Wide Open Air Exchange

On the 3rd May 2025, as Australians were voting in a Federal election, a special local community event was happening in Sydney. On community radio station 2SER 107.3FM Sydney, Lachlan Holland and Christine Gallagher made their legal marriage vows live on the radio.

This was not a media stunt. This was a quintessential community radio moment, exemplifying the beauty of social connection through the arts and volunteering. The wedding ceremony was broadcast across greater Sydney on the radio on 107.3FM. People hosted brunches with friends to tune in together, or listened in the car on their way to vote, and turned up the volume of the radio on worksites.

Sadly, a year on from this beautiful community radio celebration, the station 2SER is facing an existential funding crisis. There are good people working on trying to save the station so that it can sustainably stay on air, and at this very moment there is no public fundraising. We will let you know if that changes.

For now, the ask is to please share your support for the station in words at love2ser.com and the Save 2SER-FM change.org. This is how we can show the funding decision-makers evidence of who is listening, who cares, and why.

We are sharing the audio of our radio wedding on 2SER here on the Wide Open Air Exchange podcast on the occasion of our one year wedding anniversary as a reminder of how important it is that we nurture connection and community and the role that radio has in bringing people together.

Nyssa Millington is an accredited financial counsellor with experience providing crisis services and a great interest in the potential good of broader financial education services and consumer advocacy.

Nyssa has an interesting vocational history from studying and working in computer programming followed by a range of business support services through to financial counselling and money coaching.

Fran Grant is a Yuin woman, educator, and advocate with vocational experiences as an early childhood educator and classroom teacher and frontline roles in the airline industry. During her time in the airline industry Fran was Chair of Daramu, QANTAS' Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employee network.

An introduction to the Irish sport hurling with Richard Bromhead aka Bromy who coaches a kids' team in Dublin.  This conversation covers some of the history and contemporary culture of hurling and a discussion of the skills that are required to do well at hurling from an early age and beyond.

Ariana Morgenstern is Executive Producer of Music at radio station KCRW in Los Angeles where she leads the station's music curation and works on live events and other special projects. Joining KCRW as a volunteer in 1983, Ariana went on to become producer of the signature music program Morning Becomes Eclectic from 1984–2015. With a commitment to public radio and the station's wider community, Ariana is motivated by helping to grow the culture of LA through her life's work at KCRW.

Andy Scerri from the Department of Political Science at Virginia Tech is a Fulbright Scholar with research interests in environmental political theory and policy. Some of his research looks at the tensions that have emerged between labor movements and environmental movements, and what these tensions mean for democracy.

This conversation also covers some of Andy's earlier experiences working in the building and construction industry and following music on his travels before going on to academic studies.

Danielle Ponter is winner of the NAIDOC Sportsperson Award. Danielle advocates for more opportunities for Aboriginal players in the AFLW and cares deeply about helping the next generation. As a guest on the Wide Open Air Exchange, Danielle made time to honour her Uncle Michael Long who was awarded the NAIDOC Lifetime Achievement Award.

The conversation covers some of Danielle's story of playing club football in Darwin from age eleven against older girls, and going on to become a star player for the Adelaide Crows where she has won two premierships. Since joining the Crows in 2019, Danielle has played 72 games and kicked 82 goals and she holds the record as the leading goal kicker of the AFLW competition.

Professor Eddie Cubillo is winner of the 2025 NAIDOC Education Award, and he kindly spoke with the Wide Open Air Exchange program about his reaction to the award in the context of the ongoing problems he sees as an educator and academic, lawyer and advocate.

Blak Brews is winner of the 2025 National NAIDOC Innovation Award. Entrepreneur Troy Benjamin is co-founder of the premium tea business together with his wife Cerisa Benjamin.

Dr Liz Giuffre is an Associate Professor of Media and Journalism at UTS and shares some of her approach to higher education teaching.

Liz is a music journalist and commentator who has been writing for street papers and the online versions for many years and is a regular contributor to ABC radio. As an academic, Liz researches popular music and popular cultures and has taught music and sound design, journalism, and communications. Liz is co-host of the podcast and radio program Music Mothers and Others with Shelley Brunt which you can hear on 2SER 107.3FM on Mondays at 730pm AEST.