The TV show, Neighbours, premiered in 1985. Since then, you’re likely to know half as many neighbours as you did in the mid-1980s. So, how did your community help you get through 2020? And why is something Professor Andrew Leigh terms “an ugly term for a beautiful concept” (social capital) so important? 

Useful Links

Reconnected: A community builder's handbook Andrew Leigh & Nick Terrell

Play For Lives

Pub Choir

Intrepid Landcare

Do you have a family recipe that keeps you together? Most of us have at least one dish in our repertoire that holds decades of memories - or even family history. Did you revisit that recipe this year? One of Australia’s eminent food historians shares how food keeps us together, even when we are apart – both in good times and times of crisis, and why your family recipes help you through hard times.

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Bold Palates: Australia's gastronomic heritage Barbara Santich

How much would you pay to claw back some extra time? Would the answer be different now that, as one of the few silver linings of COVID 19, you can work from home a lot more? Would it be $10 a week? $20 a week? Transport expert Professor David Hensher actually knows the answer. (Spoiler: It’s a lot!)

The death of commuting is making many of us happier, but has 2020 really been our one-way road out of traffic congestion? And if it is, how will our cities look on the other side?

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Advanced modelling of commuter choice model and work from home during COVID-19 restrictions in AustraliaCamila Balbontin, David A Hensher & Matthew J Beck

We take you behind the scenes to the treasure hunt for those 200 explosive Palace letters - the same letters that led to one of the most controversial political actions in Australian history.

How can the speed and frequency of images rightly or wrongly impact our views of current issues? Join Professor Roland Bleiker, from the School of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Queensland, and host Ginger Gorman as they discuss the politicisation of images, and how these shape our collective consciousness; something Professor Bleiker argues can have a remarkable impact on our individual political beliefs and emotional responses.

Ross Gittins, Economics Editor for the Sydney Morning Herald, has seen both sides of three recessions. This one is the fourth he’s worked through. So why is this one “completely different” and why does this experienced commentator say it will it be harder to get out of? Listen in as Ross and host Ginger Gorman discuss the ins and outs of our struggling economy.

Useful Links

It'll be a long haul to get the economy going properly Ross Gittens

As protests and riots continue in America over police brutality and persecution of people of colour, Australia’s own injustices against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people must also be subject to public scrutiny. Join Aboriginal Australian activist and human rights lawyer, Megan Davis, alongside host Ginger Gorman as they reflect on the significance of the Uluru Statement from the Heart three years on, and steps to reconciliation and equal political representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

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Uluru Statement from the Heart

Pyjamas, commuting from bed to your desk just minutes after waking up, no boss looking over your shoulde­r–working from home sounds like a dream. But what about the pressures from family, bad technology, and lack of support from colleagues? Professor Sharon Parker, from the Future of Work Institute at Curtin University, and Laureate from the Australian Research Council, discusses the Australian workforce’s adjustment to isolated work. Listen to her and host Ginger Gorman as they theorise about the future of the Australian workforce.

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Future of Work Institute

Male socialisation and ideals of masculinity already have a devastating effect on the health and well-being of men across the globe. With the added pressures from COVID-19, and forced isolation, this issue is turning into another kind of pandemic. Join Professor Jane Pirkis, Director of the Centre for Mental Health at the University of Melbourne speaking with journalist Ginger Gorman as they discuss their common area of expertise: suicide representation and prevention in the media. Listen as they consider how we can best look out for each other, encourage people to seek support, and learn alternative ways to check in with mates in our new normal.

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Men's Sheds

Man Up

Reporting suicide and mental ill-health: A Mindframe resource for media professionals

Suicide Risk and Prevention During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Australian higher education institutions are caught up in the fallout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. But closing borders to international students has had an unintended outcome: it’s highlighted faults in the system and raised new questions around higher education in Australian society. How can we best support our international students? Should high school students enrol in university or undertake vocational training at the end of their studies? Do ATARs encompass all of the relevant skills needed for higher education and the workforce? Join host Ginger Gorman with Chancellor of Western Sydney University, Professor Peter Shergold as they discuss Australia’s higher education system – both tertiary and otherwise – and the challenges, and future, of our education sector.

Useful Links

Looking to the Future: Report of the Review of Senior Secondary Pathways into Work, Further Education and Training

The End of History? Francis Fukuyama