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Latest episodes from Guardian Australia Reads

Reading romance books after heartbreak, finding nostalgia, and living with cancer and Covid

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 23, 2022 28:02


A writer wonders about a happily ever after. Nostalgia rises after years of rapid tech change. And cancer survivors manage treatment during lockdown

Taking inspiration from Chrissy Amphlett, Sharon Stone's stunt double, and a diving superwoman

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 16, 2022 27:48


Meet three Australian women pushing back on the expectations and stereotypes so often placed on them

‘I am Bob. Just Bob': could a Wollongong folk hero have had a Nazi past?

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 9, 2022 27:33


The steel city once knew him as a migrant made good who contributed a great gift to the arts. But one man has been digging into the true identity of Bob Sredersas

Leading the charge: road-testing Australia's EV stations on a 2,800km round trip

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 2, 2022 32:08


What are the pleasures and pitfalls of driving an electric car from Sydney to Melbourne and back? Guardian Australia's economics correspondent Peter Hannam goes for a test drive. Plus: we hear from a wrestling champ who can't compete, and about a new island forming in the Pacific

Travelling lions, sinking islands and the last video store

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 26, 2022 29:41


These are some of our favourite stories from the Guardian Australia Reads audio library. A lion gets inside a London black cab, a son contemplates the future of his father's ashes on a sinking island and Melbourne's last video store resolutely stays open

In search of Australia's elusive treasures

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 19, 2022 26:33


Three stories of mystery this week: on the scent of platypus eggs, tracking Australia's ‘most beautiful mammals' and uncovering fabled Aboriginal art 40 years after its disappearance

An all-female fight camp, a middle-aged guide to surfing and discovering postpartum rage

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 12, 2022 21:44


Three stories about women at major points in their lives – challenging the stories they've been told about themselves. We take on combat sport, brave board burn and experience postpartum fury

‘The good fight': Roebuck Plains Station and its return to Indigenous owners

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 5, 2022 29:45


The Yawuru people have finally had 530,000 hectares of their traditional country returned to them. We also hear suburban tales of electrifying our homes and discovering treasure on council cleanup days

Meet the superhumans

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 26, 2022 30:24


For four extraordinary people, superpowers are not beyond the imagination – they are an ordinary reality that they smell, remember and see every day

‘Stop and enjoy your life' – how to rethink work after the pandemic

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 19, 2022 32:13


The pandemic has made us re-evaluate what we took for granted. How have Australians made sense of the value of work, amidst all this change and chaos? We also hear about the digital preservation of a Sydney herbarium, and unlikely discoveries from Alexander Downer's suitcase

Big cats, green sea turtles and 130 different bird species

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 11, 2022 24:46


Three stories take us into the animal kingdom. Meet communities around Australia ‘discovering' animals on land and sea, both big and small

A bank heist, losing the vroom and an endurance swim

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 4, 2022 33:36


In a new format, Guardian Australia Reads presents three of our best features, read to you out loud. In this episode, we hear the stories behind Australia's biggest bank heist, the (controversial) quiet sounds of electric motorcycles and 10-hour swims across the Channel

A day at the beach: sex, sharks and ashes

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 28, 2022 23:00


We take you to the beach and get among the sand and saltwater. Hear four very different stories about memorable moments at the beach. Together they celebrate and remember the feeling of elation – both big and small

The English teacher and the Nazis: trove of letters in Melbourne reveals network that saved Jews

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 22, 2022 13:00


Frances and Jan Newell painstakingly uncovered their mother's role in facilitating the escape of Jews and political dissidents from Berlin to Britain. Head of news Mike Ticher recommends a story that starts with an old leather suitcase

Pure heaven, but also hell: my trek to find the Disappearing Tarn

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 20, 2022 10:28


In the mountain by Hobart a lake appears just after heavy rain, then vanishes. Features editor Lucy Clark recommends a story that takes us on a mysterious search

Witness K and the ‘outrageous' spy scandal that failed to shame Australia

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 18, 2022 17:03


Witness K and lawyer Bernard Collaery helped correct what they saw as a gross injustice. Luke Henriques-Gomes introduces Christopher Knaus' story about espionage, oil fields and diplomatic embarrassment for the Australian government

‘We need to be alarmed': food banks in overdrive as politicians allow Australians to go hungry

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 15, 2022 14:58


Food relief organisations say they are helping more people than ever before. But this is not a good news story. Head of news, Mike Ticher, introduces an investigation into underlying inequality in Australia that predates the Covid crisis

‘The right thing to do': restoring Aboriginal place names key to recognising Indigenous histories

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 13, 2022 12:38


Indigenous communities argue that renaming landscapes should not be limited to removing overtly racist colonial names. Assistant news editor Shelley Hepworth recommends this story about truth-telling

When released from prison, Darko Desic faces deportation to a country that no longer exists

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 11, 2022 15:51


Desic turned himself in to police in Sydney 30 years after escaping jail. Ben Doherty explores how his friends and family are pleading for the Australian government to show mercy and let him stay

‘My father will go down like the captain of the Titanic': life on the Pacific's disappearing islands

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 8, 2022 10:25


Many in the Saposa Islands are wrestling with the dilemma of starting a new life on the mainland or staying to watch their homes vanish. Deputy editor, David Munk, introduces this story

‘The only place like it in the world': why the Nicholas Building is the creative heart of Melbourne

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 6, 2022 15:49


Built in 1926 by a pharmaceutical company, the heritage-listed building has since become a hub for artists – who now fear it may be under threat. Culture editor, Steph Harmon, introduces Brigid Delaney's story about eight of its past and present residents

‘The fear of this vaccine is real': how Papua New Guinea's Covid strategy went so wrong

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 4, 2022 18:51


Public confusion and distrust over vaccination have been fuelled by what experts say are crippling failures in authorities' response to the pandemic. Pacific editor, Kate Lyons, introduces an investigation by Jo Chandler

The unclaimed: the ashes left waiting in Sydney's Wayside Chapel

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 1, 2022 12:48


In the charity's storeroom sit the cremated remains of seven former visitors – unclaimed, contested or forgotten. Lifestyle editor Alyx Gorman introduces an intimate story about three of them

A dip in the Yarra or a dive in the Torrens? The push for urban river bathing in Australia

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 30, 2021 14:08


There is a growing effort to reconnect swimmers with city waterways once thought permanently lost to pollution. Assistant news editor Rosemary Bolger recommends a story about alternatives to ocean swims

‘It's about quality of life': septuagenarian gym owners keep their peers moving

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 28, 2021 10:02


Their shed may not be state-of-the art but a community-oriented approach to fitness is working out for Barbara and Peter Hill. Lifestyle editor Alyx Gorman introduces a heartwarming story that could get you moving

‘It was life or death': the plane-hijacking refugees Australia embraced

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 25, 2021 23:37


Luke Henriques-Gomes's grandfather was one of 44 refugees to arrive in 1975 on the only RAAF plane ever hijacked. The official response still staggers him. Head of news, Mike Ticher, introduces this little known story

‘We've been abandoned': the long road to recovery for black summer bushfire survivors

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 23, 2021 13:37


Nearly two years after fires devastated the NSW south coast, families still live in caravans as they struggle to rebuild in the face of red tape, a skills shortage and dwindling government support. Rural and regional editor, Gabrielle Chan, introduces this story

My life and death hike through busy Melbourne to help a duck march her eight babies to water

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 21, 2021 9:41


For three hours, writer Debbie Lustig fends off traffic and protects the ducklings like a crazy lollipop lady with a fishing net. Assistant news editor Rosemary Bolger introduces this gripping story

Sufferers of chronic pain have long been told it's all in their head. We now know that's wrong

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2021 23:31


As part of a Guardian series about chronic pain and long Covid, Linda Geddes explores the growing realisation that pain can be a disease in and of itself. Gabrielle Jackson, associate editor of audio and visual, introduces this story

What is equity crowdfunding? Why cleaning product and nail polish start-ups ask you to invest

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 16, 2021 13:07


Australian consumers have invested tens of millions in early-stage start-ups since the practice was approved in 2018, but experts advise caution. Lifestyle editor, Alyx Gorman, introduces this story about a trend that has boomed during the pandemic

‘It makes us sick': remote NT community wants answers about uranium in its water supply

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 14, 2021 11:23


Laramba's Indigenous residents fear they are at risk of long-term illness and say they need to know who is responsible for fixing the problem. Features editor, Lucy Clark, introduces this story about contaminated drinking water

‘Hydration is a simple thing': has the quest to improve water actually worked?

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 11, 2021 14:03


From alkaline waters to beauty elixirs, added oxygen and probiotics, many brands claim they have ‘enhanced' water – but what do the experts think? The lifestyle editor, Alyx Gorman, introduces an investigation into the truest properties of water

‘They've forgotten we're still here': Australia's polio survivors

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 9, 2021 19:01


For most, our previous pandemic is a distant memory. But for these five polio survivors, new health problems have just begun. Features editor Lucy Clark introduces personal stories that take us around the country

Rohingya United: the football team bringing together refugees

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 7, 2021 11:55


The Q-League is a far cry from the refugee camps where some of its players learned to play football using scrunched up plastic bags. Guardian Australia's sport editor Mike Hytner introduces this story about the inclusiveness of sport and a player's memory of holding a real football for the first time

A journey down WA's mighty Martuwarra, raging river and sacred ancestor

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 4, 2021 12:59


Traditional owners are standing together to protect the Fitzroy – a ‘beautiful, living water system'. Gabrielle Jackson, associate editor of audio and visual, introduces this story and its bird-sized spiders

‘I've worn a couple': how Alan Lynch's scary decline adds to concussion discourse

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 2, 2021 17:03


Once fast enough to earn a place in the Stawell Gift hall of fame, the former VFL footballer now lives with Parkinson's disease. Sport editor Mike Hytner introduces Alan Lynch's honest and candid account of concussion from sport

Speed, decisiveness, cooperation: how a tiny Taiwanese village overcame Delta

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 30, 2021 11:39


A rural community of 5,500 people, with an under-resourced health system, came together to take on Covid. International news editor Bonnie Malkin introduces this story about a community effort to confront Delta

Clementine Ford pivots to love: ‘For how long can you be the provocative feminist voice?'

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 27, 2021 16:23


After a decade embroiled in public controversies, one of Australia's most high-profile feminists is exposing a softer side with her new book, How We Love. Culture editor Steph Harmon introduces this profile on someone who describes herself as wilfully misunderstood

‘It will be found': search for MH370 continues with experts and amateurs still sleuthing

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 25, 2021 14:32


It's the “mystery that must be solved”. Seven-and-a-half years after the Malaysia Airlines flight disappeared with 239 people on board, head of news Mike Ticher recommends this story as he remembers covering the tragedy when the news broke

A common treatment for endometriosis could actually be making things worse

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 23, 2021 14:12


Repeat surgeries for endometriosis could be exacerbating pain symptoms, experts say. Gabrielle Jackson, associate editor of audio and visual, introduces a story about a chronic inflammatory condition that affects one in 10 women globally

‘There's risk in everything, right?' The serendipity and agony of dating your neighbour

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 20, 2021 9:37


Finding love across the back fence or apartment corridor is a high-risk, high-reward proposition. Convenient? Yes. But also, potentially, mortifying. Lifestyle editor Alyx Gorman recommends this story about neighbourhood matches and disasters

Anatomy of the loser AFL club: when is the sting of sporting failure worse?

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 18, 2021 9:50


To fall just short? To never know how it feels to get close? To land between, avoiding either pole? Emma Kemp, deputy sport editor, recommends Geoff Lemon's treatise on the losing team

In Kawerau one thing impedes the effort to vaccinate Māori: New Zealand's history

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 16, 2021 16:12


Low Covid vaccination rates reflect practical barriers – but Māori have good reason to distrust the government. International news editor Bonnie Malkin introduces Morgan Godfery's personal investigation of this fraught history

‘A brilliant way to get humans to behave': the shelter where volunteers read to farm animals

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 13, 2021 9:34


It might be difficult to choose literature for a sheep. Lifestyle editor, Alyx Gorman, recommends this hopeful story about the rehabilitative effects of a reading program at an animal shelter

‘Killed like animals': documents reveal how Australia turned a blind eye to a West Papuan massacre

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 11, 2021 18:00


Dozens of West Papuans were tortured and thrown into the sea 23 years ago. Days later, Australia knew details of the attack, yet remained silent. Evening news editor Julian Drape introduces this story about survivors and campaigners still fighting for accountability

Top of the tile: wordsmiths of all ages vie for Australia's Scrabble honours

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 9, 2021 13:47


Ranging in age from eight to 87, Scrabblers hit the boards in western Sydney earlier this year vying for national supremacy. Sport editor Mike Hytner recommends this match report on a competitive board game with mind-bending wordplay

How the sausage gets made: the serious business of fake meat

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 6, 2021 13:47


Australia's plant-based meat market is booming, with increasingly sophisticated production techniques aiming to earn a place on carnivores' plates. Assistant news editor Shelley Hepworth recommends this story about meat alternatives

Photos from ‘beyond the grave': camera discovery reveals climber's last images before fatal avalanche

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 4, 2021 9:39


Two decades ago Richard Stiles escaped an avalanche in New Zealand, but friend Steve Robinson wasn't so lucky. Now the mountain has given up some of its secrets. Features editor Lucy Clark introduces this unexpected tale about a moment that was captured on film and buried for more than 20 years before resurfacing

Reuniting the pack: it took 16 months and a journey through six cities to bring our dog Luna home

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 2, 2021 10:16


When Gadia Zrihan's family were forced to leave their dog behind, they left a part of themselves too – a part they feared they could never get back. Lifestyle editor Alyx Gorman recommends this story about a heartwarming family reunion during uncertain times

‘That was it, we lost him': one Sydney family torn apart by Covid

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2021 13:40


‘Only when you become one of those numbers, when you're in it, do you realise how serious it is.' Live news editor Patrick Keneally recommends this story about personal loss and grief behind the Covid headlines

‘You can't close': Melbourne's last video store determined to stay open in streaming era

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 28, 2021 8:40


Derek de Vreught runs the last video store in Melbourne. He's sticking around as streaming takes over television and browsing for DVDs becomes a ‘decidedly niche experience'. Culture editor Steph Harmon recommends this story about a stalwart

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