The Wheeler Centre

Nathan Hill’s novel, The Nix – at times surreal and dystopian – has arrived at an extraordinary moment in American political history. Listen to him in conversation with Louise Swinn, where he talks about the process of writing the book (in longhand, no less), and the surprising people and experiences that prompted its characters and settings.

What does it mean to win? Why are so many of us motivated by the prospect of glory? How does our obsession with winning in sport shape our culture and sense of nationhood? And does this obsession spill over into our attitudes towards art, education and our careers?

In this discussion, hear stories from three queer comedians about what they’ve encountered along the way. How did they begin, and how has their comedy developed alongside their sexuality? In which ways does queer comedy operate as a kind of activism? Should it? How are society’s changing values reflected in where the ‘too far’ mark lies? RRR presenter Geraldine Hickey (Breakfasters), Black Comedy’s Steven Oliver, stand-up comedian Demi Lardner and host Tom Ballard discuss whether whom one bones influences one’s funny bones.

To begin 2017, in partnership with volunteer-run oral history project Behind the Wire, we launched a new podcast series. It's called The Messenger, and we'd like to share its first episode with you. The Messenger brings you into the Australian immigration detention centre on Manus Island – and reveals, in intimate detail, one man's experience of what it's really like to flee tragedy and seek asylum by boat. It's reported almost entirely via WhatsApp voice messages sent from a smuggled phone. You might remember it from last year's podcast competition, So You Think You Can Pod; it was the winning entry.

Sit back, relax and relive the best and worst as a bevy of Australia’s finest writers and entertainers farewell the year that was – in five-minute bursts of stories and song. Your host for the Show of the Year is silver-tongued songbird Casey Bennetto. For the second half of the year, he's joined by Benson Saulo, Geraldine Hickey, Tim Flannery, Cal Wilson and Danny McGinlay – tackling Indigenous leadership, Trump, the Western Bulldogs' AFL Grand Final win, climate and #censusfail.

In Melbourne for the first time, Radiolab host and creator Jad Abumrad chats with beloved Australian broadcaster Andrew Denton. Hear from one of the world’s foremost storytellers about creative discomfort, the challenges now facing podcasters and communicators, and the hot, curious power of the uncertain.

Sit back, relax and relive the best and worst as a bevy of Australia’s finest writers and entertainers farewell the year that was – in five-minute bursts of stories and song. Your host for the Show of the Year is silver-tongued songbird Casey Bennetto. For the first half of the year, he's joined by Geraldine Quinn, Shireen Morris, Jennifer Byrne, Tom Ballard, Nkechi Anele, Osamah Sami and Deborah Conway and Willy Zygier. They tackle events including the death of Prince and Harper Lee, Boaty McBoatface and Brexit.

It’s 25 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody handed down its final report. The commission investigated the deaths of 99 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, generated 200 shelf metres of records and made 339 recommendations. One of the key findings, was that a reduction in rates of imprisonment would mean a reduction in risk of deaths in custody. But Indigenous people have doubled as a proportion of the prison population since the time of the commission – and many are still dying in custody today. In this discussion, our panel of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders and human rights experts will discuss the significance of the Royal Commission, its findings and implications and the success and failings of policies implemented in its aftermath. What has worked? What hasn’t? And how can our governments shift the hearts and minds of all Australians? With Karly Warner, Ruth Barson, Shane Duffy and Rose Falla.

For this discussion, hosted by creative non-fiction author, editor and teacher Lee Kofman, we've brought together some stars of Australia’s creative non-fiction scene. Our panellists discuss their own research and writing practices, their rules to write by and their heroes in the genre. What defines creative non-fiction? How are attitudes towards creative non-fiction changing among writers, publishers and the reading public in Australia today? And do great works of this genre derive their energy from their authors’ ethical predicaments?

Acclaimed New York-based journalist Masha Gessen believes US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is ‘a thoroughly American creation that poses an existential threat to American democracy’. At this Wheeler Centre talk in Bendigo, she discusses the historical, economic and cultural circumstances that have enabled the ascendance of this utterly unorthodox political figure.