ChatterSquare

What does it take to grow in conversation, even in and perhaps especially difficult conversation? Can contemporary Christianity get past the moralism and step into areas of pain?

In this final episode for the second season, Fr Timothy Radcliffe talks to 'Australian Catholics' magazine editor, Michael McVeigh. They discuss questions about Catholic identity, education and democracy.

Timothy Radcliffe is a Dominican friar and theologian. He is a consultor to the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. He was director of Las Casas Institute for Social Justice at Oxford, where he is now on the advisory board.

Timothy is known for his views on things like homosexuality, divorce and remarriage, and the authority of women in the Catholic Church – areas in which he has pushed for open conversation and an embrace of difference – something which has earned him the description of being controversial.

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Who or what are universities for? Are they meant to form citizens or workers? What happens when universities turn to a more corporate model?

Dr Na'ama Carlin joins us in this episode to reflect on these and other questions. She is a sociologist, writer and lecturer based in Sydney. She is also a casual academic, an experience that raises pressing issues about the way universities operate.

Theme: Aces High by Kevin MacLeod incompetech.com under CCBYA 3.0 licence.

In what ways are memory institutions compromised? How do we make sure that galleries, libraries, archives and museums are truly inclusive in the stories they tell?

Nathan 'Mudyi' Sentance is a Wiradjuri man who grew up on Darkinjung country in New South Wales. He works to ensure that First Nations stories are being told and controlled by First Nations people. In this episode, we talk about how he came to this role, why our historical records are faulty, and what it means to pursue the truth about ourselves.

Theme: Aces High by Kevin MacLeod incompetech.com under CCBYA 3.0 licence.

Antonio Castillo is an academic and journalist, specialising in Latin American history, democracy and politics. He has a deep interest in how news is generated in places of conflict. As a journalist he himself has covered the legacies of historical violence in countries such as Colombia and Argentina, as well as contemporary issues like narcotics-driven crime.

Antonio is also a close observer of political tensions in Latin America. He joins us today to talk about the rise of evangelical movements in the region. Why did these groups become so popular? What makes them such a political factor? And what does it mean for them to be politically engaged, in a time when people are looking for alternatives?

Theme: Aces High by Kevin MacLeod incompetech.com under CCBYA 3.0 licence.

Although women have been sidelined from power structures within the Catholic Church, history is replete with their examples of service and leadership. So why aren't these women as familiar to us as other workers in the early church and since? And what standards do they set?

Eureka Street editor Tim Kroenert introduces a special episode, in which ChatterSquare host Fatima Measham addresses these questions. Recorded at a pub in inner city Melbourne, she talks to members of a Catholic community about why women are critical to the future of the Church.

With thanks to St Carthages, Parkville. Theme: Aces High by Kevin MacLeod incompetech.com under CCBYA 3.0 licence.

What does modern slavery look like? What facilitates it? What can be done to protect human beings from such exploitation? In this episode, we talk to the national executive officer of Australian Catholic Religious against Trafficking in Humans (ACRATH).

Christine Carolan has been been involved in awareness campaigns and policy advocacy in this area for many years. She touches on the hidden nature of slave-like practices, our complicity, and the importance of systemic responses.

Theme: Aces High by Kevin MacLeod incompetech.com under CCBYA 3.0 licence.

The Uluru Statement from the Heart was the culmination of a series of Indigenous dialogues across Australia, a painstakingly crafted response to the question of constitutional recognition. It rejected symbolism in favour of a representative voice to parliament, and a process of truth-telling and treaty.

In this episode, we catch up with Thomas Mayor who has been bringing the Uluru Statement to different communities. He is a Torres Strait Islander and the Northern Territory branch secretary of Maritime Union Australia.

He talks about what the past year has been like and what he thinks it's going to take make the vision at Uluru a reality.

Theme: Aces High by Kevin MacLeod incompetech.com under CCBYA 3.0 licence.

Wisdom had distinct cultural value in the ancient world. In Hebrew traditions and in the Old Testament, the personification of wisdom was always that of a woman, known as Sophia. This carried to early Christian texts in which Jesus was held as female divine - before this image was suppressed.

Rev Dr Sally Douglas is a Uniting Church minister. Her doctoral research led to a book titled 'Early Church Understandings of Jesus as the Female Divine: The Scandal of the Scandal of Particularity'.

In this episode, she talks about the qualities that made Jesus compatible with Woman Wisdom, and what made this image so potent for both believers and detractors. What are the implications of reviving the idea of a feminine Jesus?

Theme: Aces High by Kevin MacLeod incompetech.com under CCBYA 3.0 licence.

How does sport elevate and constrain our understanding of what it is to be a man? What do grievances about emasculation tell us?

Luke Ablett is a former professional football player, who played for the Sydney Swans from 2002 to 2009. In his post-AFL life, he took in an arts degree, a year spent volunteering in Vanuatu to deliver a violence prevention program, and since then a number of roles advocating for gender equality.

In this episode, Luke talks about what led him to his current work and the questions raised by toxic masculinity.

Theme: Aces High by Kevin MacLeod incompetech.com under CCBYA 3.0 licence.

Water is an indispensable resource, but also the site of many injustices around the world.

In this episode we talk to Dr Cristy Clark, whose research on water rights in places like Manila, Michigan and Soweto, shows the effects of a distorted view of water.

What leads to these distortions? How can they be remedied? And what happens when we don't act to protect the human right to water?

Theme: Aces High by Kevin MacLeod incompetech.com under CCBYA 3.0 licence.