The 2023 Manning Clark lecture is to be delivered by Craig Foster co-Chair (with renowned Olympian, Nova Peris) of the Australian Republican Movement (ARM), at 6pm on 2 May at Manning Clark Hall, Kambri Cultural Precinct, ANU. As one of Australia’s most respected sportspeople and broadcaster, social justice advocate and human rights campaigner, in Australia’s Third Act: Reconciled, Independent, Truly Multicultural, Craig will focus on the meaning of contemporary Australian identity, social and cultural changes since the 20th century, lessons from the 1999 Referendum and advances in historical understanding leading to a powerful national movement of truth-telling and reconciliation. … Read more.
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This year’s Dymphna Clark Lecture “The Politics of Civility” will be presented by The Guardian’s political reporter and blogger, Amy Remeikis. The author of the bestselling book, On Reckoning, and a regular contributor on The Drum, Insiders, The Project, and various ABC Radio National programs, in this presentation, Amy will discuss who “gets a seat at the table”, “has the power to speak”, gets their views heard and has the power to deem who can be included. … Read more.
Edited by academics, Andrew Dodd and Matthew Ricketson both of whom have also worked in the media, Upheaval: Disrupted Lives in Journalism, is the result of 260 interviews with 57 journalists who, with the exception of one, were made redundant from various Australian media outlets in 2012-2016. Produced with technical support from the National Library of Australia (NLA), the book details people’s shock at going from many years of the hurly burly of journalism to the ranks of the unemployed, and, how fewer numbers and changed dynamics also changed Australia’s media landscape. … Read more.
In Daring to Fly, the ABC-TV’s News Breakfast co-host, Lisa Millar tells of her very happy childhood in the small Queensland rural town of Kilkivan and her experiences in journalism, including 10 years as the ABC’s overseas correspondent in Washington and later, London. From her start in journalism with The Gympie Times, newspapers in Brisbane and Townsville and ABC-TV’s parliament house bureau in Canberra, Lisa became familiar with covering confronting stories, work which was to take a toll on her emotional health. … Read more.
In her beautifully-written, thoughtful book, Phosphorescence, renowned author and journalist, Dr Julia Baird, describes her love for ocean swimming, the magic properties of water, and her quest for lightness. She notes that prayer, meditation, and taking advantage of life’s simple pleasures, have helped her through some very dark days of illness and other difficulties. … Read more.
Acclaimed Actor, comedian and writer, Kitty Flanagan, lays down some ground rules in her very amusing 488 Rules for Life, inspired by Jordan Peterson’s bestseller 12 Rules for Life. Kitty has taken her brief further – she has 12 rules for the bathroom alone. Her wise thoughts are those with which many of us agree, and include tips for the home, office, celebrations, food, dating, language, lifestyle, parenting, sport, technology and travel. … Read more.
Feelings of being claustrophobic, shut in, or cooped up, during lockdown, are bound to fray even the most even of tempers. Strains on people’s mental and physical health become evident, as we long for “everything to be back to normal” (though just what is “normal” now?) But there are the positives. … Read more.
Herbert Vere (“Doc”) Evatt (1894-1965), was a brilliant Australian lawyer, politician and writer, whose controversial stances, and erratic behaviour invited strong criticism at times. However, he did have a strong band of supporters. Evatt’s career included representing Australia in the British war cabinet (1942-1943), being one of the architects of the United Nations and later, President of the UN General Assembly. … Read more.
Named the 2011 Senior Australian of the Year and with many other awards and accolades, Professor Ron McCallum AO, recently spoke about his memoir, Born At The Right Time, at a radio for the print handicapped (1RPH) lunch at Canberra’s Ainslie Football Club. Having a distinguished career as a lawyer and academic, Professor McCallum was the first blind person to be appointed as Dean at an Australian University (Sydney University). … Read more.
Recently in his regular Weekend Australian Magazine article, broadcaster-journalist, Phillip Adams, cited some memorable openings from novels: “…Melville’s elemental ‘Call me Ishmael’; Austen’s elegant ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune might be in want of a wife’;…Tolstoy’s ‘Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way’”. … Read more.