Eavesdrop on Experts

The European experiment has been both revolutionary and successful, but having lurched from one crisis to the next in recent years does the future look as bright? Shaken by financial crises, Brexit and growing numbers of refugees, many - including US President Donald Trump - have questioned whether the European experiment is doomed to fail. In this episode Professor Loukas Tsoukalis from the University of Athens explains why he believes the EU will survive the current crisis, and what policies will help.

Episode recorded: 23 October 2017

Interviewer: Steve Grimwade

Producers: Dr Andi Horvath and Chris Hatzis

Audio engineer: Gavin Nebauer

Editor: Chris Hatzis

Production assistant: Claudia Hooper

Banner image: Elfleda/Flickr

How can music and food help promote healing? In this episode we explore how music transcends barriers to bring diverse peoples together through a common language. We head to a performance by Associate Professor Adrian Hearn's band, Suns of Mercury, at the Festival of Nations.

Episode recorded: 25th October, Festival of Nations 4-5th October 2017

Interviewers: Dr Andi Horvath and Claudia Hooper

Producers: Chris Hatzis, Claudia Hooper and Dr Andi Horvath

Editor: Chris Hatzis

Audio engineer: Arch Cuthbertson

Banner image: Pixabay

How do you produce a seriously juicy steak? What's the difference between brewing a lager and a pale ale? How can students produce award winning wine? What role do drones have in the future of farming? In this special episode of Eavesdrop on Experts, the team hits the road to meet the agriculture experts based in the rural town of Dookie in northern Victoria, where the University of Melbourne has a campus. They bring a unique mix of expertise from the chemical molecules responsible for flavour to a knowledge of the history of age-old food practices, and explain how these can be reinvented for the 21st century and a more sustainable future.

Recorded: 18 October 2017

Interviewers: Dr Andi Horvath and Claudia Hooper

Producers: Dr Andi Horvath, Chris Hatzis and Claudia Hooper

Editor: Chris Hatzis

Audio engineer: Arch Cuthbertson

Banner image: Claudia Hooper/University of Melbourne

How do plants sense and respond to the world around them - and do they listen when we talk? Dr Kim Johnson shares how an early fascination with plants' movements led to studying how they adapt to their environments. Far from being passive organisms, plants are constantly sensing and responding to their surroundings, including us. She discusses how plants have contributed to scientific understanding of processes like RNA silencing and how the mechanisms that give plants their shape can help grow better crops.

Recorded: 24 October 2017.

Interviewer: Dr Andi Horvath.

Producers: Dr Andi Horvath and Chris Hatzis.

Editor: Chris Hatzis.

Audio engineer: Chris Hatzis.

Production assistant: Claudia Hooper.

Banner image: Claudia Hooper/University of Melbourne.

How can genome sequencing help not only cancer treatment, but also its prevention? Two men who are looking to answer that very question, Professor Sean Grimmond and Dr Peter Campbell, discuss their research journeys and the challenges that lie ahead.

Recorded: September 18, 2017

Interviewer: Dr Andi Horvath

Producers: Dr Andi Horvath and Chris Hatzis

Audio engineer: Gavin Nebauer

Editor: Chris Hatzis

Production assistant: Claudia Hooper

Banner image: Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre/ Claudia Hooper and Lep Beljac, University of Melbourne

The best mechanisms for change are debate, dialogue and discourse and yet this is remains something we struggle to do. Professor Joseph Lo Bianco says we need to explore new models for public discussion that don't silence controversial words, opinions and views. Coming from an Italian migrant family, Professor Lo Bianco experienced first-hand the kind of discrimination and hostility that exists in situations where distrust and fear of the Other is rife. Whilst Australia has, thankfully, moved forwards from the time when the public use of languages other than English were looked down upon, prejudices still exist and need to be combatted. Professor Lo Bianco reflects on his work in South East Asia, where he facilitates dialogue in some of the most challenging and seemingly intractable of violent conflicts. He shares how important it is to protect Indigenous languages and ensure mother-tongue education opportunities exist.

Episode recorded: 14 September 2017

Interviewer: Steve Grimwade

Producers: Dr Andi Horvath and Chris Hatzis

Audio engineer: Gavin Nebauer

Editor: Chris Hatzis

Production assistant: Claudia Hooper

Banner image: Pixabay

How can a teaspoon of nanoparticles have a greater surface area than a football field? It's not a silly riddle, but the reality of the burgeoning field of nanodynamics, which among endless applications, could revolutionise medicine and tailor cancer treatments. PhD student Matt Faria shares his commitment to discovering more about these particles' potential and how his dedication to experimentation lead him to jump out of a plane. Low-gravity isn't cheap, and without access to the international space station Matt and his colleagues took it upon themselves to skydive from 14,000 feet, testing how synthetic crystals form in zero gravity.

Episode recorded: 12 August 2016

Interviewer: Steve Grimwade

Producers: Dr Andi Horvath and Chris Hatzis

Audio engineer: Arch Cuthbertson

Editor: Chris Hatzis

Production assistant: Claudia Hooper

Banner image: Pixabay

More and more parents are taking discrimination cases to court, alleging that schools are not making adequate provisions to accommodate their children's learning needs. Why do so many feel the need to resort to such extreme measures? Teacher and researcher Dr Shiralee Poed says it's really important that every child can go to their neighbourhood school, and it is possible for teachers to cater for a diverse range of learning needs. She shares her thoughts on the controversial My School ranking website, the learning interventions that work and her advice for aspiring teachers.

Episode recorded: 13 October 2016

Interviewer: Steve Grimwade

Producers: Dr Andi Horvath and Chris Hatzis

Audio engineer: Arch Cuthbertson

Editor: Chris Hatzis

Production assistant: Claudia Hooper

Banner image: Pixabay

In the wake of President Trump's election, Washington Post op-ed columnist Dana Milbank questions whether the media should have given him so much free publicity and the role of journalists in an age where people can filter out the news they don't want to hear. He also questions the ethics of Wikileaks and muses on the misuse of the term 'fake news' - particularly by President Trump - to diminish unflattering coverage. Is propaganda on the rise and can journalists do anything about it?

Episode recorded: 29 June 2017

Interviewer: Steve Grimwade

Producers: Dr Andi Horvath and Chris Hatzis

Audio engineer: Arch Cuthbertson

Editor: Chris Hatzis

Production assistant: Claudia Hooper

Banner image: Pixabay

In this bonus episode, we head down to Newell's Paddock in Melbourne's inner-west to see the local community rejuvenate the former industrial site. We uncover the paddock's murky past as a former night soil dump, typhoid hot spot and abattoir. Speaking with residents, academics, teachers and students, we see how efforts to engage the community in urban renewal are are contributing to the site's restoration (and attracting many native waterbirds along the way).

Recorded: 28 June 2017

Interviewer: Claudia Hooper

Producers: Claudia Hooper and Dr Andi Horvath

Audio engineer: Chris Hatzis

Editor: Chris Hatzis

Banner image: Claudia Hooper/the University of Melbourne

Friends of Newell's Paddock and Friends of Maribyrnong Valley are planting native shrubs in the area in lieu of gifts to the over 1000 delegates who attend the Ecocity World Summit 2017.