We are dedicating this special episode to the Shuhada, the martyrs of Gaza. On 7 October 2025, the Palestinian community in Victoria gathered to mourn and honour those killed by Israel, and to speak truth against silence and erasure. We take you to that vigil, the commemoration in honour of Gaza and Palestine in Naarm/Melbourne.We hear from women who hold that grief and resistance in their voices. We hear from Camellia, Nour, and some of the names of Palestinian children martyred over the last two years. Featured song: Mawtini, performed by children in Gaza in 2015, available on YouTube.Image by @gabinthesun

On this episode of Women on the Line we chat with Huong Truong and Lily Vu about their upcoming workshop for ViệtSpeak as well as the importance of Vietnamese language, bilingual education, language diversity and community organising tactics. Huong Truong is a grassroots organiser and former Greens MP. Lily Vu is part of the ViệtSpeak Committee.  The workshop will be held on Sunday 26 October in Footscray. All are welcome to attend. RSVP here.

On this week's episde we speak to Munanjahli and South Sea Islander woman, Professor Chelsea Watego, about her new book, Black Thoughts Matter: Essays on Black Love, Black Power and Black Joy. Providing critical context to some of the groundbreaking essays published across a range of digital platforms, ‘Black thoughts matter’ honours the Black thinkers that have shaped Watego’s intellectual and political formation to date. It is a testament to the love, power and joy that is at the heart of Black thinking and writing in the fight against racial violence in so-called ‘Australia’. In this interview we also speak about the power and ongoing challenges of writing in the colony and reflecting on 10 years of articles and essays, as well as the power, the joy, and the importance of embracing rage.

On this episode of Women on the Line we hear from Emma Valente, one of the co-artistic directors of the RABBLE. Emma talks to us about their new Fringe Festival show, UNWOMAN (the protest), a durational artwork celebrating the multitude of experiences around birth, fertility and pregnancy. If you want to be a part of the show and share your experience, go here. Emma and the RABBLE will support you all the way through! The show is free and will be performed at Fed Square on Sunday 5 October - to book a spot go here.

This week, we hear from researcher and activist Dr. Sadia Agsous-Bienstein, recorded at a teach-in hosted at the Institute of Postcolonial Studies in Naarm/Melbourne.Sadia speaks on the erased histories of Arab–Jewish solidarities and their meaning in the current moment of genocide in Gaza, perpetrated by Israel and its Zionist footsoldiers — including descendants of Jewish communities of North Africa and the Middle East.From anti-fascist resistance in colonial Algeria, to Arab solidarities against European antisemitism, to shared struggles against colonial rule in the Maghreb and Mashreq, Sadia traces how Western colonial divide-and-rule and Zionist settler-colonialism fractured and erased attempts at common life and joint struggle between Jews, Arab-Muslims, and Palestinians.In the second half of the show, Tasnim Sammak joins Sadia in conversation to reflect on what these histories mean in the current moment of genocide in Gaza — and how remembering solidarities is itself an act of resistance.Sadia mentions the following authors in her talk:Avi Shlaim, Three Worlds: Memoirs of an Arab-Jew. London: Oneworld Publications, 2019.Ella Shohat, On the Arab-Jew, Palestine, and Other Displacements. London: Pluto Press, 2017.Rashid Hussein, Selected Poems. Edited by Adina Hoffman, translated by Sasson Somekh. Jerusalem: Ibis Editions, 2002.Sadia Agsous, Le dialogue culturel entre Palestiniens et Israéliens dans les années 1950 : Rashed Hussein et Sasson Somekh, histoire d’un rendez-vous manqué, dossier spécial,  L’histoire culturelle des relations entre Juifs et Arabes en Palestine/Israël de la fin du XIXe siècle au début du XXIe siècle, Revue d’histoire culturelle XVIIIe-XXIe siècles, 2021.Mahmoud Darwish, interview cited in Elia J. Ayoub, The Jewish and Arab Questions and European Fascism, eliaayoub.com, 22 May 2021. Please note the guest lecture was co-organised by Tasnim Sammak and this week's presenter, Scheherazade Bloul.

Today we hear from Dr Samah Jabr, a Palestinian psychiatrist living in Jerusalem who recently visited Australia for the first time to tour her new book, Radiance in Pain and Resilience: The Global Reverberation of Palestinian Historical Trauma.We spoke with Dr Jabr shortly ahead of a lecture and panel discussion organised by the Shifa Project held at RMIT on August 17.The event was MCed by Nasser Mashni along with panellists Leah Manaema Avene and Tasnim Samak. Dr Gary Foley was also scheduled to speak but was unfortunately unable to attend on the day.

On this episode of Women on the Line we chat with 44 Flats United (44FU) are a group of residents, former residents and supporters of public housing, organising against the Victorian State Government's decision to demolish the 44 high-rise commission flats and a growing number of walkups across Narrm (Melbourne). They are guided by the principle that not one person should be left worse off because of this government's decision to demolish their homes, that public housing needs to be defended and protected for current residents and future generations to come and that on the unceded sovereign land of First Peoples, no decisions should be made about the sale or leasing of public land until Treaties with First Peoples have been negotiated and finalised.We hear from R-Coo Tran, leader of 44 FU and Thi, a Vietnamese woman living in a housing estate in Richmond. We chat about the major problems with the estate demolition plan, what impact this is having on residents and how 44FU is organising on this campaign. Please note that parts of the conversation are in Vietnamese and have been translated and edited for brevity.

On this week’s episode we look into big tech companies - their complicity in war, their pervasive use of surveillance and data, and the impacts this is having on us as individuals, as artists, and as communities. Our first conversation is with Cher Tan, an essayist and critic whose written work has been published widely. Cher delves into the dark side of Spotify; its ties to the military-industrial complex, its role in stripping artists of their rights and dignity, as well as the way it has homogenised art and culture. Later in the program, we’ll hear an interview with Lucinda Thorpe, Privacy Campaigner at Digital Rights Watch, which aired on 3CR’s Tuesday Breakfast on 12 August 2025. In this interview, Lucinda outlines the latest Productivity Commission report which calls for a pause on AI regulation; how this benefits big tech companies and the negative impacts this will have on our privacy.

Today we hear speeches from the Convergence on Canberra which took place from 20-22 July.More than a thousand people from across so-called Australia gathered outside Parliament House to demand that the Federal Government impose sanctions on Israel in response to the state’s ongoing genocide of Palestinians.There were over 24 speakers across the Convergence, today we hear from Amal Naser, Leah House, Janet Parker and Hiba Farra.

On this episode of Women on the Line we hear from Thaan, founder of Wholistik Permaculture, a social enterprise based in Chiang Mai, Thailand that aims to connect people with nature and create an alternative to living within capitalism. Thaan talks to us about the importance of permaculture, building sustainably, creating safe queer spaces in nature, educating children and families about sustainability, and sharing knowledge and skills across brown, black and Indigenous cultures and communities. Follow Thaan's work on Instagram @wholistik_permaculture and his music @fluidfrequenciesmusic