Long Distance Call

When should you log into a Zoom meeting?

Geraldine logged into a not-for-profit board meeting the other day at the scheduled start time, only to find that her colleagues had been there five minutes earlier.

The women discuss the new electronic codes of conduct.

Also this week, Geraldine reluctantly hands Harriet the dog back to the dog shelter. It's been a tough fortnight.

Also, American politics journal 'Politico' sells to a German news agency for $1 billion.

Thanks for listening!

Join the conversation at the Facebook page "LDC Podcast" or email [email protected]

Inside Politico's billion dollar drama - NYT

Washington Post coverage of Politico sale

Project Rozana

Geraldine gets in a time machine and travels back to her 30-year-old self ... thanks to a new series called "The Newsreader" on the ABC.

In 1986 (the year the TV series is set) Geraldine had just finished up as a newsreader on the ABC. She'd go on to work in commercial radio before a stint reading the news on Channel 10.

Geraldine and Eliza reflect on the TV series and just how far the professional women have come in the decades since.

Also this week, the desperation of Afghanistan.

And Eliza watches a wonderful, joyful movie free of horrible themes! Hooray!

Thanks for listening. Join the conversation at the Facebook page "LDC Podcast" email [email protected]

Please leave us a review on the platform where you source your podcasts.

*The Newsreader

Broadcast News

Kitchen Cabinet -

After the fall: what’s next for Afghanistan - David Kilcullen

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/after-the-fall-whats-next-for-afghanistan/news-story/08e3f61b9550b2a744b89d8536d2995d

The Crossroad Mark Donaldson VC

Carrillo Gantner on ABC’s Late Night Live program

CODA

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10366460/

War of the Worlds Season 2

*Nine Perfect Strangers - Amazon Prime

On All Fronts - Clarissa Ward

The Enemy Within Tim Ayliffe

https://www.amazon.com.au/Enemy-Within-Tim-Ayliffe-ebook/dp/B08YB6V22Y

Geraldine has been wanting a dog for years after the death of her much-loved kelpie in 2014.

Now felt like the right time.

So, this week she adopted Harriet, an 18-month-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

Also this week, the grim situation on the ground in Afghanistan as a resurgent Taliban takes back control of regional cities. Can the local forces protect the capital?

Eliza reads a terrific expose in Good Weekend. She's also reading former Swans' player Brandon Jack's memoir "28".

And the women read through LDC's wonderful correspondence.

Thanks for listening! Join the conversation at "LDC Podcast" Facebook page or email [email protected].

ABC Saturday Extra – David Kilcullen on Afghanistan

https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/saturdayextra/david-kilcullen-offers-solutions-to-the-afghan-fiasco/13484218

‘28’ Brandon Jack

'Jock Zonfrillo's Fantastical Life' - Tim Elliott, Good Weekend

Reaction to the original Zonfrillo article

The Wire

'The Inquiry' podcast - BBC World

'The Intelligence' podcast – The Economist

'The Sit-In' – SBS on Demand

'Grand Designs' - ABC TV

The Olympics has been a balm for Eliza during the Sydney lockdown.

But Geraldine hasn't been quite so engrossed. It's prompted her to ponder ... is competitive drive a virtue?

Also this week, why friendships need intimacy.

And Eliza finds joy in David Sedaris' writing in the New Yorker.

Thanks for listening! Join the conversation at the Facebook page "LDC Podcast" or email [email protected]

Friendships need intimacy, too. Here’s how to build it. By Melissa Pandika.

Can’t focus on a book? Audiobooks, with the right narrator, are the answer? The Sun Herald

The Daughter of Time – Josephine Tey

Slow Burn podcast – Season 5 – The Road to the Iraq War

'Pearls' The New Yorker - David Sedaris

Eliza hoovered up every word of the Financial Review Magazine's recent travel liftout.

And she's clearly not the only one: the magazine was printed on high gloss paper and full of advertising. Which means there's still money in travel, despite the fact that we're not leaving the country, or even travelling interstate.

So this week, Eliza asked her Mum where she'll escape to when the borders open? Geraldine loves travelling to events, like festivals, or special garden events, or themes to explore and research. She doesn't want to sit on a beach.

The women also discuss the role of the family holiday.

And Eliza's need to go back to Beirut to bid it a proper farewell.

Thanks for listening! Join the conversation at the Facebook page "LDC Podcast" or email [email protected]

(Almost) one year on from the Beirut blast

Beirut's port explosion killed their daughter, but rather than return to Canada, they stayed for a better Lebanon

Bibbulman Track WA

The Abraham Path - Israel

Knock Shrine - Ireland

Ephesus - Turkey

Scarborough Beach - Perth

Pianoforte - Mildura

Piano competition in Shepparton, VIC

Four Winds - Bermagui

Bourdain's 'Parts Unknown' in Istanbul

No-one loves living in limbo.

But with all the uncertainty that exists right now, Eliza and Geraldine are training themselves to live better without the normal certainties of life.

Geraldine has stopped trying to forecast when the Covid lockdown may end.

Eliza is drawing on her experience as an expat to live amidst the discomfort of a life (somewhat) beyond her control.

Also this week: what do deadlines do to lifetimes? The New Yorker asks us the question and makes some suggestions. Do you favour the 'Pomodoro Technique' of working, or are you more in favour of time blocking?

And revisiting the 1973 Yom Kippur war through the HBO series "Valley of Tears".

Thanks for listening! Join the conversation at the Facebook page "LDC Podcast" or email [email protected]

What Deadlines Do to Lifetimes? The New Yorker

David Leckie dies at 70

The Pomodoro Technique

Valley of Tears – HBO Max

Incitement

NYT on ‘Valley of Tears’

De Gaulle

The Economist on Macron

Sacred Space – Craig Foster – Compass on ABC TV

Do you need a break from Covid content?

Eliza and Geraldine do.

So this week, they're masked-up talking about everything from the Rwandan genocide to the therapeutic benefits of tapestry.

As well of lots of television and book recommendations.

Enjoy!

Join the conversation at the Facebook page "LDC Podcast" or email [email protected]

Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad, Michaela Wrong

Is nihilism compatible with the moral life? The Minefield, ABC RN

The Formidable Charm of Omar Sy - The New Yorker

Lupin - Netflix

The Spymaster of Baghdad – Margaret Coker

Aftermath – Rachel Cusk

Valley of Tears - HBO

(Note - you can watch this through the 'Binge' TV appp)

Ms Represented - ABC

Cracking Covid - ABC

And We Danced - ABC

Did the virus escape from the Chinese lab?

The lab leak possibility was written off by many as a conspiracy theory at first, but new calls for more rigorous investigation have shone a new spotlight on it.

The US is among the loudest of a growing number of voices calling for a definitive answer about whether Covid-19 escaped from a lab into the Chinese community and then to the rest of the world.

What we do know is that research on SARS coronaviruses was underway at the Wuhan Institute of Virology at the time, leading some to believe that a test or experiment may have gone wrong.

President Biden has asked his intelligence agencies to get to the bottom on it.

And Chinese authorities have vehemently denied the possibility of a lab leak since the beginning of the pandemic, accusing the US of spreading an “absurd story”.

Geraldine had written off the lab leak theory, but has done more research and is starting to wonder if it might be true.

Eliza thinks there’s still a lot of evidence required to back up what she still labels a conspiracy theory.

Please note – this episode was recorded late afternoon on Thursday 24th June. A lot has changed since the podcast was released.

Thanks for listening!

Join the conversation at the Facebook page “LDC Podcast” or email [email protected]

Gain of function research: high risk or high reward? Saturday Extra

The Lab-Leak Theory – Vanity Fair

New Yorker on the Lab Leak theory

This week Eliza and Geraldine talk about work ... and rest.

Will the work from home phenomenon, or 'WFH', continue after the pandemic has gone?

Will it be a help or a hinderance for working women?

And will the ability to properly rest actually give you the edge that ambitious people are looking for in the workplace?

Also this week, are you a caller or a texter?

And Gladwell's latest deep dive into controversial General Curtis Le May and the firebombing of Tokyo.

Thanks for listening! Join the conversation at the Facebook page "LDC Podcast" or email [email protected]

Colm Toibin – What if Ireland had been united?

Burnout: Modern Affliction or Human Condition?

Remote workers work longer, not more efficiently

How to develop a “rest ethic” NYT

The Bomber Mafia – Malcolm Gladwell

Geraldine and Eliza discuss the best way to convince more Australians to get the Covid-19 vaccine.

Also this week: Geraldine shifts on her previous position about the Australians stranded overseas, much to Eliza's relief.

And exploring the Torres Strait.

Thanks for listening! Join the conversation at the Facebook page "LDC Podcast" or email [email protected]

Simon Reynolds on the Grim Reaper AIDS ads

Amelia Lester - Australia is the New Hermit Kingdom