Even before Covid-19, Millennials and Generation Z faced an uncertain future. Now, in the shadow of a global recession and the social upheaval caused by that pandemic young people are searching for themselves as they search for economic, systemic and social structures that will govern the rest of their lives. 

In this final episode for this season of So Now What, we look beyond covid to explore the upheavals and the hopeful possibilities facing the youth of Australia.

This episode was produced by Gabriella White. 

Featuring: 

Angela Jackson, economist with Equity Economics

Claire Madden, social researcher and expert on Gen Z

There is content in this episode relating to suicide. If this raises any issues for you please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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Covid-19 has impacted all aspects of all our lives and global politics is no exception. Like all nations, the two superpowers have had their 2020 shaped by the virus. 

For the US, the mishandling of the pandemic has cost hundreds of thousands of lives, while China is widely seen as the source.

But as the first vaccines begin their rollout just what will the world stage look like once the virus passes? Will how countries handled Covid-19 have long term repercussions? And what will that mean for their economies? And where will countries like Australia fit into the new political landscape?

Featuring:

Professor Rana Mitter, Oxford University

Kim Hoggard, former White House senior staffer

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When Covid-19 hit almost a million Australians lost their jobs, millions more were forced to work from home, and at the height of the crisis it seemed even our most hardened industrial warriors were ready to find a middle-ground.

Now with life after the virus beginning to emerge just what kind of work and workplaces will we find on the other side?

Will we see better opportunities or worse for workers?

Will there be more work, or will millions of Australians still struggle to get the hours they want?

We're looking into the future of working Australia as we ask So Now What?

Featuring 

Dr Jim Stanford, Director of the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work

Dom Price, resident Work Futurist, Atlassian

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When Covid-19 sent the world into lockdown in March, global carbon emissions plummeted - an almost 10 per cent fall in the first half of the year. 

But as we start thinking of a world beyond the virus, can we expect things to bounce back to where they were, or worse, will emissions rise even higher as people and industries rush to make up for lost time? Or can we capitalise on the global upheaval for some good? 

With our climate future at a crossroads, we ask if it's possible to use one crisis to help overcome a much bigger one.

Featuring:

Simon Holmes a Court, Senior Advisor to the Climate and Energy College at Melbourne University.

Brynn O'Brien, Executive Director of the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility

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When Covid-19 took off, the arts and entertainment industries were the among the first to be hit, and the hardest.

Across Australia and the world, theatres and cinemas were shuttered, concerts and festivals cancelled.

But as the lights slowly start to flicker back on for show and gigs and we make our first tentative steps back to socially distant stands, just what will entertainment look like? Will we still want to be entertained like we did before and will those who have kept us entertained still do so in the same way?

Featuring:

Ben Folds, musician, singer-songwriter

Debra Oswald, author, creator of Offspring

Alan Cross, broadcaster, and historian

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Australia has always been a nation of immigrants with an incredible one in ten of us arriving in just the last decade. 

However, thanks to Covid-19 our migration rate has gone from near record levels to almost zero. Combined with a falling birth rate, for the first time in a century, Australia's population is set to fall. The economic and cultural fallout will be profound. 

In this episode we explore just what challenges we'll face and how we can overcome them once the pandemic has passed.

Featuring:

Dr Liz Allen, Australian National University’s Centre for Social Research and Methods

Abul Rizvi, former Immigration Department Deputy Secretary

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Even before Covid-19 the patterns of human interaction were changing. More of us were living alone than ever before with lives increasingly lived online contributing to record rates of loneliness.

Then the pandemic and with it forced isolation and separation. The most basic of human experiences and contacts ripped from our lives. Handshakes became elbow bumps, workplaces reduced to zoom meetings, many of us forced to lock ourselves away at home far from friends and family.

The changes to our lives and our communities have been comprehensive but as we start to open up, just how normal will our new normal be? From workplace to dating, from socialising with friends and family to interacting with strangers, we explore what our social world will look like beyond the pandemic.

Featuring:

Author and commentator Sarah Wilson, whose most recent book, This One Wild and Precious Life, tackles the disconnection of modern life. 

Psychologist Sabina Read, whose podcast Human Cogs explores all the things that bring us together and tear us apart.

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After a summer of devastating bushfires, the economy was already battered when the pandemic hit. Then, the combination of closed borders, closed businesses and social distancing made recession inevitable.

More than one million Australians are out of work and the economy has been thrown into reverse. But even with Victoria’s second wave, Australia is navigating through the pandemic in better shape than most countries.

So as we move from dealing with the health crisis to managing the economic one, how can Australia rebuild its shattered economy - especially as the virus rages unchecked across the globe? What can we learn from how Australia has recovered from past downturns and will we learn from past mistakes? With our economic path through the pandemic at a crossroads, we ask: So Now What?

Featuring:

Award-winning author and journalist, George Megalogenis

Comedian and economics graduate, Luke McGregor

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At the start of 2020 Australian sport was in great shape and for the biggest games in town there was limitless passion and cash.

For the AFL the records kept tumbling. Membership, crowd attendance, participation rates, all hitting new records and the clubs were coming off a billion dollar year.

The NRL had also had a great year. Half a billion dollars in revenue and for the second year in a row, the league posted a surplus.

And across the board there was the surge in women’s sport. The AFLW and NRLW taking off and the Women’s World Cup final saw 80,000 packed into the MCG.

Then came the virus and suddenly some of favourite games and clubs were facing complete annihilation.

Massive job losses, huge falls in broadcast revenue, empty stadiums - the future has become uncertain for this enormous part of Australian culture.

As we look at what life beyond covid looks like for our most loved sports we ask, So Now What?

Featuring Gerard Whateley, Sports Broadcaster and Journalist for Fox Footy and SEN and Dr Bridie O’Donnell, Head of the Victorian Office for Women in Sport and Recreation

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The Covid-19 pandemic has strained the cohesiveness of our society. People are becoming more and more divergent in their views, and more and more distrusting of opposing views. A lot of people feel more marginalised and categorised while some seek strongly to find someone to blame for this crisis.

What will the effect of this be for society in the future? Joining Waleed to discuss this is Professor Michele Grossman, Research Chair in Diversity and Community Resilience at the Alfred Deakin Institute and Dr Rebecca Huntley, Principal at Vox Populi Research.

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