Think Again

Jacques and Jennifer look at the some of the history and motivations of western powers behind current global conflicts that Australia is once more becoming embroiled in - namely Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza, and recent military exchanges between Israel and Iran, and US attacks on Iran. Australia seems fixated on the idea that the US is our friend who we must always support and follow, even wh...

Jacques first continuous the reflections we started last week, especially revealing the 'alternative media' sources we rely on in Think Again to bring news going beyond and beneath what we get daily from the mainstream media; a few of those are mentioned below. He then moves onto the today and tomorrow part, reflecting on how our present political leadership deals (or equivocates out of dealing) w...

Jacques and Jennifer reflect on the last six years of Think Again, while calling for donations to support the program and 3CR.

Jacques and Jennifer discuss some ideas from Rutger Bregman's new book: Moral ambition: Stop wasting your talent and start making a difference. Two themes of interest are: (1) the social and communal nature of making meaningful change: it is not done by lone 'stars' but by people working collectively over time, and (2) the processes of making change are important, not just the end goal or outcome...

Jennifer talks with Kelly O'Shanassy, CEO of the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) about the implications of the recent federal Labor victory for climate change, and the preservation of our natural enviornment and endangered species. They discuss the recent 'climate bomb' decision made by new Environment Minister, Murray Watt, to approve an extension of Woodside Energy's North West Shelf ga...

Jacques and Jennifer reflect on the post-election political reality in Australia and the implications for doing something about some of the major issues facing us, like looming catastrophic climate change and the escalating gap between rich and poor. They urge Labor to seize the day, and ask 'if not now, when?'

Jennifer is joined by David Glanz from the Refugee Action Collective to talk about the implications of the federal election result for refugees and asylum seekers. David talks about our cruel system of prolonged temporary visas, offshore detention centres, and deportations. This time round (during Labor's 2nd term) we need to agitate much more strongly and loudly for fair, just and humane treatmen...

Amidst Labor celebrations following their federal election victory, and ruminations that the Greens were punished for being too pro-Palestine, Jacques and Jennifer argue that local politics cannot ignore what is happening internationally - especially in the clear case of genocide against the Palestinian people by the State of Israel. Their conversation draws attention to this, to remedy what has b...

In the context of the federal election on 3rd of May, Jennifer and Jacques talk about disruptions at home and abroad, and how public political discourse has narrowed to exclude the things that we really need to focus on. These things include climate change, military enmeshment with the US, and how the capitalist system is failing most people and evidently in decline. At the same time, right wing p...

Jennifer talks with Dr Nick Riemer from the University of Sydney about the new definition of antisemitism proposed by Universities Australia for use on Australian campuses. This definition was developed in reaction to pro-Palestine protests against the actions of the State of Israel, to stymie open and scholarly debate. ReferencesJumana Bayeh 2025, Silencing Palestine: Universities Australia and t...

Jacques talks again with Suzan Saka from the Alevi Foundation of Australia about the dire situation of Alevi people in current Turkiye and surrounding countries. Suzan begins by giving some background about the Alevi culture, and the substantial presence of Alevi people in Australia. She then details the hardships and prosecutions they suffer in Syria, Iraq and their Anatolian homeland in Turkiye....

Jacques talks with Mike Salvaris, Director of the Australian National Development Index (ANDI). While our governments and political leaders focus on narrow economic indicators (like GDP) of 'progress' and  how well a country and its population are doing, various attempts have been made to capture more meaningful social, cultural and personal aspects of people's lives since the 1960s. Mike Salvaris...

Mark Zirnsak from the Tax Justice Network Australia talks with Jennifer about the recent federal government budget, handed down just before an election on the 3rd of May. While the budget has some positives such as boosts to Medicare, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, and fair funding for schools, it doesn't address the fundamental inequity of our tax system. It would take a braver approach to a...

Jennifer and Jacques continue their reflections on the latest events in the US, clearly demonstrating a new Authoritarianism that shouldn't be ignored. They talk about the implications for Australia as well as people in the US, the selective silence of our leaders, and how the new wave of Trumpist Authoritarianism is reported across our media. Lastly they make a call to be both alert and active. R...

Jennifer and Jacques reflect on recent world trends toward Authoritarianism, and what we need to take good notice of. Quoting Henry Giroux, they argue that our task is to refuse the limits imposed by neoliberal fatalism and authoritarian rule - but not only to resist but to widen the horizon of the possible. Henry Giroux (19/02/2025) Neoliberalism's Embrace of Cruelty and its Assault on Social Bon...

Jacques and Jennifer talk about the recent roller coaster of international events, led by US President Trump. Chief among these are the incredible public shouting match between the US Trump-Vance duo and Ukrainian Presient Zelensky, and Trump's idea for the Palestinians to evacuate Gaza permanently giving up their land for a high-priced seaside resort. Overall, the US has dropped its mask of benev...

For this episode Jennifer interviews Jacques about the results of the latest German election, with surpises including a worrying boost for right wing racist party AfD, but also, more hopefully, for left wing progressive party Die Linke. Jacques talks about trends in German politics from WW2, to give some context for latest voting results. He finishes with some linking this to international trends....

Teachers are key agents of changes and improvements in their classrooms. Yet spaces and opportunities for teachers, and others in the human services, to have control over their working lives and professional learning, have drastically diminished. Janette and Mary talk to Marie about their project to address this, by supporting teachers' reflection and self-directed learning and improvement. The ev...

Jacques and Jennifer talk about some of the unravellings happening in our society, with reactionary forces being unleashed in the US and rippling into Australian politics. The unravelling of Australian society Allan PatienceAmid President Donald Trump’s rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion programs throughout government and the Defense Department declaring “identity months dead,” concern gr...

Jacques interviews Josh Bornstein about his new book: Working for the brand: How corporations are destroying free speech.  (2024 - Scribe Publishers)Josh explains how corporations are exercising unprecedented power over what we say, in a way that we wouldn't accept from our governments. He offers examples of lots of large corporations including Qantas and our universities...Other books recently ap...

Jacques and Jennifer continue their exploration of possible and probable political developments in 2025, started the previous week. They include some 'highlights' (or low lights) from current events, and touch on how we need to change direction.

Jacques and Jennifer discuss unfolding developments internationally and what we might expect in 2025, especially relating to the US-centred vortex, a vortex that has been smouldering since the early-1800shttps://johnmenadue.com/jeffrey-sachs-and-joanna-lei-on-taiwan-and-us-china-conflict/https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/200-years-of-the-monroe-doctrine?utm_source=Common+Dreams&utm_campaign=d1a...

Jennifer and Jacques cover the latest events in the Middle East, with Israel's expansionism and its opportunistic bombing of Syria. They comment on the one-sided local response in the media and by our politicians, evidently cowardly responding to a strident Zionist lobby and to the demands of Australia's hegemonic 'biggest friend' the US.References:https://johnmenadue.com/how-the-us-and-israel-des...

Looking back over an almost 40 years-long academic career, moving from Melbourne (Melbourne and Monash Universities) to the UK in 2016 (Bath University) and since 2022 in Germany, as Chair of the University of Cologne Research Hub for Multidisciplinary Environmental Studies in the Humanities, Kate Rigby talks with Jacques about the evolution of her endeavours to integrate our ways and means of bei...

Jennifer and Jacques talk about how we have taken on the administration burden once carried by government bodies and companies, including utilities, services and financial institutions. After all, we already pay for those utilities and services but are now required to 'manage' them ourselves... and spending hours at doing it being punished when we don't... This trend is being accelerated with new...