Think Again

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...

On this special International Women's Day program Jennifer talks with Lida Hazara, founder of Women for Change, which has helped countless Afghan women find their way after migrating to Australia, including meaningful employment. Many Afghan people have evidently settled in well over time, making enormous contribution to Australian society. At the same time Lida reminds us that the situation of gi...

Jacques speaks with Hill, who presents an alternative Jewish perspective on the current Gaza crisis, a perspective we don't hear in the mainstream, including its long history starting from the 1800s. Jewish activists like Hill, who 'dare' to raise their voices are often viciously attacked by Zionists who too-often conflate critique of Israeli politics and Zionism with anti-semitism or being anti J...

The elimination of Palestinians from their land has been openly talked about and planned by Zionists and Israeli leaders for a long time, dating from the late 1800s and throughout the twentieth century, up to today. That plan ran alongside the earlier imperial British and present US interests to gain and maintain a foothold in that politically volatile but economically vital region. Jennifer and J...

Jennifer and Jacques re-visit the devastating situation in Ukraine, which the US and its allies dropped that country in. While the west has now shifted its attention and resources elsewhere, the mainstream media complies and does the same. The US plan to kill more Ukrainians Jeffrey D. Sachs   Feb 10, 2024 https://johnmenadue.com/the-us-plan-to-kill-more-ukrainians/How the West Brought War to Ukra...

Jacques and Jennifer continue their commentary on the escalating crisis in Gaza. The United Nations International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled that there is a risk of genocide by Israel against Palestinians in Gaza and that Israel has the responsibility to prevent acts of genocide by its armed forces. Meanwhile the United Nations is undermined again, by powers not wishing to comply with intern...

Jacques and Jennifer talk about the history of the idea and establishment of a Zionist Jewish state. They begin with the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE, and cover developments in the 1800s and 1900s up to the turbocharging of the idea by a colonialist British Empire looking out for its own interests in the middle east. They cover the devastating developments in 1948 and again in 1967 with Palestinian...

Jennifer and Jacques cast their eye over the 'mess' that was 2023, and how we are managing (or not managing) our affairs in Australia. They reflect on the true reformist, ex-PM Gough Whitlam, and how rare such inspiration and meaningful programs are today in a world of 'hollowed out parties, sound bites, and 24-hour news cycles'.Some insights are drawn from the US predicament as described by Rick...

Jennifer and Jacques talk about some stories that may help us understand our times and think about doing things differently as a society, such as: 'The Hare and the tortoise', 'The emperor has no clothes', and 'The story of King Midas'. They finish up by talking about Donald Trump's 'The art of the deal', as discussed by Aboriginal author, Tyson Yunkaporta, in his latest book: 'Right story, wrong...

Jeremy Walker from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) shines a light on the Atlas Network, an internationally coordinated body that has been working behind the scenes for many years to shape public opinion and government policies that favour corporate interests and profits. (We have been referring to the role of the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS) played in the NO campaign during the V...

Jacques interviews Antony Loewenstein, investigative journalist and author of the book, 'The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel exports the technology of occupation around the world' (Published by Scribe - 2023), which meanwhile won the Walkley Award for a 'book written by a journalist'.Trying to gain a better understanding of the Gaza disaster is stifled, on the one hand, by accusations of ‘antisem...

Many of us worried about what we humans are doing to Mother Earth – and to ourselves, of course - have wondered about the paradox of our continuing dedication to ‘economic growth’ and our knowledge of what this growth is doing to Earth and ourselves…  Indeed, the assumed need for ‘growth’ remains a seeming unchallengeable postulate of our economic system, commentators confirming it for all kinds o...

 Jacques talks with Jack Manning Bancroft about his new book: Hoodie economics: Changing our systems to value what matters. (Published in August 2023 by Hardie Grant Books - Richmond/Melbourne)'Hoodie Economics' is not your regular economics book... Jack Manning Bancroft, founder and CEO of te mentoring program AIME pulls apart what 'people in suits' might think of as economics, and presents a rev...

In a world where Artificial Intelligence seems to be intruding into so many aspects of our lives, Jennifer and Jacques challenge common notions of what AI is, especially the idea that it is 'intelligent' at all. (Clue - it just fakes intelligence).They explore the myriad dangers of delegating decision-making affecting humans to the computational power of AI. ReferencesKohler A 2023, 'AI's dangers:...

Jennifer and Jacques discuss how the tide is turning against neoliberalism, the discredted doctrine that what is good for big business is good for everyone. Part of the neo-liberal 'package' introduced in the early 1970s, was a conservative reaction against the cost of welfare and a push for greater accountability and evaluation of outcomes. While Jacques and Jennifer are in favour of evaluation i...

Jacques and Jennifer pull together some reflections on the failure of the Voice referendum, which proposed an Aborginal Voice to Parliament. What does it say about Australia, and where do we go from here?

Jordy Silverstein, Jewish historian, writer, and Executive Member of APAN, provides some history and context to help us understand the current unfolding tragedy in Gaza. Her reflection and analysis takes us beyond the one-sided, 'goodies and baddies' narrative provided in our mainstream media, and she provides some ideas for standing up for Palestinian civilians who are currently under siege and s...