All The Best

All The Best is brought to you with thanks to Squarespace. Do you ever think about how other people perceive...

All The Best is brought to you with thanks to Squarespace. Time to take a journey through the past. In...

All The Best is brought to you with thanks to Squarespace.

Two weeks ago the Daily Telegraph printed a front cover with the confusing headline ‘White Washed’. It alleged that UNSW students were told to refer to Australia as having been ‘invaded’, as opposed to the more palatable ‘settled’.

The Daily Telegraph claimed that UNSW was rewriting history, and its tone suggested that doing so was unequivocally bad. The cover brought the debate about our country’s history to a point of tension.

Last Monday was ANZAC day, and as is tradition we commemorated our war heroes, something we love to do. But there’s growing evidence that we’ve got it all wrong, we’re just not listening to the whole truth.

Produced by Joey Watson

Editing and Supervising Producing by Selena Shannon

Music: 'I Am My Elders Blood' by Ub Ubbo Exchange (Parkes Wiradjuri Language group and Sunfield Records), and 'Ngerraberrakernama (Wake Up)' by Emily Wurramara

Executive Producer: Selena Shannon 

Community Coordinator: Aidan Molins

Presenter: Pip Rasmussen

Image: Flickr user Bentley Smith

"I felt betrayed, because I loved Broken Hill and I loved my house and I loved the town, and I loved the streets and I loved everything about it. And to think that my lovely town was poisoning my beautiful baby was heartbreaking." 

Broken Hill sits on the world's largest known deposit of silver, lead and zinc, which they've been mining continuously since its discovery in 1883. It's a town built on mining. The streets are named after the minerals dug from the earth and the people who live there are proud of their history of unionism and industry.

It's also a town with a lead problem. Over a hundred years of mining and a few years of smelting have scattered the toxic substance into the environment. It's in the dust, building up in people's ceiling cavities, on their water tanks, the lounge room carpet. From there it gets on kids hands, into their mouths, their blood and then their brains, where it leads to intellectual and behavioural problems.

Sometimes, when a town is reliant on a single and damaging industry, a sort of wilful blindness develops. It's called industrial capture.

Producer: Heidi Pett

Music in order of appearance: 

Unknown punter singing ‘Better Be Home Soon’ by Crowded House, recorded during karaoke at the Palace Hotel, formerly ‘Mario’s Place’

‘Tainted Love’ by Ed Cobb, covered by Lead Affected and recorded at band practice in Broken Hill

‘How’s Your Wife’ by Caitlin Park

Daniel Farrugia and Kate Marsden with their children Greta and Avie. They left Broken Hill after they couldn't lower Avie's blood lead levels

Looking over the slag heap from the balcony of the Palace Hotel on Broken Hill's main street

Esther La Rovere is one of the owners of the iconic Palace Hotel. As a local business owner, she's hesitant to speak up about the issue

Dulcie O'Donnell's boys had elevated blood lead levels as children. She's kept their childhood records which she's hoping to present in court

Dulcie blames childhood lead exposure for her boys behavioural problems. She says she's had a hard time with them since they were kids; they were in trouble at school and now in the justice system

Serge, Darren and Donny from local band Lead Affected

The rail line heading west to South Australia

Joanne Boog received death threats for her role in the campaign to have children's blood lead levels tested in the early 90's. She's since moved to Dubbo

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Visit a collection of temporary communities in this week's episode of All The Best.

Her Game

Producer Bethany Atkinson-Quinton dives into the world of women's AFL in her new audio series Her Game. The series unpacks how some people experience their gender in the traditionally hyper-masculine world of Australian Rules Football. Her Game looks at the stories of players, coaches, presidents, supporters and reporters. Featured in this week's episode of All The Best, we hear from a female coach about her under 12 girls team. Life lessons in personal space, strength, and confidence sown with the seeds of AFL.

Producer: Bethany Atkinson-Quinton

Music: Sports! by Young, Tough, Terrible

Twelve hours on the Hell90

On Sydney's Northern Beaches, a genre of local tale exists in the form of "L90 stories": larger-than-life recounts of overzealous community figures, insane drunken interactions, friendships forged and punches thrown. ATB producers Aidan Molins and Matt Kearns wondered, has the legendary and infamous bus created a community of its own? They grabbed a recorder and took to the bus for 12 hours one Friday to find out.

Producer: Aidan Molins 

Supervising producers: Heidi Pett and Selena Shannon

Music: Far Away by Amorph

College life

Living in a university college is often described as the best time of your life. The media on the other hand, usually tells a different story. One of brutal hazing ceremonies, dangerous initiation games and serious mistreatment of women. But what was it really like for the students themselves? How did three people who experienced the same type of community, in their own way, feel about it? We asked three students to paint their own picture of college.

Producer: Selena Shannon

Music: Springtime by Podington Bear

 

Executive Producer: Heidi Pett

Vic State Coordinator: Bethany Atkinson-Quinton

Community Coordinator: Aidan Molins

Presenter: Pip Rasmussen

Photo: Flickr Creative Commons user Stuart Boreham

Sometimes a radio show just needs to bask in the glory of dogs. Because dogs are great. Open your ears to stories of the unbreakable bond humans have with their four-legged pals, and the lengths some people will go to for an animal they love.

Music: '808 and Moog Out' by Podington Bear, 'Dogs Are Everywhere' by Pulp

Excerpt: Youtube video 'Dog Hoards Tater Tots' by America's Funniest Home Videos

Eau d'Wet Dog

Meet David Capra. David is a performance artist from Fairfield in Sydney's West, and Teena is his sausage dog muse. Together they have bottled her scent and made a doggie perfume. But the world may not be ready for David and Teena, as they blur the lines between performance art and real life.

Producer: Caitlin Gibson

Supervising producer: Kate Montague

Music: 'I wonder, I wonder, I wonder' by Eddy Howard 

Safe beds for Pets

Pets can make us feel safe and grounded. In many cases they're integral to our sense of home and people will go to great lengths to protect them - even, in some cases, at their own risk. But it doesn't have to be that way, sometimes people and their pets just need a little help with their exit strategy. In this story we visit a special shelter at the RSPCA that provides a safe bed for pets, only not in the usual way.

Producer: Selena Shannon

Executive Producer: Heidi Pett

Presenter: Pip Rasmussen

Music: 'Showers' by Podington Bear

Image by Aidan Molins

Whether it’s spiders, smelly feet, or maybe even Donald Trump that sets you off, we all know the feeling. Your stomach is churning, your heart is racing, your face is all screwed up and you just want to go: eeearrrghhhhhhh!!!!

Get your vomit bucket ready, because today on All the Best, we’re going feral.  Producer Beth Gibson looks at the various things that make us turn up our noses - and why.

Slurp (Heavens, No!)

For one of Beth's friends, even reading the word is enough. Don't get her started on the sound.

Music: Meetin’ & Movin’ by Merkel & Fritzemeier and Cylinder Eight by Chris Zabriskie

Swimming In Shit

When it comes to things that gross us out, there is hardly a better example than….poo. We poop almost every day, and yet we try to stay as far away from the stuff as possible. We flush it down, cover up the stench, and absolutely do not bring it up at the dinner table. But what if your job was to literally dive into the stuff?

Tomato

Beth's boyfriend hates tomatoes. Actually, Beth's boyfriend is revolted by tomatoes. The little seeds, the slimy texture, the general vibe. But he's making a real effort to overcome his disgust, and to that end has invited his friends around to squish them on him, while he attempts to perform a monologue. Oh yeah, and he's going to try to eat one.

Music: Night Owl by Broke For Free

Pits on the internet

So far we've heard stories of disgust from the disgusted. So how does it feel to be the object of disgust? Beth talks to

Music: Afterglow by Podington Bear and Enthusiast by Tours

Episode producer: Beth Gibson

Supervising Producer: Bec Fary

EP: Heidi Pett

Presenters: Pip Rasmussen and Michael Brydon

Vic State Coordinator: Bethany Atkinson-Quinton

Community Coordinator: Aidan Molins

Episode image by flickr user Tony

Music: Sick Things - Alice Cooper

A man jumps out of a plane. His parachute fails to open. The emergency parachute gets tangled in the ropes of the first. The man plummets to the ground.

Emerging research suggests that those who've had a near death experience are more compassionate, less materialistic and less afraid of their own mortality. Join us as we talk to survivors and those who study them.

Episode Producer: Rachael Dexter

Executive Producer: Heidi Pett

Presenter: Pip Rasmussen

Music: Falcor by Luchi

An episode full of stories that, told at the pub, would trail off with "well, it seemed like a good idea at the time". Like investing a significant chunk of your nation's dwindling cash reserves in a musical re-imagining the life of Leonardo Da Vinci, in which Mona Lisa is the love interest who Leo knocks up. Or one of those relationships where you're so in love that you'd do anything for the other person, and you'd let them do anything - or anyone - as well.

Impermanent Ink

We visit a laser tattoo removal clinic in Sydney’s inner west, to talk to a guy who deals in regret for a living. 

Producer: Heidi Pett

Music: Falcor by Luchi

Nauru and the West End Musical

In the mid twentieth century, Nauruans were the richest people per capita in the world. The money came from the islands phosphate mine, which is essentially seagull poop. But the phosphate began to run out and the Nauruan government made some pretty foolish investment decisions, including sinking a bunch of money into a failed musical. 

Producer: Selena Shannon

Music: Concrete and Clay by Unit 2+4,  You've Never Been In Love Like This Before by Unit 2+4 and Let Me Be A Part Of Your Life, a recording from Leonardo, A Portrait of Love

Wouldn't Do It Again

Laura Brierley Newton has always known that before her mother, her dad had another wife; her name is Susie and they remain good friends. As Laura got older she learned they'd had an open marriage. It was the 70s and that was, apparently, what people did. So she sat down and asked her dad to tell her about it. And as soon as Susie got wind of that, she called up and asked if she could tell her side of the story. Turns out, that's not quite how it went. 

Producer: Laura Brierley Newton

Music: Break It Up, by Patti Smith

Episode image by Flickr user Daniela

Why do you go to the gym? To work out? Because you bought a membership six months ago and it was so expensive you're kind of guilted into it? Do you catch up with friends? Get a kick out of the endorphins?

Or maybe it’s keeping you alive. Maybe it’s one of the main reasons you get out of bed in the morning. This is a story about the members of the Youth YOU mentoring program, held out of a warehouse-turned gym in Hallam in Melbourne’s South-East and run by ex-drug addict and dealer Glenn Munso.

 

Producer: Lachy Moorhead

Supervising Producer: Bec Fary

Photo: Stewart Chambers for the Berwick News where you can find an article Lachy also wrote about the program