The Weekend Read: Recent Episodes
Schwartz Media
Listen to Australia's best writers and thinkers read out longform essays from The Monthly magazine, the country's leading publication on politics, current affairs and culture.
A clinic inside Melbourne’s Royal Women’s Hospital is quietly changing lives through the power of tattoos. The Combined Breast Service offers breast reconstruction, including making nipples anew with tattoo ink. It’s an offering that empowers post-mastectomy patients and breast cancer survivors, who often grapple with accepting their new chests. Today, author Katherine Wilson will be reading her piece from the May issue of The Monthly.
Socials: Stay in touch with us on Twitter and Instagram Guest: Author Katherine Wilson Background Reading: Making a point
Today on the show, author Christos Tsiolkas with a recent piece from The Monthly. “The Past is a foreign country: they do things differently there” – is the memorable opening line of L.P. Hartley’s 1953 novel, The Go-Between. It’s a line that has stuck with Christos Tsiolkas since he read it in high school - and a sentiment that has made him reflect on his life, his migrant parents’ lives, and the value of creating foreign worlds through fiction. Christos Tsiolkas will read his story, ‘The Past is a Foreign Country’, after a short conversation with 7am host Ange McCormack.
Socials: Stay in touch with us on Twitter and Instagram Guest: Author, Christos Tsiolkas
Today, author Don Watson will be reading his piece from the June issue of The Monthly, reflecting on WW2 ace pilot Sir Douglas Bader. Bader was a remarkable Royal Air Force pilot in the second world war. Brazen and courageous, he managed to escape death countless times, scored dozens of victories, and was even redeployed as a pilot after having both legs amputated. However, in the words of Don Watson, Sir Douglas Bader was also a bit of a ‘stinker’, and an ‘unreconstructed racist’. Yes, it turns out Bader is a classic 20th century hero, who is ripe for a classic 21st century cancellation.
Socials: Stay in touch with us on Twitter and Instagram Guest: Author Don Watson
Today on the show, writer and filmmaker John Safran, with his piece from the latest edition of The Monthly. Father Bob Maguire was an icon in his own right, but for many, they knew him through his years of conversation with John Safran on TV and their Sunday Night radio show. Father Bob passed away earlier this year and received a state funeral in Melbourne and today we feature John’s writing about his friend.
Socials: Stay in touch with us on Twitter and Instagram Guest: Writer and filmaker, John Safran
Today on the show, author Carrie Tiffany, with her piece from the Monthly. After the death of her mother, Carrie reflects on the hold of sugar upon her family’s health and history. Carrie will read her piece, ‘Sweet Regret’ after a short conversation with the Editor of the 7am podcast, Scott Mitchell.
Socials: Stay in touch with us on Twitter and Instagram Guest: Author, Carrie Tiffany
Today, journalist Esther Linder will be reading her piece from the May issue of The Monthly. While Australians often can’t skip a rent payment, they can skip a meal. And as the cost of living soars, more and more Australians are going hungry. Through the lens of hunger, Linder looks at economic inequality, Australia’s failure to perceive the growing gaps in wealth
Socials: Stay in touch with us on Twitter and Instagram Guest: Journalist Esther Linder
Today, author and farmer Sam Vincent, with his piece from the latest edition of The Monthly. It explores how native Australian ingredients have gone from novelty to gourmet; now featured in some of the most acclaimed fine dining establishments in Australia. But what does the rise of culinary nationalism mean for the way we think about Australian food?
Socials: Stay in touch with us on Twitter and Instagram Guest: Author and farmer, Sam Vincent Background Reading: Native foods in the Plate Southern Land
Today, author Cate Kennedy reads her piece from the latest edition of the Monthly.
Beginning in the first months of lockdown, it asks the question: why did so many people turn to collective song and music, while stuck in isolation?
Choirs conducted over video chat and jam sessions in the digital world might not be a perfect replacement for the connection of performing together in a room – but it seemed like there was something essential in the act of coming together to create music.
So what is it about song that can pull us out of isolation?
Cate will read her story, ‘How lockdowns rekindled our need to sing together’ after a short conversation with the Editor of the 7am podcast, Scott Mitchell.
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Guest: Author, Cate Kennedy Background reading: How lockdowns rekindled our need to sing together
Today, journalist and author Jock Serong will be reading his piece from the latest issue.
It's called 'Front-row seats to the end of the Reef' - in it he chronicles his residency at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, and what coral tells us about the past and future of our oceans.
Guest: Journalist and author, Jock Serong Background reading: Front-row seats to the end of the Reef
Today on the show, journalist and author Bronwyn Adcock will be reading her piece from the latest issue. It follows the fate of Encep ‘Hambali’ Nurjaman - a man arrested as a central figure in the Bali Bombings nearly 20 years ago - and interrogates his fraught path to justice in the War on Terror, through CIA black spots and Guantanamo Bay, torture and rendition, and bureaucratic obfuscation.
Guest: Journalist and author, Bronwyn Adcock
Background reading: The Trial in The Monthly.
Today, author Don Watson will be reading his cover piece from the latest issue of The Monthly.
It's called 'How to be a prime minister', and in it he discusses the task ahead for Anthony Albanese. How will the new leader restore the idea that governments should seek to make the country better?
Guest: Contributor to The Monthly Don Watson
Today, writer and pianist Anna Goldsworthy will be reading her piece from the latest issue. It's called 'The slow fade of music education', and in it she discusses the importance of music and learning, in an arts landscape eroded by nearly a decade of wilful neglect.
Guest: Writer and pianist, Anna Goldsworthy.
Today, writer Richard Cooke will be reading his story from the latest edition of The Monthly. It’s called ‘Market of the apes: NFTs and digital art’, and in it, he explores how the art market has been transformed by NFTs, and how artificial intelligence might transform art itself.
Guest: Contributing editor to The Monthly, Richard Cooke.
Background reading: Market of the apes: NFTs and digital art in The Monthly.
Today, Gina Rushton’s latest story for The Monthly magazine, ‘The first victim’ is voiced by Lucy Moir. The piece explores how victims of sexual assault are treated in courts of law - and asks whether the legal system in Australia puts people through unnecessary trauma.
Warning: This episode contains details of sexual assault.
Today, Mark McKenna, professor of history at the University of Sydney, will be reading his piece from the latest edition of The Monthly. It's called 'The Stunted Country', and in it, he argues that there can be no possibility of an Australian republic without constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians. Guest: Mark McKenna, professor of history at the University of Sydney. Background reading: The stunted country in The Monthly. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Today, Richard Denniss, chief economist at The Australia Institute, will be reading his cover story from the latest edition of The Monthly. It's called 'The needle and the damage done', and in it, he argues that the federal government’s handling of the pandemic has been the worst public policy failure in Australian history. Guest: Richard Denniss, chief economist at The Australia Institute. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Today, Helen Garner, one of Australia’s most acclaimed authors, will be reading her piece from the latest issue of The Monthly. It features entries from her diaries, covering her experience during this year’s lockdown in Melbourne. Guest: Helen Garner, acclaimed Australian novelist and nonfiction writer. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Today, Hugh White, emeritus professor of strategic studies at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, reads his cover essay from the latest issue of The Monthly. It’s called ‘War of Error’. It explores the failures of the United States in Afghanistan, and the folly of Australia’s unquestioning support. Guest: Hugh White, emeritus professor of strategic studies at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Today, Scott Ludlam, ICAN ambassador and former Australian Greens Senator, reads his cover essay from the latest issue of The Monthly. It’s called ‘The Endgame’. It explores the trial of Julian Assange, and the powers fighting to extradite him, while his condition deteriorates in a UK prison. Guest: Scott Ludlam, ICAN ambassador and former Australian Greens Senator. Background reading: The end game in The Monthly See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Today, Richard Flanagan, Booker prize winner and author of The Living Sea of Waking Dreams, reads his essay from the latest issue of The Monthly. It’s called ‘To be free’ and it explores why he writes, and, in his words “the need to write against the dogmas of conformity”. Guest: Writer for The Monthly Richard Flanagan. Background reading: To be free in The Monthly See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Today, Sarah Krasnostein, the best-selling author of ‘The Trauma Cleaner’, reads her essay from the latest issue of The Monthly. It’s called ‘The most hated man’ and it explores the sentencing of Richard Pusey, who was convicted of outraging public decency after he filmed the horrific aftermath of a car crash that killed four police officers. Guest: Writer for The Saturday Paper Sarah Krasnostein. Background reading: The most hated man in The Monthly See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Author and activist Bri Lee regularly runs workshops on consent and sex in schools. In the upcoming issue of The Monthly Bri writes about those workshops in the context of a growing national conversation about sexual harassment and assault. In this weekend episode, Bri reads her article, 'Ill-informed consent'. Guest: Contributor to The Monthly Bri Lee. Background reading: Ill-informed consent in The Monthly See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.