Radio FILEF

In today's episode...We begin with Margherita giving us un update on the AFSA convergence that happened last month and all the organisations that took part in the weekend of planning, sharing and world building. Lot's of great initiatives took form like the Land Trust which takes unusused land in people's possession and allocates it to be used by First Nations, Agroecological growers and takes it out of the private market. Great org doing great things that you can keep an eye on here. We then did a comprehesive coverage of the mobilizations of the 30th of Oct general strike that was launched by the Unione Sindacale di Base and CALP (The autonomously organized dock workers of Genoa). We heard voices fromt the various locations and at various times during the day, who all represent different sections of the struggle that filled the streets of Italy and much of the world on the 30th. Courtesy of Radio Onda D'Urto we collected a bunch of these voices which you can find more of here. Lot's of struggles coalesced into the streets as the movement for housing justice marched side by side workers, students and other cultural and social movements. We participated on the streets of Naarm/Melbourne in front of the state library. We translated our speech into Italian for the radio but you can listen to the speech in english here.Before going to our interview with Kevin Bracken retired member of the MUA we thought we would contextualize the discussion by reading a translated editorial by Chief Economist for The Australia Institute Greg Jericho who comments on the Reserve Bank of Australia's latest annoouncements and the media carnival that surrounds them. You can read the original piece here.This set the tone for our discussion with Kevin who was representing the MUA on our microphones as we discussed what the structural challenegs that face union organising in today's age, what the trial by media of the CFMEU has done to organizing capacity and the human right to strike, to be able to withdraw your labour when conditions are unjust. We touch on the history of political unionism in Australia and the MUA statement in solidarity of the call for a general strike.Songs played in this episode:Francesco Pelosi - Barricate In Ogni PaeseDr. Drer & CRC Posse - Che Colpa Abbiamo Noi

In this weeks episode....Elections Around The World:Big political moments are happening around the world and we are joined by Firenze based international relations student Tommaso Carlini to break down together some of the geopolitical situations happening right now. The elections in Israel are still being counted with no clear winner in sight but with an overwhelming display of barbaric rhetoric from both the Netanyahu and Anti-Netanyahu camps, a small but vocal minority coalition of progressive Palestinian and Israeli voices exists but with no real tangible hope of commanding decisive power as the Likud paerty still dominates the polls at the moment. In Brazil President Lula has been elected for a 4th non consecutive term and causing an upset to the new Monroe Doctrine that the US regime has been pushing in influencing the turn to right wing agendas across South America. In what was an incredible display of popular democracy which saw people traverse flooded rivers in dingys in order to cast their votes we reflect in studio on what seeking victories abroad without taking into consideration the mass movements and the conditions they are organizing under and what we can learn from them in our struggle to build a popular movement here. We close out the section by discussing about the Serbian student movement and the elections that were just held which unseated the outgoing Vucic presidency that had presided over the country over the last 12 years. The last decade has seen a broad move to liberalize large sections of the country and lobby to join the EU. These and other policies have brought the cost of living to dramatic levels in the countries and the discontent reached fever pitch when the roof of a train station collapsed injusring and killing a number of people which precipitated the already boiling under the surface tension around political corruption. This erupted this year in a horizontal movement which collected many different social realities and brought about the sudden political upheaval, the outcomes remains to be seen as the movement has yet to produce tangible cohesive political and economic policies. When we talk about the conditions for protests worlwide we can't help but bring that lens home and reflect on the conditons here and why many people are turning to Divided (One) Nation for answers. The almost entireity of the political specturm has betrayed the interests of the Australian people for those of the big end of town, we need to build a strong movement that can counteract this slide to the right and force the political establishment to respond to the will of the people. Tommaso reflects on the experience of the Blocchiamo Tutto movement from las tyeaer that was launched by CALP (The Genova Dock Workers) and USB (Unione Sindacale Di Base) and brought the nations problems to bear in an Italian society where people are struggling to put food on the table, support their families and where the government cuts spending to social services and increases spending for war profiteering. The latest call to action has been widely responded to by the student movement and various other social movements in Italy and the State has responded by finding a scapegoat in the form of a second generation Italian student who the State chose to pin the entire responsibility of the movement on. This not only highlighted the deepo racism with which Meloni's far right government built its campaign on but also the lack of political will to address citizens concerns. We hear about Yousef Sihers case from the microphones of Radio Onda D'Urto as Samed from GPI (Giovani Palestinesi Italiani) talks about their response to the governments arrest of Yousef and the media narrative around "Maranza", a derogatory term used to describe young second generations italians from largely SWANA diasporas. Matthew reads a translated statement from Potere Al Popolo regarding the media narrative around Yousef's case and an appeal to everyone to join on the mobilizations of the 30th of October, you can read the original here. We discuss the media narrative that frames protests both here and in Italy and using a translated excerpt from Amy Remeikis article on Deepcut we discuss the slide to the right from many right wing labour state governments here from the Minns government crackdown of peaceful prostests against the visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog to increasing repression in Victoria. You can read the original article here. We close out the program by hearing again from the microphones of Radio Onda D'Urto but this time speaking is Guido Lutrario from the National Executive from USB (Unione Sindacale di Base) about what the original call for the general strike on the 30th of October was and how the movement has developed since then. We in the studio offer our analysis on the situation on the ground from the union and student movement and the build up to the 30th of October and how you can get invloved by getting down to the State Library on Friday!Events coming up:Friday 30th October - Solidarity with the general strike called by the dockworkers, 5pm @ State Library of VictoriaSaturday 31st October - Francesco Fantin, Antifascism and Civilian Internment in Australia during WW2, 2pm @ Democritus 583 High St, Northcote. Sunday 8th November - Never Again, No Civilian Internment, 11am @ Murchison Ossario Songs played on this episode:C.S.I - Unita Di ProduzioneC.S.I - Cupe Vampe

Joe Toscano Interview IIWe talk to Dr. Joe Toscano about the upcoming event we have organised and the WW2 history that surrounds it. This period saw many thousands of civilian and Prisoner of War internments. Francesco Fantin, an Italian antifascist and anarchist migrant worker represents a kind of migration that goes often unsung and unremembered. Talking about this period is not just rehashing history its uncovering a radical subjectivity for which migrants can live on this land through.The event is on Saturday the 31st October: Join us 2pm at Democritus House, 583 High Street, Northcote with Dr. Joe Toscano, to learn about an important and often forgotten chapter in radical Australian migrant history.This event is a lead up to the memorial at the Italian Ossario at Murchinson, Victoria that will happen on the Sunday 8th November, where the collected remains of Italian internees are located.Join us to learn more about all this and more on the Saturday 31st October and the Sunday 8th November.You can find more details on our instagram here.  Sonia Di Iorio Interview IIFriend of the show and Italo-Australian comedian Sonia Di Iorio who comes in to talk to us about her shows during the Melbourne International Comedy Fest and to promote her upcoming show on November 7 at the Williamstown Italian Social Club. She’s put together a show with a whole bunch of other hyphenated Australians to shake the foundations of boring ethnic comedy!You can find tickets here.Student and Workers Protests in Italy IIThe continuing wave of protests in Italy is increasing and building broader solidarities, we hear from the voices of various students in the streets and student organizers about the problems they face, with roofs falling on their heads and not enough resources and the solutions in the building of a better world that they want to contribute to.We begin this section by contextualizing it with a OSA’s (Alternative Student Opposition, a radical student movement) Statement from the 2nd September 2026, you can find the original here.We then hear a collection of voices from the streets and in interviews with Radio Onda D’Urto, you can find more here.30th Oct General Strike in Italy IIThe call for mobilization on the 30th of October for has already been a historic moment in Italian history which has just this week seeing the confluence of the student movements protest join up with agricultural and transport workers movement. To highlight the various perspectives and realities that are adhering to this historic date and building on the solidarity that was generated last year in the historic Blocchiamo Tutto (Block Everything) protests after Israel has attacked in international waters hundreds of vessels that were involved in the Global Sumud Flotilla. Courtesy of the always incredible Radio Onda D’Urto we hear from the legendary USB (Unione Sindacale di Base) first before closing out the the section hearing from Samed from Giovani Palestinesi Italiani (Young Palestinian Italians).You can listen to more here.The period of history we are living through is dramatic, with seismic shifts happening all around us, we need now more than ever to build a real grass roots social and cultural movement and in order to do this we have talk to each and encourage debate and participate in political movements and unions and where there are none create new realities, let’s pull up our collective sleeves and get to work!Songs on today's episode:BaLotta Continua - La Violenza (La Caccia Alle Streghe)Errico Canta Male - Blocchiamo Tutto

In this weeks episode...This is week a US comrade Joe Sciorra passed away and our very own Zio Joe gives a touching memorial to long distance activist that was fighting the good fight. You can read more about the work Joe was carrying out here. The Victorian government has recently released plans for the Preston market giving the community only 2 weeks to respond to them. The plans involve 14 storey apartment towers surrounding the market and the demoliton of the fruit and veg sheds with the tepid promise that they will be rebuilt in some form. We speak to community activists Laura and Kim who are part of the Save The Preston Market campaign. You can read more about the plans here. Make sure to put in a submission here. and support the documentary The People's Market here. Oct 7 Anniversary with Giovanna Stanganello:It's 3 years since the Gaza Ghetto uprising and 3 years of genocide, we listen to poetry discuss the related news, the decay of international institutons like the UN, hear the words of Palestinian poets read by communist jewish playwrights and the words of Francesca Albanese giving a speech the Italian parliament. The 10th of October 2026 has been called as an international day of action. Get out there and make every day the 10th of October!

In this weeks episode... The team recaps the new reforms that the Meloni governemt pushed through parliament recently, effectively banning religious prayer wear being worn in schools. Burkas and Niqabs banned. More worrying still a 30% foreign language as a first language students in Italian schools cap will be implemented in some way that is as yet unclear but will include children over that cap being relocated to other surrounding schools, tearing apart family networks and destabilizing communities. Von der Leyen’s Plan for an “Independent” Europe: More Weapons, Less Regulation, More Aid to Ukraine. We read out the translated version of the head of the comission of the EU in order to contextualize some of the conversations in the program but also to highlight one of the big roots into the current economic war that is being waged on the working class. Read the original article here. Toni from AFSA stops in to talk to us about everything that the Agroecology and Food Sovreignty Alliance is up to, including a convergence on the weekend of the 11/9/2026. You can find tickets here. Listeners can hear Toni give a brief but comprehensive history of the organisation, it's roots and what their work entails. Modena City Ramblers - Madre TerraWe translated the new article about the collusion between the Australian government and the complete bottoming out of a real democratic Australian project in the political landscape. Written by Richard Flanagan and published on deepcut, you can read the original here. Sam Wainwright from Stop AUKUS WA joins us on the phone to talk about everything that is happening on the west coast, between increased repression on civillians, the funding of defence industries and the rampant disregard for all things ecological.

On this week's episode...Margherita arrives at the studio just in knick of time to tell us and all the listeners about the experiece of the Emerging Writers Festival, the events she helped organise, the conversations, the many points of meeting and the importance of enmeshing cultural, political and social realities in order to create the world that we want to build together.  You can check out what the program was and maybe you'll even find a new author whose books to love here.  And speaking of alternative realities and different ways to organise the lives we live, we cross to the streets of Rome on the 20th of September to hear Radio Onda D'Urto correspondent Stefano Bertoldi who gives an in depth recap of the day. Roughly 50 thousand people were there on the streets of Rome protersting the closure of the much loved social centre SPIN TIME LABS and talking about the many realities that lived inside and now continue their activity outside the centre.The fight is far from over as the Italian government refuses to let the over 70 families that were living there back inside and these people are forced to camp on the street or seek other accomodation many of whom with young children or escaping conditions of domestic violence. We will continue to keep you updated on the situation but in the meantime you can read and listen to more here.  As we talk about self determination and the need to collectively build a new world together it brings us to the sad news that renowned free server providers Austistici//Inventati have been forced to shut down there servers. Those servers hosted many radical blogs and alternative sources of information that were freely disseminated around the world, many of these formed part of our network of information through which we were able to report to our listeners updates about the Anan Yaeesh trial and other stories. A//I was designated a terrorist organisation by the US and the Italian government was only too happy to comply.Margherita reads out their final communique which is full of bittersweet power, you can read the communique here.  By now nothing really surprises us regarding teh depths that the Meloni government is willing to go. In this week's cabinet of horrors the demagogue and her acolytes announced policies which would see children stripped of their constitutionally protected rights to freedom of religion by banning Islmaic religious garments from being worn at school. This however wasn't enough in her proposal was also the capping of "non italian" students in classrooms with very fast and loose definitions of what impacts these decisions would have for hundreds of thousand of parents and their children. To add insult to injury foreign minister Tajani the same week proclaimed that women should wear long skirts and stay at home if they wish to be fit and proper to be considered women.We discuss these issues and conceptions of what makes a migrant and how contexts shape these terms and our responsibility towards them as progressive activists. Especially as these conversation takes place on Aboriginal land that has not been ceded. You can read more about it here.   All the way from Milan tracing her families lines of migration teacher and author Giovanna Stanganello joins us live in the studio to talk about her upcoming book "Sciatu Meu (Mio Respiro)" that is currently on the press at Transeuropa Edizioni.The story is a saga that is not nostalgic but engages with contemporary issues. It begins in Calabria in the early 20th century, moves to Argentina, and from there arrives in Melbourne. World War I, the great migratory waves, and the Great Depression of 1929 are more than just a backdrop: the vicissitudes of a family living on the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea and crossing the oceans become a symbol of a broader history, capturing a universal dimension made up of desires and uprooting.  At a time when wars, sovereignist self-interest, and the unscrupulous nature of finance dominate, the text brings these themes to life with language that draws on fragments of the poetic quality of the dialect.We explore with Giovanna the many themes that her novel explores ebbing and flowing through stories real and conjured to bring to our present something that yells out from the past. You can listen to the interview here. Songs we played:Nilla Pizzi - L'EmigranteFranco Battiato - Povera Patria

In this week's episode...Omaggio a Victor Jara Marking 53 years since his assassination, we pay homage to the life and work of Victor Jara, legendary Chilean singer-songwriter, educator, playwright and political activist. One of Chile's greatest artists, Victor Jara was arrested following the coup and murdered by Pinochet's fascist forces on 16 September 1973 in Santiago Stadium, the site where many thousands were imprisoned, tortured and killed.In the words of the Italian musical collective Il Collettivo Victor Jara: 'Victor Jara suonava e cantava per il popolo cileno contro i padroni; usava la cultura come arma proletaria, non come un lusso per la gente per bene, per quelli che credono di essere neutrali.''Victor Jara played and sang for the Chilean people against the bosses. He used culture as a proletarian weapon, not as a luxury for the respectable who believe themselves to be neutral.'Chile '73 and the Italian LeftWe discuss the profound and immediate impact of Pinochet's coup on Italian politics and culture, particularly the responses of the Italian Left. The coup led the Communist Party Secretary Enrico Berlinguer to propose the theory of the 'Historical Compromise', a political stance that left its mark on the Italian Left for decades, and right up to the present.At the grassroots level demonstrations and solidarity initiatives were led by left-wing organisations, trade unions, the student movement, cultural associations and artists, which continued unabated for years.One remarkable example being the play by Dario Fo and Franca Rame's Collettivo Teatrale La Comune, titled Guerra di Popolo in Cile, produced and performed within one month of the coup. You can listen to the album version of the play here and an interview with Dario Fo and Franca Rame about it here.Neoliberalism and the Left Case Against the EUTobia discusses and reads some excerpts from a book he's been reading, The Left Case Against the EU by Costas Lapavitsas. The discussion touches on the impact of the neoliberal policies of the EU and the conditions it has created for the rise of the far right, with parallels drawn to Australia.Mililma May on the NT Government's Assault on First Nations LivesWe listen to friend and comrade of the show Mililma May's report on the Northern Territory government's attacks on First Nations people, climate, and the whole NT community. We hear about the NT's recently enacted child removal law, policing and surveillance of First Nations communities, increased fracking and secret deals for data centres.MusicVictor Jara - Vientos del PuebloIl Collettivo Teatrale La Comune - Han matado una guitarraBriganda - il suo nome era Victor

In this week's episode... We begin the show by discussing Sacco & Vanzetti as the FILEF Film Club/Cineforum series over the weekend showed the incredible movie continuing our Gian Maria Volonte'  retrospective series. The night was packed full of emotion and disucssion as the alomst 100 year old story is just as relevant now as it was then and we hear from lifelong anarchist Zio Joe on what watching the movie at a distance from when he first watched it and the important themes of human rights and justice that are laid bare in the film. Vittorio uncovered in his home archives an interview that Dr. Joe Toscano did with is father Angelo Grando and Gary Foley which you can listen to here. We take this chance to remind everyone to explore the expansive archives of 3cr that you can visit right here on this site but also to look through boxes in their families attics and basements to see if there are any radical pieces of history tucked away! As it pertains to us if anyone reading this has any FILEF recordings or any history at all please get in touch with us via our socials or our email! Theres been a lot of media coverage on the recent limited UK sanctions that have been placed on some illegal (under international and local law) Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the ensuing media coverage fiasco has sought to focus on the outrage of it all whilst Australia broke from international ranks and did not support the sanctions further indicting the federal Labor government with complicity of International Law Violations. An investigation by the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on adequate housing has laid bare how the Victorian government’s demolition of public housing towers could worsen the state’s housing unaffordability crisis.The UN Special Rapporteur, Koldo Casla, has urged the suspension of the demolition program and relocation of residents in response to concerns that it may be in breach of international human rights obligations. Read the rest of the report by Inner Melbourne Community Legal here. Zio Joe was recently in the mother country and went and visited the historic museum/activist space Casa Memoria Felicia e Peppino Impastato and spoke to one of the volounteers there about the space, Peppino and Felicias memory and the work the house is doing to not only keep the memory alive but carry onwards the torch of their political ideals and struggles!Song - Gian Pieretti - Mao MaoJust recently the Meloni government received a lot of praise about having the most "stable" Italian government since Mussolini, Vittorio brings up some important facts and weaves Peppino Impastato, Mani Pulite & the Meloni mythos all together in order to set a bit of frame on what will be the election campaign that begins in Italy leading up to elections in 2027 and the conversations that we will continue to have and encourage listeners to text in to contribute to in order to build solidarity to advance a political project outside of the tired "centre right/centre left" dichotomy.  Recently arrived back from her research trip in Italy local Italo-Australian architect Lisa Garner joins us in the studio to talk to us about her research which you can read via her substack here. It's part of a larger body of her work where she researches different ways that people live in spaces and how those spaces allow people to live. Incredible insights into the intergenerational and intercultural experiences of people living together. We touch on themes of generational homes where different generations live close by each other and the ways in which that allows their lives to flourish and how the financialization of housing in Australia has wrought some terrible outcomes for people among many other aspects of her research. Song - "啊朋友再见" - Bella Ciao in Chinese

On this weeks episode... Matthew opens up the program with an update from the Campaign to Rename Reservoir Library after Gaetano Greco reporting that the council meeting was a roaring success with council voiting unanimously in favour of passing the motion and a 2 rooms worth of the community showing up in order to present submissions in support of the motion! This is only the beginning of this campaign as community consultation and many other things remain yet to be done and we will keep you updated!Daniela and Margherita read the translated statements by JIselle Hanna, Secretary of CPSU Victoria and by the MUA regarding the proposed Incorporated Associations Reform Bill that has been proposed that would seem like it is seeking to address the real problem of red unions but will infact target the legitimate work of real democratic worker organisations like RAFFWU. You can read the original CPSU statement here, and the MUA one here. We then get into reading the finer points of Greenpeace Italy's report on the DDL caccia, the hunting reform that has passed which sees a complete reversal of Italy's biodiversity and protected species protection as well as the wholesale extension of hunting areas and the near total deregulation of scientific bodies that regulate ecological and environmental safety. You can read the full report here. Song - Il Partigiano - La Resistenza: Cori e Canti dei Partigiani ItalianiIn light of the upcoming elections both locally and in Italy we have decided to continue digging into the recent past in order to begin teasing out some of themes of democracy, corruption, the drive to war and the reframing of economic narratives that villify workers and uphold capital interests. We touch on the Public Inquiry Into AUKUS, the European drive to war, Victorian weapons contracts and expos, the fact that governments and the mainstream ruling class are both prepared to indulge in military spending at the cost investment in public housing, health and eduction.We also discuss the political class to lobby group pipelin and the very first time that the upper vertices of Italy has ever mentioned that they are in a hybrid war. We discuss finance capitalism and the ties to military and AI spending and the effects, Pauline Hanson and her rich backers and the media and conversationalfocus being about right wing populists being aberrations or a threat that exists in a vaccum when our analysis posits that they are symptoms of 40 years of neoliberal structural reforms that have deeply impacted the blanaces of power tipping it in favour of capital and against labour. Comparisons can be made between the centre left Italian jobs act reforms that had the effect to massively precariatize work and the hawke and keating governments that led neoliberal reforms here which had the effect of jeff kennet in victoria pushing them even further. In order to really comprehend this conjuncture in history its important that we dont essentialize history and deeply review the conditions that led us here in order to be better equipped to fight back and build a popular consensus that uplifts democratic and universal human rights. UPCOMING EVENTS:Our very own Margherita has been working hard with the team at the Emerging Writers Festival and they have all put together an incredible program that we highly reccomend you all get down and involved with you can find more information and the complete lineup that is being presenting on the Emerging Writers Festival here. Song - Dr.Drer & CRC posse - Ma Che Colpa Abbiamo Noi

On this week's episode we begin with our rassegna stampa...The radio team begins by opening up a discussion on the dual standards applied the discussions and application of the bail law reforms and how they are applied or in certain cases not applied. Piero talks about a very underreported case that happened a few weeks ago in his home town of Mildura, where two you First Nations kids were victim of a hit and run attack and the alleged perpetrator was granted bail... You can read about the story here. We then go on to cover the most recent report by Everybody's Home entitled Priced Out and the reporting around it, where every major city is registering rents well over the internationally recognised threshold of 30% of a persons income going to rent causing them rental anxiety. The situation isnt any better in small towns with many unhoused living in cars and Air BNB's taking up much of the housing supply. We translated this ABC article that you can read here. Moving over to Italy we cover a recent story following the case of gig economy workers and the struggle for basic access to rights like water, shelter and appropriate PPE! Thanks to the amazing reporting of Radio Onda d'Urto we hear an excerpt of a longer interview with Workers Rights lawyer Giulia Druetta, you can read the original Italian article we read and hear the rest of the interview here.  As we report on the most recent state killings of Adderahim Fakir, this week we go back to remember the life, legacy and remider of Mario Lupo's killing by the hands of fascist thugs. The importance of remembering days and stories like this should stoke the fires of our collective flames and fuel the struggle towards a better world. Memories of the lives of Fakir and Lupo are crucial to remember in order to focus our energies! You can read more about Mario Lupo here.   Song  - Bertoli, Giuffrida - Mario Lupo  Before we move on to Frank Barbaro interview we read out a translated editorial by one of the writers from Contropiano, the discussion is timely as it focuses on the class character of the way the neoliberal order has restructured the hierarchy of suffering amongst peoples and how these identities are exploited in order to keep us subjugated. You can read the original version here.  Frank Barbaro phones in from Adelaide to have a conversation about the current socetal situation and the struggle we are facing as FILEF, Frank has long been part of FILEF Adelaide and is the editor in chief of our publication Nuovo Paese. Nuovo Paese has just released the latest edition and in it the many contributors collate the world around us and express it to the Italo-Australian community and beyond. Frank also talks to us abou the work that has been done with the oldest bilingual Italian/English publications in the country and the work that is to be done in keeping people informed in order to fight the good fight!You can read the latest edition here. E questo e' tutto per questa settimana!