Socially Democratic

“A big reason we’re up against the wall here is, cost of living’s tough. Governments all around the world … have lost some skin. We need a big margin and we haven’t got it.” - Peter Dutton has vowed to cut public service jobs and repeal popular laws like the ‘right to disconnect’.  Yet somehow, he still poses a credible threat to Labor this coming election. Is this a failure of storytelling? And i...

The year was 2012. A young Benita Kolovos arrives at her high school literature class to find a print-out on her desk. It’s the Julia Gillard misogyny speech.  When it comes to riveting moments in Australian media, Gillard’s speech has few peers. It was raw, honest, and reached millions of Australian women who were fed up with double standards in the workplace, and in life.  But one speech can’t f...

“Utterly disgraceful…The United States is behaving like a bandit.” On this episode of Socially Democratic, former federal MP David Feeney pulls no punches when excoriating Trump’s position on Ukraine.  Plus: listener questions answered. Your primary concern was the new American regime - how the example set by Trump, Musk, and Vance might darken our shores, and how we can stop it.  Back in Australi...

With the relative decline of mainstream media and the rise of podcasts, influencers, and infinite scrolling, how is the Australian Labor party faring in the race to modernise their political campaigns? And how can social democratic parties around the world continue to compete and adapt to the ever-changing new media landscape? What role does data analytics play in shaping effective messaging, and...

On a cloudy day in Melbourne’s West, campaign workers in clashing t-shirts formed lines outside of schools and community centres. Residents, who often suffer from congested roads, this time navigated foot traffic on their way to the voting booth.  February 8th, 2025 was the day of the Werribee by-election. It came after long-serving Labor MP, Tim Pallas announced his retirement - kicking off Labor...

This week, Stephen Donnelly and former Labor Campaign Director and federal MP, David Feeney, unpack the way forward for Albanese’s Labor government as the federal election looms.  In a complex, de-centralised, and increasingly click-baity media landscape, the Labor Government has their work cut out for them if they intend to keep the national conversation focused on key issues - particularly while...

In this episode, Stephen Donnelly and former Obama speechwriter Terry Szuplat have a wide-ranging discussion on everything from Obama’s journey in public speaking, to Trump’s latest inaugural address, to Rev. Mariann Budde’s controversial sermon, and the influence of AI in speechwriting.   And of course, they chat about Terry’s new book, S ay It Well: Find Your Voice, Speak Your Mind, Inspire Any...

“Kennett was … ripping the heart out of country areas.” 25 years ago in Victoria, Jeff Kennett’s Liberal Party was up for re-election.  Holding a large majority of seats, they were expected to win the election and entrench another generation of conservative rule in Victoria. But, in the background, the Steve Bracks-led Labor Party was building momentum in unlikely places. What resulted was a polit...

“We love what we do, but love is not paying the rent for us right now.” Senator Jess Walsh joins Stephen Donnelly to chat about the Big Steps Campaign, which recently resulted in a historic 15% pay rise for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers across Australia.  Senator Walsh covers the strengths and challenges of organising across multiple employers in a typically undervalued and feminised...

Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Socially Democratic’s Pop Culture Correspondent Tess Farrell for our annual pop culture wrap up for 2024. 2024 was a big year for horror, but there were still some political dramas available on streaming including Alex Garland’s Civil War , The Diplomat on Amazon Prime, and the controversial Trump biopic, The Apprentice . ...

Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Democratic consultant Katie Parsons for our annual International Politics Year in Review.  From the slew of elections across the world, including those in the UK, US, and across Europe, to the big moments in political activism and unrest, like the recent events in South Korea, Katie joins the show to help unpack the year of...

Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by former Labor Campaign Director and federal MP, David Feeney. It’s our final Feeney Files for the year - A Very Feeney Christmas Special.  David chats about the recent Syrian uprising, which saw the end of the 50+ year reign of the Assad regime, and will have ripple effects across the middle east and throughout global geopol...

Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Josh Burns and Anika Wells.  To kick off the festive month of December, we are resuming our tradition, with Josh and Anika returning to the show to unpack the year that was #auspol.  From ending Stage 3 Tax Cuts and the ongoing cost of living crisis, the various incidents in parliament, Australia’s success at the Olympics,...

Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by former Labor Campaign Director and federal MP, David Feeney. It is a belated episode so there is a lot to catch up on!  From the US presidential and Queensland state elections, gossip from both federal and Victorian state politics, the Melbourne Mayoral race, to the rumours of a February Federal Election, it’s a jam packed...

Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Managing Director at Bassline Strategy, David Kitching. David is back, calling in from Dublin to give us the state of the race in Ireland before voters in the Irish Republic head to the polls next Friday.  He also discussed why Sinn Féin’s vote has collapsed in the published polls, how immigration and the cost of living are...

Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Democratic consultant Katie Parsons and co-founder of Run For Something Ross Morales Rocketto.  Kate and Ross for our final installment of our 2024 Presidential Election series, unpacking the disappointing results from Nov 5th. What went wrong? What went right? And where do progressives go from here? Join the Socially Democ...

Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Democratic consultant Katie Parsons and co-founder of Run For Something Ross Morales Rocketto.  With less than a week until E-Day, Katie and Ross return to unpack all the latest news in the race for the White House including Trump’s Nazi Rally at Madison Square Garden and WaPo’s first non-endorsement in decades.  Kate and R...

Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by former Queensland Treasurer, Jackie Trad, and former QLD Labor Campaign Director, Evan Moorhead. Jackie and Evan are back for the finale in our Queensland Election series for 2024, unpacking the disappointing results from Saturday night, discussing the fault lines between metro and regional Queensland, criteria to vanquish...

Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Democratic consultant Katie Parsons and co-founder of Run For Something Ross Morales Rocketto.  Kate and Ross are back to unpack that week that was in the US election campaign. With only 2 weeks till polls close, , they’ll cover Trump’s brief stunt at Maccas, VP Harris’s appearance on Fox News, and the tight polling numbers...

Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined once again by former Queensland Treasurer, Jackie Trad, and former QLD Labor Campaign Director, Evan Moorhead. With four days (as of recording) to go until E-day in Queensland, our panel covers the latest polling, the first cracks in the LNP campaign and its impact on voters, and seat analysis of battleground electorates regio...

Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by former Queensland Treasurer, Jackie Trad, and former QLD Labor Campaign Director, Evan Moorhead. Jackie and Evan are back for week two and, with less than ten days left in the election, there was a lot to talk about. From the latest “exit polling” results and Labor’s campaign launch, our panel will share their insights on h...

Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by Democratic campaign consultant Katie Parsons and co-founder of Run For Something Ross Morales Rocketto.  For the next four weeks Ross and Katie will be joining us to unpack the week that was in the race for the White House. Starting in week one where they break down the Harris vs Trump campaign narratives, strategies, close...

Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by former Queensland Treasurer, Jackie Trad, and former QLD Labor Campaign Director, Evan Moorhead. They join Stephen for our first of four weekly recap episodes analysing the October Queensland state election campaign. Jackie and Evan lend their campaign expertise on everything QLDpol and discuss the diversity of the Queensla...

Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by former speechwriter to Julia Gillard, Michael Cooney.  Michael joins the show to give us a preview of the ACT Election, where Chief Minister Andrew Barr will attempt to win a seventh term for Labor.  He’ll break down the seats Labor needs to win to secure victory, the issues shaping the race, and the factors that make ACT’s...

Dunn Street founder and Community Organiser Stephen Donnelly was joined by former Labor Campaign Director and federal MP, David Feeney. Stephen and David chat about the latest round of federal polling, speculate when the next federal election will be called, the federal government’s omission of LGBTQ+ questions from the census and more about this month’s #auspol news.  Plus they answer questions f...