The Weekend Read

Today on the show, Sasha Gattermayr, with her piece on the fascination with carnivorous plants from The Monthly magazine.  Sasha takes us inside a band of collectors whose obsession with plants such as the venus fly trap turned into a lifelong devotion to plants that devour their prey. Socials: Stay in touch with us on Twitter and Instagram Guest: Writer Sasha Gattermayr Background reading: Little...

Today, writer Quentin Sprague, with his piece from The Monthly .  He examines the recent revelations of “white hands on black art” – reports of White gallery figures instructing and even working on the canvases of Indigenous artists – and examines how white Australia applies the idea of ‘authenticity’ onto the work of Indigenous artists. Quentin will read his story, ‘White privilege and black disa...

Today on the show, writer Richard King, with his piece ‘Machine Learning’ about the AI chatbot ChatGPT. He begins his story with discourse sweeping a university campus as AI reaches the hands of ordinary students and teachers. How will this technology – still only a few months old – change not only teaching and marking, but the very nature of the transfer of knowledge? This is the question he sets...

Today on the show, author of ‘ Sundressed ’ and fashion editor for The Saturday Paper Lucianne Tonti reads her piece on confronting the hundreds of thousands of tonnes of clothing condemned to landfill every year.  The Australian fashion industry is a major cause of the 227,000 tonnes of waste clothing generated each year — much of it never worn before being discarded. Non-profits are attempting t...

Today on the show, author Sophie Cunningham on why we’re still logging native forests. She begins her story with the last sheafs of white office paper to ever be produced in Australia – the final sheet rolled off the mill in January of this year before it closed for good. What follows is her reporting on how and why native forests are still being cut down, despite our knowledge that this is not th...

Today, a tribute to publisher, poet and memoirist Robert Adamson. Robert died late last year and to mark that moment, The Monthly decided to posthumously republish two of his essays on a subject very dear to him: fishing. Socials: Stay in touch with us on Twitter and Instagram Guest: Publisher, poet and memoirist, Robert Adamson. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As housing becomes less affordable and the search for adequate accommodation more desperate, Erin O’Dwyer investigates how we can escape from the urban sprawl. Erin looks at how the best intentions can go awry, as we try to build better homes. She makes the case that designing our homes doesn’t have to be a luxury and that as we build more and more of them to address the housing shortage, happines...

Clem Bastow reads her piece about borrowing teen magazines from the library. As a kid, Clem couldn’t afford the monthly price of Girlfriend Magazine, or Seventeen, or my personal favourite, Dolly. So the library became her gateway to fashion trends, makeup advice, and the hottest Home and Away stars.  As Clem got older and earned her own money, her relationship to libraries evolved. In her piece,...

On this Weekend Read, chief political correspondent for the ABC’s 7.30 program Laura Tingle, with her piece from the summer issue of The Monthly. It’s called ‘A patch of land’, and in it she writes of the joys of tending and surrendering herself to a native garden, before bidding it a fond farewell after nearly 20 years. Socials: Stay in touch with us on Twitter and Instagram Guest: Chief politica...

Today, on the Weekend Read, writer and artist Sarah Walker with her piece, “Little Breaks”, from The Monthly . It’s a story of joy and sadness in the ocean.  She writes of her time in the water as a beginner surfer, finding glee in shallow breaks.  But beyond the break, in the deeper water, there’s also loneliness, isolation and vulnerability. Socials: Stay in touch with us on Twitter and Instagra...

Today, author and farmer Sam Vincent, with his piece from the latest edition of The Monthly .  It explores how native Australian ingredients have gone from novelty to gourmet; now featured in some of the most acclaimed fine dining establishments in Australia. But what does the rise of culinary nationalism mean for the way we think about Australian food? Socials: Stay in touch with us on Twitter an...

Today, author Cate Kennedy reads her piece from the latest edition of the Monthly.  Beginning in the first months of lockdown, it asks the question: why did so many people turn to collective song and music, while stuck in isolation? Choirs conducted over video chat and jam sessions in the digital world might not be a perfect replacement for the connection of performing together in a room – but it...

Today, journalist and author Jock Serong will be reading his piece from the latest issue. It's called 'Front-row seats to the end of the Reef' - in it he chronicles his residency at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, and what coral tells us about the past and future of our oceans. Guest : Journalist and author, Jock Serong Background reading : Front-row seats to the end of the Reef See om...

Today on the show, journalist and author Bronwyn Adcock will be reading her piece from the latest issue.  It follows the fate of Encep ‘Hambali’ Nurjaman - a man arrested as a central figure in the Bali Bombings nearly 20 years ago - and interrogates his fraught path to justice in the War on Terror, through CIA black spots and Guantanamo Bay, torture and rendition, and bureaucratic obfuscation.  G...

Today, author Don Watson will be reading his cover piece from the latest issue of The Monthly. It's called 'How to be a prime minister', and in it he discusses the task ahead for Anthony Albanese. How will the new leader restore the idea that governments should seek to make the country better? Guest: Contributor to The Monthly Don Watson See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, writer and pianist Anna Goldsworthy will be reading her piece from the latest issue. It's called ' The slow fade of music education' , and in it she discusses the importance of music and learning, in an arts landscape eroded by nearly a decade of wilful neglect. Guest: Writer and pianist, Anna Goldsworthy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, writer Richard Cooke will be reading his story from the latest edition of The Monthly . It’s called ‘Market of the apes: NFTs and digital art’, and in it, he explores how the art market has been transformed by NFTs, and how artificial intelligence might transform art itself. Guest: Contributing editor to The Monthly , Richard Cooke. Background reading: Market of the apes: NFTs and digital a...

Today, Gina Rushton’s latest story for The Monthly magazine, ‘The first victim’ is voiced by Lucy Moir.  The piece explores how victims of sexual assault are treated in courts of law - and asks whether the legal system in Australia puts people through unnecessary trauma. Warning: This episode contains details of sexual assault. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, Mark McKenna, professor of history at the University of Sydney, will be reading his piece from the latest edition of The Monthly . It's called 'The Stunted Country', and in it, he argues that there can be no possibility of an Australian republic without constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians. Guest: Mark McKenna, professor of history at the University of Sydney. Background rea...

Today, Richard Denniss, chief economist at The Australia Institute, will be reading his cover story from the latest edition of The Monthly . It's called 'The needle and the damage done', and in it, he argues that the federal government’s handling of the pandemic has been the worst public policy failure in Australian history.  Guest: Richard Denniss, chief economist at The Australia Institute. See...

Today, Helen Garner, one of Australia’s most acclaimed authors, will be reading her piece from the latest issue of The Monthly .  It features entries from her diaries, covering her experience during this year’s lockdown in Melbourne. Guest: Helen Garner, acclaimed Australian novelist and nonfiction writer. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. See omnystudio.com/listener for p...

Today, Hugh White, emeritus professor of strategic studies at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, reads his cover essay from the latest issue of The Monthly . It’s called ‘War of Error’. It explores the failures of the United States in Afghanistan, and the folly of Australia’s unquestioning support. Guest: Hugh White, emeritus professor of strategic studies at...

Today, Scott Ludlam, ICAN ambassador and former Australian Greens Senator, reads his cover essay from the latest issue of The Monthly . It’s called ‘The Endgame’. It explores the trial of Julian Assange, and the powers fighting to extradite him, while his condition deteriorates in a UK prison. Guest: Scott Ludlam, ICAN ambassador and former Australian Greens Senator. Background reading: The end ga...

Today, Richard Flanagan, Booker prize winner and author of The Living Sea of Waking Dreams , reads his essay from the latest issue of The Monthly . It’s called ‘To be free’ and it explores why he writes, and, in his words “the need to write against the dogmas of conformity”.   Guest: Writer for The Monthly Richard Flanagan. Background reading: To be free in The Monthly See acast.com/privacy for pr...

Today, Sarah Krasnostein, the best-selling author of ‘The Trauma Cleaner’, reads her essay from the latest issue of The Monthly .  It’s called ‘The most hated man’ and it explores the sentencing of Richard Pusey, who was convicted of outraging public decency after he filmed the horrific aftermath of a car crash that killed four police officers.   Guest: Writer for The Saturday Paper Sarah Krasnost...