The Drawing Room

In a year where the planet has been lashed by non-stop catastrophic weather events ... being reminded of the people who are working towards change gives you hope rather than despair at the amount of work ahead.

Professor Tim Flannery’s new documentary ‘Climate Changers’ introduces you to some of the leaders within the climate activist community across the world.

She was at one time named the “Woman who saved Australia”. 

Gladys Berejiklian's political trajectory saw her lead Australia’s largest state through catastrophic times. But one question at a press conference began to unravel that and led to an ICAC investigation which would find that she breached public trust and found her guilty of serious corrupt conduct. 

The reporter who asked that question was Paul Farrell, from ABC Investigations. He is the author of a new book Gladys: A Leader’s Undoing. 

Imagine seeing your first dates and flirtations with your partner play out on national TV. Your romance is a storyline at the whim of editors and producers.

Then imagine your romance, and your personality, being picked apart on the internet, strangers weighing in on you and your actions in forums and social media. 

Alisha Aitken-Radburn has written about her time in The Bachelor franchise in her book The Villain Edit.

What's the difference between a viola and an onion? No one cries when you cut up a viola.

Brett Yang and Eddy Chen of TwoSet Violin, enjoy a joke about violas as much as the next person … maybe more as they combine classical music appreciation and YouTube culture, in a channel that’s had more than 1.3 billion views.

They're currently on a world tour having a chuckle at chamber music.

When you go to a concert what do you wanna see? Do you want to hear your favourite songs you already know every single word to …. or do you want to hear the new songs that may be your new favourites? Every set list by every band has struggled with this idea.

Singer-songwriter Tim Finn is giving the people both. After a decade or so off the touring circuit, he’s heading out on tour. The Lives and Times Of Tim Finn will have all the fan faves from Split Enz, Crowded House, his solo work, and everything in between.

In Mixed Martial Arts or MMA you win one of two ways - either by punching or kicking your opponent hard enough to render them unconscious or if they tap out … in the ring, there are rules and your enemy and the objective is clear. 

However, in life, sometimes the lines are blurred and the rules aren’t clear. Sometimes your opponent is you … and the mistakes you make result in more than just losing points.

Nigerian-born New Zealander and current UFC middle-weight champion - Israel ‘Izzy’ Adesanya is the subject of Zöe McIntosh’s documentary Stylebender. 

A bolt of lightning in movies, TV and literature is often portrayed as a message from the heavens, a catalyst for great destruction or transformation. 

In real life being struck by lightning usually leads to any number of physical and cognitive symptoms… usually leaving the person irrevocably changed in some way.

Cellist Zoë Barry had not 1, not 2 but 3 close encounters with lightning within 6 months. Her work The Nervous Atmosphere explores the after-effects.

He’s one of those artists that every time you read about him he’s doing something entirely different. From a tour with Ben Kweller and Ben Folds … to becoming a death doula, from a kid's album about Islam to selling essential oils on the internet … even a nominee for World’s Sexiest Vegetarian. 

Ben Lee is fun, even his album says so. He's heading on tour to bring the fun to everyone.

In the busy streets of Manilla, you’ll see people getting in and out of what looks like a mix between a Jeep and a Jitney which is a minibus - therefore a Jeepney. 

Intricately painted and riotously decorated. The Jeepney is a symbol of Filipino art and culture and so Darwin-based artist Kuya James has found inspiration in them for his new album 'Jeepney Rock'