The Wheeler Centre

Join Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barry, hosts of the Guardian’s political podcast Back to Back Barries, for a clear-eyed analysis of the 2025 Australian federal election.

After five weeks of relentless campaigning, Australians have cast their votes – and political commentators and former major party insiders Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barry are here to offer a discerning examination of how, and why, we arrived at the results on 3 May 2025.

In this special post-election live recording of the Guardian’s Back to Back Barries podcast, they look at the key moments that shaped the campaigns, unpack the role that Independents and minor parties had on the balance of power and discuss what has been revealed about the political, cultural and social issues shaping Australia.

This event was presented in partnership with The Guardian. It was recorded on Thursday 15 May 2025 at The Edge, Federation Square.

Support the Wheeler Centre: https://www.wheelercentre.com/support-us/donate

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Over an intimate two-course dinner at Montalto, broadcaster and social policy expert Jamila Rizvi and comedian and podcaster Rosie Waterland come together with host Tracee Hutchison for a candid discussion about their deeply personal new book, Broken Brains.  

Drawing from their own experiences, Rizvi and Waterland reflect on their journeys with illness – Rizvi's rare brain tumour diagnosis and Waterland’s ongoing mental trauma from childhood abuse – and explore the unexpected ways these struggles intersect. Through a rare blend of humour and honesty, they offer solidarity and invaluable insights for anyone who has faced illness or cared for someone who has.  

Hear from two women who have navigated their own battles and now wish to share the hope, healing and perspective they’ve gained along the way.  

This event was recorded on Friday 9 May 2025. It was presented in partnership with Montalto. The official bookseller was Farrells.

Featured music is 'I See You Out There' by Tellsonic.

Please note this recording includes references to suicide. For support in Australia contact: 

Lifeline: 13 11 14
Kids Helpline: 1800 551 800
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 46 36
Headspace: 1800 650 890

Support the Wheeler Centre: https://www.wheelercentre.com/support-us/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Legendary tech journalist and podcaster Kara Swisher opens up about a lifetime of reporting on Silicon Valley with host Sophie Black.  

In a world where tech billionaires operate beyond the reach of government regulation and press scrutiny, Kara Swisher has devoted her career to holding them to account.  

Her new memoir Burn Book offers an insider’s history of some of Silicon Valley’s most influential companies, laying bare the utopian ideals and troubling compromises of the people who created them. Here, she discusses her wide-ranging experiences of reporting on the tech industry from boom and bust to global domination and offers a clear-eyed view on how big tech has shaped our lives.  

Hear this witty, scathing and frank account from a journalist who has seen the dark inner workings of the industry – and yet remains optimistic about tech's potential to deliver a better and fairer world.

Originally presented on Thursday 6 March 2025 by The Wheeler Centre in partnership with RMIT Culture.

The official bookseller was Readings.

Featured music is ‘Different Days’ by Chill Cole.

Support the Wheeler Centre: https://www.wheelercentre.com/support-us/donate

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Trailblazing journalist and proud Gamilaroi woman Brooke Boney opens up like never before in All of It, her powerful debut essay collection.

Like many millennial women, Brooke Boney is navigating a society that expects her to chase it all – career, success and personal fulfillment – while doing so under an unforgiving public gaze.

In her highly anticipated essay collection, All of It, she reflects on the pressures of life in the spotlight as the first Indigenous host of Australian commercial breakfast television and now as an ambitious scholar striving to inspire others. With honesty and insight, she explores the competing expectations placed on young women today.

In conversation with Jacinta Parsons, the charismatic and thought-provoking Boney delves into what drives her sense of purpose and meaning while grappling with the generational impacts of colonisation, love, friendship, fertility and ambition.

This event was recorded on Friday 4 April 2025 at The Wheeler Centre.

The official bookseller was Readings.

Featured music is ‘Golden Hour’ by Sarah, the Illstrumentalist.

Support the Wheeler Centre: https://www.wheelercentre.com/support-us/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the past 20 years, Pankaj Mishra has written incisive studies of a world marked by inequalities and the effects of globalisation. He has traced global histories of fascism, the impacts of rising nationalism and applied an astute lens to the fragility of our democratic institutions.   

Now, he sets his expert mind to the war in Gaza.  

Garnering praise from the likes of Rashid Khalidi, Naomi Klein and Hisham Matar, Mishra’s latest work, The World After Gaza, reckons with the latest devastating conflict in the Middle East and how the world’s balance of power is shifting. He joins host Antony Loewenstein as they explore the moral and geopolitical ramifications at stake during this polarising historical moment.

This event was recorded on Wednesday 26 February 2025 at The Wheeler Centre.

The official bookseller was Paperback Bookshop.

Featured music is ‘Living in a Fantasy’ by Pulsed.

Support the Wheeler Centre: https://www.wheelercentre.com/support-us/donate

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In this panel discussion journalist Emma Do, A Plus Market founder Sam van Zweden and writer and podcast host Maggie Zhou examine the barriers within the industry and discuss the evolving vision of an inclusive fashion future. Moderated by cultural commentator Sabina McKenna, these fashion experts and enthusiasts explore the most pressing issues in fashion, from size inclusivity and high price points to ethical production and sustainable consumption. 

Unboxing the realities of mainstream fashion, they look at who is excluded from the influential industry and why. They challenge norms and seek to reimagine how the industry can better serve everyone.

Whether you’re an influencer, trendsetter, social change advocate, or simply a fashion lover, this conversation will be your opportunity to join the dialogue on the future of fashion. 

This event was recorded on Saturday 1 March 2025 at The Wheeler Centre. It was  presented as part of the PayPal Melbourne Fashion Festival’s Independent Programme.

Featured music is ‘No One There’ by Ava Low.

About The Wheeler Centre:
The Wheeler Centre is where writers, storytellers, thinkers and readers connect through live events, insightful conversations and compelling stories in Melbourne. Subscribe to our platforms or explore our library of talks, podcasts and live events at wheelercentre.com

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Support the Wheeler Centre: https://www.wheelercentre.com/support-us/donate

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After spending their early years together in conflict zones as foreign correspondents, Geraldine Brooks and partner Tony Horwitz relocated from Australia to the idyllic Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, USA, to raise their children. 

The life they built there was one of meaningful work, good humour and tenderness. But all this ended abruptly when, during the spring of 2019, Brooks received a phone call with the news that Horwitz – just 60 years old and, to her knowledge, vigorous and healthy – had collapsed and died on a street in Washington, DC.

In the aftermath of this devastating loss, Brooks composed the spare and heartfelt Memorial Days – a portrait of a timeless love between souls that captures the joy, agony and mystery of life. Hear this Pulitzer Prize-winning author in conversation with Jason Steger in the first edition of our Books and Ideas at Montalto series for 2025. 

Content warning: This conversation contains themes of grief and loss. 

This event was presented in partnership with Montalto.

It was recorded on Friday 28 February 2025 at Montalto Winery.

The official bookseller was Antipodes.

Featured music is ‘Different Days’ by Chill Cole.

Support the Wheeler Centre: https://www.wheelercentre.com/support-us/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rachel Kushner’s new novel Creation Lake tells the story of Sadie Smith, an American spy-for-hire working in the secretive world of privately contracted surveillance. Tasked with infiltrating a commune of anarchists in rural France, she becomes entranced by a mysterious cult-leader-like figure named Bruno Lacombe who believes that freedom from the pain of the modern condition can only be achieved through a return to the ancient past. 

Creation Lake is both a canny homage to French noir and an incisive critique of spy-novel clichés – more than that, it is stylish, witty and audaciously cerebral. Here, the two-time National Book Award finalist and Booker Prize-shortlisted author sits down to discuss this dazzling work of double-crossing, dark humour and dangerous games, with moderator Rebecca Harkins-Cross.

This event was recorded on Tuesday March 4th 2025 at The Wheeler Centre. It was supported by RMIT Culture.

The official bookseller was Hill of Content.

Featured music is ‘Traveling Again’ by Sarah the Illstrumentalist.

Support the Wheeler Centre: https://www.wheelercentre.com/support-us/donate

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Ben Shewry knows obsession well. It’s what has propelled his innovative Melbourne restaurant, Attica, to national and global acclaim. His new memoir-meets-manifesto, Uses for Obsession: A (Chef’s) Memoir, is a reflection on leadership, hospitality and humanity, and an unforgettable look inside the sometimes-brutal world of cheffing. 

Shewry joins host Marieke Hardy for this special live episode of Hardy’s podcast, Marieke Hardy is Going to Die. They plan Shewry’s dream funeral and reflect on navigating life’s ebbs and flows: from creative freedom and culinary sustainability to the cult of the chef and cooking as muse.

Hear from a restaurateur and a raconteur as they contemplate one of the only certainties in life – that we’re all going to die. Someday.

This episode was recorded on Tuesday 15 October 2024 at The Wheeler Centre as part of Spring Fling. The official bookseller was Readings. Produced by Darren Scarce with music by Lord Fascinator.

Marieke Hardy Is Going To Die is a podcast made by Marieke Hardy (IG @marieke_hardy). You can follow at IG @GoingToDiePod

Whilst acknowledging the privilege that comes with having the space to discuss death and mortality, we want to also recognise that discussing these topics can raise some  wounds. Should you wish to seek extra support, please consider the following resources:

https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/online-grief-support-groups

https://www.grief.org.au/ga/ga/Support/Support_Groups.aspx

https://www.headspace.com/meditation/grief

https://www.mindful.org/a-10-minute-guided-meditation-for-working-with-grief/

https://griefline.org.au/get-help/

Support the Wheeler Centre: https://www.wheelercentre.com/support-us/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Content warning: This episode includes occasional course language.

From her childhood in the Australian outback to the heights of her chart-topping international success as a singer-songwriter, country music icon Kasey Chambers has trusted her gut, stuck to her values and learned some hard truths, always while trying to live by the best advice she’s ever received: just don’t be a d**khead. 

At this special event at Geelong Library & Heritage Centre, Chambers discusses her new book Just Don’t Be A D**khead (and other profound things I’ve learnt). In this conversation, she shares heartfelt, honest tales, musical experiences and the behind-the-scenes insights she has learned along the way.

Kasey also treats the audience to a few live songs during the session. Hosted by Triple R broadcaster Denise Hylands.

The event was recorded on Wednesday 9 October 2024 at Geelong Library & Heritage Centre as part of The Wheeler Centre’s Spring Fling series.

It was presented in partnership with Geelong Regional Libraries.  The official bookseller was Cook & Young.

Featured music:
“Backbone”, “Not Pretty Enough” and “Ain’t No Little Girl” 
All tracks by performed by Kasey Chambers and Brandon Dodd, recorded live at Geelong Library & Heritage Centre.
Opening track ‘Golden Hour’ by Sarah, the Illstrumentalist.

Support the Wheeler Centre: https://www.wheelercentre.com/support-us/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.