Cleopatra's Bling Podcast

Permaculture is the development of agricultural systems that are sustainable and self-sufficient.

Anna, more widely known as "The Urban Nanna", is a former primary school teacher with a horticultural background. Nowadays, rather than a stuffy building, the great outdoors is her classroom. Anna teaches traditional ways of crafting, preserving, and cooking, all the while living in the precarious rental market of suburban Australia. Olivia spoke with Anna at her wifi-less home, to discuss how foraging goes far beyond food, and the reviving of cultural traditions involving connection to Country and community. Listening to this episode will make you see the urban world around you in a completely new way, from using roses for flavour, to hawthorn for lowering blood pressure, wild violet and cherry blossom for infused sugars, and pine mushrooms for pizzas, stocks, and risottos.

We welcome new co-host James to the Podcast, who will join for regular chats that will give you a laugh as you cook or commute. CB founder and designer Olivia, and musician James are good friends with a wealth of stories and banter between them.

They'll also provide insight into the historical backgrounds of some of the world's most famous materials, places, and objects that historically connect us to the jewels we wear today.

This week we've got Big Men, brain goo, and a treasure map of precious minerals told through myth. It's the history of the gemstone jade, which features heavily in all Cleopatra's Bling collections.

Plus: Listener questions!

Leo Kretzenbacher views language as a collective artwork created by all people who use it. He was born in Austria, grew up in Germany and has been teaching and researching in the German Studies Program of the University of Melbourne's School of Languages and Linguistics for over a quarter of a century.

While Leo has done literary and cultural studies as well, his main interest is in linguistics. Collectively he and Olivia speak over 15 languages. They discuss the best ways to learn a new language, frankness vs politeness in different languages, proxemics or "closeness" in intercultural communication.

Imagine trying to feed one of the world's most famously foodie cities in the middle of a pandemic. With COVID-19 forcing us to cover our mouths, that's exactly what Pat Nourse with the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival somehow managed to do. Pat and his team not only found creative ways to bring incredible food to people, he also delved deeper into writing about food once more.

Against a backdrop of chirping native birds Olivia talks with the one man who knows more about the world's best restaurants than just about anyone. They share their favourite eateries with each other (and us!), discuss how the table was a place to put down our weapons and lean across cultures, and give insights into what defines Australian cuisine.

Check out the MFWF March edition (March 25-9 April). Tickets on sale in February via mfwf.com.au.

Mentioned this episode:

• Cacom Bánh Mì Bar
• Miksa Adana
• City Wine Shop
• Romeo Lane
• Lee Ho Fook
• Cumulus Inc.
• Showtime Barbecue
• Public Wine Shop
• Very Good Felafel
• Etta
• Anchovy
• Gerald's Bar
• Jayden Ong Winemaker

Cleopatra's Bling brings you some insights into one of the ancient deities that has inspired our collections, Goddess of Love and War, Inanna. With each episode in this new historically oriented series, we give an insight into the folkloric and cultural practices that inspire our artisanal jewellery collections.

Join us as we describe the various symbols of this creative and destructive goddess, including the leashed lion and the horned helmet.

Plus, listener questions. Olivia answers the query, "Where and how to start when founding your own jewellery line?"

Ask yours, with the subject line "Podcast Question", here.

Cleopatra's Bling Podcast was produced by Zoltan Fecso. Original music by Cameron Alva. Research and scripting of this episode by the Cleopatra's Bling team. You can discover Cleopatra's Bling designs, here.

Julie Marr is the founder of Everyone at the Table or "EAT", an adventuring Canadian who started a new chapter of her life after renovating a cooking studio in Altamura, Italy. She simultaneously created a new home for herself in Oria which lies in the country's boot heel. There, with her partner Francesco, on land lush with pears, olives, figs, pomegranates and almonds she makes pasta by hand, educates herself about the local traditions, and hosts magnificent dinner parties.

Olivia and Julie reminisce on their lives spent under the Italian sun, with the EAT founder sharing cinematic stories of the emotional and transformative journey of moving abroad, and what it has meant to her to live in this diverse, Mediterranean culture.

Cleopatra's Bling Podcast was produced by Zoltan Fecso. Original music by Cameron Alva. You can discover Cleopatra's Bling designs, here.

Cleopatra's Bling brings you the story of a seven headed serpent, known to the Sumerian peoples as Muš-saĝ. With each episode in this new historically oriented series, we give an insight into the folkloric and cultural practices that inspire our artisanal jewellery collections.

Join us on a journey to ancient Mesopotamia, where the God of harvest and war - Ninurta - is worshipped. Learn of the reason why he wields a staff wrapped in a powerful beast, and what he symbolised to the Sumerians.

Plus, listener questions. Ask yours, with the subject line "Podcast Question", here.

Cleopatra's Bling Podcast was produced by Zoltan Fecso. Original music by Cameron Alva. Research and scripting of this episode by the Cleopatra's Bling team. You can discover Cleopatra's Bling designs, here.

Kalifa Doucet of The Earth Doula is a birth and postpartum Doula who focuses "on the spiritual connection to mother and baby", working to facilitate the kind of experiences that pregnant people would like to have during birth and its aftermath. Originally based in New York, Kalifa now works with families in Melbourne, providing not only birth and postpartum care and advice, but also delivering nutritious vegan meals, lactation cookies and tea, and soothing and empowering massages. Her clients describe her as a "trusted best friend" and a "radiant sun, full of joy and peace".

Olivia and Kalifa met on Olivia's birthday earlier this year, in the midst of a chilly Melbourne day, to discuss all things birth and pregnancy over coffee.

Cleopatra's Bling Podcast was produced by Liam Gough. Original music by Cameron Alva. You can discover Cleopatra's Bling designs, here.

Cleopatra's Bling brings you the story of a Goddess of the Yakut People: The Mother of Cradles, Aisyt. With each episode in this new historically oriented series, we give an insight into the folkloric and cultural practices that inspire our artisanal jewellery collections.

Join us on a journey to frozen tundras studded with diamonds, where the locals drink reindeer milk, and worship the a deity said to have emerged from the great World Tree.

Plus, listener questions. Ask yours, with the subject line "Podcast Question", here.

Cleopatra's Bling Podcast was produced by Zoltan Fecso. Original music by Cameron Alva. Research and scripting of this episode by the Cleopatra's Bling team. You can discover Cleopatra's Bling designs, here.

Julia Busuttil Nishimura is a Melbourne-based cook, working with seasonal produce to create amazing family meals. Her cooking is influenced by her Maltese upbringing and the time she has spent in Tuscany. As a writer her creations have made their way into thousands of homes in Australia and around the world, via the magazines she contributes to and her recently released cookbook A Year of Simple Family Food. Her latest cookbook, Ostro, has been praised by Nigella Lawson as "life-enhancing".

Olivia and Julia meet at the cook's stunning North Fitzroy home in Melbourne to discuss gathering around food, and celebrating the simple pleasures of life through creating recipes that make basic, seasonal produce sing.

Cleopatra's Bling Podcast was produced by Zoltan Fecso. Original music by Cameron Alva. You can discover Cleopatra's Bling designs, here.