The Readings Podcast

In this episode, writer and broadcaster Steve Vizard in conversation with Michael Veitch about Vizard’s new book, Nation, Memory, Myth. Vizard brings an original perspective to the foundational myth of Gallipoli as a sacred bearer of Australian national values and identity.

In this scrupulously researched close reading of the Gallipoli mythology, Vizard dissects the elements common to all national myths that transform them into compelling symbolic performances of cultural memory and kinship, unpicking the tensions and explaining the ambiguities embodied within.

In this episode, a conversation with author Jennifer Mills, author of Salvage, a work of suspenseful, deeply human literary speculative fiction, in which two estranged sisters reconnect in the aftermath of ecological and social collapse.

Jude's life has been about survival. She works on rebuilding - fixes roofs, trucks supplies, transports refugees. Tries to stay free from attachments and obligations. But Jude won't talk about her past. Or her sister Celeste, lost in the tragic failure of a space station that was supposed to save her, and the other ultra-rich, from the wreckage of a dying world. When an escape pod falls from the sky, its passenger near death, Jude knows her anonymous existence can't continue. As the fragile peace of her community is put at risk, Jude must re-examine the terms of her survival - and her exile.

Salvage is a gripping novel of literary speculative fiction that asks: what does it mean to care for each other, after the end of the world?

In this episode, a conversation with screenwriter and actor Miranda Nation, author of New Skin, a powerful debut about first love and second chances from a stunning new voice in Australian fiction.

Alex and Leah meet at medical school and form an immediate and intense connection. Over the course of four years, they are caught in the push-pull of passion and betrayal, longing and reunion. Neither can quite give up the relationship, even as they question whether they are good for each other. Years later, when Alex and Leah are drawn together once more, will they make the right choice?

New Skin evokes a coming of age in the 1990s and charts the course of first love and its power to shape who we become.

In this episode, a recording taken from the Melbourne launch of the novel Pissants, by Brandon Jack – former Sydney Swans football player.

In Pissants, the embittered fringe players of an unnamed football club follow rules of their own. Fangs, Stick, Squidman and Shaggers speak in a cryptic code of inside jokes and WhatsApp exchanges, chained to each other by their place on the outskirts of the team.

Together, these characters present a jaw-dropping snapshot of life within the chaotic world of a professional sports club. The psychotic rituals. The dementing cliches. The adulation. The pressure. The broken staff. The despair. The life-saving friendships. The flatlining sexual encounters. The towering egos.

In this episode, a conversation with writer Sophie Quick, author of the new book, The Confidence Woman.

Christina is a single mother living in the Melbourne suburbs, but to her online clients she is the esteemed Dr Ruth Carlisle, an 'executive coach and mindset expert, specialising in high-performing individuals’. Dr Ruth gains her clients' trust through her coaching business, discovering their secrets and deepest fears. Through this elaborate scam, she's saving money for the ultimate unobtainable Australian dream: a home deposit. But when she blunders, and her worlds begin to collide, suddenly everything is at stake.

The Confidence Woman is a novel about more than one kind of confidence game. It explores and hilariously skewers contemporary cults of self-optimisation, while also creating a moving and too-real portrait of what it's like to strive for success (or just security) in a rigged system.

In this episode, a special conversation with Tania Davidge, Executive Director and Chief Curator with Open House Melbourne.

Across Melbourne, every building, street and public place tells a unique story. Shaped by its transformation over time and the diverse communities that live here, the city is more than its bricks and mortar - the city is about people and place. The stories of our city are embedded in its urban landscapes and the people who live, work and play here. The much-loved Open House Weekend sees tens of thousands of people come out to celebrate architecture and the city, and this year, Readings is partnering with the organisation.

To tell us more about the weekend and what is in store, Davidge was joined in conversation by Chris Gordon, the Readings Community Engagement and Programming Manager.

In this episode, New York Times-bestselling author Amie Kaufman, in conversation with members of the Readings Teen Advisory Board. Kaufman’s book Lady’s Knight, co-authored with Meagan Spooner, takes readers on a wild ride through a sapphic romance.

Gwen is tired of hiding – whether it’s her secret role as her father’s blacksmith, her attraction to girls or her desire to become a knight. Lady Isobelle, on the other hand, has never had to hide who she is – until she becomes the grand prize in the Tournament of Dragonslayers. When their paths collide, the two hatch a daring plan: Gwen will joust in the tournament, disguised as ‘Sir Gawain’, with victory bringing freedom for Isobelle – and glory for Gwen.

In this episode, Hugh White, author of a new Quarterly Essay, in conversation with Michael Wesley about Australia’s place in the new global landscape.

Are we ready for our post-American future? In an era of rising danger for all, and dramatic choices for Australia, White explores how the world is changing, and Australia should respond. Under Donald Trump, America's retreat from global leadership has been swift and erratic. China, Russia and India are on the move. White explains the big strategic trends driving the war in Ukraine, and why America has "lost" Asia. He discusses Albanese Labor's record and its post-election choices, and why complacency about the American alliance – including AUKUS – is no longer an option.

This essential essay urges us to make our way in a hard new world with realism and confidence.

In this episode, a conversation with writer Tyler Jenke, author of an in-depth look at the rise of enigmatic Australian rock band TISM, the unexpected success of their 1995 album, Machiavelli and the Four Seasons, and the continued trajectory of their storied career.

Focusing on one of Australia's most enigmatic bands, This Is Serious Mum (better known as TISM), Jenke forms an analysis of the anonymous, pseudonymous Melbourne collective's rise to prominence and unlikely success on the popular music charts with their third album, Machiavelli and the Four Seasons (1995).

Jenke details TISM's origins as they slowly went from a bedroom concept to an underground success to a staple of concert stages and commercial radio in Australia, growing a rabid fanbase in the process.

In this episode, a recording taken from the launch of acclaimed author Laura Elvery’s novel, Nightingale, inspired by the life of Florence Nightingale; part historical fiction, part ghost story, and utterly original.

Mayfair, 1910. At the age of ninety, Florence Nightingale is frail and no longer of sound mind. After a storied career as a nurse, writer and statistician, she now leads a reclusive existence. One summer evening she is astonished to receive a visitor – a young man named Silas Bradley, who claims to have met her during the Crimean War fifty-five years ago. But how can this be? And how does the elusive Jean Frawley connect their two lives?

In this eagerly anticipated novel, Laura Elvery shows why she is one of the most lauded writers of her generation. Nightingale is a luminous tale of faith and love, bravery and care, and the vitality of women's work.