Bloom

In this conversation cross-posted from the Oxford Policy Podcast, Nick Fabbri speaks with Lord Michael Heseltine, former UK Deputy Prime Minister and leading figure in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major. In this interview, we reflect on Lord Heseltine's love of gardening, his time at Oxford University and presidency of the Oxford Union, his political career and lessons in leadership, his approach to public policy solutions including privatisation and the revitalisation of Liverpool, as well as Britain, multiculturalism, Brexit, and relations with Europe.

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Lord Michael Heseltine is a giant of British politics, having served as a Conservative Member of the Parliament from 1966 to 2001. He was a Cabinet Minister in various departments in the Heath, Thatcher and Major governments from 1979 to 1986 and 1990 to 1997, and Deputy Prime Minister under John Major from 1995 to 1997. Lord Heseltine later served as an advisor to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Growth under David Cameron's administration, and as a Commissioner on the National Infrastructure Commission (October 2015 to March 2017). He is the founder and Chairman of the Haymarket Group, and runs the internationally-acclaimed Thenford Arboretum and Gardens.

In this episode cross-posted from the Oxford Policy Podcast, Nick Fabbri and Dr. Paul Monk discuss the crises facing the liberal democracies today, and the lessons that the Roman Republic and Greek democracies may hold for the 21st century. We cover Paul's recent papers delivered to the Institute of Law and Strategy, and his tours of Finland, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia discussing the wars in Ukraine, the Middle East, and the broader geopolitical situation.

Dr Paul Monk is a writer, poet, and highly regarded Australian public intellectual with a background in security, intelligence, and consulting. His writing regularly appears in the Australian press, and he has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty, to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilisation in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China.

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Originally published with transcript at: https://www.nickfabbri.com/bloom/paulmonkpoetryscienceandclassics

In this podcast, Dr Paul Monk and Nick Fabbri discuss the relationship between poetry, science, and the classics, and how these subjects inform Paul’s poetry, and what it means to live poetically. This conversation includes readings of a number of Paul’s poems from Red Ochre for the Moon Goddess, The Three Graces, and Wine on the Flames. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilisation in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China. 

Originally published with transcript at: https://www.nickfabbri.com/bloom/paulmonkdefenceofaustralia

In this podcast, Dr Paul Monk and Nick Fabbri discuss Sam Roggeveen’s new book The Echidna Strategy: Australia’s Search for Power and Peace, Australia's geopolitical and security context, the rise of China and its increasing militarisation, what the Australian Defence Force force posture would look like under an ‘Echidna Strategy’, what the economic, political, diplomatic, bureaucratic, and social demands of such a transition would be on Australia, the ongoing role of the United States in the Indo-Pacific, and what the Echidna Strategy might teach us about the need to bolster our defensive or ‘spiny’ capabilities while maintaining attacking capabilities through AUKUS and our current alliance systems.

Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilisation in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China. 

Shane Fitzsimmons currently leads Resilience NSW - the peak disaster management and recovery agency in NSW - as its inaugural Commissioner, following a long and distinguished career with the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS). Shane came to national prominence in Australia through his role as Commissioner of the NSW RFS during the 2019-2020 bushfires, where he led NSW’s response to the fires which raged across South Australia, Queensland, Victoria, and most severely in NSW and the ACT. These fires tragically caused the loss of 33 lives, destroyed over 3000 homes and damaged thousands more, burnt 30 million hectares of land, and caused over a billion animals to perish. Shane’s leadership throughout the bushfires received universal acclaim for his empathy, calmness, trust, care, and clarity of communications as the nation endured unprecedented natural disasters.

Shane’s early life in Sydney’s northern beaches, and how he found his way to volunteer firefighting

His 35 year career with the NSW RFS, the modernisation of the emergency management sector, and the remarkable spirit and humanity of volunteers and staff working in disaster management

Shane’s experience of the 2019-20 Australian bushfire season: its devastating scale and impacts, and the remarkable stories of hope, spirit, and community resilience that emerged through shared hardship

Leadership qualities, including authenticity, humility, care, and communication

The creation and work of Resilience NSW, and how communities are faring amidst the compound disasters of drought, fires, floods, storms, and mouse plagues

How government agencies can ensure that recovery is community-led

How to ensure community groups who are disproportionately impacted by disasters, such as women, First Nations peoples, the elderly, and migrants, are able to participate in resilience and recovery activities

The outlook for the 2021-22 bushfire season, and how organizations can look after their fatigued and exhausted workforces after years of continuous responses to disasters          

Tú Lê is a young lawyer, community worker, and political advocate. Tú recently came to national and international prominence, with articles recently published in The New York Times, in the wake of the Australian Labor Party’s decision to nominate the former Premier of NSW and current federal Senator Kristina Keneally for preselection in the Western Sydney electorate of Fowler, ahead of Tú as the locally preferred candidate. The backroom political decision sparked a national conversation about cultural diversity within our representative institutions, multiculturalism in Australia, the disconnect of the political class from everyday people, and cultural and socio-economic barriers to participation in civic and economic life.

In this podcast, Nick and Tú discuss:

Tú's family journey as refugees from Vietnam to Australia in the wake of the Vietnam War, her early life in Adelaide and Western Sydney, and the importance of her Buddhist faith and community

Tú’s current work as a lawyer and coordinator at the Marrickville Legal Centre, working across migration, employment, and criminal law

Tú’s experience nominating for Labor Party preselection in the electorate of Fowler, and the controversy that emerged after Labor’s national executive parachuted Senator Kristina Keneally into the seat

The importance of cultural diversity in our representative institutions, where a quarter of the population is non-white and minority groups constitute six percent of the federal parliament

“The Bamboo ceiling” in the Australian workforce and across society more generally

Australian identity, what it means to be an “Aussie”, and how we can adopt more inclusive understandings of national identity and history

The electorate of Fowler and Western Sydney more broadly, and what these communities represent and reflect about modern Australia

Some of the political issues Tú would prioritise in Parliament, including a constitutionally-entrenched “voice to Parliament” for First Nations Peoples, climate action, and reforming Australian immigration policy

Originally published with transcript at https://www.nickfabbri.com/bloom/paulmonklyricpoetry

In this podcast, Nick and Paul discuss:

Poetry’s Touch by Professor William Waters and its influence on Paul’s approach to lyric poetry

The ‘addressable you’ in poetry

Reflections on communicative intimacy and the idea of authentic understanding between people in romantic or other relationships

A number of Paul’s poems from his published works Lyrical Epigrams, All The Bad Things, and Delphic Deixis

Paul’s relationship with Claudia Alvarez

Artwork in the Chauvet Caves, and human civilization and beings across time

Paul’s experience of being catfished, and the creative inspiration that this generated

New infatuations, muses and poems

Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilization in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China. 

Follow Paul on Twitter

Originally published with transcript at https://www.nickfabbri.com/bloom/paulmonkoncancer

In this podcast, Nick and Paul discuss:

Paul's cancer journey and the odds of his survival

The development of immunotherapy and other revolutionary cancer treatments

Cancer research and the medical establishment

The examples and books of Jimmy Stynes, Lance Armstrong, and Christopher Hitchens

Reflections on mortality, death, and existential meaning and purpose

The impact of Paul’s cancer journey on his relationships

The 2016 International Cancer Conference in Brazil, and conversations with Dr. David Speakman, Chief Medical Officer of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

Reframing one’s priorities after living with cancer

Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilization in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China. 

Follow Paul on Twitter

Originally published with transcript at https://www.nickfabbri.com/bloom/paulmonkmortalityandmeaning

In this podcast, Nick and Paul discuss:

The commemoration of the dead through religious rituals, such as the Kaddish

Representations of mortality, death, and dying as expressed in poetry and literature

Why death exists in the world at all, as a function of life and natural selection

The intersection of the biological process of death and religious rituals around and for death

Concern for the dead in classical works such as The Iliad and Antigone

Paul’s journey with metastatic cancer and contemporary literature on mortality

Reviewing one’s priorities after confronting one’s mortality

Reflections on death and dying through everyday encounters with our built environment, such as cemeteries

Oliver Sacks and gratitude for the gift of life and consciousness

Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilization in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China. 

Follow Paul on Twitter

Originally published with transcript at https://www.nickfabbri.com/bloom/paulmonkonchina

In this episode, Nick and Paul discuss:

Paul’s book Thunder From the Silent Zone, and four possible futures for China

The history and legacy of Hu Yaobang, the "conscience" of the Chinese Communist Party

The history of democracy in China, and the possibility of political reform or democratisation

Xi Jinping and his designs on Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Tibet, and Taiwan

China’s rapid militarisation under Xi, and implications for Australia and the regional order

Exercises in thinking: adopting the world view and perspectives of Chinese communist nationalists in regard to the current geopolitical order

The Thucydides Trap, and the prospect of conflict between China and the United States

The COVID-19 pandemic and China

The diplomatic and trade war between China and Australia

Literature on the implications of China’s rise

Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilization in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China. 

Follow Paul on Twitter