The Weekend Read

For 31 years, there has been a rivalry – drawing on a divide so inherent and base – that it pits mate against mate.

We’re not talking about State of Origin, we’re talking about the Reclink Community Cup.

The football contest began in Melbourne, but is now held in cities across the country – with the Rockdogs, a team of not-so-athletic musicians, taking on the Megahertz, a band of various music media personalities. The winner claims the bragging rights.

Today, 2024 co-captain of the Rockdogs Anna Stewart will read her story, ‘Reclink Community Cup’. 

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Guest: Digital content assistant, musician and 2024 co-captain of the Rockdogs Anna Stewart.

Over 90 years ago, a swiss astrophysicist theorised there was an unseen, unobservable force that sits behind the universe we know.

He called it ‘dark matter’, and today we’re not much closer to understanding it than he was.

But that could be about to change, as a group of Australian researchers are part of our most promising effort yet to uncover the nature of this unseen force

Today, Atticus Bastow will read his piece, ‘The search for dark matter’ from The Saturday Paper.

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Guest: The 7am podcast’s technical producer, Atticus Bastow

The 2024 Euros are just weeks away – with some of the best footballers in the world competing in an event that draws in hundreds of millions of viewers.

But the legacy of the last Euros is still an uncomfortable topic for many in England. Not only because they lost, but also the scenes of violence and hooliganism that led to a national debate and a new Netflix documentary.

Today, journalist Martin McKenzie-Murray reads his piece from this weekend’s edition of The Saturday Paper.

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Guest: Journalist, Martin McKenzie-Murray.

Today, columnist Elizabeth Farrelly will read her piece about our modern cities and how they relate to the history of how humanity has imagined the perfect city.

Farrelly is one of Australia’s foremost writers on urban development and the communities of our cities – having earned devoted readers at the Sydney Morning Herald and now at Schwartz Media, inThe Saturday Paper.

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Guest: Columnist Elizabeth Farrelly

Today, author and editor Sophie Cunningham reads her piece from a recent edition of The Saturday Paper.

Australian author Georgia Blain chronicled her battle with cancer in a monthly column for The Saturday Paper, sadly passing away in 2016.

Blain is remembered in this piece by her friend of over two decades, Sophie Cunningham – championing her legacy as a writer of rare talent, with a clear-eyed gaze, and a capacity to talk about sadness without self-pity.

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Guest: Author and editor, Sophie Cunningham

On the Las Vegas strip, in a sea of casinos, sits an enormous dome that lights up the sky.

It’s called The Sphere and it’s a performance venue where punters are dazzled by 54 thousand metres of LED screens capable of showing 256 million colours, in a display so overwhelming that some concertgoers faint. 

Writer Elmo Keep travelled to Vegas to see her favourite band U2 play at The Sphere in their inaugurating residency. There she found in equal parts, a religious experience and a hyper capitalist nightmare.  

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Guest: Writer, Elmo Keep

Today on the show, journalist Ange Lavoipierre will be reading her piece from a recent edition of The Monthly.

In the suburb of Newtown, in Sydney, two support groups almost diametrically opposed are asking essentially the same question: how much sex is too much for one person? 

In one group, the Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous meeting welcomes those who are ashamed about the size of their sexual and romantic appetites. For the other, an ethical non-monogamy night allows space and discussion for those who can’t get enough. 

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Guest: Journalist Ange Lavoipierre

Today on the show, writer Jane Gleeson-White, with her piece from a recent edition of The Monthly.

In inner-city Sydney, the heart of the urban jungle, Jane meets environmental lawyer turned activist, Michael Mobbs. 

His ambition is to transform the concrete warren of terraces and narrow streets of Chippendale into a sustainable oasis. 

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Guest: Author, Jane Gleeson-White

Today, writer Konrad Muller reads his latest piece on the quest to learn whether making organic wine is worth the effort.

It's called “Notes from a small vineyard” and in it he tries to discover the true effort and cost of going organic and interrogates what difference it makes.

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Guest: Writer, Konrad Muller

Background reading: Notes from a small vineyard

Surrounded by what we know as the Kakadu National Park, the Northern Territory’s Ranger Uranium Mine finally ceased processing in 2021, after nearly 50 years of operation. 

With the mine now closed, Kakadu’s traditional owners are seeking that the government make good on the original promise of a national park in their care.

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Guest: Writer and photographer Anthony Ham