WHAT I'VE LEARNT

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Comedian Arj Barker has always had an ability to identify the idiosyncrasies of Australian culture but with an affection developed through his own familiarity with the country. 

Part Indian Sikh and European his rich cultural heritage is just part of the fuel for his comedy.

And He cleverly selects subjects that resonate well with local audiences - From Uber v taxis to the city’s sometimes fraught relationship with the Melbourne Cup.

Also on his topical hit list are paleo diets and going gluten-free. 

But as Barker grows up, so does the subject matter. What is different from the Arj Barker we’ve seen in the past is a distinguishable self-awareness about life love and why laughter is the best medicine.

But we would expect nothing less from the Californian nice guy but ultimately, what we’re most interested in are the jokes. He’s one of our favorite funny men. 

Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk

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Today I have a very special guest joining me on the podcast. Sue Blashki my beautiful mother. 

As her 80th birthday is around the corner we’ve joined forces to tell her story and capture her legacy and wisdom in honor of mothers across the world.

Mother of four, wife, barrister, magistrate, and now a mediator Sue has been a role model for many - friends some of who went into law inspired by Sue, her children and grandchildren, and of course me!

Life has not always been easy for Sue suffering an illness that saw her bedridden as a young 15-year-old girl, tragically losing her own mother when Sue was only a 27-year-old young mum and later taking care of a seriously ill brother who she adored.

But for her, it’s all been about finding that piece of blue sky letting the sunshine in during the storms that at times we all often weather.

As a writer and publisher working with mum to write her memoir is one of the greatest honors. I feel such trust and responsibility to try and reflect on this incredible woman who has shaped mine and so many lives with her love, kindness intelligence, and warmth.

I’ve always had such huge respect for mum in every way - as a professional woman as well as a mother she is my guiding light on almost everything I do - there’s not much I don’t share with her as her advice is often thoughtful and very on point. 

There’s barely a day I haven’t had a catch-up call with mum. 

We discuss everything from relationships, work, politics, literature, the arts, children, friendships and there’s not a major life decision I’ve made without serious counsel with her. Often her advice is sound, sensible but always with a lateral perspective. Sometimes mum feels like a sister or a best friend!

At a time when only a few women tackled the challenges of the law mum showed how it was done. Humble, capable, and transformative with carefully honed skills there are also many families who are grateful to mum for her guidance in navigating the often challenging family law system. 

I’ve always been so proud of mum’s determination to work and have a family - it has inspired me to know you can have it all just not necessarily all at once. 

We reflect often on the balancing act and mum is always open to considering new ways of doing things - she’s very progressive and not just stuck on one way of doing things. Mum listens and is always learning even at 80!

I feel so blessed to have had such an inspirational intelligent caring woman to guide and nurture me through life’s journey - no matter what the curveball and we have both had many - it’s mums perspective to stay calm, adapt, consider carefully and you’ll get through it .. has helped me navigate the river of life so many times.

I feel she’s always there in my canoe paddling alongside me no matter where I am.

Mum has such a Joie de Vivre for theatre, music travel and always loved a party! I think that’s where I get it from! Dressed beautifully with her maroon lipstick mum loves a celebration and fortunately, we have had so many!

Also a ninth-generation Australian with convict ancestors we often joke that her family has gone from one side of the bench to the other .. as she became a successful magistrate!

So as she turns 80 we reflect on her history, wisdom and lessons learnt on the ever ebbing river of life.

Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk

Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1365850

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Sadly it was a tragedy that brought mother Australian of the Year Rosie Batty into the limelight.

On an otherwise ordinary day in early 2014 her only child, Luke, an effervescent 11-year-old, was at cricket practice when he was killed in front of her by his father. It was a brutal, incomprehensible act, carried out amidst children playing sport on a summer’s day, and it shocked a nation.

24 hours later she bravely stood before the press determined to bring family violence into the public arena. Surrounded by microphones and media outlets she spoke.

“Family violence happens to everybody, no matter how nice your house is or how intelligent you are. It happens to anyone and everyone, and this has been an 11-year battle.”

At that moment. she woke Australia up to the complexities around domestic violence. The scourge of a mentally ill father and a family court battle ended up in a tragic loss of life. 

This month the domestic violence horror trail featured in the media again.

Despicable, beyond comprehension.

More than 35,000 defendants faced court last year charged with breaching domestic violence ­orders - one of the key mechanisms for protecting victims of abuse. 

And while 87 percent were convicted, most received a non-custodial sentence.

Advocates called for a tougher response as it emerged Queensland mother-of-three Kelly Wilkinson, allegedly burnt alive by her estranged husband in her backyard, and nine-month-old Kobi Shepherdson, taken by her father over a dam wall in South Australia, were both the subject of court orders.

But For Rosie In the midst of her sorrow, her Australian of the Year appointment became a lifeline for the only survivor of her family. 

“Being Australian of the Year gave me a sense of purpose and meaning that I could just immerse myself in. I would have otherwise sat alone not knowing how to earn an income. It gave me the direction I’d never had before,” 

“People would say, ‘You need to make time to grieve’ and I would find that irritating because I thought, ‘I can’t bear any more pain’. Every day I would cry. So if this was a distraction I welcomed it.”

Looking back at what she has achieved in her years of advocacy against family violence she reflects 

“I made it a mainstream conversation, It was something that we had probably always known in society but we never talked about it. It was like this secret no one could talk about. That was a conversation that changed everything.”

Its clear Governments have a key role to play in strengthening this national approach.

It is critical that this new plan provides an ongoing road map for a continued, long-term, coordinated, and truly national approach to preventing and responding to this violence. 

If these issues raise issues for you or a loved one please call 1800RESPECT

Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk

Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1365850

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Dan Rosen exemplifies what is possible if you have passion, a dream, and in Dan's case a love of music - your skills can take you wherever you want to go. For Dan, it’s being at the helm of one of the most powerful music labels globally - recently taking the reigns as president of Warner Music Australasia.

After all, Music is a business - a monolithic one with Warner Music International going public recently signaling to both artists and investors a huge commitment to investing in their artists.

After a successful decade-long run as chief executive officer of ARIA Dan is embracing this new exciting role.

It’s a long way and an extraordinary journey for Australian Rosen who studied international law and business at New York University on a Fulbright Scholarship.

Rosen’s business skills are a vital asset for managing the powerhouse music behemoth.

It’s a fickle, fast, and furious world and as Spotify and streaming services have changed the game Dan knows it’s a big ship to steer through unchartered waters.

Iconic Music mag Rolling Stone reflecting on the new era -

The global recorded-music market grew by 7.4 percent in 2020, to $21.6 billion, marking the sixth consecutive year of growth and continued even through the Pandemic.

Rolling Stone reflects “As the world contends with the Covid-19 pandemic, we are reminded of the enduring power of music to console, heal, and lift our spirits. Some things are timeless, like the power of a great song or the connection between artists and fans. But some things have changed. With so much of the world in lockdown and live music shut down in nearly every corner of the globe, most fans enjoyed music via streaming.

“Fueled by record companies’ ongoing investment in artists and their careers, along with innovative efforts to help artists bring music to fans in new ways, recorded music revenues grew globally for the sixth consecutive year, driven by subscription streaming

As recently as 20 years ago — when physical goods still ruled the music industry and when breaking through on radio was your only real shot at success in — record labels typically offered a contract whereby the artist got an upfront check, but the label got lifetime ownership of rights and 80-plus percent of royalties. These days, that’s all changed: A more typical major deal with an established star will see rights ownership revert back to the artist much sooner, with a baseline 50/50 (profit share) royalty deal.

Increasingly, for global megastars, major labels are actually agreeing to a minority of royalties

Earlier this year Warner Music Group shocked the industry by announcing its intention to go public on the New York Stock Exchange, in a move that will see owner Len Blavatnik attain a company valuation many multiples higher than the $3.3 billion he paid for WMG in 2011.

Over the past five years, the percentage of recorded music revenue Warner has spent on A&R costs has shot up, from 28.7 percent in 2014 to a new high of 32.7 percent in the year 2019.

“As record companies continue to expand their geographical footprint and cultural reach, music has become more globally connected today than ever before, and this growth has spread across all regions around the globe.

“With many impacted by the pandemic and concerned with growing social injustices, record companies have worked hard to make a meaningful, lasting contribution to the world we want to live in.”

It’s an incredible time for music, artists, and those at the helm like Dan Rosen.

Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk

Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1365850

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Her striking face, sky-high cheekbones, deep dimples, and full lips plastered across banners on trains, town halls, and adorning Melbourne Fashion Festivals venues across the city, Kenyan Chadwick model Ayuol has embraced the opportunities life has offered since starting her life in Australia as a young girl.

One of five siblings who arrived with her single mother from war-torn Africa when she was barely 5, Ayuol has no illusions about work, survival, and the importance of finding her voice.

An avid reader and educator as well as an in-demand model for some of the biggest names in the business from Maticevski to Sass and Bide she is articulate, informed, and equipped to follow her path and carve out her destiny with passion, persistence, and the power of youth, beauty and fierce intelligence.

“Reading has helped me heal. Reading is incredible. Reading helps you understand and helps you reinvent yourself.”

“I think it’s pivotal to record the scenarios, the stories, the events so you don’t have other people misrepresent your story.”

“Intergenerational trauma is a lot of what the South Sudanese in the diaspora experience. I learned something today about inter-generational trauma - with the Holocaust they discovered three generations later they could link trauma back to that event.”

She reflects on her community, the blessing and at times curse of being A black African woman in the heartland of Australia, and the importance of leadership for her community to evolve and adapt while still respecting and honoring their history and tradition.

Her mother her greatest mentor - a survivor in many wars, Ayuol is brave, beautiful, and bold and at 22 has only just begun .. so watch this face .. there’s a lot more to come ...

Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk

Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1365850

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Passionate, witty, vulnerable, intelligent, and honest – critics describing the work of bestselling author Elliot Perlman.

A born storyteller I recall many school lunchtimes and weekends - Ell writing, creating scripts, novels, and songs. As one of the only other writers I knew, I was inspired.

It was while practicing law in 1994 that he won The Age short story competition for ‘The Reasons I Won’t Be Coming’, which became the titular story of his bestselling short story collection. In it explores complex worlds of lovers, poets, lawyers, immigrants, students, and murderers; the corporate betrayals, the lost opportunities, the hopes, the fears, and the vagaries of desire. 

It would jettison him into the global literary world and see him go on to write a further 4 bestselling novels, spend nine years as a New York-based writer and swap out his law career for his passion to become a fully-fledged successful published author.

His debut novel, “Three Dollars” is a deft portrait of a man attempting to retain his humanity, his family, and his sense of humor in grim and pitiless times of downsizing, outsourcing, and privatizing. The big-screen adaptation – co-written by Perlman director by Robert Connolly, and starring David Wenham and Frances O’Connor – was awarded the 2005 Australian Film Industry Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

In 

SEVEN TYPES OF AMBIGUITY (2003)

Following years of unrequited love, an out-of-work school teacher takes matters into his own hands, in a story of obsessive love in an age of obsessive materialism.

THE STREET SWEEPER

Recently released from prison, Lamont Williams, an African American janitor in a Manhattan hospital and father of a little girl he can’t locate, strikes up an unlikely friendship with an elderly patient, a Holocaust survivor who had been a prisoner in Auschwitz.

As these two men try to survive in early 21st-century New York, history comes to life in ways neither of them could have predicted.

Elliot is a wonderful mix of down to earth authentic Australian and fierce intellectual. As a teenager and an avid Carlton fan, he wrote an ode to his favorite Carlton player called “ I want to be like Stephen Silvagni” something we all ended up singing at recess, yet he’d create mixed tapes of the latest greatest bands and give you an extensive list, if not the actual books of his latest top ten books you must read. And well I did!

His recent best selling novel “Maybe The Horse Will Talk” is an exemplification of this incisive, comical, timely, and engaging skill - 

Elliot has always had a talent for capturing the moment and tapping into the zeitgeist. 

Now optioned by Paramount Television his latest novel, THE HORSE WILL TALK is palpable and relatable. 

“I thought, let’s tell a story of adults in this incredibly precarious world of work where so many … people are subject to what gets called ‘work-family conflict’ – that situation where the demands of the world of work are incompatible with the demands of family and social bonds,” Perlman says.

“You can’t properly satisfy both. And that’s the case whether you’re experiencing over-work in a competitive workplace or insufficient work and insufficient income in the ever-growing, ever-threatening sideshow that is the gig economy.”

As one of my favorite people in the world I’m in awe of Elliot’s drive, determination, and courage - as a storyteller, he taps into the social fabric and psyche - always questioning and sensitively and empathetically carving his characters with the love and tenderness of a true artisan.

Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk

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Oscar and BAFTA-nominated film “The Father” in cinemas this month was of course brought to you by the doyenne of Australian Cinema, Natalie Miller.

With a keen eye for the latest greatest films, film distributor (Sharmill Films) and part-owner of the iconic Carlton Cinema Nova,
Cinematic queen Natalie Miller transformed Melbourne and Australia into a film hub.

Sourcing the best international and National films from across the globe she is revered for her dedication and determination to bring the best films to our local screens.

Directors and producers across the globe from Fred Schepsi to Jane Campion, Sue Maslin (The Dressmaker) to Alan Finney respect her curated content which has seen Cinema Nova celebrated as Australia’s premium art house cinema.

As Oscars buzz swirls around her latest distribution selection “The Father” is carried by Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman. This movie is told from Hopkins' perspective, as he ages his memory fading...

“Based on the acclaimed, award-winning play, “The Father” starts out as a deceptively simple drama hinged on a deceptively familiar dynamic. Anne (Olivia Colman) is losing patience with her 80-year-old father, Anthony (Anthony Hopkins), whose grip on reality is fading but who refuses to allow a carer to look after him. She’s moving to Paris and needs to ensure his safety while she is away so before she leaves she must find someone who will endure him. For Anthony, life has become a source of ever-disorienting confusion and in a masterful stroke, the writer-director Florian Zeller (who created the original stage production) tells the story from his eyes as characters and locations shift and we become as muddled as he.”

Natalie joins me on the WhatIveLearntPodcast to discuss her latest choice, the Oscars, the collateral damage of losing her beloved cinema for Covid, her unfettered passion for film and storytelling, the new ACMI which she helped foster as an alumni board member, and the belief that the shared experience of going to the movies will always survive.

Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

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As we celebrate International Women’s Day and an extraordinary Newsweek with gender and alleged sexual assault issues front and center, I’m thrilled to feature Lawyer, trailblazer, women's rights advocate, and philanthropist Eve Mahlab AO, a successful businesswoman who has worked to improve the lives of women in Australia for decades.

A member of the Co-ordinating Committee of the Women's Electoral Lobby in Victoria from 1972-1976, she was a member of the Victorian Government Committee of Inquiry into the Status of Women, Businesswoman of the Year, and was awarded an Order of Australia in the Officer category for 'service to government, business, and the community, particularly to women'.

Impressive and impactful, Eve is a first-generation Holocaust survivor who credits much of her determination to both her history and her heritage. Reflecting on this she says,

“My family is Jewish and quite simply I'd be dead if my grandfather had not been able to put together the money that enabled us to exit Nazi Austria in 1938. He was already detained in Buchenwald which became a concentration camp and we having been evicted from our home were hidden on the top floor of a Viennese hotel. I was only 2 years old but it's left me with anxiety about powerlessness and a sense of identity with other powerless people especially women.

There is also something in the Jewish history and culture that makes us want to add value to the world …..to make it a better place for more people. It could be because of our long history as scapegoats when things go wrong or just an understanding of being a minority and consequential powerlessness.”

Together with philanthropist Jill Reichstein they founded “Australians investing in Women” originally called The Australian Women Donors Network. It aims to persuade the philanthropic sector to give more funds to women or to projects that were demonstrably inclusive of women. Most giving is ungendered - to sport, medical research, to homelessness, to education. It assumed that the ability to access the benefits of a project funded by philanthropy are the same for women as for men but often they are not. So philanthropists have to be Genderwise and ensure that projects they fund are designed to reach women as well as men.

“I think politicians need Genderwise training to understand how their policies and decisions affect women differently to men. I don't think they understand how the “Me Too” movement has given women of all political persuasions the courage to speak out about the indignities and anxieties that affect young women today.

Until there are more liberal women elected to parliament, I think the Liberal Party should appoint a professional feminist advocate to inform their policy development and decision making and change their political culture.”

With accusations of rape culture in our parliament and our schools, Eve is forthright about sex education - “boys/men need to learn that silence does not mean consent and girls/women need to learn that some men can think that silence means consent.”

Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk

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With some twenty years experience in retail and finance, David Briskin is hailed for kick-starting mid-luxe accessories brand Mimco as Managing Director and shareholder in 1999, and for his work with Sass & Bide as CEO from 2008, turning the brand around before it was sold off to Myer in a multi - million dollar deal in 2014.

In February 2014, Briskin became the director of menswear retailer M.J. Bale and is the founder of Briskin Investments and Advisory, a consulting firm for many domestic and international brands.

David reflecting says, “Really, I just want the Australian fashion industry to grow, to thrive and be successful. And hopefully, through the Melb Fashion festival, I can contribute to that," 

With Melbourne’s retailers and fashion hubs being ravaged by the Covid crisis Victoria has been one of the hardest-hit states.

The challenge of holding a global fashion festival curating, cultivating, and showcasing talent from across the world but also across the fashion spectrum is going to be huge, but David has demonstrated both business acumen and a savvy approach to challenging times, always with a keen eye for opportunity. 

Working closely with his board to foster and facilitate this popular Melbourne event we discuss the future of fashion, the Melb Fashion Festival, and David’s view on an evolving new realm of showcasing fashion online and is hopeful about the next phase for the bricks and mortar store’s survival.

Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk

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It’s hard to imagine not being able to breathe, suffocating slowly because your Doctor or clinic has actually run out of oxygen!

That’s the horrific reality facing many thousands of children and adults dying from Pneumonia. 

Pneumonia is the single largest killer of children worldwide and with the outbreak of COVID-19, the access to oxygen crisis has worsened. 

Every 30 seconds a child dies from pneumonia and unless we act now, a further 168,000 children under 5 are anticipated to die from COVID-19 by 2022.

Speaking from her home base in New York, fiesty and focused mother of three Leith Greenslade is president of the ‘Every Breath Counts’ organization - a coalition of UN agencies, businesses, donors, and NGOs committed to supporting governments in countries with some of the highest burdens of pneumonia. The 48 members provide support to close the critical gaps in pneumonia prevention, diagnosis and treatment, which could save hundreds of thousands of pneumonia deaths each year. Theyre leading an ambitious goal: to reduce the number of children and adults dying from pneumonia.

Pneumonia is the world’s biggest infectious killer of adults and children –  claiming the lives of 2.5 million, including 672,000 children, in 2019. 

COVID-19 could add 1.9 million to the death toll this year. This would increase ‘all-cause’ pneumonia deaths by more than 75 percent.

“Everything I do is to correct life’s lottery so everyone no matter their childhood birthplace etc 

Everyone is fundamentally equal and has the same potential.” says Leith

COVID-19 has alerted governments to the dangers of respiratory infections like pneumonia, and to the need to build strong health systems so they can effectively diagnose and treat these conditions, with a key focus on vulnerable populations. 

Many countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America that are struggling with the heavy burdens of COVID-19 and child pneumonia deaths will need effective strategies to fight both.

This year, World Pneumonia Day will be held during a global pneumonia pandemic. ..COVID-19 is expected to cause 1.3 million deaths.

Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk

Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1365850