Sunday Extra - Separate stories podcast

Frustrated by the lack of womens stories she saw in history books, Rita Sargeant delved into the past of our nationals capital and begun researching the huge contributions women like Pauline Fanning made to Australia. 

Discovering a trove of inaccessible stories, Rita started a walking tour guide business which quickly became so popular that she was offered a book deal to take the tours national, leading to 'the most chaotic road trip ever.'

It’s fifty years since it was published, but the themes and issues it explores are maybe more relevant now than ever. 

Damned Whores and Gods Police was a totemic book, that investigated the ways in which Australia had stereotyped women. 

They were either virtuous mothers, or they were bad girls – scorned and rejected for not conforming to what society expected of them. 

It was, and remains, a seminal text, an interrogation of Australian society. 

GUEST: Dr Anne Summers Author, editor, journalist and researcher

Australia's very first parliament was a minority government with parties differentiated by their stance on tariffs. The election in 1940 was very close and during that parliament there were three Prime Ministers and a change of party ruling the country. Just two of the outcomes of Australia's history of close elections.

Guest: Campbell Rhodes, Copyright and Research Coordinator at the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House

This week the campaign had another leaders debate with the focus on both parties' housing policies. Will either of their policies address the real housing crisis facing the country, both for renters and first home buyers? 

Guest: Shane Wright, senior economics correspondent for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.

Inspiring individuals talk about a pivotal moment in their personal histories. This week, Dr Elizabeth Green on her adventures with the Royal Flying Doctor Service in remote parts of Western Australia in the late 1980's.

In the last of our 'Bass Strait Highway' mini-series, the Tweet of the Week was the Orange Bellied Parrot

Congratulations to , XXXX who recognised one of our rarest birds. 

It's only a little bigger than a Budgie... And it's a beautiful emerald green on the back, which fades to yellow on the front and eventually to orange on the belly.

It's a lovely little parrot, but it's at great risk of extinction - not least of which due to degradation of its winter feeding grounds.

In 2015, the Orange-bellied Parrot's breeding population was just 17, with only three females. However, intensive conservation efforts appear to be paying off... hopes are high this season for as many as 200 birds heading north across Bass Strait.

If you'd like to support efforts to conserve the Orange-bellied Parrot, you can search online.

It is 15 years since Japanese playwright Inoue Hisashi died, but his plays and novels are still hugely popular in Japan. This year one of his most famous plays will be performed in Sydney for the second time after its debut 2 years ago. Roger Pulvers was a friend of his for about 40 years and brought him to Australia for 6 months back in 1976. 

Guest: Roger Pulvers, film maker, author and translator

The Face of Jizo is showing at the Seymour Centre later this year.

The World health Organisation is conducting a critical review into whether the coca plant should be decriminalised. Coca leaves have been used by the indigenous populations of the Andes for medicinal, nutritional and spiritual purposes for thousands of years. Can the leaves be separated legally from their processed form - cocaine?

Guest: Wade Davis, Professor of Anthropology, University of British Colombia and author of the article The Secret History of Coca in Rolling Stone Magazine

The share market has been on a ride wild, with each day bringing headlines of record-breaking gains or declines, depending on whatever it was Donald Trump said next.

But beyond the headlines there was some genuine cause for concern, particularly here in Australia - a nation that relies so heavily on the stock market to fund the income of its retirees.

Infact, superannuation is the basis for about 75 percent of all retirement income, with the rest being mostly derived from government pensions.

So, has the past week given some pause to reflect on how we might do things differently?

GUEST:

Brendan Coates Economic Policy Program Director with the Grattan Institute. 

As our pollies continue the mad dash to election day, the people in charge of conducting the vote are quietly going about the business of making sure all is in readiness come May 3rd.

The Australian Electoral Commission will be running thousands of voting booths across 151 electorates, as well as handling millions of postal votes.

But the AEC does a whole lot more than that.

It also acts as a fact checker for online political commentary and makes sure that social media influencers understand the rules when it comes to creating political content.

GUEST:

Evan Ekin-Smyth Digital Engagement Director at the Australian Electoral Commission.