Eavesdrop on Experts

Our reporter Dr Andi Horvath is given privileged access to the University of Melbourne's rare books collection, stored in a darkened room kept at 19°C, where books rest upon cushions and magnificent manuscripts and folios can be found. Susan Millard and Andi thumb the pages of great (and sometimes rather quirky) illustrated works, revealing the surprising stories behind why some of the 20th century's most celebrated artists decided to turn over a new leaf and add their art to books and poetry. From Henri Matisse's random rabbits and crayon fleurs de lys around the poems of a battle of Agincourt prisoner, to Joan Miró's distinctive colour blotches, they find that books and art belong on the same page. The Art on the Page exhibition is running from 1 August 2017 - 14 January 2018 at the Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne.

Episode recorded: 7 July 2017.

Interviewer: Dr Andi Horvath.

Producers: Dr Andi Horvath and Chris Hatzis.

Audio engineer: Arch Cuthbertson.

Editor: Chris Hatzis.

Production assistant: Claudia Hooper.

Banner image: Theo Strasser (1956- ) Ghost bones Melbourne - Anajah Press, 2017.

In 2013 the University of Melbourne bought the Germaine Greer Archive, which includes over 150 hours of audio. Archivist Kate Hodgetts has listened to the audio collection in full. She talks us through some of its most notable moments, and how it reveals Greer's more "human, candid side". Much of the content comes from Greer's solo travels around Australia in search of a plot to land to buy, with her audio recorder for company. The recordings reveal a witty person with a deep appreciation for the beauty of the Australian landscape. Other records document her time reporting on the Ethiopian famine, and interviews with prominent female artists.

Producers: Dr Rachel Buchanan and Kate Hodgetts

Consulting producer: Dr Andi Horvath

Audio engineer: Gavin Nebauer

Editing: Kate Hodgetts, Gavin Nebauer and Arch Cuthbertson

Voiceover: Chris Hatzis and Claudia Hooper

Production assistant: Claudia Hooper

5 Things About... is a creation of Dr Andi Horvath

Banner image: Kate Hodgetts/The University of Melbourne

In 2013 the University of Melbourne bought the Germaine Greer Archive, which includes over 150 hours of audio. Archivist Kate Hodgetts has listened to the audio collection in full. She talks us through some of its most notable moments, and how it reveals Greer's more "human, candid side". Much of the content comes from Greer's solo travels around Australia in search of a plot to land to buy, with her audio recorder for company. The recordings reveal a witty person with a deep appreciation for the beauty of the Australian landscape. Other records document her time reporting on the Ethiopian famine, and interviews with prominent female artists.

Producers: Dr Rachel Buchanan and Kate Hodgetts

Consulting producer: Dr Andi Horvath

Audio engineer: Gavin Nebauer

Editing: Kate Hodgetts, Gavin Nebauer and Arch Cuthbertson

Voiceover: Chris Hatzis and Claudia Hooper

Production assistant: Claudia Hooper

5 Things About... is a creation of Dr Andi Horvath

Banner image: Kate Hodgetts/The University of Melbourne

Dr Andi Horvath meets Dr Seona Candy - an academic at Architecture, Building and Planning at the University of Melbourne, and an expert in the importance of urban green areas. As the EcoCity World Summit comes to Melbourne, Dr Candy says our focus on building resilient, sustainable ecocities of the future must focus on its socio-, ecological, and technological systems; because a city is not just about its infrastructure or its technology, it's about its people.

Recorded: 20 June 2017

Interviewer: Dr Andi Horvath

Audio engineering: Arch Cuthbertson

Co-production: Andi Horvath, Chris Hatzis and Claudia Hooper

Thanks to Belinda Young

Image: Green space in Japan/Getty Images

Our reporter Dr Andi Horvath is given privileged access to the usually off-limits to the public Harry Brookes Allen Museum of Anatomy and Pathology. She speaks to Professor Stefan Lohmander, an anatomy expert, about how to decrease our risk of osteoarthritis.

Episode recorded: 24 May 2017

Interviewer: Dr Andi Horvath

Producers: Dr Andi Horvath and Chris Hatzis

Audio Engineer: Arch Cuthbertson

Editor: Chris Hatzis

Production Assistant: Claudia Hooper

Banner image: Jim Hooper

What does it mean to oversee more than 35 million internally displaced and stateless peoples? Erika Feller shares her many years of experience working for the United Nations Refugee Agency and contemplates Australia's current refugee policy.

Episode recorded: 4 May 2017

Interviewer: Steve Grimwade

Producers: Dr Andi Horvath and Chris Hatzis

Audio Engineer: Arch Cuthbertson

Editor: Chris Hatzis

Production Assistant: Claudia Hooper

Banner image: Climatalk.in / Flickr

Environmental psychologist Dr Wouter Poortinga shares how the 5p plastic bag tax in the UK reduced consumption between 70 and 90 percent almost overnight. He discusses how, with a little bit of prompting, habits can change and how we need a plan to stop wasting take-away coffee cups.

Recorded: 8 February 2017

Interviewer: Steve Grimwade

Producers: Dr Andi Horvath and Chris Hatzis

Audio Engineering: Gavin Nebauer

Editor: Chris Hatzis

Banner image: Claudia Hooper and Lep Beljac

Professor Anne Kavanagh, Head of Gender and Women's Health Unit, Centre for Health Equity, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health shares how changes in her own life led her to question our understanding of the health of those living with a disability. A proud activist, Professor Kavanagh shows us that having a disability need not equal poor health - society needs to change.

Recorded: 15 March 2017

Interviewer: Dr Andi Horvath

Producers: Dr Andi Horvath and Chris Hatzis

Editor: Chris Hatzis

Audio Engineer: Gavin Nebauer

Production Assistants: Claudia Hooper and Cecilia Robinson

Banner Image: Pixabay

Why is poo a taboo? How do our lavatory practices affect our health? What is a toilet graveyard? How can mapping our defecation spots help improve sanitation? Which cultures are the most likely to use excrement-related swear words? Come with us as we weave between psychology and science to unpick and unpack the wonders, weirdness and wackiness of one of our most primal activities. Welcome to (slightly more than) five things about poo. With guests Prof Nick Haslam from The University of Melbourne and PhDc Naomi Francis from the Nossal Institute, Melbourne, Australia.

In the evolutionary timeline for mammals, we've not been around that long as a species. Paleoanthropologist and Miegunyah Fellow at the University of Melbourne Professor Bernard Wood asks what does it mean for our planet that we continue to decimate the environment of our closest relatives? Also, find out how looking for the fossils of our ancestors is like a drunk looking for their keys under a lamppost and discover the hominem species you never knew existed...

Recorded: 6 June 2016.

Interviewer: Dr Andi Horvath.

Producers: Andi Horvath and Chris Hatzis.

Editor: Chris Hatzis.

Engineer: Arch Cuthbertson.