Radical Australia

John Tait has just come back from a voyage to New Zealand's sub-Antartic Islands and his knees are paying for it! When not adventuring, John works with James and Em on The Sporting Record, addressing issues of equality and justice through the prism of sport. The issues that arise are seemingly endless. John and friends continue a long tradition of sport shows here on 3CR and you can catch them for the full hour on Thursdays at 3:30pm. Going back a bit, John started life in Balwyn where his parents were neighbours, but progressed to Essendon and played on the highway when it was being built. He went on a long spiritual journey for many years, delving into the Franciscans and Liberation Theology, among other creeds. He gained a theology degree. He held many positions of work within the broad Catholic Church. At some stage, he left that life behind and now dwells in the Church of Kindness. When not busy with radio, John is a second-hand CD seller with a shop in Essendon. You wouldn't be surprised to learn that E

Jenny Hickinbotham comes from a NAME in the wine industry in Australia, with her father bringing Wolf Blass into the country and seeing the move from sherry drinking to other refreshments like Pineapple Pearl. Her father was what they call a 'plonker'. Jenny grew up in the Barossa Valley and was an outgoing, bossy kid, from all accounts, but she doesn't have that many memories from that time. Jenny started hearing voices in her head from the age of about 27, and years later, with the right support, she was able to trace this back to the trauma she experienced as a young girl on her way home from school. Jenny has done many things in her life, from Teacher's College here and in Europe (hello Earl's Court!), viticulture, creative writing and librarian certification. At some stage, she was also introduced to the world of peer advocacy and met many people like herself. She learnt how to tell her story and listen to others. Jenny has a little red book of stories, song and imagery from her trip by car with her two

In the last of our Summer Specials, we bring you born revolutionary, Nick Southall. He never did stand a chance, born as he was to revolutionary, communist parents in Sheffield, England, where he spent his childhood going to meetings and marches and letterboxing the atrocities of the Vietnam War. Nick says they were 'strange but exciting times'. It was 'politics all the time'. After moving to Wollongong when he was 11, in high school he wanted to bring the school system down and he rebelled, he was a trouble maker. Later on he was a communist party organiser and was with the Out of Workers Union Wollongong as a Full Time Unemployed Activist. Right On, Nick! He also had a life-changing trip to the USSR just before its collapse which makes for an interesting listen and leads us to share news of Nick's first publication by name of 'Disaster Communism and Anarchy in the streets'. It's the little blue book that any good radical activist should have. Thanks very much for joining us on the blower from Wollongong, Ni

We are delighted to be joined by Erwin Bleskadit this week, a veteran of the Free West Papua movement and OG supporter of the West Papua office here in Docklands ever since it opened its doors in 2014. Erwin was born in Sorong, West Papua, and grew up fishing and using his machete in the jungle. All the kids had machetes. His parents grew corn and cassava. After high school, Erwin moved to the capital and joined the independence struggle, attending protests and walks denouncing trans-migration in his homeland. He and his comrades built a big group. In 2003 he came here as a legal student and stayed with the Sisters of Mercy in Ballarat. He studied English and eventually came to Melbourne. He would really like to become a teacher's aide. Erwin has been singing and dancing for years to promote his culture. He is a current member of the newly-formed West Papuan Community Choir. They are something else. The choir is collecting songs from all the land's tribes and are busy performing at events and fundraisers. You

Ann Stanley currently has two 3CR programs on the go and they both touch on important areas of her life story. Ann spent the first 12 years of her life in Glasgow. She was the eldest child and learnt to be a peacemaker early on due to her father's alcoholism. The family then moved all the way down under to Parramatta, perhaps in search of the geographical cure. Soon after, it was off to Franga and she continued to develop her love of English, eventually enrolling at Monash University to study Arts (politics). She has always been interested in what's going on in the world and has always enjoyed radio, being a subscriber to 3CR in the 80's. Ann's early family situation now sees her as a sympathetic and informed broadcaster on Living Free where she can speak to other family members affected by alcoholism. Her other love is permaculture and food localisation. She gets into this on her Sunday show, Local Food Connections. It was lovely meeting Ann and learning about some of her life story. Make sure to catch her s

This week's guest, Rob Wellington, was a total ring-in, but he ended up being a bit of Australian music royalty, so that was nice. Rob directed videos of some of Australian music's biggest hits of the 80s, from bands like The Models, to Pseudo Echo and John Farnham. He also had his own bands on the go in the punk style, from The Fiction to the International Exiles. A busy, productive person. Rob grew up building sailboats and trampoulines with his engineer father and put on a play called 'The Dean Martian Show' in primary school when he was 10 years old. An early sign of things to come. These days Rob loves K-Mart and plays in The Peptides and 90 BPM. He's a St Kilda fella through and through, leading punters on the 'St Kilda Underground Music Walking Tour' with Fed Negroe, who we hope will be joining us in the new year if he doesn't stand us up again. Thanks for joining us for this week's chat, Rob! It was great learning about your contribution to the Australian music scene. Keep up the great work.Check out

We heard about Sean Bedlam through his clever and humorous Instagram account, but we didn't realise he is a fully-fledged comedian, so that explains a lot. He grew up in war veteran Chelsea from '68 owards and reckons he is one of life's great big losers. That puts him in great company! Sean reckons he has been masking his autism his whole life, but he only got diagnosed a couple of years ago. It's helped explain himself to himself a lot. Sean has done everything from photo lab work, to darkrooms, metal work to cancer. He also documents the occasional lefty protest. His latest comedic adventure is titled 'I'm autistic, plus I also had cancer'. Something like that. Check out Sean's Insta for better details at @seanbedlam. He's been documenting the Free Palestine Sunday rallies every single week for over a year, just like our beloved 3CR. He's one of the good ones. Thanks so much for joining us, Sean! Keep up the interesting and irreverent stories from the dark side of the city.Sean goofing it with a Mafalda (3

Alexander Brown joins us on the blower from Wollongong this week. He got his radical history education and began his political activities in the 90's, around the time of Howard's election. Who hasn't heard that before! Alexander has had a strong connection with Japan and its radical activists in his life, ever since he went to high school there for a year. He taught English in Tokyo a little while ago and got to understand the country's radical groups and movement a bit better. His PhD was about radical politics in Tokyo. This was around the time of the Fukushima tragedy. Alexander loves the 'Gong through and through, but he started out life in Albury as a bookworm, a love that has been a great joy in his life. He has a little publishing company called Kembla Books and it was a pleasure speaking with him this week. Keep up your great community spirit, Alexander!alexanderbrown.online I kemblabooks.comAnti-nuclear demonstration in Tokyo, April Fools Day, 2012Alexander with anti-nuclear activists in Tokyo prepar

Tahlia and Felix join us this week from CUDL: the Community Union Defence League. Since 2019 they have been handing out home-cooked meals to anyone who needs one on the steps of the State Library, every single Sunday from 3pm to 6pm. Call them on 0480 039 002 if you would like to help out or find out more. CUDL began life in Adelaide as support to a CFMEU worker, with the community raising thousands of dollars to pay most of their fine. They now have branches in a few states and areas around Australia and support workers' strikes and pickets. CUDL provides programs of solidarity and support within the capitalist system. They would also like to help other groups set themselves up for progressive activities. Tahlia and Felix were great guests and we had fun chatting with them. As young activists, they also shared with us what they have learned about homelessness in Melbourne on Sunday afternoons during their meal times. Keep up the great work, Tahlia and Felix, and look after yourselves and each other.Follow CU

Em Collard is a super talented person who has already won two scholarships in their life to prestigious learning institutions. They have excelled in both sports and music, landing presently at Fitzroy Legal Service doing the important Night Service coordination while studying for their Juris Doctor. That's a law degree when you already have a degree - Em already has a Bachelor of Music degree from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music which they started attending when they were just 17 years old. Em played trumpet there and reckons there was a bit of sexism around, just like they encountered when they were a youth cricket gun. Em hails from Newcastle and was born in 1996. They co-produce The Sporting Record on 3CR, covering sports issues the hosts would generally like to see in the world. Well, they are doing it themselves and winning sports and non-sports fans alike with the issues they discuss, including justice issues in the game. The show is weekly and broadcasts on Thursdays at 3:30pm for the full hour.

What a treat to have pioneering mathematics and statistics whizz, Alison Harcourt, join us on the show this week with her son, Pierre. Alison is 95 years old this year and only recently retired from lecturing and tutoring, a day before her 90th birthday. She really is an Australian treasure. Alison's life started in Colac where her father was a doctor. She remembers the declaration of World War II on a sunny, Sunday morning. She spent some time at Colac High School and boarding school, which was pretty isolating, before beginning her academic life at the University of Melbourne. Then it was off to the London School of Economics where she was pretty much head-hunted to return home to partner with Professor Ron Henderson on Australia's first statistical study of poverty in Australia, out of which came the Henderson Poverty Line, a standard used by researchers for years to come. Alison never had a problem with mathematics, never any difficulty. Apparently, it runs in the family on the female side. Her life advic

David Boarder Giles was born in Melbourne in the year of Reagan's election (1980), but his mother soon whisked him away to Disneyland and conservative California when he was 10. Boo. It took him a while to finally make his way back home. David witnessed many interesting cultural curios during his teenage years in the States, which probably informed his desire to eventually study anthropology and write his PhD about Food Not Bombs when he was an organiser in Seattle. The culmination of these efforts has resulted in a book titled 'A Mass Conspiracy to Feed People'. It features David with his arse hanging out of a dumpster as he dives for a still-good piece of cake. We love it. David has been a bit of a punk and musician, playing in ska bands and the like. He says that Americans have to decide early on how they are going to respond to the ever-present poverty in their country - ignore, blame or get active. David knows quite a bit about homelessness in America, particularly Seattle, and how the city has responded

Jack Brady has done nearly everything there is to do in life, or so we think. From joining the Air Force at 17, to becoming a trainee dive master, an anthropologist and an English teacher in China. Let's throw in a comedian for good measure. Jack was born in Upper Ferntree Gully in 1970, but soon after their parents upped sticks and moved all the way north to Tewantin in Queensland, on the doorstep of Noosa. After high school, Jack worked at Coles and saw heaps of British pop stars do their shopping there. At one stage of their life, they experienced 'The Bends' and suffered an acquired brain injury, taking many years to recover, some of it ongoing. Jack is a non-binary comedian with Aspergers whose PhD is titled 'You Can't Laugh at That'. However, they would very much like you to laugh at their show 'For Rent: Hot Comedy for a Rent Freeze'. It's on at Theory Bar on October 30. Check it out. Jack would also like to mention another group they hang out in - the Centre for Australian Comedic Action. They are int

What a thrill to have the very talented Tia Kasambalis join us on the show this week. If you haven't heard of Tia, you have probably seen his artwork around the streets of Melbourne, in a newspaper, or maybe even on the telly sometime over the last few years. Tia is one of those talented artist-activists that make up the Workers Art Collective. Check it out. In the beginning, Tia was born in '91 Sydney. His family eventually moved down to Melbourne, Mt. Waverley, where he went to school and played state rugby for the 'church league'. Eventually, Tia got into tagging big time, which led to design at TAFE and RMIT. Tia's art practise focusses on union, refugee and migrant stories and portraiture. He is currently painting journalist Anthony Loewenstein for the Archibald next year. Can't wait to see that one! Tia was a happy guest and we really enjoyed chatting with him. He is a fabulous artist and we encourage you to follow his work. Thanks so much for being with us, Tia. Keep it up!@tia_kasswww.workersartcollec

What a gun - Rosie Heselev. At 30, she is the founder of Australia's first national prison newspaper, About Time. The paper is intended to be a narrative shift about prison and prisoners, with the hope of it eventually being completely produced by peers. It is off to a great start, having just released its second edition. Rosie got to learn quite a bit about prison and the conditions therein during COVID, mainly, when she worked on the Prison Advocacy Program at Fitzroy Legal Service. She also learnt a lot from her clients as a duty lawyer at the Neighbourhood Justice Centre. Rosie brings Main Character Energy and a joyous spirit with her and it was fascinating to learn about her family heritage and the formative years of her life. We hope you enjoy Rosie's story and that you reach out to the newspaper to grab copies and maybe help out. Keep up your fantastic work, Rosie.www.abouttime.org.au I @about.time.media

What a delight to have the lovely Sonia Randhawa on the show this week. Sonia is the current producer-presenter of 3CR's Wednesday Breakfast, but she has been around community radio a lot longer, starting up a pirate station in Malaysia some years back when she lived there with her Punjabi father and English mother who met in Liverpool in the 60s. Sonia spent her childhood between Malaysia and England, attending boarding school where activities included flying planes and eventually making her way to Oxford to study Philosophy, Politics and Economics. Sonia went on to working as a journalist for The Sun in Malaysia and completing a doctorate about the representation of women in Malay's newspapers. These days, Sonia works for The Sortition Collective who organise citizen's assemblies for whoever needs them. She was a warm and lovely guest and much smarter than us, we are sure. Thank-you, Sonia!www.sortitionfoundation.org

Chris Phillips is a serious person who is big on personal pledges. He grew up a strong Catholic in Box Hill, but didn't take 'the pledge'. He did it tough at tech school in Abbotsford before moving into a carpentry apprecticeship at 16. At some stage, Chris became a committed union organiser for the Building Workers Industrial Union, tackling poor working conditions, keeping the bosses honest and working hard on the shorter hours campaign. He was married on his 23rd birthday. Later on, during one of his many exciting travel trips, Chris was shot on a highway in New Orleans during the acclaimed Jazz Fest. It's a cracker story and we will let him tell it himself. In 2024, Chris works as a volunteer in palliative care, just because he can. A man of his word is Chris and we thank him so gratefully for being our guest this week. Thanks for the important changes you helped usher in for working people in Australia, Chris! Keep up the staunch attitude.

Daryl McDonald is a man who will live to 100, at least, but he grew up dodging magpies in Geelong. Now he is the co-presenter of Breadline, a program of the Australian Unemployed Workers Union, broadcasting on Mondays at 6pm, here on 3CR. Daryl works on the advice line at the AUWU, letting people know about their rights as Social Security beneficiaries and generally working against the government. He says it is rewarding work. Daryl has had many different jobs in his life, from welding, truck driving, to the meatworks in Donald. Along the way he learnt to drum and eventually played percussion in orchestras and theatre companies when the band wasn't practising in his bedsit in Ascot Vale, a great location to watch the fireworks over the Melbourne Show. Listen in to the great work of the Breadline team here on 3CR and let people know about the AUWU. Thanks for joining us, Darly, and keep up the great work!Breadline - Mondays - 6pm to 6:30pm - 3CR - 3cr.org.au/breadline

Folks may know this week's guest, Justin DeLeeuw, via his gold toilets which have been spotted around Preston and most consistently on Google Maps at 'Modern Art - Not a Fan', a rather interesting parcel of grass on a median strip on St Georges Road. Justin and other assorted activists, including members of the Renters and Housing Union (RAHU), have all this week slept out in gold tents at the site as part of the Housing Crisis Survival Expo - a Homelessness Week event raising awareness and encouraging conversations about creative solutions to the crisis, including squatting and dumpster diving. They have been having good chats with students across the road at the Polytechnic and other assorted locals have stopped by with food and conversation. Justin was born in '71 Adelaide and has a lived experience of homelessness. He is a pointillist tattooist, a portrait painter and recycle auditor. He knows about all the crap people put in the wrong bin! Justin got into the rave scene in Lismore area as an art installa

Why is it so difficult to conduct research on the West Papuan Noken? How does an item of Intangible Cultural Heritage (UNESCO) relate to nationalism? Who exactly owns cultural heritage? These are the questions our guest this week is grappling with in his thesis at the University of Melbourne and his name is Louis Liedel. Louis is interested in cultural heritage when he is not playing futsal with his mates. Louis is looking at the Noken: a multi-functional, knotted bag, usually made of bark and dyed, that is used to store goods, carry goods, a 'walking house' if you will. It was listed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2012. Listeners are invited to meet Louis and celebrate 10 years of the West Papua Office in Docklands this Sunday August 4th at 838 Collins St, Docklands. Entry via the rear. Find out about the West Papua Liberation Movement and meet some great people doing powerful things. Lunch at 1pm, speakers at 2pm, the regular auction at 3pm, finishing off with the Vanuatu Choir and West