The Secret Life of Language

In this episode of Matt’s Chitchats, Matt sits down with the brilliant Voice of Lele. As a proud West Papuan woman, singer, and advocate, Lele shares her powerful story of living in exile and how she uses her music as a vital tool for cultural survival. As the eldest daughter of Australia's first West Papuan refugee family – and the daughter of a member of the legendary Black Brothers Band – music and advocacy truly run in her blood.

In this series, Matt's Chitchats, part of The Secret Life of Language, our host Matt Absalom will talk to all sorts of different people about all sorts of different things relating to languages.

In this candid chitchat with Voice of Lele we dive into why singing in Melanesian languages like Biak, Tok Pisin and Bislama is so crucial to her identity. Lele explains how using a shared language like Tok Pisin helps shatter artificial colonial boundaries, instantly connecting West Papuans with the broader Pasifika community. We also get the beautiful backstory behind her new single, Border Crosser. A collaboration with Nattali Rize, the track adapts a traditional folk song called Samandoye to reflect the refugee journey.

It’s not all serious history, though! Lele gives us a gorgeous, candid glimpse into her everyday home life with her husband, First Nations artist Mitch Tambo, and their four daughters.

In this episode, we also chat about:

• How their household vocabulary seamlessly blends languages like Gamilaraay, Papuan Malay and Tongan.

• The profound impact of performing massive anthems like Amazing Grace in traditional languages on mainstream Australian stages.

• Lele's surprising musical influences, ranging from her dad and Mariah Carey to old-school rock bands like AC/DC and Guns N' Roses.

• Her favourite everyday expressions, from cheeky nappy-change terms to the powerful, ever-present rallying cry "Papua Merdeka" (Free West Papua).

Plus, stick around to the very end to be treated to a stunning live studio performance of the traditional South Papuan song Emambo!

Grab a cuppa and tune in to this deeply human and inspiring conversation.

Learn more about Voice of Lele:

https://www.voiceoflele.com

Watch Voice of Lele:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbfTH7SxbP7RtwaW4dZfrRQ

All songs in this podcast episode are used with the permission of Walanbaa Music.

Matt's Chitchats is a mini-series of The Secret Life of Language, a podcast from the University of Melbourne’s School of Languages and Linguistics. The series is produced by Matt Absalom and Gavin Nebauer. Recorded and mixed by Gavin Nebauer at the Horwood Recording Studio, the University of Melbourne.

The Secret Life of Language is licensed under Creative Commons.

In this latest instalment of Matt's Chitchats, we’re pulling back the curtain on two of the most explosive and influential figures in 20th-century Italian stagecraft. Matt is joined by the eminent Emeritus Professor Joseph Farrell for a captivating deep dive into the lives, legacy, and sheer subversive power of Dario Fo and Franca Rame.

How does a playwright with zero theatrical background end up winning the Nobel Prize for Literature? And what happens when his work collides with the fierce, innate talent of a woman born into a legendary travelling theatre dynasty?

In this episode, we unpack the history, the controversies, and the craft:

• The Outsider and the Royalty: We explore Franca’s unique upbringing – debuting on stage as a baby and learning lines “mouth to mouth” – and how it contrasted with Dario's completely untheatrical beginnings
• The Canzonissima Walkout: Joseph recounts the legendary 1962 television scandal where Dario’s acerbic comments on a building strike led to a studio panic, a triumphant walkout through the streets of Milan, and a decade-long ban from Italian TV
• Blasphemy and the Giullare: Discover how Fo revived the tradition of the mediaeval minstrel to create Mistero Buffo – a radical, one-man performance that the Vatican furiously condemned as the most blasphemous play ever staged
• The Translator's Dilemma: Joseph shares his strict philosophy on translation versus adaptation. He discusses the necessity of being a “servant” to the author, the challenges of dealing with outdated or offensive language without sanitising the past, and why he chose to translate Fo’s anarchy into Scots
• Behind the Scenes: Expect personal anecdotes from Joseph’s time with the couple, including a chaotic, poignant attempt to organise an exhibition in Edinburgh during Dario's final days

Packed with rich history, sharp humour, and an insider's look at the messy art of translation, this is an episode for language lovers and theatre buffs alike.

If you’re interested in Joe’s work, here is a couple of recent titles:

• Dario Fo and Franca Rame: Theatre, Politics, Life (Methuen Publishing, 2019): This is his most comprehensive and recently updated biography of the couple, exploring their unique professional and personal partnership, their political activism, and their lasting impact on global theatre.
• Robert Louis Stevenson in Samoa (2017): A biographical study focusing on the final years of the famous Scottish author's life in the Pacific, which was shortlisted for the Saltire Society Non-Fiction Book of the Year Award.

Joes is also a highly regarded translator, having translated numerous works by Dario Fo, Leonardo Sciascia, Vincenzo Consolo, and Valerio Varesi. Most of his books can be readily found through major retailers

Matt's Chitchats is a mini-series of The Secret Life of Language, a podcast from the University of Melbourne’s School of Languages and Linguistics. The series is produced by Matt Absalom and Gavin Nebauer. Recorded and mixed by Gavin Nebauer at the Horwood Recording Studio, the University of Melbourne.

The Secret Life of Language is licensed under Creative Commons.

In this evocative episode of Matt’s Chitchats, Matt reunites with former colleagues Kerstin Pilz and Amanda Burns to delve into the enduring allure of Italy and the transformative power of storytelling.

In this series, Matt's Chitchats, part of The Secret Life of Language, our host Matt Absalom will talk to all sorts of different people about all sorts of different things relating to languages.

From the hallowed halls of the University of Melbourne to the shores of Lake Garda and the tropics of Queensland, our guests discuss how they traded academic rigour for literary bravery.

The conversation centres on the authors' transition from academic careers to writing non-fiction and fiction that challenges the invisible phase of women in midlife.

· Amanda Burns discusses her book, An Italian Affair, a fictional story about a widowed woman reclaiming her identity through a journey back to Italy.

· Kerstin Pilz shares the deeply personal origins of her memoir, Loving My Lying, Dying, Cheating Husband, which chronicles her experience with grief, caregiving, and self-discovery following her husband's terminal illness.

Whether you're an Italophile, an aspiring writer, or someone navigating the complexities of midlife, this episode offers a profound look at reclaiming one’s voice and the healing beauty of a second language.

Buy An Italian Affair here

Find Loving my lying, dying, cheating husband: A memoir here

Matt's Chitchats is a mini-series of The Secret Life of Language, a podcast from the University of Melbourne’s School of Languages and Linguistics. The series is produced by Matt Absalom and Gavin Nebauer. Recorded and mixed by Gavin Nebauer at the Horwood Recording Studio, the University of Melbourne.

The Secret Life of Language is licensed under Creative Commons.

Matt’s Chitchats – Uncomfortable words and the vocabulary of desire – A Conversation with Marco Scarcelli

Words create worlds, and in the digital age, they also create and constrain how we love. In this extended second instalment, Matt is back with sociologist Marco Scarcelli to decode the language of modern intimacy.

We often think of "sex" as a biological act, but as Marco explains, it’s a linguistic minefield shaped by society and culture. From the power of euphemisms to the new terminology of online subcultures, this episode explores how the words we choose can define the relationships we have.

In this episode, we translate the unspoken rules:

· "Sex" vs. "Sesso": Why is the English word for sex considered "sexy" and "novel" in Italy, while the Italian word sesso is seen as "dangerous" and "aggressive"?

· Defining the "Sexademic": Marco unpacks this neologism and what it means to carry the label of a scholar working in the "dirty" corners of academia.

· The Grammar of Gamification: What happens when we reduce intimacy to the metrics of sex-tracking apps? We look at how "trophies" and "performance scores" are rewriting the definition of "good sex".

· The Euphemism Trap: Why do we hide behind smooth words like "intimacy" to avoid the reality of "sex" and "sexuality"?

It’s a conversation about the power of naming, the risks of doing research on sex in institutional settings and the new lexicon of love in a digital world.

This episode of Matt’s Chitchats features an academic discussion regarding sex, sexuality, and digital culture. The conversation includes sociological analysis of adult themes, including pornography and online subcultures. Listener discretion is advised.

Matt's Chitchats is a mini-series of The Secret Life of Language, a podcast from the University of Melbourne’s School of Languages and Linguistics. The series is produced by Matt Absalom and Gavin Nebauer. Recorded and mixed by Gavin Nebauer at the Horwood Recording Studio, the University of Melbourne.

The Secret Life of Language is licensed under Creative Commons.

In this episode, Vera Gheno, noted Italian sociolinguist and public intellectual best known for her work on language and gender joins our host Matt Absalom to have a wide-ranging discussion that starts with Italian music and ends with the "death of alphabetical order" in the digital age.

In this series, Matt's Chitchats, part of The Secret Life of Language, our host Matt Absalom will talk to all sorts of different people about all sorts of different things relating to languages.

In this inaugural episode of Matt's Chitchats, Vera Gheno, begins in an unexpected place: the Italian music of the 1960s and 1970s which Vera admits to disliking, preferring English rock until her teenage daughter introduced her to the contemporary scene. They discuss how modern artists like Mahmood and Ghali are challenging the "purity" of the language by mixing Italian with Arabic and street slang, stretching grammar to its limits in ways that fascinate her as a linguist .

This leads to a deeper discussion on the history of Italian unity. Vera reminds us that Italian is a relatively young "language of culture" , noting that even literary giant Alessandro Manzoni spoke French with his friends, and that it took television to truly unify the language across the peninsula. We discuss the lingering effects of dubbing on Italian society, specifically how it has created an artificial or "constructed" Italian that differs significantly from the language people actually speak in their daily lives.

Finally, we touch on how technology is reshaping our cognitive habits. From the "death of the album" to the algorithmic discovery of K-Pop, we look at what happens when we stop browsing. Vera shares a striking observation from her work with university students: the loss of "alphabetical order" as a mental tool, simply because digital search bars have made the need to organise bibliographies or scan record shelves obsolete.

Matt's Chitchats is a mini-series of The Secret Life of Language, a podcast from the University of Melbourne’s School of Languages and Linguistics. The series is produced by Matt Absalom and Gavin Nebauer. Recorded and mixed by Gavin Nebauer at the Horwood Recording Studio, the University of Melbourne.

Music Recommendations from this episode

• tha Supreme - Bilico
• Subsonica - Radio Mogadiscio
• Mara Sattei

The Secret Life of Language is licensed under Creative Commons.

In this bonus episode of Choc-tops and Cassata, Elisabetta and Mark call on their co-host Santo to justify his bold claim from part 3 of Choc-tops that The Castle – the much-loved classic Australian comedy which he co-wrote – is, in fact, an ‘Italian film’.

In this series, Choc-tops and Cassata, part of The Secret Life of Language, hosts Elisabetta Ferrari (Italian Studies Program) and Mark Nicholls (Screen and Cultural Studies) are joined by comedian, writer and producer Santo Cilauro to dig into the ways Italian language films shaped the cultural life of Melbourne.

In making a case for The Castle’s italianità (Italianness), Santo shares memories of the collaborative screenwriting process with Rob Sitch, Tom Gleisner and Jane Kennedy, reminiscing about shooting on a shoestring budget. He recalls how the writers drew directly from their own families to capture those moments of warmth, chaos and loyalty that give this unique film its charm. They discuss the quirkiness of the film’s characters and their ability to delight in life’s small pleasures in an honest and unpretentious way.

Santo also reveals why an Italian language version of the film was nearly made but fell over due to one big cultural difference.

Choc-tops and Cassata is a mini-series of The Secret Life of Language, a podcast from the University of Melbourne’s School of Languages and Linguistics. The series is produced and edited by Elisabetta Ferrari, Alice Garner and Gavin Nebauer. Recorded and mixed by Gavin Nebauer at the Horwood Recording Studio, the University of Melbourne.

Choc-tops and Cassata is made with support from ACIS (Australasian Centre for Italian Studies)

If you have any stories or info about the Melbourne cinema scene as discussed in the podcast, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]

The Secret Life of Language is licensed under Creative Commons.

Antonio Zeccola, founder and owner of Australia’s largest independent cinema chain, Palace Cinemas, joins Santo, Elisabetta and Mark to talk about the early days of running Italian language cinemas in Melbourne. He sheds light on the sourcing, exhibition and distribution of Italian films for suburban cinemas and explores how Melbourne’s cultural landscape was transformed along the way.

In this series, Choc-tops and Cassata, part of The Secret Life of Language, hosts Elisabetta Ferrari (Italian Studies Program) and Mark Nicholls (Screen and Cultural Studies) are joined by comedian, writer and producer Santo Cilauro to dig into the ways Italian language films shaped the cultural life of Melbourne.

Antonio shares his back story, including his father’s small theatre and cinema in Naples and his uncle’s prisoner of war experience in Australia, and explains how at nineteen, he came to run his first cinema in Noble Park (the Pix) and later the Metropolitan in Brunswick.

He recounts big hits like The Ten Commandments and the comedies of Franco Franchi e Ciccio Ingrassia, competition with other Italian suburban cinemas, the evolution of Palace, the daily challenge of staying afloat financially and his part in the development of film festivals in Australia.

Choc-tops and Cassata is a mini-series of The Secret Life of Language, a podcast from the University of Melbourne’s School of Languages and Linguistics. The series is produced and edited by Elisabetta Ferrari, Alice Garner and Gavin Nebauer. Recorded and mixed by Gavin Nebauer at the Horwood Recording Studio, the University of Melbourne.

Choc-tops and Cassata is made with support from ACIS (Australasian Centre for Italian Studies)

If you have any stories or info about the Melbourne cinema scene as discussed in the podcast, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]

The Secret Life of Language is licensed under Creative Commons.

Acclaimed Italo-Australian screenwriter and director Jan Sardi joins the Choc-tops and Cassata team to reflect on how Melbourne’s Italian social and cultural landscape has shaped his work in cinema.

In this series, Choc-tops and Cassata, part of The Secret Life of Language, hosts Elisabetta Ferrari (Italian Studies Program) and Mark Nicholls (Screen and Cultural Studies) are joined by comedian, writer and producer Santo Cilauro to dig into the ways Italian language films shaped the cultural life of Melbourne.

Starting with his grandparents’ migration from the island of Elba and experiences on the Queensland canefields, Jan takes us to glamorous floorshows and Hollywood filmstars at Mario’s restaurant in Melbourne, where his father worked. He revisits his childhood obsession with Westerns screened at the Adelphi (now the San Remo Ballroom) and the discovery of Italian stars like Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida. Screenwriter of movies such as Moving Out and Oscar nominated Shine, he also talks about his directorial debut in Love's Brother, his time as a teacher and how one of his high school students, Vince Colosimo, came to be cast in Moving Out.

Choc-tops and Cassata is a mini-series of The Secret Life of Language, a podcast from the University of Melbourne’s School of Languages and Linguistics. The series was produced and edited by Elisabetta Ferrari, Alice Garner and Gavin Nebauer. Recorded and mixed by Gavin Nebauer at the Horwood Recording Studio, the University of Melbourne.

Choc-tops and Cassata is made with support from ACIS (Australasian Centre for Italian Studies)

If you have any stories or info about the Melbourne cinema scene as discussed in the podcast, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]

The Secret Life of Language is licensed under Creative Commons.

Melbourne cinemas provided an invaluable opportunity for the Italian community to gather and speak and hear their language, in a time when very little non-English media was available. When SBS and video came along, everything changed.

In this series, Choc-tops and Cassata, part of The Secret Life of Language, hosts Elisabetta Ferrari (Italian Studies Program) and Mark Nicholls (Screen and Cultural Studies) are joined by comedian, writer and producer Santo Cilauro to dig into the ways Italian language films shaped the cultural life of Melbourne.

In this episode of Choc-tops and Cassata, guests Carlo and Giovanni Zeccola invite our hosts to step back into the 1970s and join them on a lively Saturday night at the Metropolitan. Their family ran this Italian language cinema in Melbourne’s inner northern suburb of Brunswick from the late 1960s to the early ‘80s. Patrons rolled up at the grand 1920s-era, 1800-seat theatre dressed in their finest, ordering cassata and orange cordial from a very young Giovanni, who ushered them to their seats.

Choc-tops and Cassata is a mini-series of The Secret Life of Language, a podcast from the University of Melbourne’s School of Languages and Linguistics. The series was produced and edited by Elisabetta Ferrari, Alice Garner and Gavin Nebauer. Recorded and mixed by Gavin Nebauer at the Horwood Recording Studio, the University of Melbourne.

Choc-tops and Cassata is made with support from ACIS (Australasian Centre for Italian Studies)

If you have any stories or info about the Melbourne cinema scene as discussed in the podcast, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]

The Secret Life of Language is licensed under Creative Commons.

Italian film nights in 1950's -1970's Melbourne were an excuse for a multigenerational night out. Movie screenings brought places, faces and voices from the old country to a hungry audience. But they also helped save some of Melbourne’s favourite suburban cinemas from demolition.

In this series, Choc-tops and Cassata, part of The Secret Life of Language, hosts Elisabetta Ferrari (Italian Studies Program) and Mark Nicholls (Screen and Cultural Studies) are joined by comedian, writer and producer Santo Cilauro to dig into the ways Italian language films shaped the cultural life of Melbourne.

In this episode, we speak with Gus Berger, cinema owner-operator and producer of the documentary The Lost City of Melbourne. Gus explains how suburban cinemas fit into the big picture of Melbourne’s mid-20th-century urban redevelopment and demolition frenzy.

The trio discuss cheap rent and architectural marvels, including the Metropolitan Cinema’s space age ticket booth, and bemoan the gap in the photographic archive. We also discuss the impact of the introduction of Television in general, but especially the multicultural public tv network, SBS, launching on to our tv screens in 1979.

Choc-tops and Cassata is a mini-series of The Secret Life of Language, a podcast from the University of Melbourne’s School of Languages and Linguistics. The series was produced and edited by Elisabetta Ferrari, Alice Garner and Gavin Nebauer. Recorded and mixed by Gavin Nebauer at the Horwood Recording Studio, the University of Melbourne.

Choc-tops and Cassata is made with support from ACIS (Australasian Centre for Italian Studies)

If you have any stories or info about the Melbourne cinema scene as discussed in the podcast, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]

The Secret Life of Language is licensed under Creative Commons.