The Wheeler Centre

When Georgie Stone was 11, she became the youngest person in this country to be granted this permission from the courts. Now a thriving 16-year-old, Georgie is fighting to spare other children and teenagers from the distress and cost of the court process. For this discussion, Georgie is joined by her mother and founder of the Transcend support network, Rebekah Robertson, Campbell Paul, a child psychiatrist specialising in gender dysphoria and host, Jacinta Parsons.

In discussion with Emily Sexton, we hear from three artists whose creative work veers close to boundaries – whether death, censorship, trust or the base conditions of our existence. D.A. Calf is a theatremaker with The Guerrilla Museum, whose immersive live art has looked closely at death. Scott Price is an actor and a key deviser with Back to Back Theatre with a well-known penchant for provocation. And Jessica Thom has blogged extensively about her life with Tourette’s – at her website, you can cast ‘funny votes’ for almost 6,000 of her tics – while, as alter ego Touretteshero, sharing the creative, playful side of the often misunderstood condition.

Both Clementine Ford and Anne Summers have been described as feminist voices of their respective generations. In this conversation – as part of our HEY GIRL series – the pair focus on the notion of girlhood and discuss how experiences in their early lives shaped their ideas around feminism. How has the feminist fight changed? Has progress stagnated or are we in a moment of renewed feminist vigour and optimism? And what kind of future awaits Australian girls?

In conversation with the Wheeler Centre's co-head of programming, Sophie Black, Shen Narayanasamy articulates the argument she presented at the annual Di Gribble Argument dinner – bringing together business, government and social threads to detonate the dead end nature of Australia's immigration debate. #argument16

Join us for a conversation with one of Australia’s brightest literary stars. With host Hilary Harper, Hannah Kent discusses the revival of historical fiction, Australia’s literary landscape, the tangled politics of representation/characterisation and her fascination with troubled women in cold climes.

For this special post-AFL Grand Final episode, join the double-act of Western Bulldogs captain Bob Murphy and acclaimed sportswriter Martin Flanagan for a discussion of writing and football – recorded mid-season 2015, covering topics such as racism, pressure on players to be role models, the Americanisation of the game, the upcoming Women's League, and the ways in which storytelling holds teams together. As Murphy has observed, there’s only a metre between their perspectives on the game. One is on the fence, the other is on the field.

Sam Cooney is the publisher of the Lifted Brow, who’ve just broadened their remit to include books as well as a quarterly magazine and website. Former Junkee editor Steph Harmon is now the Guardian’s Cultural Editor. Jane Howard is the newly-minted director of Digital Writers’ Festival. In conversation with Meanjin editor Jonathan Green, find out how they’re keeping the lights on.

In conversation with Karen Lyon, Mark 'Bomber' Thompson discusses the highs and lows of his football career on and off the field, the personal cost of senior coaching, the supplements scandal and the future of Australian Rules football.

Sami Shah's fantasy/horror novel, Fire Boy, is set in Karachi, Pakistan – and it's riddled with soul-stealing djinns (shape-shifting demon/genies made of smokeless fire) and various other nightmarish creatures from Muslim mythology. Sami chats with fellow writer Nadia Niaz about genre (and particularly, horror) fiction originating beyond the Anglosphere. What creepy spirits lurk under Malaysian, Moroccan and Mexican beds? Do demons and monsters share similar qualities across the world? Or do their powers reflect something of the culture of their origin?

In this talk, we look at the ways writers can seize on the creative and collaborative potential of games. Can great games rival great works of literature?