The Drawing Room

"When people ask: how did you go from that to this? I want to say: I knew how to forget."

So says the critic, writer and academic, Shannon Burns, who details the neglect, violence of poverty of his youth in his memoir, Childhood.

In the Drawing Room, Shannon talks about the desire for escape and what it means to forget or to remember our past.

Climate change, and what to do about it, has been a central political debate in Australia for more than a decade.

The election of the Teal candidates, alongside Labor and the Greens, at the last Federal election, suggest that voters want action, but what will action mean for the country and the economy.

Ross Garnaut is a distinguished economist and a key advisor to previous governments on climate change policy.

And in his latest book as contributing editor, The Superpower Transformation, he explores the possibilities that exist for Australia as it transitions to a net-zero economy.

When David Farrier heard about a parking dispute at an antiques store in Auckland, he thought it would result in one quirky article and then he'd be on to the next story. Instead, it consumed 5 years of his life.

The final result of that time is Mister Organ, an unusual documentary about a man who has claimed to be royalty, pretended to be a lawyer, and appears to have left a trail of damaged people in his wake.

In the Drawing Room, David talks about how the film ended up taking on a life of its own.

Long before the Lonely Planet writers, long before missionaries, adventurers, or even the Crusaders — the Muslim travelers of the Islamic Golden Age, traveled the roads of the early kingdoms, holding to the Quranic commandment "Go about the earth and look".

They were curious, prized practical geography but also embraced storytelling in the most wonderful way: the poet and traveller Abu Dular said "My adventurous soul finds peace in alien things, not in the comfort of the known world".

When broadcaster Richard Fidler was himself unable to find peace in alien things due to the pandemic, his adventurous soul took him into these historical records, piecing together a picture of that lost world.

And in the Drawing Room, Richard talks about his resulting book, The Book of Roads and Kingdoms.

In Dos Estaciones, the new film by Juan Pablo González, a tequila factory in the highlands of Mexico becomes the scene of a slow moving crisis.

Maria, the owner of the factory, battles plagues, floods, and debts as she attempts to hang on to the business and her place in society.

But against the power of nature and big business, is there any chance for history to survive?

In the Drawing Room, Juan talks about his own family's history with Tequila, the impact of NAFTA, and how his background in documentary shaped this film.

What did the strategists, the analysts and the political leaders make of the 2022 Federal election?

And what did the result mean for the country, and for the future of our major parties?

In the Drawing Room, Peter Van Onselen shares some of the conversations he's had with the key players since the election, and talks about his new book, Victory.

Founded in New Zealand at the end of the 1960s by an Australian preacher, the Gloriavale Christian Community is home to around 600 people.

Led by a small group of 'shepherds', members are isolated from outside society and ex-communication means exile from the community, and your own family.

Allegations of exploitation, sexual abuse, corruption and human rights violations have led to multiple lawsuits against the community, which—at this point—remains a registered charity.

In the Drawing Room, director Fergus Grady talks about his new documentary, Gloriavale, co-created with Noel Smyth, and introduces the community and the people fighting back against it.

Revenge, love, and betrayal are the classic themes of opera: an art known for its grand emotions.

But what sort of grand emotion does it take to seek revenge on Attila, one of the greatest warlords the world has ever known.

In a new production of Verdi's Attila, the setting has been moved to 1930s, but the fierce Odabella remains set on the death of the king.

Natalie Aroyan is a principal artist with Opera Australia and in the Drawing Room she talks about taking on the role of Odabella.

Last year, the documentary maker Matthew Heineman was embedded with a special forces unit in Afghanistan.

He expected to spend months filming them on their missions in that country. Instead, after Joe Biden announced the US was finally withdrawing, the troops had ten days to pull out, and Matthew needed to decide whether he had a film.

The end result, Retrograde, documents the withdrawal, the struggles of the Afghan army in the aftermath, and the final shocking moments of escape at the airport of Kabul.

We like to think that we define our own lives, but each of us is part of a family, a lineage, a place in history; we have our health and our mental health and each of those play a role in who we are and the decisions that we make.

Jonathan Seidler's new memoir, It's a Shame About Ray, looks at the forces that have shaped his life, none stronger than his father, a successful doctor and loving family man, who took his own life.

In the Drawing Room, Jonathan talks about growing up and grief, mental health and nu-metal music.