Aarti Betigeri (@pomegranitaa) takes us from Australia to India and back again, touching on some new publications like Monocle magazine and geographies like Sri Lanka along the way. She also keeps it real about the struggles of working in a media landscape dominated by Murdoch and seeking more rights for Australian freelance journalists. We also talk about her experience through the Australian bushfires.

Aarti discusses getting into broadcast journalism out of university and becoming a TV presenter (8:00), leaving that behind to move to India as a freelancer (12:07), working for Monocle magazine (21:04), moving back to Australia and the freelance scene there (28:53), Murdoch’s influence in Australia (34:48), the Australian bushfires (37:12), her "story that got away" about Maoist-controlled jungles of central India (40:25), writing about a Chinese-backed boondoggle of a port project in the boonies of Sri Lanka (50:28) and takes on the lightning round (57:00).

Here are links to some of the things we talked about:

Aarti’s column on Covid, India and TV news - https://bit.ly/2VY9uQo

Her story on an Indian coffee roaster - https://bit.ly/3faqNFz

Centralia photo book on Maoist controlled central India - https://bit.ly/2WhFuOw

Aarti’s story on Sri Lankan port Hambantota - https://bit.ly/3bZlLKa

Her story about dealing with Australian bushfires - https://bit.ly/2xsd6AS

Her site with story back catalogue - https://bit.ly/3bYoqnb

Australian independent news site Crickey - https://bit.ly/2xrR5lG

NYT's A Royal Instagram Mystery - https://nyti.ms/2YskqYc

Taffy Brodesser-Akner's work - https://nyti.ms/3d8wIcr

Ed O’Laughlin's Not Untrue and Not Unkind - https://amzn.to/2Ss6YzQ

Tom Rachman's The Imperfectionists - https://amzn.to/2xpM8d4

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Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats

From: freemusicarchive.org

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