The reMAKERs

The reMAKERS podcast is back, and just in time for the federal election! Dare we be excited about democracy, even when it’s at its most nauseating? Join Millie and Lily for a chat about what is actually exciting us this election, what we’re noticing from the people around us, and the mindset we need to be sane and useful citizens. You’re totally invited to join us in the ‘uncool joy club’.

SHOW NOTES

Things we mention:

Uncommon victories: lessons from Warringah and Indi

ItTakes3.com.au

Australian Democracy Network

TheyVoteForYou.org.au

ABC Vote Compass

The Idea of Australia: A search for the soul of the nation, by Julianne Schultz

Accessing Joy and Finding Connection in the Midst of Struggle on the Unlocking US podcast with Brene Brown, interviewing Karen Walrond

The Lightmaker's Manifesto: How to Work for Change without Losing Your Joy by Karen Walrond

It’s the final episode of the year, and Millie and Lily are feeling reflective.

What did we learn this year that we don’t actually want to forget over the delightful amnesia of holiday shut down? What were the good bits to hang onto out of covid, and where did things fall apart? What are the wild possibilities for the future?

We made a list, talked it out, and now feel much better.

If it feels like you’ve also lived a decade+ this year, you’re not alone. We’d love to hear your reflections and lessons: email us at [email protected].

Finally, a plug. If you’re sick of toxic, depressing politics then join a community that is both smart and kind, as we explore the best version of us. You can endorse the vision and subscribe to email updates at www.AustraliareMADE.org.

Thanks so much for listening to the very first season of the reMAKERS! We’ll see you again in 2022.

SHOW NOTES

“Lessons from the Pandemic, Phase 1” blog by Lily, Australia reMADE

Recovery: How we can create a better, brighter future after a crisis, book by Andrew Wear. (You can also listen to the interview with him on ABC’s Conversations.)

“JobKeeper showed we can spend our way out of crisis – and turned recession into a political choice”

“When Covid closed the library: staff call every member of Victorian library to say hello”

“Hotspot in a cold climate: the Melbourne library that transformed lockdown for struggling families”

“Care package: the French postal workers helping lonely older people”

“In France, Elder Care Comes with the Mail”

Canadian postal workers’ union propose expanding to help look after the elderly

We are living in uncertain and anxious times. Mental health is everywhere, but it’s also been largely ‘privatised’ — treated as a personal issue for individuals to address, rather than as a collective response to systemic conditions. This episode of the reMAKERS asks, ‘do we need therapy, or do we need structural change?’ (Or both.)

We also talk about what it’s been like being a mental health professional during the worst of the pandemic in London; how to help the ones we love and ourselves to die well; and what employers need to do if they’re serious about fostering good mental health in the workplace.

Dr Greg Shields is a consultant psychiatrist at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, part of King's Health Partners and one of the oldest psychiatric hospitals in the world. He’s also a senior manager at Maudsley Learning, which offers non-profit mental health education and training. He has special interests in psychotherapy, cancer and palliative care, as well as novel ways of teaching about psychiatry and mental health. This is a conversation about caring for each other well in life, at work and in death.

SHOW NOTES

Things we mention: 

Social psychologist Dr Amy Cuddy on the three phases of crisis

Arrested Development song, ‘Fishing for religion’

Martin Luther King on being ‘maladjusted to injustice’

Irish Government trialing a Universal Basic Income for artists

Only Murders in the Building (tv show)

Dr Millie Rooney is back! And she has a pond! On this episode the reMAKERS, Lily (pictured left) and Millie (on the right) dive into why things like wellbeing, rest and care are actually the hard work of remaking, rather than the fluff on the side.

As writer Elizabeth Gilbert reportedly said, ‘show me a relaxed, rested woman! That’s the revolution I want’. Yet, the topic of wellbeing, rest or self-care can often feel a bit cringey, selfish and self-indulgent to so many of us. We’ve been sold self-care as bath bombs, not politics.

What if self-care is actually interwoven with community care? What if a healthy me depends on a healthy ‘we’? And what if the revolution really looks like a bunch of well-rested, relaxed people who have demanded the conditions for that rest to be possible?

It’s a conversation that will make you want to reclaim your right to both the ‘bread and roses’ of life — as we celebrate the things making life better (ponds, apparently) and the things that make life worth living at all.

SHOW NOTES

Pillar 6, ‘ A country of flourishing communities,’ Vision for an Australia reMADE

“Community, Democracy, Power” article by Millie Rooney

“Reclaiming Audre Lorde’s Radical Self-Care” by Kathleen Newman-Bremang

‘Let Her Rest’ episode from Glennon Doyle’s ‘We Can Do Hard Things’ podcast, quoting Elizabeth Gilbert

‘How are the Amish doing in Vermont?’ episode of Brave Little State podcast, Vermont Public Radio

What does it mean to live a good life, in the face of the climate emergency? Or as Hannah asks in this interview, ‘how are we meant to live a life that counters the world’s problems meaningfully, without being a sad mess, and still experience love and joy in our lives?’

Hannah Moloney is the co-founder of Good Life Permaculture at the bottom of Australia in Hobart/nipaluna, Tasmania/lutruwita. She’s a popular guest presenter on Gardening Australia and the author of the new best-selling book, “The Good Life: How to grow a better world”.

She believes we can grow not just a better garden, but a better world for ourselves and others, through the actions we take every day.

In this conversation we dive into what it means to Hannah to live a good life, why she’s less black and white now than she used to be, how permaculture sustains her in everything that she does, and why you shouldn’t assume that just because someone lives in a pink house with pink hair and appears on TV means they’re a giant extrovert.

SHOW NOTES

Show notes

What is permaculture?

The Food Forest, where Hannah first learned about permaculture with Annemarie and Graham Brookman

Where to find, follow Hannah and learn more about her work

The Good Life: How to Grow a Better World book is available online at Booktopia or at your favourite local bookshop

Good Life Permaculture design and education consultancy

Follow Good Life Permaculture on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook

Unity: it’s something Thomas Mayo has thought a lot about in his life and work as a unionist, advocate and writer.

Thomas is a Torres Strait Islander man born on Larrakia country in Darwin. Gentle and softly-spoken, he has come to embody unity in his work and in his life — first finding his voice on the wharfs of Darwin with the union movement, then becoming an acclaimed writer and powerful advocate for the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

Today, Thomas is the National Indigenous Officer and Northern Territory Deputy Branch Secretary for the Maritime Union of Australia. He’s a champion for the Uluru Statement and the author and co-author of multiple books — including “Finding the Heart of the Nation” and his most recent, “Dear Son: Letters and Reflections from First Nations Fathers and Sons”.

His story is a testament to who we can be, and what we can accomplish, when we make unity more than a slogan, but a practice. This is a conversation about leadership, vulnerability and closing the gap between the world that we see, and the world that our children imagine already exists.

SHOW NOTES

Things we mention

Blackfella Book Club on Instagram

“A letter to my nephew” published in The Fire Next Time essays by James Baldwin

Books by Thomas Mayo

Finding the Heart of the Nation: Journey of the Uluru Statement towards Voice, Treaty and Truth

Finding Our Heart: A Story about the Uluru Statement for Young Australians

Freedom Day: Vincent Lingiari and the Story of the Wave Hill Walk-Off

Dear Son: Letters and Reflections from First Nations Fathers and Sons

Support the Uluru Statement from the Heart

https://ulurustatement.org/

AUTHORISED BY L TARRANT, AUSTRALIA REMADE, HOBART

www.fromtheheart.com.au

People power is a nice slogan, but how do we actually do it? And can we do it effectively, without adding to the combustible anger and division in the world today?

There's some hard-won wisdom in our next episode of the reMAKERS — part two of our series on democracy and the new movie, Big Deal.

Organisers David Barrow and Thuy Nguyen of the Sydney Alliance tell us it’s understandable to be cynical about politics, but "if you're not at the table, you're on the menu.” So instead, they take us to school in this conversation — Community Organising school — and drawing on their own stories, show us how to go far, rather than fast.

David features memorably in the Big Deal movie, and this conversation both fires us up and delivers balm for the soul. It might just change the way you look at power, politics, community groups, religion and our role as everyday citizens.

To check out the movie, visit MakeItABigDeal.org.

Show Notes

Things we mention:

“What is organizing?” by Marshall Ganz (from intro)

“‘Always look up’: connecting community for a win against gas,” article by Millie Rooney, Australia reMADE

Learn more about community organising:

Australia: Queensland Community Alliance, Hunter Community Alliance, Sydney Alliance

UK: Citizens UK

USA and Canada: Industrial Areas Foundation

NZ: Living Wage NZ

They say democracy is not a spectator sport, and the new film, Big Deal, will have you ready to get up off the couch. Directed by The Chaser’s Craig Reucassel and starring Bondi Hipster comedian Christiaan Van Vuuren, it follows everyman Christiaan as he tries to unravel the story of money in our politics. Or as ex-politician Sam Dastyari calls it, the system that’s ‘pay to play.’

Smart, funny, outrageous and revealing, Big Deal is not only super enjoyable to watch, it’s galvanising a new conversation and movement to reMAKE democracy, at a time when there’s frankly too much at stake to mess around. Whatever your politics, if you live in a democracy, this film and this conversation apply to you.

In Part 1 of our conversation on Big Deal and democracy, we chat with director Craig Reucassel and Executive Director of the Australian Democracy Network, Saffron Zomer. Why did they do this movie? What does corruption in our politics really look like, compared to what people think it looks like? How does Craig get so many high-profile current and ex-politicians to talk on camera, and how did Christiaan almost get nicotine poisoning? It’s a lively conversation that helps us dig underneath the easy cynicism to discover the solutions. (Hint: people power, which we dive into next episode, Part 2.)

Check out the movie and learn more at MakeItABigDeal.org, and join the campaign at ourdemocracy.com.au.

Show notes

Things we mention:

Framework for a Fair Democracy, Australian Democracy Network

Canada’s political finance laws

Ireland’s political finance laws

Check out the movie and join the campaign:

MakeItABigDeal.org

Ourdemocracy.com.au

Is 1.5 degrees of warming the cliff to the end of the world?

Is everything falling part?

Are we all to blame?

Can we solve this problem, even without the federal government?

It’s been a few weeks since latest IPCC report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, was released by the United Nations. It’s been called a ‘code red’ for humanity, or to borrow a phrase from REM, the end of the world as we know it.

Those already in the know are pretty alarmed about this report, but many more of us frankly don’t have the headspace to even process information like this right now. We’re too overwhelmed trying to deal with lockdown life, the Delta variant and the many other crises of the world at present. So what’s this report really saying, what do we really need to understand, and what can we do about it?

We grabbed two of the best environment leaders we know to guide us through this: Kelly O’Shanassy is the CEO of the Australian Conservation Foundation; David Ritter is the CEO of Greenpeace Australia Pacific, and a repeat guest on the show. Theirs is a candid conversation that cuts through the noise — offering energy and clarity, rather than more anxiety. An unmissable episode full of quotes that will stay with you, and a great one to share.

“It’s not game over, it’s game on.” -Kelly

“People are social animals and we have an innate propensity to good. Climate change is a crime that is being committed, not some ordained original sin of our species.” -David 

“The future is not a linear extension of the past.”  - Kelly

“Which politicians speak of the world with wonder and awe in their voices?” - David

Show Notes

Things we mention:

International Agency Energy report on transitioning to renewable energy

Gloucester Sustainable Futures Festival (community festival David mentions from 2019) around the 9 pillars of Australia reMADE 

Australian Climate Roundtable

ACF’s ‘Australia’s largest-ever climate poll’ and example media coverage (from The Sydney Morning Herald) 

Campaigns to join:

Australian Conservation Foundation ‘Together We CAN’ campaign

Greenpeace Re-energise campaign

Recommendations:

“We are the people we’ve been waiting for: how to answer the question, ‘what can I do?’”

2040 Film

Sunburnt Country, Dr Joëlle Gergis

“IPCC climate report author: our final plea to the world,” by Dr Joëlle Gergis, The Saturday Paper (paywall)

The Great Disruption by Paul Gilding  

"If” poem by Rudyard Kipling

Grace Williams is an emerging leader with a love of law, story-telling and ‘activism without resistance.’ She was born into a refugee camp in Ghana; her early life was spent in learning to speak different languages, befriending with other largely displaced peoples and not taking much of anything for granted.

Today, she has degrees in political economy and philosophy, and she’s on the cusp of finishing her law degree in Hobart, Tasmania. Along the way she has become a passionate story-teller, using books and film to shed light on issues that might seem far away (war and global conflict), or painfully close to home (domestic violence).

In this interview we talk about how both the arts and the law can serve us, about what gentle activism means to her, and why she believes it’s time to make joy the fuel — not just the by-product — of doing good work.

Grace is the Director of Citizen Tasmania, was shortlisted for the Tasmania Young Australian of the Year and was awarded the Tasmanian Human Rights Youth Award in 2020. Find her on Facebook, Instagram or @Placeofgrace97 on Twitter.

Show notes

Recommendations

Super Soul Sunday, the podcast

Films and books:

Growing up African in Australia

Citizen (film preview) 

One a Week (film preview)

Together We Stand (contact Citizen Tasmania for a hard copy)