This week on the program we hear from two of the speakers at the narrm Melbourne Invasion Day rally held on January 26.First we hear from Gunditjmara, Girai Wurrung and Djab Wurrung woman Sissy Austin.Then we hear the first part of a speech by Gunggari woman Dr Raelene Nixon, speaking about the death of her son Steven Lee Nixon-McKellar in police custody in Toowoomba in October 2021.#Justice4StevieLee

On this week’s episode we hear from Jaya Keaney, author of Making Gaybies: Queer Reproduction and Multiracial Feeling, published with Duke University Press. Jaya is a lecturer in Gender Studies at the University of Melbourne, where she researches and teaches in the areas of feminist science studies, queer studies, and queer of colour theory.  We speak to Jaya about her book, the complexities and intersections of race and queerness when creating queer families, how queer couples have to 'make do' when creating families, and the future of queer family making in so-called Australia.

On this week’s episode we look into the prison industrial complex in so-called Australia and how private companies profit from the prison system. In particular, we focus on the high cost of phone calls and how this is impacting families and communities. Across the country, calls are free via payphones but in Victoria’s prisons they cost $7 and are limited to 12 minutes.We speak to Sarah Schwartz, Principal Managing Lawyer of the Wirraway Practice at the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, and Monique Hurley, Managing Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, about the layers of privatisation and profit in the prison system, the exploitation of incarcerated people, and the importance of investing in the community.

On this episode of Women on the Line we speak with Lena Chen, a Chinese-American artist and scholar currently pursuing PhD in performance studies at UC Berkeley and her creative practice and academic work looks at Asian womanhood in the diaspora. Today we chat about her draft paper, ‘Performing Power: Asian American Resistance through BDSM’ and the online game ‘Only Bans’ she created to address surveillance of sex workers online.Content warning that we do speak about Asian fetishization and racism. Featured song on this episode is 'Finally' by M.I.A.

This week on the program we head to Far North Queensland to hear about a grassroots First Nations response supporting remote communities impacted by ex-Tropical Cyclone Jasper.We speak with Butchulla and Woppaburra woman Samala Thakialee Cronin in Gimuy Cairns about the work she and others undertook in collaboration with Meanjin Brisbane based, female-led, Blak small business Dreamtime Aroha in the immediate aftermath of the cyclone.Community worked together to to fly much needed supplies from Cairns north to Gungarde Community Centre Aboriginal Corporation in Cooktown with the help of Daintree Air Services to provide support for remote communities on the Cape impacted by flooding, including people evacuated from Wujal Wujal.Women on the Line spoke with Samala on December 28th. For the most up to date information on how to support the community response check out the Dreamtime Aroha facebook page or Instagram.

On this week’s episode, we continue with our coverage of the ongoing genocide in Palestine.Firstly, we hear from Sofia Sabbagh, Palestinian-Irish artist, who speaks to us about the recent action at ABC HQ in Naarm/Melbourne where 40 creators produced portraits of Palestinian journalists who had been murdered by the Israeli Occupation Forces. These portraits were pasted to the ABC building and then torn down in what the collective called ‘Double Erasure’.Later in the show, we hear from Lana Laham, Palestinian-Mauritian activist with the Sit-Intifada. Lana recently spoke about shared struggle, resistance and liberation at the Free Palestine rally in Naarm/Melbourne on Sunday 17th December. You can join the Sit-Intifada everyday on the steps of Parliament from 7am-9pm. Follow them on Instagram - @thesitintifada. To keep up to date with upcoming actions and events calling for a Free Palestine, make sure you follow Free Palestine Melbourne and APAN.

On this week's episode we bring you a conversation I had with Nisha Thapliyal, an academic at the University of Newcastle who is researching social justice activism in the contemporary Indian diaspora, and Saba Zaidi Abdi, a Muslim journalist, creative director and actor from India who has lived in Australia for over 30 years, on the Hindu nationalist government in India and the escalating violence against Muslims in India. This conversation first aired on 3CR Tuesday Breakfast on 8 August 2023.

On this episode of Women on the Line we are diving into current issues in Disability Justice. As we head into holiday season and peak covid period, we listen to Iris Lee’s (3CR Broadcaster) interview with Farida about their experience with long-covid and the failure of the Australian healthcare system. We then hear Priya Kunjan’s 3CR Thursday Breakfast interview with Independent queer researcher Dr Shoshana Rosenberg about disability and trans solidarity with Palestine in the face of Israel's ongoing violent occupation. You can listen to the full interviews in the links above. This last interview covers some distressing content about genocide and state violence. If you need to speak to someone you can call  Lifeline on 13 11 14, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners can call 13 YARN, and queer listeners can call QLife on 1800 184 527.The featured song on this episode is Wattani by all-girl Palestinian hip hop collective Ettijah. Podcast feature image by Sky Cubacub.

This week on the program we bring you part of an online teach-in from the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network called “How to talk about Gaza right now.”The teach-in took place on Friday December 1st following the end of the brief cease fire in Gaza and features Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah, Dr Lana Tatour and writer Samah Sabawi with Associate Professor Jumana Bayeh facilitating the conversation.You can watch the full recording of the online teach-in here.

Ruby Hamad on the historic dehumanisation of Arabs and Muslims in the west, how that has impacted Israel's ongoing occupation and genocide in Palestine, and gaslighting as a tool for upholding Western power structures. Ruby Hamad is a Syrian-Lebanese author and academic with a journalism background. She is in the second half of a PhD in media studies at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Her best-selling debut book WHITE TEARS/BROWN SCARS traces the role that White Womanhood and feminism have played in the development of Western power structures. The non-fiction book was inspired by her viral 2018 essay 'How White Women Use Strategic Tears to Silence Women of Colour'.