The Meandering Pod

Welcome to another episode of The Meandering Pod!  This week you’re in for another bonus ep - woohoo! It features bikepacker-extraordinaire and Aussie legend John Paul Lopez Taberdo, AKA JP. He an expert in his frield and someone we’ve become fast friends with. Check out the previous group episode if you haven’t already to hear the lore of how we met in Bishkek as we prepared for our first bikepac...

Hey guys! Click play if you want to hear an hour update of the last 6 weeks - recorded unedited on Cams phone. We’re currently bikepacking together in Kyrgyzstan, and many things have gone awry! However, it is beautiful and we’re leaving problems behind in the dust. Apologise for the chaos.  Book recc is The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan! Amazing book of world history telling an alternative to the...

Welcome back for another episode of The Meandering Pod!!! This week, we’re hopping back for a final episode about Japan – specifically the worst disaster it ever faced. Although many people may would remember hearing about the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident, it’s been 15 years now and not many would still be across the details.  Today, we’ll be doing a deep dive on the multifaceted fallout experi...

Did you know 5 families control more than half of the Korean economy and ALL of its politicians? Meet the Chaebol - the driving force behind Koreas economic miracle but also the root of many of the countries present day issues from corruption and inequality to a hyper competitive social structure and declining birth rate. In this episode, for the first time in Meandering history, Cam and Dom jump...

Welcome to another group episode of The Meandering Pod! Not much time has passed but a lot has happened – strap in while we update you on the shenanigans our group got into while travelling from Japan to China via Korea. This episode also features superfan SHAZ, who joined Lotta + Dom, then Bec + Cam on our meandering (mis)adventures. Stick around to hear about our East Asian foods, and for anothe...

How much do you know about protists? How much do you know about their behaviour and intelligence? I’m gonna guess very little, as that’s where I was not that long ago. The world of these obscure creatures is incredibly complex and fascinating, as they interact with their environment and make decisions and weigh up risks.  In this episode, I interview researcher Alid Al-Asmar about slime moulds (th...

Join Dom, Lotta and special guest Sharran as they talk all about snow and how it’s changing. How is changing snow affecting the skiing world? The Winter Olympics? Plants, animals, and humans who reply on snow and snowmelt? And what can we do about all this scary change?  Join along for this important discussion and learn how winters are changing, and how we can protect them.  And definitely check...

Wowee, it’s been a hot second! And it’s HALF WAY THROUGH OUR TRIP! Another group episode for all your travel ramblings and, of course, the reveal of who topped the brick rankings for the past three months. The four of us are finally reunited (however briefly) for meandering shenanigans - involving saunas, cherry blossom festivals and hitting the spring snow slopes in the Japanese Alps. Also, we ha...

On this weeks deep dive Bec and Cam take you through the wonderful history of the Matsu Islands, from a refuge for pirates and outcasts on the periphery of the Chinese empire to becoming a heavily fortified ‘Berlin Wall’ of the East to now being a tourism hotspot where Bec and Cam found themselves stranded due to bad weather and ferry cancellations.

How much do you know about Myanmar? Have you heard of the iconic Aung San Sui Kyi? Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, martyr of democracy who has spent 20 years of her life in house arrest, who fell from grace on an international stage and it is now unknown if the 80 year old mother of Myanmar is still alive? Lock in to this gripping episode to find out more. Lotta and Cam discuss Suu Kyi‘s life, th...

In this week’s episode Bec explores the Vietnam War from 1955-75 through a modern-day feminist lens. We discuss the following three key topics: The entitled and arrogant mindset of the US,which laid the groundwork for its involvement in the war The hyper-aggressive nature of the war by the US, which was driven by successive presidents’ desire to project manhood when in a state of uncertainty The U...

This week join Dom and Lotta for a chat about a cool thing many birds do - migration! Inspired by a bird watching mission to Poyang Lake in China, for Lotta’s birdday, Dom and Lotta have become amateur bird nerds, and can’t wait to chat all the amazing wonders of these rather globalised birds. Why do they migrate? How do they navigate? Why do they fly in V-formation? How long can they fly without...

Cam and Bec discuss the history of coffee, the ethics of the industry and we hear from Mike, a small coffee roaster in Thailand.

Sit down with a cuppa and prepare to have your socks blown off about the humble drink, tea. What is it? Where did it come from? When did the British start drinking teas? Join me as I take part in a tea ceremony with tea master Mabel in her home in Kunming, trying ripe Pu’er, Oolong and White Tea as we explore the historical and cultural force that is tea. Teas have inspired spirituality and purity...

Join Dom and Lotta for this special bonus episode where they discuss bin diving, the Australian food system and its abundant food waste. This is a re-run of a radio show that they did for Lotta’s mums radio show Considering Earth, on Denmark Community Radio. Check out her shows here:  https://www.denmarkfm.com.au/shows/considering-earth/

Laos has the unenviable title of being the most heavily bombed country per capita in the world. In this episode, we’ll be unpacking why, as well as the dangerous legacy of unexploded ordinances (UXOs) left in the lives of everyday Laotian people.   Join Bec this week as she interviews two representatives from Mines Advisory Group (MAG), Bella and Ben, about the history, ramifications and ongoing w...

Damning the Mekong - Can we call hydropower clean energy? Whilst certainly renewable, hydropower can’t claim to have clean hands on the Mekong River, where it is causing widespread ecological and social damage, across many national borders. Despite the damning evidence and widespread impacts, many more dams are in the pipeline, and are getting constructed with enthusiasm from those who profit.  Jo...

Cam takes a meander through Thai political history, including how Thailand avoided colonisation, why they keep fighting with Cambodia and how they continue as a stable, prosperous country despite having a military coup roughly every eight years. Apologies for my pronunciation of Thai names.

Join Lotta and Dom as they dive deep into the floodwaters that hit South East Asia last year - and swim through the nuanced and shocking currents of human’s relationships with floods from the past into the future. We also do a bit of a nerd out about the climate - if you’ve decided to skip that section, jump to 13:25! Some papers , books and other resources I recommend checking out if you’re curio...

What a spicy group episode! Spanning two birthdays, Christmas and the lovely addition of our friend Blair for three weeks of adventure. Join us as we take overnight trains, learn how to make papaya salad for Bec’s birthday, push bikes up endless and steep hills, learn a couple of words of Karen and embark on our (long) path to enlightenment with the help of Buddhist teachings.  We also have a shal...

Over our travels we have crossed one of the heartland countries for the controversial palm oil industry – Malaysia. In today's deep dive, Bec and Lotta discuss the environmental and ethical issues levelled at Big Oil Palm, trying to answer the question of whether palm oil can ever be a truly sustainable product. We also have the privilege of hearing from renowned Malaysian economist Jomo Kwame...

Another group episode beans! Here, you will be updated on our journeys through Malaysia and how we reunited in Thailand. Listen for food highlights, a shallow dive on LGBTQIA+ rights in Malaysia and, of course, BRICK #1! Including who won it last time after we left the choice to you guys… Sick advocacy groups working in Malaysia you should totally follow on your socials and check out in general: h...

In this episode Cam talks to Alex Au from Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), an NGO that advocates for migrant workers in Singapore. Links: Donate to TWC2 here The report I wrote with Kael for TWC2

Have you ever told ghost stories around a campfire? Do you believe in spirits of place, or perhaps black and white magic? Well for many in Indonesia, they are real, and are powerful forces across the country today. Join Dom and Italian Dom, Michy, as they explore the religions and spiritualism of Java, Indonesia. Michy, Dom’s friend, has visited spiritual leaders and shamans to research the comple...

Listen up, another group episode! This time recorded hundreds of miles apart over zoom. Here, we discuss the second half of our time in Indonesia, as well as Dom's dengue scare which resulted in the group temporarily splitting up and Cam and Bec pushing on to Singapore and Malaysia. We also take a shallow dive into how Singapore launders Russian oil and sells it to Australia. The Asia Times Centre...