Think Again

We are meant to be living in a democracy. That means that 'we' the 'people', the 'demos' in democracy are meant to have a say in how we are governed. But, as main political parties in Australia and other western countries align in the interests of ruling elites, and the disparity grows between what the parties agree on and what the people want, we have to question whether we are living in a democr...

Jacques and Jennifer discuss how the US is an Empire with vast extended territories and has been for a long time, and how we have a collective blindspot about this as we refer to a limited 'logo' map of the US, which in reality was only a true representation of its real shape and extent for a few years in the 1850s. This is certainly a hidden aspect of the US's imperial hegemony and power as Danie...

In this conversation, Daryl and Jacques examine how the professions and their assumed expertise contribute to the systemic failure of institutions to meaningfully respond to the issues and problems they are supposed to 'deal with', particularly also through the ideological and hierarchical power accorded to professional expertise; indeed, how they often aggravate those issue and problems. We are l...

Jacques and Deb Salvagno have a conversation about Timor Leste and the role and strengths of Women in that country's efforts to create a just and prosperous country for all; Deb is co-founder or East Timor Woman Australia (ETWA), an organisation that has worked in solidarity with women weavers' cooperatives in Timor Leste since the early-2000s. They talk about Timor Leste's (bloody) struggle for i...

Jennifer and Jacques talk about the need to de-grow the economy and change our fundamental way of life to save ourselves and the planet. The capitalist system has us on a downward spiral of mass exploitation and extraction, with the 'global south' supporting our privileged way of life through cheap labour and the devastation of local ecologies. The presenters look to the later Karl Marx (largely u...

Jacques talks about the ways that Australia continues to drop the ball on international justice, while defaulting to the (US) 'might is right' principle, and thus gradually losing its moral standing in the eyes of the rest of the world. It is a shameful contrast to our history of supporting international rules that all are expected to abide by, and forums of justice where errant nations are called...

Jacques and Jennifer talk about the Palestinian conflict and its wider political and military context, especially the role of the US and the west in general, and the biased and woeful coverage in our news media. As asked by Stuart Rees quoted from Pearls and Irritations: 'Why can't an alleged human rights abiding country such as Australia name Israei policies as grotesque and genocidal?...'

Jennifer speaks with Graham Matthews,Socialist, activist and person with disability, about the proposed reforms to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).In late March Bill Shorten, Minister for the NDIS, introduced a Bill to Parliament, projected to save over $14 billion over the next five years, while giving the government a lot more control over what can be claimed for under the Scheme...

Jennifer and Jacques continue their theme of pre-election issues, leading up to the federal election and some state elections. For this program they talk about the history of 'multicultural' policies and living realities in Australia and where we are headed with them and whether we really deserve to be called and advertised as a 'success story'. They finish with some reflections about what multicu...

Jennifer and Jacques discuss some international issues merging with domestic ones leading up to the elections.... 'systemic collusion' at work...In particular, they focus on the ongoing genocide of Palestinian people in Gaza, perpetrated by the State of Israel with considerable international support. On the domestic front this has led to the squashing of protest and dissent on a variety of levels....

Simon Reeves talks with Jacques about his work as a peace and community development activist, including 'love as a force for change and good'. Simon is involved in 'disruptive' peace activism and in the development and empowerment of local communities, especially in an empoverished neighbourhood in Norlane, North Geelong, Victoria.

Jacques has a conversation with Marisa Holmes, one of the organisers of the 2011 Zucotti Park Lower Manhattan 'Occupy Wall Street' protest movement which soon spread to over 1000 other 'Occupy' protests and 'occupations' across the world... She discusses learnings from the organising of these events all questioning and addressing the meanwhile popular inequality-juxtaposition of the '1%-ers' vs th...

For this Radiothon fund-raiser special, 11 guests from the past year talk about their work in activism, community development, social analysis and creating a better future.  

Heading toward the next election cycle, Jennifer and Jacques lament the state of public discourse, with superficial polarised positions reflected through the lethal triangle of two main parties and the mainstream media. To address this they raise issues of where we are going as a society, including migration, racism, housing, universities, wage-poverty, AUKUS, and the downward spiral of certain 'd...

Jennifer speaks with Lew Zipin who has had a career in education programs and been a union activist across three Australian universities. He talks about some devastating trends that have taken hold of our universities over the past two or three decades, invoking a few concepts of Karl Marx that seem more relevant than ever. One such concept is the 'alienation' that academic staff experience when t...

Jacques and Jennifer talk about another scandalous case of neo-colonial excess - the human rights crimes against the population of a newly independent country, Mauritius, and the people of its territory in the Chagos Archipelago. As part of a secret deal between Britain and the US, they were illegally deported to make way for a US military base. The connections with and similarities between 'terra...

Jacques talks with academic and peace and environmental activist Dr Marty Branagan who is Convenor of Peace Studies at the University of New England. Marty has been assisting the 'Bendigo Three' activists, protesting the ongoing investments by the NAB in fossil fuels exploitation; brought to court for 'trespassing'; he wrote a 'Defence of Duress' in their support (see the June issue of New Communi...

Jennifer talks with Jorge Jorquera who is a Councillor at Maribyrnong Counil and Coordinator of Borderlands Cooperative. Jorge tells how he came to Australia with his family as an infant in the wake of the military coup in Chile in 1973, and the brutal regime that followed. In his early teens he joined the Labor Party for a time, before it took a turn to the right, bringing in various neo liberal...

Jacques and Marie talk about how universities could reinvigorate their work of teaching, learning and researching, following the devastation of 40 years of neo-liberalism, budget cuts and managerialism.

Jennifer and Jacques discuss the systemic and economic effects of internet platforms and social media, especially with power concentrated in a few super-rich companies. Author, Yanis Varoufakis, calls these 'technofeudalists', while most of us are reduced to 'serfs' - producing the products of the 'cloud' for free, and giving away data about ourselves that, in turn, is used to manipulate us. Refer...

Jennifer talks with Katelyn Butterss, CEO of the Victorian Public Tenants Association (VPTA) about what is happening with the demolition of public housing towers, and public housing in general. Katelyn begins by explaining the difference between public housing and community housing, While there is a place for community housing as part of the housing mix, public housing is cheaper, more secure and...

Jennifer and Jacques discuss how we are constantly distracted by new information coming in from our devices, which is draining our ability to focus, and think deeply and creatively. This has serious implications for collective sense-making and for our capacity to address threats to our wellbeing and survival. ReferencesRobert Colvile (2016) The Great Acceleration: How the world is getting faster,...

Jennifer and Jacques talk about the ways Australia is following disastrous paths toward constant war and has been for a long time, and why we need to fight for peace instead. ReferencesAlison Broinowski (2024) ‘Australia’s moment of choice: Illegal war on show in 2003 Cabinet papers’, Pearls and Irritations, https://johnmenadue.com/australias-moment-of-choice-illegal-war-on-show-in-2003-cabinet-pa...

Jacques talks with Tim Hollo, author of Living democracy, about how we can rethink, rebuild and reconstruct our world from the grassroots up for a sustainable and hopeful future. This program resonates with a previous one on 24 November 2023  in which Jacques interviewed Jack Manning-Bancroft. The values that Jack consistently promoted, as does Tim Hollo – relationality, interdependence, inclusion...