, 'Limerick Fightback', with Canberra Corresponent, Kerry Crossley. Listen as Kerry covers everything from politics to space by way of a limerick. She's a marvel!

This week's guest, and returning guest at that, is Adele O'Connor. Adele has written a PhD on the complex, nerver-ending history that is Indonesian populism and oligarchy. In this conversation she speaks about the history of Indonesia, including the involvement of the Dutch East India Company when the islands where known as the Spice Islands. Adele's reserach involved her travelling to Indonesia a...

Barrie Sutherland started taking pictures of the surf at Bells, year after year, in the 70s, with his family living just up the road in Torquay since the 40s. If anybody has seen Torquay change over time, it's Barrie, and he has strong views about it. On this week's show, Barrie speaks fondly of his parents and recalls the time his father came home from war as he watched him walk up to the house t...

On this week's show we welcome Prue Licht, a Grandmothers for Refugees activist who spent 25 years and many long hours working in the welfare system, predominantly with women and families. Prue originally hails from England but has lived here in the Dandenongs ever since she arrived on these shores in the 1970s. Prue was involved in the amazing No Macca's in Tecoma campaign a few years back and is...

'Question everything'. That's the motto this week's special guest, Maria Millers, has lived by ever since she was turned onto philosophy many moons ago. Maria was born in Harbin in 1937, a Russian city in the far north-east of China, to a family of Russian intellectuals in a time of Japanese occupation and has lived in Australia since she was a babe. Maria is an extraordinary person who has lived...

On this week's show we have a soulful conversation with journalist, radio broadcaster and sound engineer, Kirstyn Lindsay, currently working with First Nations Media. KIrstyn hails from Logan City, Brisbane, and got her early learnings in listening at Musgrave Park among its Murray elders. Spending time in Sydney's anarchist, punk and feminist circles before living and learning in Melbourne for 20...

John Lawrance was our special guest this week on Radical Australia. John has been a musician and theatre actor for many years in and around St Kilda and he shared with us the story of how he became an orphan at the tender age of six for the next ten years of his life. John told us how it was a crystal set radio that eventually saved his life after many years of not wanting to live and how he has m...

On this week's show we welcome the charming Sasja Sydek, co-host of 3CR's Behind Closed Doors, a show which explores the world of sex work. Sasja is a trans woman of colour hailing from Singapore who has been jailed many times for simply being who she is. She is the co-founder of Trans Sisters United and Trans Pride March Melbourne as well as turning her hand to short film production of late. Sasj...

This week we learn more about (and unmask!) the mysterious Innez Tulloch, who is currently filling the shoes of the Volunteer and Training Coordinator here at 3CR. Her snake-filled upbringing in Rockhampton comprised a bookish childhood and some rebellious teenage years, always driven by her natural propensity for music, where playing at their various live venues earned comments such as "chicks wi...