It's a Long Story

Bonus Episode - Introducing our new podcast 'Up Next'

Wed, 14 Dec 2022 01:00:52 GMT

As it nears its 50th birthday, the Sydney Opera House is looking to the future with a 'Up Next' - a new podcast which talks to the artists who'll define the next 50 years of arts and culture in Australia. Join host Courtney Ammenhauser as she chats to a spectacular lineup of artists from a variety of creative disciplines as they make their way to one of the most famous performance venues in the world.

In this bonus episode, Courtney talks with Yve Blake - playwright, screenwriter, songwriter, and beloved creator of the hit musical Fangirls. They chat about her overnight success, the Fangirls of Fangirls, and the sacred Mount Franklin bottle that touched Missy Higgins’ lips.

Episodes of 'Up Next' are released monthly and you'll find them wherever you get your podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Denise Ho

Fri, 06 Nov 2020 04:22:31 GMT

Denise Ho was always going to be an activist. The canto-pop superstar had built a massively successful music career and could’ve continued on her path of major-label success. But, in 2012, she became the first mainstream female singer in Hong Kong to come out as gay, and was promptly abandoned by much of the industry. She responded by setting up her own label and becoming a high-profile advocate for the LGBTQI community. In 2014, when huge pro-democracy protests broke out in Hong Kong, Denise’s activism went to a whole new level. She’s become one of the most prominent figures in the umbrella movement, spoken at the UN and all around the world, and continues to risk her own life and freedom on behalf of the cause. In this episode, she’s speaking with Benjamin Law at Antidote festival in 2019.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kimberly Motley

Wed, 28 Oct 2020 04:38:34 GMT

Not a lot of women get to practice law in Afghanistan, but attorney Kimberly Motley is one of the very few. Raised in a poor, majority black neighbourhood in Milwaukee in America’s midwest, Kimberly has made a career defending particularly difficult cases, and in learning how to navigate the Afghani legal system, she has also developed a unique understanding of inter-cultural approaches to justice. She’s talking to Benjamin Law at Antidote festival in 2019.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zadie Smith

Tue, 20 Oct 2020 22:40:23 GMT

When 24 Year old Zadie Smith published her debut novel, White Teeth, in 2000, she became an instant literary superstar. Two decades and several more novels, short story and essay collections later, her voice remains every bit as relevant. Never one to follow a trend, her writing has earned a reputation for originality and intellectual independence. Head of Talks and Ideas Edwina Throsby spoke to Zadie Smith when she was visiting the Sydney Opera House in November 2019.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Soraya Chemaly

Fri, 06 Mar 2020 06:39:24 GMT

Feminists get a bad rap for being angry. But what would it be like if women were allowed to embrace their anger? American writer Soraya Chemaly has been calling for this shift for years. A prolific voice on the role of gender in culture and politics, she has had a long career in media and technology. And, she has encountered a lot to be angry about. Her latest book, Rage Becomes Her is a celebration of female anger. It tackles the highly gendered way our culture regards anger, and questions why angry men are strong but angry women are crazy.

This episode is part of a six-part ‘It’s A Long Story’ series featuring alumni from our All About Women festival. All About Women returns to Sydney Opera House on 8 March 2020.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sohaila Abdulali

Tue, 25 Feb 2020 01:00:00 GMT

Sohaila Abdulali did not want to write a book about her experience of being raped. It was a long time ago and she’d very much moved on with her life. But, after some articles she’d written about it went viral, she did write a book. 'What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape' is an incredible, genre-defying discussion of the troubling ways that rape and sexual violence are experienced and discussed. With no self-pity but much insight and a joyous character, she brings sensible, open thinking to an entirely taboo topic.

Content Warning: this episode of It's A Long Story contains discussion of sexual violence. Support can be found at Lifeline: 13 11 14 and lifeline.org.au This episode is part of a six-part ‘It’s A Long Story’ series featuring alumni from our All About Women festival. All About Women returns to Sydney Opera House on 8 March 2020.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Carolin Emcke

Tue, 18 Feb 2020 08:19:17 GMT

How we define ourselves comes from a place of difference. At least that's what Carolin Emcke writes about in her book, How We Desire, which investigates gender and identity. But her own identity? Now that’s more complicated. Emcke has been reporting from war zones since the early 2000s, where she's witnessed and written about some of the most horrific acts humans are capable of. She is a fearless and completely original thinker on all things from the effect that atrocity has on those who are compelled to report upon it, to the ethics of journalism, to what it means to be queer today. This episode is part of a six-part ‘It’s A Long Story’ series featuring alumni from our All About Women festival. All About Women returns to Sydney Opera House on 8 March 2020.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sarah Smarsh

Tue, 11 Feb 2020 01:00:00 GMT

Sarah Smarsh is the daughter of a teenaged mother, who was the daughter of a teenaged mother, who was the daughter of a teenaged mother. Born into a dirt-poor family in rural Kansas, Smarsh realised young that if she could get educated and not pregnant, she would be able to break the pattern of the women in her family. Her memoir, Heartland, is a wonderful tribute to those women, as well as a proud insider’s look into a culture that is often mocked, reviled and misunderstood, and a searing critique of a political and economic system that entrenches inequality in America.

This episode is part of a six-part ‘It’s A Long Story’ series featuring alumni from our All About Women festival. All About Women returns to Sydney Opera House on 8 March 2020.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joan Morgan

Thu, 06 Feb 2020 02:30:05 GMT

Joan Morgan grew up in the Bronx alongside a growing hip hop movement in the 1980s. Coming of age in the 90s, as hip hop became an international cultural phenomenon, Joan Morgan became one of the first women to write about hip hop for magazines. In 1999, Morgan coined the term “hip-hop feminism” in her groundbreaking book When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost which applied a feminist lens to a nortoriously sexist genre. More recently, she penned a definitive analysis of The Miseducation of Lauren Hill, to mark the 20th anniversary of that classic, seminal album.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tina Tchen

Tue, 28 Jan 2020 04:16:46 GMT

Tina Tchen doesn't remember the first time she met the Obamas. But what she does remember is the ground-breaking policies that she worked on with both Barack and Michelle during their time in the White House. The daughter of Chinese immigrants, Tina has forged a top-notch career as a lawyer, activist and advocate, and has been focused on gender equity issues for over three decades, while raising two kids as a single mother. After #metoo she set up the legal defence fund for the group Time's Up, which to date has raised over $24 million dollars to support the legal cases of women who have been harassed at work. She is a powerhouse, and she knows how to get things done. This episode is part of a six-part ‘It’s A Long Story’ series featuring alumni from our All About Women festival. All About Women returns to Sydney Opera House on 8 March 2020.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Adam Liaw

Mon, 20 May 2019 14:30:00 GMT

Adam Liaw understands how Australian families eat. Emigrating to South Australia from Malaysia in the 1980s his childhood was a delicious mix of international cuisines. Adam’s precocious smarts fast-tracked his academic career, and landed him at law school well ahead of schedule. Moving to Japan in his twenties to work at Disney Asia, he was settling into Japanese culture. But everything changed when he applied on a whim for the second season of Masterchef Australia. Ten years, six books and one snow egg later, he now hosts award-winning SBS television series Destination Flavour. His columns and recipes provide a thoughtful culinary perspective and a solid knowledge of what you should put on the table tonight.

Watch Adam with Yotam Ottolenghi

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Liz Jackson

Mon, 13 May 2019 15:00:00 GMT

When Liz Jackson woke up one morning back in 2012 unable to feel her legs, her life radically changed direction. Diagnosed with a neuromuscular disease, Liz left her successful career in television to become a designer and activist, devoted to improving design for disabled people across the world. Her blog, The Girl with the Purple Cane, and her organisation The Disabled List, brings the unique insights and skills of disabled people and designers into the broader design conversation.

Show notes:

Watch Liz at ANTIDOTE 2018

Listen to her talk 'The Original Lifehackers'

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yotam Ottolenghi

Mon, 06 May 2019 14:30:00 GMT

It’s hard to remember what we used to cook before Yotam Ottolenghi burst into our culinary consciousness. His brand of colourful, vegetable-based food has transformed kitchens and tables the world over. Born in Jerusalem, Yotam was set to pursue an academic career after completing a master’s degree in comparative literature. However at age 30 he decided to move to London to become a chef, and his future was rewritten. His London restaurants have become cult destinations, his cookbooks are on everyone’s shelves, he’s a TV host, he’s one of the world’s most famous gay dads, and he’s one of the loveliest people you’re likely to meet.

Show notes:

Watch Yotam Ottolenghi in conversation with Adam Liaw Listen to his 2014 conversation with Joanna Savill 5 things you don't know about Ottolenghi Win flights to London to visit his restaurant Nopi

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sarah Wilson

Mon, 29 Apr 2019 14:30:00 GMT

As a hugely successful journalist and writer, and the founder of the international diet and lifestyle empire I Quit Sugar, Sarah Wilson might seem like the poster girl for perfect health. Yet anxiety and bipolar disorder have been with her throughout her life and career. Growing up in rural Australia in a big, poor family, she has always been driven to overachieve, editing national magazines, hosting the first season of Masterchef, writing a series of bestselling cookbooks, and amassing a small army of online followers. In her book First, We Make the Beast Beautiful, Sarah gives an unflinchingly honest account of her struggles with mental illness, and how anxiety doesn’t have to be a negative force in your life.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jonathan Drori

Mon, 22 Apr 2019 14:30:00 GMT

Walking through Kew Gardens in London with his family was formative for polymath, writer and tree-lover Jonathan Drori. With a career bridging engineering and broadcasting, he was part of the trailblazing team which created the very first iteration of BBC online, surfed the crest of the dotcom boom, and created a whole lot of very good BBC television programs. Yet the pull of the natural world held strong, and his book, Around the World in 80 Trees, explores the unique relationship of human beings with the trees that surround us, and the ways trees are tipping us off to the health of our societies and our planet.

Show notes:

Watch Jonathan Drori in Three Ways to Save the World

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lisa-Ann Gershwin

Mon, 15 Apr 2019 14:30:00 GMT

What Lisa-Ann Gershwin does not know about jellyfish probably doesn’t count, and no one gets quite as excited about gelatinous medusas as she does. Raised in California by hippie parents, her undiagnosed Asperger’s syndrome marked her an outsider during childhood. It wasn’t until she fell in love with marine biology that she started to find her way. Now an internationally recognised scientist, researcher and author, she has personally discovered 200 species of jellyfish and counting. And despite a life that hasn’t always been easy, Lisa-Ann remains one of the most infectiously joyful people you’re ever likely to hear.

Show notes:

Listen to Lisa-Ann's talk at ANTIDOTE

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kevin McCloud

Mon, 08 Apr 2019 14:30:00 GMT

Kevin McCloud had a childhood where everything was built from scratch, and his home was more like a workshop. So it’s no surprise that the built world eventually became the focus of his life and work. Yet in his earlier years Kevin wore many different hats, from working in an Italian vineyard, studying music, designing sets for the Cambridge theatre troupe the Footlights, owning a lighting design shop and designing the famous ceiling of the Harrods Food Hall in London. While this eclectic mix of experience may have been enough for some, Kevin’s best known as the host of the British lifestyle program Grand Designs. A champion for social housing and sustainable development, he continues to explore ways that architecture can benefit our lives.

Show notes:

Watch Kevin McCloud at Sydney Opera House

Watch our Opera House Grand Designs mini episode

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Marwa Al Sabouni

Mon, 01 Apr 2019 13:30:00 GMT

When the war in Syria was tearing apart their home city of Homs, architect Marwa Al-Sabouni and her husband made the decision to stay there with their two young children, rather than to become refugees. In her memoir, The Battle for Home, she writes about the experience of continuing daily life in a battle zone, and of the importance of architecture in determining the fates of cities. Marwa’s work now is concerned with the impact of conflict on urban environments, and the possibilities that can emerge from rebuilding. She believes architecture can play an essential role in strengthening communities, and in healing her country.

Show notes:

Marwa's talk at ANTIDOTE

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Lynas

Mon, 25 Mar 2019 13:30:00 GMT

Back in his student days, science writer and journalist Mark Lynas was one of the first and loudest voices of the anti-GMO movement. He wrote some of the most-read articles about genetically modified organisms, led protests, and may or may not have coined the term “Frankenfood”. But then he really looked into the science of GMO, and did a full 180. In a world-famous speech in 2013, Mark retracted his earlier views, and apologised for having destroyed GM crops. He’s since worked with smallholder farmers in Asia and Africa who, use GMO to better cope with pests, diseases and droughts. He is still an activist, but now he forefronts science in his activism.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Raj Patel

Mon, 18 Mar 2019 13:30:00 GMT

What do you do when you decide at the age of seven that the world is an unfair place and you need to try and change it? Raj Patel’s career has been dedicated to ending inequality. From studying philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford, London School of Economics and Cornell, to learning about the inner workings of the World Trade Organisation and the World Bank as an intern, Raj was always going to be an activist. His writing about capitalism and contemporary politics is globally influential, and he continues to look for ways to change the political and economic systems that we live in.

This episode is hosted by Edwina Throsby.

Show notes:

Watch Raj in Three Ways To Change The World

Listen to his talk Smashing Capitalism for Beginners

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Barbara Kingsolver

Mon, 30 Jul 2018 14:30:00 GMT

How might literature change the world? American author Barbara Kingsolver has been asking this question through her best-selling novels and essays for years. After a self-described ‘curious childhood’ split between rural Appalachia and remote global locations where her doctor father was posted, she developed an independent spirit and an unshakeable love for the natural world. This passion manifested as activism during her biology degree, but despite becoming a scientist, it was literature than ultimately won out. Although she wrote several award-winning essays and novels through the late 90s and into the 2000s, it wasn’t until her novel The Poisonwood Bible was featured on Oprah Winfrey’s book club that Barbara skyrocketed to international fame. Barbara used her royalties to establish the Bellwether literary prize for socially engaged fiction, and she remains an activist at heart, with a body of work that is a testament to a belief in the power of the written word.

This episode of It's a Long Story is hosted by Edwina Throsby.

Show notes

The Bellwether Literary Prize Barbara Kingsolver at Sydney Opera House The Poisonwood Bible on Oprah's Book Club Barbara Kingsolver on #metoo and feminists today

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mandy Len Catron

Mon, 16 Jul 2018 14:30:00 GMT

There’s a widespread assumption that we are all are better off in relationships, that you can and must find your soul mate, and that true love conquers all. Mandy Len Catron has been aware of the power of love stories, ever since her childhood in rural Appalachia in the American south. As the daughter of a cheerleader and a football coach, her family stories read like the perfect American Dream. But when the reality of life fell short of these idealised, and highly feminised, notions, Mandy turned to science to explore what other narratives might be available. From her research came a blockbuster essay in the New York Times, and then a book, How To Fall in Love With Anyone. Mandy continues to write and think about how the powerful narratives from our childhoods and our culture can be flipped into something infinitely more interesting.

This episode of It's a Long Story is hosted by Edwina Throsby

Show notes

Mandy Len Catron at Sydney Opera House Mandy's New York Times Modern Love column Arthur Aron's 36 Questions to fall in love Elizabeth Brake on Amatanormativity

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

CN Lester

Mon, 02 Jul 2018 14:30:00 GMT

There aren’t many places where we aren’t boxed in to strict categories. For English singer-songwriter CN Lester, music has always provided a safe space where these restrictions don’t apply. Raised in London by a family that encouraged them to think outside traditional gender roles, CN, who is gender queer and uses the pronoun they, grew up to be a committed activist. As well as co-founding the Queer Youth Network and Britain’s first gay-straight alliance, CN has written a memoir called Trans Like Me: A Journey for All of Us: which is a must-read for all trans people and those who want to understand them better. Now, they run a queer performance night in London that has the salient motto: Don’t make assumptions.

Show notes:

CN Lester on 'Trans Like Me' panel at All About WomenBuy their book My Gender Workbook by Kate Bornstein Dykes to watch out for by Alison Bechdel More info about CN's performance night Transpose in London

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rebecca Walker

Mon, 18 Jun 2018 14:30:00 GMT

The daughter of Alice Walker, who wrote the African-American classic The Color Purple, and Melvyn Leventhal, a Jewish civil rights lawyer, Rebecca Walker’s intersecting and sometimes jarring identities were the foundation of her career. In 1992, her article for Ms Magazine ‘I am the Third Wave’ crystallised her thinking around feminism and activism. Its massive success spurred on her work: she established the Third Wave Fund to support young women from diverse backgrounds to pursue activism and leadership. Multiple memoirs, essay collections and a novel followed. Rebecca’s work has always been a response to her personal situation, be it family, identity, becoming a mother, masculinity, race, Buddhism, or a combination of all of these, and she has developed a strong and compelling ethos about what it means to live a feminist life in an ever-changing world.

This episode of It's a Long Story is hosted by Edwina Throsby.

Show notes 'I am the Third Wave' article Rebecca Walker on beauty as resistance On Third Wave feminism Rebecca Walker's bibliography

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kate Bolick

Mon, 04 Jun 2018 15:00:00 GMT

As a middle-class girl from a happy family, Kate Bolick’s life was on track: go to college, get a job, and then, become a wife. But after losing her mother, Kate began to question this predictable trajectory. In 2011, when she was in her thirties and still unmarried, Kate wrote an article that wove together her personal story with an economic analysis of singledom in the 21st Century. It was called All the Single Ladies and it became an online sensation. It served as the catalyst for Kate’s first book called Spinster: Making a life of one’s own. The memoir reflects on the intergenerational lessons and legacies of feminism, and is a call to arms for autonomous women everywhere.

Video of Kate at All About Women 2018

All the Single Ladies article on The Atlantic

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fran Lebowitz

Mon, 21 May 2018 16:00:00 GMT

Raised in small town New Jersey, lifelong bookworm Fran Lebowitz has always done things on her own terms. After getting expelled from highschool, she answered the call and moved to New York City to pursue her dream of becoming a writer. She quickly became part of the legendary New York club scene of the 1970s, hanging out at Max’s Kansas City and writing for Andy Warhol’s Interview Magazine. Her best-selling memoirs Metropolitan Life and Social Studies are brilliant chronicles of these times. Since then, she’s been watching as the world evolves and changes: and whether it’s sexuality, AIDS, activism, feminism, technology or presidents, she will most definitely have an opinion on it.

This episode of It's a Long Story is hosted by Edwina Throsby.

Watch videos of Fran Lebowitz at Sydney Opera House on the Talks & Ideas Youtube Channel.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zaachariaha Fielding (Electric Fields)

Mon, 02 Apr 2018 16:00:00 GMT

Growing up in the small community of Mimili in South Australia, Zaachariaha Fielding always knew he wanted to entertain. Moving to the city as a teenager, he quickly became a part of Adelaide’s music scene, before trying his hand on the reality TV show The Voice. But it’s in the duo Electric Fields where Zaachariaha has really begun to thrive. Crossing genres like soul, pop and electronica, the musical partnership with Michael Ross has led him to massive stages all around Australia and the world, and in 2017 they scored Best New Talent at the NIMA Awards. From intimate soulful odes to uplifting songs in Pitjantjara language, Electric Fields have become an unmissable part of any lineup. This episode of It's a Long Story is hosted by Emily Nicol.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Irish Mythen

Mon, 19 Mar 2018 15:00:00 GMT

Irish Mythen has always had a love for the road. Moving as a kid from the south-east coast of Ireland to Africa and the Middle East, the sights, sounds and stories of these places inspired her. Like any good troubadour, she’s since traveled extensively, gathering tales and meeting people. Since then, Irish has built a strong following on the international folk music circuit, opening for the likes of Melissa Etheridge and Rod Stewart and taking the stage at some of Australia’s biggest festivals like Bluesfest and Woodford. Her powerful voice, paired with a sense of humour and knack for understanding people, instantly wins over crowds wherever she goes.

This episode of It's a Long Story is hosted by Emily Nicol.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Airileke Ingram

Tue, 06 Mar 2018 01:00:00 GMT

Raised between Darwin and his ancestral home of Gabagaba in Papua New Guinea, Airileke Ingram was drumming from a young age. His grandfather taught him traditional techniques, igniting a love for percussion that led to a world tour with the Australian Youth Orchestra. Since then, Airileke has played with some of our most prominent Indigenous musicians, soundtracked a Hollywood film and scored an ARIA nomination. But it’s his passion for making community through music that really drives Airileke. His latest collaboration is Sorong Samarai, featuring West Papuan independence leader Benny Wenda. It brings together a talented mix of musicians from across Oceania, and is a rallying cry for freedom for West Papuans, sharing the unifying message ‘One people, one soul, one destiny’.

This episode of It's a Long Story is hosted by Emily Nicol.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tamika Mallory

Mon, 19 Feb 2018 15:00:00 GMT

Tamika Mallory has been protesting pretty much her entire life. From joining Reverend Al Sharpton's National Action Network at the age of 15 to working with the Obama administration on gun control legislation. As the national co-chair of the Women's March on Washington, Tamika proved that women are at the centre of the resistance against the Trump presidency. The Women's March was the largest single-day protest in US history and worldwide participation was estimated at being over 5 million. The movement sent a bold message to the new US government on its very first day in office that women's rights are indeed human rights.

This episode of It's a Long Story is hosted by Marc Fennell.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shashi Tharoor

Mon, 05 Feb 2018 15:00:00 GMT

Author, politician, and former international civil servant, Shashi Tharoor is a man of many talents. He spent nearly 29 years at the United Nations as a peacekeeper and refugee worker culminating as undersecretary general. He's published 16 books, won numerous literary awards and was named by the 1998 World Economic Forum in Davos as a Global Leader of Tomorrow. Currently, Shashi is serving his second term as Congress MP in India. This episode of It's a Long Story is hosted by Marc Fennell.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Inua Ellams

Mon, 22 Jan 2018 15:00:00 GMT

Born in Nigeria to a Muslim father and a Christian mother, Inua Ellams fled with his family at age 12 to the UK. He spent his youth in London, then Dublin, then London again, and has said that his teenage years were characterised by perpetual crises of identity. Inua spent his life creating art, writing poetry, and going on long walks through the city. While everyone else was sleeping, he was searching for some sense of identity. This episode of It’s a Long Story is hosted by Marc Fennell.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yeonmi Park

Tue, 09 Jan 2018 00:19:39 GMT

Born in North Korea in 1993, Yeonmi Park grew up in a society devoted to ‘Dear Leader’ Kim Jong-Il. As a child she regularly came across dead bodies on the street and spent months at a time without electricity. And people she knew were executed for merely watching American movies. In 2007 Yeonmi and her mother escaped into China, but were captured and sold to human traffickers. Two years later they reached the Mongolian border, and eventually arrived in South Korea. This episode is hosted by Marc Fennell.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amani Al-Khatahtbeh

Mon, 25 Dec 2017 15:00:00 GMT

Growing up in New Jersey Amani Al-Khatahtbeh was a pretty normal kid. Then 9/11 happened and life changed forever. She spent her teenage years navigating growing racism and Islamophobia in America, and at the age of 17 she founded a blog called Muslim Girl. The site gave young Muslim women a platform to discuss all of the things – periods to politics. And over the years, it transformed from a part time passion project to a full time social movement, logging millions of hits every year.

This episode is hosted by Marc Fennell.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Eve Ensler

Mon, 11 Dec 2017 15:00:00 GMT

One evening in 1996 the basement of the Cornelia Street Café in New York’s Grenwich Village came alive when Eve Ensler performed The Vagina Monologues for the very first time. Since then, her play has been translated into 48 languages and presented in over 140 countries with the world’s best stage and screen actors performing it to packed houses. In the 20 years that have passed since the premiere, Eve has gone on to write many more plays and books, start global political movements that have made over 100 million dollars for grassroots groups.

This episode of It's A Long Story is hosted by Marc Fennell.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Janet Mock

Mon, 27 Nov 2017 15:00:00 GMT

An HBO Documentary, two best-selling memoirs, pop culture cover stories, beauty columns, speaking engagements, essays, social media - Janet Mock is doing it all. And at the same time, she's eager to expand beyond her personal experience and share the platform that she has built with others in her community who may not be as fortunate. Janet is arguably one of the most influential transwomen working in media and is using every tool available to her to tell the stories that shift and challenge preconceived notions about what is possible for transpeople.

This episode of It's a Long Story is hosted by Marc Fennell.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kelly-Dawn Helmrich (Camp Cope)

Mon, 13 Nov 2017 15:30:00 GMT

A kitchen in Melbourne's Footscray provided the humble origins for Camp Cope's Kelly-Dawn Helmrich, Georgia Maq and Sarah Thompson. Since joining forces in 2015, the trio haven't wasted a second of their time in the spotlight, using their newfound influence to launch the It Takes One campaign. Aimed at stopping harassment of women at live music gigs, Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich has said of the project: “We have a platform now where people listen to us so we want to give back to other people who don’t have a stage to speak on.”

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Izzi Manfredi (The Preatures)

Mon, 30 Oct 2017 15:00:00 GMT

Since she was a kid, there was never any doubt in Izzi Manfredi’s mind that she wanted to make music. Meeting Jack Moffitt and Thomas Champion at university, the three formed The Preatures. With influences like The Beatles, the Divinyls and The Pretenders, the band achieved international success with the 2013 track, “Is this how you feel?”. Their latest release is Girlhood, a distinctly personal album, which draws on stories from Izzi’s own childhood and adolescence.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nai Palm (Hiatus Kaiyote)

Mon, 16 Oct 2017 15:00:00 GMT

Nai Palm of Hiatus Kaiyote has recently been flying solo, with her debut album Needle Paw soon to be released. In spite of a turbulent childhood, she took solace in nature, in animals and in music, growing into the independent spirit and curious soul that has enchanted such artists as Erykah Badu, Animal Collective, Questlove and the late, great Prince.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Briggs

Mon, 02 Oct 2017 15:00:00 GMT

Briggs is a rapper, comedian, actor, writer and fearless social critic. A proud Yorta Yorta man from regional Victoria, he took out the Australian Music Prize this year as half of the hip hop duo A.B. Original for their debut album Reclaim Australia, as well as appearing in the ABC's groundbreaking supernatural drama Cleverman and becoming a regular on satirical news programme The Weekly with Charlie Pickering.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Brian Reed (S-Town)

Mon, 18 Sep 2017 16:30:00 GMT

S-Town's rich and thoughtful story telling captured the attention of audiences from around the world. Brian Reed, its host and co-creator, originally set out to find a new story for This American Life. Instead, he spent three years investigating the life and tribulations of small town Alabama resident John B. McLemore. The podcast captured audiences with the twists and turns of life in Bibb County, presenting an audio story akin to great literature.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Thordis Elva

Mon, 04 Sep 2017 16:00:00 GMT

Award-winning writer, journalist and public speaker, Thordis Elva was voted Woman of the Year in her native Iceland for her tireless campaigning for gender equality. She believes in ending the silence that still shrouds sexual violence, of which she is a survivor, and sees dialogue as a means of healing. She has long researched the effect of forgiveness in human relationships, an interest which took her across the globe and into the depths of her own heart, resulting in the book South of Forgiveness which she wrote with Tom Stranger.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lindy West

Mon, 21 Aug 2017 16:00:00 GMT

Lindy West’s vibrant humour, refreshing candour and unapologetically trenchant attacks on body shamers and trolls have earned her the admiration of Lena Dunham, Ira Glass, and Caitlin Moran. What can each of us take away from the courage of someone who confronts rape jokes, the fat police, and anti-abortionists - and laughs to tell the tale?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mei Fong

Mon, 07 Aug 2017 16:00:00 GMT

Mei Fong is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who covered China for the Wall Street Journal for many years. Her book, "One Child", the story of China's most radical experiment details the repercussions of the one-child policy. Originally implemented to kerb population growth, the one-child policy resulted in immense suffering and hundreds of thousands of infant deaths. By the time the government announced it was ending the policy in 2015, China had a surplus of 33 million men and population numbers that were dropping drastically.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jessa Crispin

Mon, 24 Jul 2017 16:00:00 GMT

Has contemporary feminism grown so tame, cowardly and irrelevant that it barely challenges the status quo? Have feminists traded liberation for acceptance? What will it take to wake the movement up? In a fearless call for revolution, Jessa Crispin demands more of feminism - nothing less than the total dismantling of a system of oppression.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Janine di Giovanni

Mon, 10 Jul 2017 16:00:00 GMT

As a war correspondent, Janine di Giovanni has spent the last 30 years covering stories in the most dangerous places on earth. She first reported from Palestine in the late 1980's and has covered almost every major conflict area since - most recently working in Syria.

Her book, The Morning They Came For Us, tells a sequence of powerful and harrowing stories about the effect of the Syrian Civil War on ordinary people. Of her work Janine has said, 'I'm deluded if I think that what I do as a journalist can stop war, all I am is a witness, my role is to bring a voice to people who are voiceless.'

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Giulia Enders

Mon, 26 Jun 2017 16:00:00 GMT

Microbiologist Giulia Enders is seriously into guts. So into guts in fact, that she's been the catalyst for a global movement to encourage people to understand their insides and to not be afraid of talking about them. Her book, Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ has sold well over one million copies in her native Germany and been published in over 30 different languages.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Geena Davis

Tue, 13 Jun 2017 07:21:41 GMT

When Geena Davis was three years old she announced to her parents that she was going to be in movies. In fact, the quote in her high school year book was "Future plans: go to the big city and become a star."

Fast forward some years and she's so much more. Fronting the Women's Sports Foundation and launching the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media - to name just a few accomplishments.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Josh Thomas

Mon, 29 May 2017 16:00:00 GMT

You will know Josh Thomas as the blonde-haired, 20-something from "Please Like Me." An Aussie comedy, which has stolen audience hearts the world over. The New Yorker describes the show as having a "tender, finicky quality, a different charisma." That could well be describing Josh Thomas himself.

Raised in Brisbane, he once described himself as fat and unknowingly gay. There is a lot more to this man Josh Thomas.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gretel Killeen

Mon, 15 May 2017 16:00:00 GMT

Some words to describe the woman who sits before you; creative - you've seen her on TV and in theatre. Prolific - she's written more than 20 books. Overachieving maybe as well - she wrote many of them while raising two children, and controversial, but we might save that until a little bit later.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chris Borelli

Mon, 01 May 2017 16:00:00 GMT

Christopher Eric Borrelli is a features and culture writer for the "Chicago Tribune." By his own admission, a bland title. But there's nothing bland about what he writes and how he writes it. I was a typical latchkey kid, he says. But it is still pop culture that shapes him. Today he writes about what for most of us is the mundane, the ordinary. The everyday. With a richness and curiosity that defies the genre.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julie Snyder (Serial)

Mon, 17 Apr 2017 16:00:00 GMT

20 years ago Julie Snyder applied for a job at a little known radio show called, 'This American Life'. They'd only been on the air for a year and she said of her application, "I was incredibly unqualified."

It was there she developed a passion for audio storytelling, and where she met Sarah Koenig. 15 years later the two would start working on a new podcast project in Sarah's basement. The project launched in 2014, it's called 'Serial'.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jad Abumrad

Mon, 03 Apr 2017 16:00:00 GMT

Through a unique combination of audio storytelling, music and soundscapes Jad Abumrad has been credited with creating a new aesthetic for broadcast journalism. Colleague, Ira Glass speaks of his podcast 'Radiolab' confessing "I marvel at Radiolab when I hear it. I feel jealous. I'm a hack in comparison. Everyone else is too."

Son of a doctor father and scientist mother and raised in Nashville, Jad has said of his childhood that "I was always in the weird in-between space...being the Arab kid in a place where there are no Arabs...and conversely going back to Lebanon and being American." In our season two opener we ask Jad, how did being one of the only Lebanese kids in Tennessee set you onto the intuitive path of breakthrough audio journalism?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lionel Shriver

Mon, 06 Mar 2017 13:00:00 GMT

Lionel Shriver is the author of 12 books. Perhaps most famously "We Need To Talk About Kevin", for which he won the Orange Prize. Born Margaret Ann in May 1957, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister, as a teenager, she announced to her family that she would change her name to Lionel. A year later, she announced she would no longer be attending church with them. It has been said she writes mostly about characters who are hard to love. A series of what-if scenarios play out on her pages, troubling, confronting, often uncomfortable. "It makes me happy", she has said, "if I'm being successfully frightening." Dividing her time between New York and London, she's fiercely anti-authoritarian, a self-described Libertarian, pro-Brexit, anti-death, and it seems she doesn't have much time for the watercress and wasabi set who now populate our fast gentrifying inner-city suburbs.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lev Grossman

Mon, 20 Feb 2017 13:00:00 GMT

Lev Grossman is the author of five books, perhaps most notably his series beginning with "The Magicians." Described by almost every critic out there perhaps unfairly as "Harry Potter for adults." Born in June of 1969 he was introduced early to the works of C.S. Lewis and went on to spend years as a teenager playing Dungeons and Dragons. He has a day job as the book critic for Time Magazine. But lives a life engrossed in fantasy -- a passion he now shares with a legion of fans. "I bristle whenever fantasy is characterised as escapism," he says, "I think fantasy is a powerful tool for coming to an understanding of oneself."

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Priyamvada Gopal

Sun, 05 Feb 2017 13:00:00 GMT

Once described as an obscure Cambridge lecturer after a high-level academic spat on live British radio in truth Priyamvada Gopal is anything but. There are few public intellectuals who think and write on the subjects of India and colonialism with as much influence and insight. A reader with the University of Cambridge in Anglophone and related literature she has a Ph.D. from Cornell and specialises in colonial and post-colonial literature. Priya Gopal has said that "since dictators, war criminals and bankers also read Shakespeare we can't claim that literature will inevitably make society more humane and imaginative. But it does engage most people's ethical capacities."

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alok Jha

Mon, 23 Jan 2017 13:00:00 GMT

Alok Jha is a self-described water obsessive, a scientist and communicator; he's made an art form of unpacking some of the most complex questions of our age. A fascination with water has taken him literally to the ends of the earth. A journey to Antarctica in 2013 came close to an unfortunate end. He joins a long list of remarkable science communicators, who try to make the incomprehensible sound simple. He and his wife recently had their first child, and somewhere in between all of this, he's penned the Water Book.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sheila Watt-Cloutier

Mon, 09 Jan 2017 13:00:00 GMT

Sheila Watt-Cloutier is an independent advocate on Inuit human rights. When she was growing up, she wanted to be a nurse and then a doctor, but that didn't pan out very well because she wasn't very good at chemistry, physics, or mathematics.

Watt-Cloutier lives in Iqaluit on Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic. If the Arctic is the world's barometer, says Sheila, then the Inuit are the mercury, and she has campaigned tirelessly to get this message out, to explain to the world that climate change is not just an environmental concern, but very much a human one too. It is work that has made a mark globally and saw her nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jesse Bering

Mon, 26 Dec 2016 13:00:00 GMT

From a very early age, Jesse Bering has been asking questions of himself. Growing up amid AIDS hysteria in Reagan's America, Bering knew that he was attracted to other boys but was terrified into a guilty silence. In high school he took up wrestling in a bid to fight back sexual desire but found only deeper consciousness of his homosexuality. As an adult he has continued asking questions with frankness and with humour, handling sensitive topics like sex, evolution, religion, and morality. His books Perv and Why is the Penis Shaped Like That? Have elevated him to cult hero status. "If I had to put a label on myself," hey says, "it would be a sexual libertarian."

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Deng Thiak Adut

Mon, 12 Dec 2016 13:00:00 GMT

There are people with interesting life stories, and then there are people whose lives read like a screenplay. From being conscripted as a child solider in Sudan to finding a new home in suburban Australia as a refugee where he taught himself to read and to write. Deng Thiak Adut is today a lawyer representing those who, just like him, struggle to find a voice. He's even been at the centre of one of those most modern phenomena, a viral video sensation. Like millions of children who grow up within the geography of conflict his childhood was taken away. "I didn't understand what freedoms I had lost", he says. "I didn't understand how fearful I should have been."

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alicia Garza

Mon, 28 Nov 2016 13:00:00 GMT

Shaken by a court's decision to acquit George Zimmerman over the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, Alicia Garza wrote, "Black people, I love you. I love us. Our lives matter." From there, the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter was born and then a social movement. It is a world away from the life she had growing up with her mother, stepfather, and brother, where they ran an antique shop in Marin County in San Francisco. Standing firmly in the national spotlight today in a divided America, she is a leading voice in what's widely viewed as America's new civil rights movement.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Henry Rollins

Tue, 15 Nov 2016 06:15:00 GMT

Henry Rollins discusses his tumultuous childhood growing up in Washington DC, and how he transitioned from scooping ice cream at Haagen Dazs to fronting punk rock band Black Flag. A turning point came for Henry Rollins about a decade ago, marked by a departure from music into activism and spoken word performance, "For me, music was a time and a place. I never really enjoyed being in a band", says Henry Rollins. "It was in me, and it needed to come out. Like a 25-year exorcism. One day I woke up and I didn't have any more lyrics."

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.