Bloom: Recent Episodes
Nick Fabbri
Bloom is a conversations podcast featuring guests who have led meaningful, interesting, and flourishing lives
In this episode of the Oxford Policy Podcast, host Nick Fabbri sits down with Haibado Abdoulkader Yacin, a Mastercard Foundation AfOx Scholar and Master of Public Policy student at Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government. Haibado, a dedicated public servant from Djibouti, shares her incredible personal story and journey from Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa, to studying and working across three continents.
Haibado’s experiences span her role advising the Minister of Finance in Djibouti on youth employment and entrepreneurship, to her involvement in civil society movements focused on educational reforms. As someone passionate about sustainable development and the empowerment of Africa’s youth, Haibado reflects on how her international education shaped her perspective, and discusses her work in shaping opportunities in Djibouti through policy and public service.
Nick and Haibado delve into Djibouti’s strategic role in international security, its unique cultural and diplomatic identity, its history of colonisation and migration, as well as some poetical reflections on Haibado's home. Tune in for an inspiring conversation on leadership, policy innovation, and the future of development in Africa.
In this episode, Nick Fabbri speaks with Gargi Sharma Goel about her life and career in New Delhi, India, her work in the Ministry of Finance and Indian Revenue Service, key economic and tax policy interests, her journey to the Master of Public Policy at Oxford, balancing parenthood with studies, and the happiest memories from her time in the UK.
Gargi Sharma Goel is career civil servant, part of the Indian Revenue Service, and works in the Ministry of Finance of the government of India. Gargi lives in New Delhi. Gargi focuses on tax policy and has been involved in the preparation of the Union Budget. She keeps a close watch on the pulse of the Indian economy and has undertaken many policy initiatives for its growth and development. Her key area of interest has been the utility of tax policy for socio-economic welfare, and she is interested in exploring tax policy as a tool for promoting equitable growth across all sections of society.
Gargi's other field of interest has been international taxation and transfer pricing. She has also been involved with OECD two-Pillar International Tax negotiations for tax-sharing in the digitalised and borderless world, where she endeavours to establish cooperative and fair tax sharing mechanisms.
Gargi is a World Bank Scholar.
In this episode crossposted from the Oxford Policy Podcast, Nick Fabbri speaks with The Hon. Tony Abbott AC, Former Prime Minister of Australia. They discuss:
- The influence of the Jesuits, Oxford, and Father Paul Mankowski on Mr. Abbott's life and leadership qualities
- The art of effective opposition and developing alternative policies for the nation
- Achievements and regrets of the Abbott Government in office
- The role of government in fostering trust and cohesion in communities
- National service and giving back to the country
- National identity, immigration, and multiculturalism
- Industrial and energy policy
- The state of right of centre politics globally, and what a conservatism for the 21st century might look like
- The importance of promoting classical education and an understanding of western civilisation to strengthen cultural self-confidence
- The global security situation and the need for a military, industrial, and cultural re-armament to resist the authoritarian axis of China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea
- Poetic reflections on Australia and advice to young Australians abroad
In this episode, Nick Fabbri speaks with fellow MPP students Anushka Jadhav and Rafaela Viana about the 2024 Education World Forum, their personal education journeys in India and Brazil respectively, Education Policy in Oxford, and some of the major education policy issues and developments globally. Anushka and Rafaela also reflect on their time at Oxford and in the 2023-24 MPP cohort, and offer advice and inspiration to future students.
Anushka Jadhav is an educational professional with over seven years of experience, based in Mumbai, India. As a co-founder of an educational trust (NCFW), she has engaged students and institutions in meaningful discussions about gender norms and discrimination. At Whistling Woods International (WWI), Anushka led the curriculum development and served as a faculty member. She also spearheaded India's venture into media and film education for grades 9-12 under the Delhi Board of School Education. As the Creative Director at Gaysi Family since 2016, she has worked extensively to mainstream narratives from the LGBTQIA+ community through diverse initiatives. She has also actively participated in fellowships with change.org and the British Council.
Rafaela Viana dos Santos is from Sao Paulo city, Brazil and in 2021 obtained her undergraduate degree in international relations at the University of Sao Paulo. She has pursued studies and attended conferences in Taiwan, China, and Egypt. Rafaela's four years of professional experience are mainly in the ESG field, including sustainable development finance and government projects. As such, her key policy interests are ESG, sustainable development, China, the third sector, and project management. Likewise, she has extensive experience working in non-profit and non-governmental organisations. Rafaela enjoys travelling, playing with dogs, and watching movies. Rafaela is a Chevening Scholar.
Lord Christopher Patten is the Chancellor of the University of Oxford, having served in the role since 2003. Lord Patten was the 28th and final British Governor of Hong Kong, who oversaw its handover to the People's Republic of China in 1997, symbolically marking the end of the British Empire. Lord Patten was also a Conservative Member of the UK Parliament from 1979-1992, where, as Conservative Party Chairman from 1990-1992, he was credited with architecting the election of the Major Government.
In this episode of the Oxford Policy Podcast, Nick Fabbri speaks with Lord Patten about:
- His lifelong relationship with Oxford University
- The state of higher education in the United Kingdom - including freedom of speech on campus and the rise of cancel
- The Israel-Hamas war, and the University of Oxford's response to recent student protests and demands, and his work with Medical Aid for Palestinians
- Lord Patten’s Governorship of Hong Kong and the 1997 handover
- The current political situation in Hong Kong and the erosion of civil and political rights, and hope for Hong Kong's future
- The rise of China and its increasing authoritarianism
- Reflections on the recent 14 years of Tory rule in Britain, and
- The future of right of centre political movements in the United Kingdom
Damien Shannon is a DPhil candidate in Economic and Social History at New College, Oxford.
In this episode of the Oxford Policy Podcast, Nick and Damien speak about:
- Damien's experience in suing Oxford University over its admissions criteria, which initially prevented him from taking up his degree place on financial grounds
- Educational access and equity
- Damien's current DPhil research on the abolition of tenure at British universities and the impact on research outcomes and long term institutional performance
- The history of universities as institutions from their earliest roots in Bologna and Oxford
- Intellectual freedom and the ideal conditions for free inquiry
- Sir Keith Joseph and the economic and philosophical foundations of the Thatcher administration
- The corporatization of universities and modern employment conditions for academics
In this episode of the Oxford Policy Podcast, Nick Fabbri speaks with George Brandis, former Australian Attorney-General and High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. They discuss George's time at Oxford and Magdalen College as a law student, his career in the law, the philosophical traditions of liberalism and conservatism and how they might be applied to policy issues in the 21st century, some major security and social policy reforms George influenced, George's time as High Commissioner to the UK during Brexit negotiations, the COVID pandemic, and Tory party leadership changes, and international security issues.
Professor the Honourable George Brandis KC is a lawyer, former Australian Senator and Attorney-General, High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, and now Professor of National Security at the Australian National University.
In this episode of the Oxford Policy Podcast, Nick Fabbri speaks with Bob Carr, a former Australian Foreign Minister and long-serving Premier of New South Wales. They discuss politics and embarking on a political career, the art of good policymaking and some of the major policy reforms of the Carr Labor Government, international affairs and security issues, Australia and its natural beauty, and the love and grief that Bob has for his late wife Helena Carr.
Professor the Honourable Bob Carr was the longest continuously serving premier in the history of New South Wales, a major Australian state, from 1995-2006. He then entered the Australian Senate in 2012 and served as foreign minister for eighteen months. Since leaving politics Bob has led a distinguished career as an author and academic. Bob is also an accomplished writer and has published many books, including My Reading Life, Diary of a Foreign Minister, and Run For Your Life.
In this episode cross-posted from the Oxford Policy Podcast, Nick Fabbri speaks with Grace Fox, a student of the Master of Public Policy at Oxford University, about her personal story, the history of the Native American Seminole Nation, her family, identity, and belonging. Grace also reflects on her work with the US Department of the Interior in the Bureau of Indian Education in Native American policy, and her wider work in education, equity, and social justice, and what her hopes for the future are in her life and career.
Grace is from Edmond, Oklahoma, and an enrolled member of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma. She recently graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and Ethnicity and Race Studies (Indigenous Studies). Through non-profit management, policy creation, and community-centered organising, Grace plans to work directly with Native American communities worldwide as an aspiring education activist.
Grace has worked for the U.S. Department of the Interior in the Bureau of Indian Education as a recipient of the esteemed 2023 Udall Congressional Internship Program. Grace is excited to continue her education in Oxford and proudly work towards creating a better future for the generations to come, ensuring the success and well-being of her future ancestors.
Grace is an Eisenhower Scholar.
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In this conversation cross-posted from the Oxford Policy Podcast, Nick Fabbri speaks with Lord Michael Heseltine, former UK Deputy Prime Minister and leading figure in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major. In this interview, we reflect on Lord Heseltine's love of gardening, his time at Oxford University and presidency of the Oxford Union, his political career and lessons in leadership, his approach to public policy solutions including privatisation and the revitalisation of Liverpool, as well as Britain, multiculturalism, Brexit, and relations with Europe.
Lord Michael Heseltine is a giant of British politics, having served as a Conservative Member of the Parliament from 1966 to 2001. He was a Cabinet Minister in various departments in the Heath, Thatcher and Major governments from 1979 to 1986 and 1990 to 1997, and Deputy Prime Minister under John Major from 1995 to 1997. Lord Heseltine later served as an advisor to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Growth under David Cameron's administration, and as a Commissioner on the National Infrastructure Commission (October 2015 to March 2017). He is the founder and Chairman of the Haymarket Group, and runs the internationally-acclaimed Thenford Arboretum and Gardens.
In this episode cross-posted from the Oxford Policy Podcast, Nick Fabbri and Dr. Paul Monk discuss the crises facing the liberal democracies today, and the lessons that the Roman Republic and Greek democracies may hold for the 21st century. We cover Paul's recent papers delivered to the Institute of Law and Strategy, and his tours of Finland, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia discussing the wars in Ukraine, the Middle East, and the broader geopolitical situation.
Dr Paul Monk is a writer, poet, and highly regarded Australian public intellectual with a background in security, intelligence, and consulting. His writing regularly appears in the Australian press, and he has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty, to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilisation in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China.
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Originally published with transcript at: https://www.nickfabbri.com/bloom/paulmonkpoetryscienceandclassics
In this podcast, Dr Paul Monk and Nick Fabbri discuss the relationship between poetry, science, and the classics, and how these subjects inform Paul’s poetry, and what it means to live poetically. This conversation includes readings of a number of Paul’s poems from Red Ochre for the Moon Goddess, The Three Graces, and Wine on the Flames. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilisation in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China.
Originally published with transcript at: https://www.nickfabbri.com/bloom/paulmonkdefenceofaustralia
In this podcast, Dr Paul Monk and Nick Fabbri discuss Sam Roggeveen’s new book The Echidna Strategy: Australia’s Search for Power and Peace, Australia's geopolitical and security context, the rise of China and its increasing militarisation, what the Australian Defence Force force posture would look like under an ‘Echidna Strategy’, what the economic, political, diplomatic, bureaucratic, and social demands of such a transition would be on Australia, the ongoing role of the United States in the Indo-Pacific, and what the Echidna Strategy might teach us about the need to bolster our defensive or ‘spiny’ capabilities while maintaining attacking capabilities through AUKUS and our current alliance systems.
Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilisation in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China.
Shane Fitzsimmons currently leads Resilience NSW - the peak disaster management and recovery agency in NSW - as its inaugural Commissioner, following a long and distinguished career with the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS). Shane came to national prominence in Australia through his role as Commissioner of the NSW RFS during the 2019-2020 bushfires, where he led NSW’s response to the fires which raged across South Australia, Queensland, Victoria, and most severely in NSW and the ACT. These fires tragically caused the loss of 33 lives, destroyed over 3000 homes and damaged thousands more, burnt 30 million hectares of land, and caused over a billion animals to perish. Shane’s leadership throughout the bushfires received universal acclaim for his empathy, calmness, trust, care, and clarity of communications as the nation endured unprecedented natural disasters.
In this podcast, Nick and Shane discuss:
- Shane’s early life in Sydney’s northern beaches, and how he found his way to volunteer firefighting
- His 35 year career with the NSW RFS, the modernisation of the emergency management sector, and the remarkable spirit and humanity of volunteers and staff working in disaster management
- Shane’s experience of the 2019-20 Australian bushfire season: its devastating scale and impacts, and the remarkable stories of hope, spirit, and community resilience that emerged through shared hardship
- Leadership qualities, including authenticity, humility, care, and communication
- The creation and work of Resilience NSW, and how communities are faring amidst the compound disasters of drought, fires, floods, storms, and mouse plagues
- How government agencies can ensure that recovery is community-led
- How to ensure community groups who are disproportionately impacted by disasters, such as women, First Nations peoples, the elderly, and migrants, are able to participate in resilience and recovery activities
- The outlook for the 2021-22 bushfire season, and how organizations can look after their fatigued and exhausted workforces after years of continuous responses to disasters
Tú Lê is a young lawyer, community worker, and political advocate. Tú recently came to national and international prominence, with articles recently published in The New York Times, in the wake of the Australian Labor Party’s decision to nominate the former Premier of NSW and current federal Senator Kristina Keneally for preselection in the Western Sydney electorate of Fowler, ahead of Tú as the locally preferred candidate. The backroom political decision sparked a national conversation about cultural diversity within our representative institutions, multiculturalism in Australia, the disconnect of the political class from everyday people, and cultural and socio-economic barriers to participation in civic and economic life.
In this podcast, Nick and Tú discuss:
- Tú's family journey as refugees from Vietnam to Australia in the wake of the Vietnam War, her early life in Adelaide and Western Sydney, and the importance of her Buddhist faith and community
- Tú’s current work as a lawyer and coordinator at the Marrickville Legal Centre, working across migration, employment, and criminal law
- Tú’s experience nominating for Labor Party preselection in the electorate of Fowler, and the controversy that emerged after Labor’s national executive parachuted Senator Kristina Keneally into the seat
- The importance of cultural diversity in our representative institutions, where a quarter of the population is non-white and minority groups constitute six percent of the federal parliament
- “The Bamboo ceiling” in the Australian workforce and across society more generally
- Australian identity, what it means to be an “Aussie”, and how we can adopt more inclusive understandings of national identity and history
- The electorate of Fowler and Western Sydney more broadly, and what these communities represent and reflect about modern Australia
- Some of the political issues Tú would prioritise in Parliament, including a constitutionally-entrenched “voice to Parliament” for First Nations Peoples, climate action, and reforming Australian immigration policy
Originally published with transcript at https://www.nickfabbri.com/bloom/paulmonklyricpoetry
In this podcast, Nick and Paul discuss:
- Poetry’s Touch by Professor William Waters and its influence on Paul’s approach to lyric poetry
- The ‘addressable you’ in poetry
- Reflections on communicative intimacy and the idea of authentic understanding between people in romantic or other relationships
- A number of Paul’s poems from his published works Lyrical Epigrams, All The Bad Things, and Delphic Deixis
- Paul’s relationship with Claudia Alvarez
- Artwork in the Chauvet Caves, and human civilization and beings across time
- Paul’s experience of being catfished, and the creative inspiration that this generated
- New infatuations, muses and poems
Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilization in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China.
Follow Paul on Twitter
Originally published with transcript at https://www.nickfabbri.com/bloom/paulmonkoncancer
In this podcast, Nick and Paul discuss:
- Paul's cancer journey and the odds of his survival
- The development of immunotherapy and other revolutionary cancer treatments
- Cancer research and the medical establishment
- The examples and books of Jimmy Stynes, Lance Armstrong, and Christopher Hitchens
- Reflections on mortality, death, and existential meaning and purpose
- The impact of Paul’s cancer journey on his relationships
- The 2016 International Cancer Conference in Brazil, and conversations with Dr. David Speakman, Chief Medical Officer of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
- Reframing one’s priorities after living with cancer
Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilization in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China.
Follow Paul on Twitter
Originally published with transcript at https://www.nickfabbri.com/bloom/paulmonkmortalityandmeaning
In this podcast, Nick and Paul discuss:
- The commemoration of the dead through religious rituals, such as the Kaddish
- Representations of mortality, death, and dying as expressed in poetry and literature
- Why death exists in the world at all, as a function of life and natural selection
- The intersection of the biological process of death and religious rituals around and for death
- Concern for the dead in classical works such as The Iliad and Antigone
- Paul’s journey with metastatic cancer and contemporary literature on mortality
- Reviewing one’s priorities after confronting one’s mortality
- Reflections on death and dying through everyday encounters with our built environment, such as cemeteries
- Oliver Sacks and gratitude for the gift of life and consciousness
Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilization in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China.
Follow Paul on Twitter
Originally published with transcript at https://www.nickfabbri.com/bloom/paulmonkonchina
In this episode, Nick and Paul discuss:
- Paul’s book Thunder From the Silent Zone, and four possible futures for China
- The history and legacy of Hu Yaobang, the "conscience" of the Chinese Communist Party
- The history of democracy in China, and the possibility of political reform or democratisation
- Xi Jinping and his designs on Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Tibet, and Taiwan
- China’s rapid militarisation under Xi, and implications for Australia and the regional order
- Exercises in thinking: adopting the world view and perspectives of Chinese communist nationalists in regard to the current geopolitical order
- The Thucydides Trap, and the prospect of conflict between China and the United States
- The COVID-19 pandemic and China
- The diplomatic and trade war between China and Australia
- Literature on the implications of China’s rise
Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilization in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China.
Follow Paul on Twitter
Originally published with transcript at https://www.nickfabbri.com/bloom/frankbrennan
In this interview, Nick and Frank discuss:
- Frank’s early life and education in Queensland, and the influences of his mother and father on his life
- Frank’s ordination within the Catholic Church and the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits)
- The impact of Jesuit Pope Francis on the Catholic Church, particularly with regard to environmental issues
- The future of the Catholic Church globally
- Frank’s early work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in Redfern, Sydney, and the influence of Father Ted Kennedy on Frank’s formation
- The development of Australian land law, with reference to the Australian High Court’s Mabo and Wik Peoples decisions
- Practical policy steps towards Reconciliation, the Australian Constitution, and First Nations Peoples
- Frank’s work with refugees and asylum seekers, and his experiences in East Timor and with the 2001 Tampa case
- Migration policy changes for a more humane and ethical Australia
- Frank’s understanding of Jesus Christ, and how this has informed his work with the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in our communities
- The daily work of a priest, and death and dying in the COVID-19 pandemic
- Frank’s views on education in the 21st century, and his hopes and vision for Newman College
Follow Fr Frank Brennan on Facebook and Twitter
Father Frank Brennan is a Jesuit priest and the current Rector of Newman College within the University of Melbourne. He is a man of many talents and interests, having worked variously as a Jesuit priest within the Catholic Church, a human rights lawyer, a professor of law at Australian Catholic University, and CEO of Catholic Social Services Australia. He is a National Living Treasure, and widely known to the Australian public through his long career of leadership and advocacy on a range of human rights and social justice issues relating to asylum seekers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and the poor, vulnerable and disadvantaged both in Australia and abroad.
Originally published with transcript at: https://www.nickfabbri.com/bloom/bensonsaulo
Benson Saulo is an inspirational and trailblazing 32 year old Australian, who has had a wide and diverse career across the social purpose sector, consulting, banking and finance, diplomacy and advocacy. Benson has recently been appointed as the first Indigenous Consul-General to the United States, where he will take up his post in Houston, Texas at the end of 2020 along with his wife Kate and daughter Anais. In this interview, Nick and Benson discuss:
- Benson’s early life in Tamworth in rural NSW, and his early career in the banking and finance industry following moves to Sydney and then Melbourne
- The importance of culture and identity, growing up as the son of an Indigenous mother and a Papua New Guinean father
- Becoming a husband and a father, and the role of family in Benson’s life
- Walking the Camino de Santiago and the importance of faith, spirituality, and mindfulness
- Benson’s year as the Australian Youth Representative to the United Nations in 2011, and the powerful stories that have stayed with him from travelling around Australia
- The social purpose/impact space in Australia, and Benson’s work with the National Indigenous Youth Leadership Academy and other organisations
- Benson’s appointment as the first Indigenous Consul-General to the United States, and his upcoming move to Houston, Texas to represent Australia
- The current state of affairs in the US, with the COVID-19 pandemic, mass civic unrest, and economic devastation
- What kind of an impact Benson would like to make in the future
Follow Benson on Twitter @bensonsaulo
In this interview, Nick and Elly discuss:
- Elly’s love of Greece and Cyprus
- Questions of identity, home and belonging
- The Parthenon Marbles, and Elly’s work to reunite them through the Parthenon Committee of Australia
- Life and living history in Athens and Europe
- Reflections on the incredible life and legacy of the late Samuel Symons
- Living through a cancer diagnosis as an individual and as a family
- Samuel’s contributions to the Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation and the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre
- Love, memory and gratitude
- How we remember loved ones, compared with the memorialisation of historical figures or events
Follow Elly on Twitter @ellymariasymons
Transcript available at https://www.nickfabbri.com/bloom/garethevans
In this interview, Nick and Gareth discuss:
- Gareth’s early life and influences, and what drew him to politics
- Some of his most enduring political and policy achievements
- Reflections on Bob Hawke and Paul Keating as men, and as Prime Ministers of Australia
- The current world order, and the state of multilateralism and global cooperation on “problems without passports”
- Mass-atrocity events, and the personal and moral challenges of being Foreign Minister of a sovereign state with competing policy priorities
- The development of the global political commitment to the Responsibility to Protect (R2P)
- Memories and reflections on Gareth’s work as President and CEO of the International Crisis Group (ICG) in Brussels, and the differences in preventing deadly conflict from within an NGO than in government
- Reflections on his time as Chancellor of the Australian National University, and the university’s unique role in Australian society
- The meaning of Australia, and some of Gareth’s most treasured corners of the country
- Reflections on life and retirement
Professor the Hon Gareth Evans AC QC FASSA FAIIA is Distinguished Honorary Professor at the Australian National University, where he was Chancellor from 2010-19. He was a Cabinet Minister in the Hawke and Keating Labor Governments from 1983-96, in the posts of Attorney General, Minister for Resources and Energy, Minister for Transport and Communications and - from 1988-96 - Foreign Minister. During his 21 years in Australian politics he was Leader of the Government in the Senate (1993-96) and Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the House of Representatives (1996-98). From 2000 to 2009 he was President and CEO of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, the independent global conflict prevention and resolution organisation.
Originally published with transcript at https://www.nickfabbri.com/bloom/grayconnolly
In this interview, Nick and Gray discuss:
- Gray’s life and career in the law, including his military service in the Royal Australian Navy
- The geopolitical lessons of 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic
- The Dragon-Bear strategic alliance between China and Russia
- The 2020 US presidential election, and reflections on Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump
- How the pandemic has brought out the Australian ethos of looking after our most vulnerable, including a reflection on Simpson and his donkey
- How the pandemic has upended the Australian political landscape and forced the conservative Liberal-National Coalition - and governments around the world - to abandon ideology in the face of crisis
- Longer-term impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on Australian society, including changes to Federation and federal-state relations
- Observations on modern Australian politics and the quality of our politicians and polity
- Reflections on love, faith, grief, and the meaning of Australia
Gray Connolly is a Sydney-based Barrister and Writer, and he is a reservist serving as a Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Australian Navy. He writes about geopolitics, faith, history and war on his Strategy Counsel website. Gray’s writing has also appeared in an interesting range of Australian periodicals, including Meanjin and The Daily Telegraph. He regularly features on the ABC and Sky News as a commentator. He is a lifelong South Sydney and Richmond supporter. Twitter @GrayConnolly
In this conversation, Nick and Hugo discuss:
- Hugo’s early life and career as a frontline humanitarian worker in Africa and the Middle East
- The bureaucratisation of humanitarian organisations over recent decades
- The magic of young people in humanitarian (and other) organisations
- The experience of civilians in war and conflict, the ‘seven spheres of suffering’, and memorialisation of the dead
- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Hugo’s term as Head of Policy and Humanitarian Diplomacy
- Recent developments in International Humanitarian Law and warfare
- The impact of COVID-19 on relief work in conflict zones
- The changed ethical landscape that many in western nations now find themselves in as a result of the pandemic.
Dr Hugo Slim recently concluded 5 years as Head of Policy and Humanitarian Diplomacy at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva. Before joining ICRC in 2015, he was Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC) at the University of Oxford where he led research on humanitarian ethics and the protection of civilians. Hugo has combined a career between academia and practice. He was Chief Scholar at the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue from 2003–2007 and Reader in International Humanitarianism at Oxford Brookes University from 1994–2003. Between 1983 and 1994, Hugo worked for Save the Children and the United Nations in Morocco, Sudan, Ethiopia, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Bangladesh. He received his PhD in humanitarian ethics from Oxford Brookes University in 2002. His most recent books are Humanitarian Ethics: A Guide to the Morality of Aid in War and Disaster (2015 Hurst/OUP) and Killing Civilians: Method, Madness and Morality in War (2007 Hurst/OUP).
Originally published with transcript at: https://www.nickfabbri.com/bloom/peterdoherty
In this interview, Nick and Professor Doherty discuss:
- Peter's life and career in science and advice for young research scientists today
- The work of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity in tackling the global burden of COVID-19
- The different public health responses to COVID-19 around the world
- Globalisation, pandemics and the 21st century
- President Donald Trump and the American response to COVID-19
- The state of scientific literacy and education in Australia and the world
- The proliferation of conspiracies about COVID-19, including 5G and Bill Gates
- How our societies could change as we recover from the pandemic
Professor Peter Doherty shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1996 with Swiss colleague Rolf Zinkernagel, for their discovery of how the immune system recognises virus-infected cells. He was Australian of the Year in 1997, and has since been commuting between St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Melbourne. The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity is named in his honour, and the institute is leading a lot of the research into COVID-19 in Australia.
In this interview, Nick and Dr. Paul Monk discuss:
- Background on epidemiology, virology and global transmission as they relate to COVID-19
- Major plagues throughout history, and literary representations of pestilence and plague
- The context of wet markets, corruption, totalitarianism and secrecy in China
- The divergence in global reactions to the outbreak of COVID-19
- The emergence of conspiracy theories about the virus
- Silver linings from the current crisis, such as the need for global coordination and cooperation to respond to similarly global problems
Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilization in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China.
In this podcast, Nick and Dr. Paul Monk discuss:
- The Rationalist Society of Australia and Paul’s occasional paper, Religion and Society: Dilemmas of Our Time
- The deep history of the relationship between religion and society
- The relationship between liberal and social democracies and religion since the Reformation
- The rich traditions of mysticism, prayer and contemplation
- The case of Israel Folau and the Religious Freedom Bills before the Australian Parliament
- How we might structure curricula in schools to promote greater literacy and understanding of religious and civic issues
- A vision for religious toleration in the 21st century
Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilization in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China.
Dr. Zac Seidler is a clinical psychologist, researcher and leading men’s mental health expert who works as Director of Health Professional Training at Movember and as a post-doctoral research fellow with Orygen at the University of Melbourne.
In this conversation, we speak about mental health and the Australian health care system, notions of masculinity, and the importance of social connection to foster wellbeing and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some of the content we cover touches on subjects that may be confronting to some listeners, such as suicide, depression and anxiety. If this raises any issues for you, please seek help via Beyond Blue, Orygen, Headspace or Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Originally published with transcript at https://www.nickfabbri.com/bloom/angelinastanton
In this podcast, Nick and Angie discuss:
- Angie’s life story and career as a poet
- Typewriters and poetry
- Influences on Angie’s writing, such as New Zealand writer Janet Frame
- Imagination and writing poetry for children
- The City of Melbourne and recent changes to busking permits
- The busking and street performer communities in Melbourne
- Social scourges such as homelessness, substance abuse, domestic violence, and inadequate access to healthcare
- Some of Angie’s poems about new beginnings, Merri Creek, addiction and substance abuse
Angelina Stanton is a poet, who has worked in Australia and New Zealand. Follow Angie on Facebook
Transcript available at www.nickfabbri.com/bloom/paulmonkontrump
In this podcast, Dr Paul Monk and Nick Fabbri discuss the impeachment and acquittal of President Donald Trump, the role of impeachment in the US Constitution and examples of it occurring throughout history, and the differences between the liberal democracies and authoritarian regimes.
Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilization in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China.
Originally published with transcript at https://www.nickfabbri.com/bloom/gilliantriggs
In this podcast, Gillian and I discuss her recent book Speaking Up (MUP, 2018), influences on her early life and career, her role as President of the Australian Human Rights Commission from 2012-2017, the scale of the Global Refugee Crisis, and her upcoming role as Assistant High Commissioner for Protection at the United Nations.
Professor Gillian Triggs is a lawyer and academic, who became best known to the Australian public through her Presidency of the Australian Human Rights Commission between 2012 and 2017, which saw her involved in and influencing some of the major social, political and human rights issues and controversies of the day. Professor Triggs was recently appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as Assistant High Commissioner for Protection at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
In this podcast, Paul Monk and Nick Fabbri discuss the nature of poetry, the origins of music and language, and how to live life with meaning and authenticity.
Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilization in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China.
https://www.nickfabbri.com/bloom/patmcgorry Professor Patrick McGorry AO is an Irish-Australian psychiatrist, leading international researcher, clinician and advocate for mental health reform. Many Australians will recognise him as the 2010 Australian of the Year and for his leadership of mental health organisations such as Orygen Youth Health and Headspace. Pat is Chair of the Expert Advisory Committee for the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System.
In this conversation, Pat reflects on his early life and journey into medicine and psychiatry, his work in founding and leading pioneering youth mental health organisations, the scale of the mental health crisis in Australia, and the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System. It’s a wide-ranging interview with a deeply humane and intelligent individual who has spent a lifetime in service to society’s most vulnerable people, working to solve one of humankind’s greatest afflictions.
E quindi uscimmo a rivedere le stelle. And so we came forth, and once again beheld the stars.
Rowan Callick is a highly regarded Australian and British author and journalist with The Australian newspaper. He’s one of the pre-eminent journalists and writers specialising in Asia-Pacific affairs, having lived and worked in the region for decades, including 4 years as China correspondent in Hong Kong. Rowan has won two Walkley Awards for his coverage of China and the Asia-Pacific, and has published three books on contemporary China, including Party Time, The Party Forever, and Comrades & Capitalists: Hong Kong Since the Handover.
In this interview, Rowan reminisces on the 1997 handover of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People’s Republic of China, and examines the historical roots behind the 2019 protests which saw millions of Hong Kongers demonstrate against a proposed extradition bill, which would have enabled extradition to mainland China. We reflect on the history of democracy in China, social media and the digital surveillance state, and the growing authoritarianism of Xi Jinping towards separatist movements on the peripheries of mainland China.
Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilization in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China. In this podcast, Paul and Nick discuss the biological origins of sex and sexual desire, the nature of love and its human possibilities, and artistic expressions of love.
A conversation with Professor Peter Singer, Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics in the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University and a Laureate Professor at the University of Melbourne. The interview looks at his life story, and touches on his works which helped shape the modern animal rights movement and advanced our understanding of practical ethics in relation to international aid and development.
I speak with Alma Zygier about Judaism, growing up in a creative family, her love of jazz and performing, and what she wants to do with her considerable talents.
A conversation with André Aciman, author of the hit book turned film 'Call Me by Your Name'. André speaks about his life and exile from Egypt; the influence of French novelist Marcel Proust on his professional and personal lives; the importance of the Classics to Call Me by Your Name; the positives and negatives of the filmic adaptation; in addition to subjects such as memory, time, nostalgia and mortality.
Thursday 3 May, 2018 Melbourne, Australia
Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilization in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China.
Here, Paul and I discuss Western Civilization through topics as wide-ranging as erotic poetry, stoicism and the ancient world, and the turmoils of the 20th century. From Pericles via Shakespeare to the 21st century, Paul surveys the roots of Western Civilization and defines it geographically and temporally, before reflecting on its most cherished cultural, scientific and political contributions to humanity, and concludes by painting a picture of what the future of Western Civilization may look like in a turbulent world beset by ecological crises.
This interview is but one example of the endlessly rich and varied conversations that Paul has kindly shared with me over the years. I am delighted to be able to count him as a friend.
Dr Paul Monk is a poet, polymath and highly regarded Australian public intellectual. He has written an extraordinary range of books, from Sonnets to a Promiscuous Beauty (which resides in Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s library), to reflective essays on the riches of Western civilization in The West in a Nutshell, to a prescient 2005 treatise on the rise of China in Thunder from the Silent Zone: Rethinking China.
Most recently, Paul has written a biography on the life of Brother Mark O’Loughlin: science teacher, mentor to youth, pastoral counsellor to the mentally ill, marine scientist of global stature and founder of ecumenical Christian base communities. The Secret Gospel According to Mark – the extraordinary life of a Catholic existentialist is the subject of this inaugural podcast, and is Monk’s tribute to his lifelong friend and mentor, whose story certainly deserves wider understanding and appreciation. A comprehensive, loving, and fastidiously researched biography, Monk traces the humble but profound and influential life of a man who sought to live up to the example of Christ, and who was and is sustained by boundless love for humankind. Monk sets down the story of this one precious life with a remarkable consideration of major societal movements across theology, the Church, politics, science and academia, all of which formed the backdrop to Mark’s life and shaped him in turn.
This interview is but one example of the endlessly rich and varied conversations that Paul has kindly shared with me over the years. I am forever grateful for his friendship and support.