Talking Australia

Michael Smith is a passionate pilot and movie enthusiast who runs a number of cinemas and owns a tiny flying boat. Both helped him to fulfil his lifelong dream to fly the old Rose Bay to London route operated by Qantas in the 1930s and ’40s. He embarked on a several-month-long journey in his “flying bathtub” and extended his trip to eventually take him around the world. Michael did all this without any sponsors and out of pure passion for adventure, which ultimately won him the Australian Geographic 2016 “Adventurer of the Year” award for the first-ever solo circumnavigation in a plane. The trip almost took his life, and in this episode we share his harrowing story and travel into parts of the world that are well and truly off the grid.

Here you can find out more about Michael´s adventure & work:
http://www.southernsun.voyage/
https://www.screenswithoutborders.org/

This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Liz Ginis (Managing Editor Digital at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).


You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Author Paddy Manning has worked as a journalist for more than 15 years and in his new book “Body count: How climate change is killing us” he is investigating the true scale of climate change related deaths. From heat stroke victims to devastating mental health issues related with climate anxiety, Manning shows that climate deaths didn’t start in 2019 during one of the worst fire seasons Australia has ever experienced. For his book Manning has spoken to survivors and the families of victims to make us realise that it is time to act.
 
This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Angela Heathcote (Digital Producer at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).
 
You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lyndall Ryan´s interest in the history of Australia has grown since her early days as a scholar researching the history of Tasmania and the consequences of the "Black War” for the local Aboriginal population. Through her work, the historian became heavily invested in the survival stories of Indigenous Australians and the frontier wars, which included acknowledgment of massacres committed by European settlers in the early days of the nation. Her research and expertise in the field got her involved in the legendary “History Wars” during the 1990s and early 2000s with other historians. In 2017, Lyndall gained worldwide exposure after she and her team at the University of Newcastle in NSW published an interactive online map of massacre sites in Australia. The map went viral and since its first release has turned into a national project in which Australian´s are helping to tell the whole story of the nation’s past.

Here you can find out more about Lyndall’s work and look at the map:
https://www.newcastle.edu.au/profile/lyndall-ryan
https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/map.php

This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Angela Heathcote (Digital Producer at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brigitte Muir’s life has been all about pushing the limits. She discovered her passion for adventure in high school while exploring the caves near her home in Belgium. This escalated to scaling the world’s highest peaks, becoming the first woman to scale the world's seven highest summits on each continent, including Mt Everest. 
In recent years, she has committed herself to affecting positive change for women and communities in her beloved eastern Nepal.
 
This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Liz Ginis (Managing Editor Digital at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).
 
You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brigitte Muir’s life has been all about pushing the limits. She discovered her passion for adventure in high school while exploring the caves near her home in Belgium. This escalated to scaling the world’s highest peaks, becoming the first woman to scale the world's seven highest summits on each continent, including Mt Everest.

In recent years, she has committed herself to affecting positive change for women and communities in her beloved eastern Nepal.


This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Liz Ginis (Managing Editor Digital at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).

You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Robert McLean is an unlikely conservationist. Throughout the week he drives a meat truck and is a bloke who enjoys a steak and a beer. But most weekends he's out in the Dryandra Woodland conservation area, 170km south-east of Perth, trying to save one of Australia’s most endangered species - the numbat - from extinction. There are less than 1000 mature individuals remaining. Together with three other unlikely conservationists - airline worker Sean Van Alphen, power-company employee Matthew Willett, and John Lawson, caretaker of the Lions Dryandra Woodland Village and a former stonemason - he founded The Numbat Task Force.

This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Angela Heathcote (Digital Producer at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).

You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Lisa Blair is the first woman to sail solo and unassisted around Antarctica. The dangerous journey took her 184 days to finish and almost killed her when her mast broke in the middle of nowhere in giant seas. The courageous sailor survived the incident to fulfil her dream and tell her incredible story. It made her not only grow as a sailor but as a person. Since then she’s added another record to her belt: the first woman to circumnavigate Australia on her own. And as if all this isn’t enough, plans for a new adventure are already underway.

Here you can find out more about Lisa´s adventures:
https://lisablairsailstheworld.com/

This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Liz Ginis (Managing Editor Digital at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).

You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In his book “Honeysuckle Creek - The story of Tom Reid, a little dish and Neil Armstrong’s first step” author Andrew Tink sets the story straight about Australia´s role in the Apollo 11 moon landing mission in 1969. In this episode he talks about Tom Reid, the mind behind the operation of the famous “Dish” near Canberra and how Tom and his team saved the world wide live broadcast of Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon and his very personal connection to the man that made it all happen in the tracking station in Honeysuckle Creek.

Here you can find out more about Andrew´s work:
http://andrewtink.com

This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Chrissie Goldrick (Editor-in-chief at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).

You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tim Faulkner is known for his deep passion for Australia´s wildlife and his conservational work with the Australian Reptile park. He’s also a highly energetic and beloved TV personality that tries to save the Tasmanian devil from extinction with the parks “Devil´s Arch” protection programs. The devils are getting wiped out by an aggressive and infectious cancer. Trying to protect a few of them in an enclosed territory might be the only hope for their survival. Tim talkes about his fascinating life and the way to starting the arch program and its huge success that lead to extending it to protect other native endangered species. Also he explains the difficult and labour intense process of running the anti-venom program for most of Australia´s poisonous spiders and snakes to save lifes. Tim reckons since the late 1950s the program saved roughly about 20.000 lives.

For more info visit https://reptilepark.com.au
Or follow Tim on Instagram @timswildlife

This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Chrissie Goldrick (Editor-in-chief at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).

You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Michelle Lee is a record-holding solo rower known for her crossing of the mighty Atlantic Ocean during the Talisker Atlantic Challenge, an annual ocean-rowing race. The sports’ fanatic loves a challenge and lives by the motto: “Dare to say yes!”, which is why she launched herself headfirst into tackling the 5000km long journey - solo and unassisted.

But before that she had to learn how to row. She did that by taking on a world record - to become the fastest woman to row 1 million metres, on a Concept 2 rowing machine.

Listen to Michelle’s story, her epic adventure and what’s next for this inspiring Aussie. 

This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Liz Ginis (Managing Editor Digital at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).
 
You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.