Catastrophic: Recent Episodes
Kel Butler
"Catastrophic" is a dual podcast and political protest project.
"Catastrophic" tells the tales of the Australian bushfires from the 2019/2020 summer and calls for political action around Climate Change. Every story we gather, every episode we release, of the Catastrophic podcast is being sent in a protest email to over 100 politicians and members of the media, every week. These are our demands for effective Climate Action:
- No new coal, oil and gas projects, including the Adani mine and the Wallarah 2 coal project.
- 100% renewable energy generation & exports by 2030
- Fund a just transition & job creation for all fossil-fuel workers & communities.
- Hand over land conservation and management to First Nations Australians
- Start preserving our water and treating it as a precious resource not a commodity.
If you or anyone you know has a story they would like to share from or about the Aussie bushfires please instant message us via:
Catastrophic Podcast Facebook page
or email us at: info@listenuppodcasting.com.au
We will get in touch to record your story. We encourage every Australian who cares about this issue to write to their local MP and demand action on Climate Change.
Zoe Pook and her family live in Cobargo, NSW. She was travelling with her 2 children to Adelaide for a wedding when the firewall hit Cobargo and incinerated much of the town. Her husband, a volunteer firefighter, stayed to battle the fire and save their house. He is one of our nation's heroes. Fortunately he survived. Unfortunately, like many others in Cobargo that day, they lost everything. This is Zoe's story. Catastrophic is a dual podcast and political protest. Catastrophic tells the tales of the Australian bushfires and calls for political action around Climate Change. Every story we gather, every episode we release, of the Catastrophic podcast is being sent in a protest letter to over 100 politicians and members of the media, every week. These are our demands for effective Climate Action:
No new coal, oil and gas projects, including the Adani mine and the Wallarah 2 coal project. 100% renewable energy generation & exports by 2030 Fund a just transition & job creation for all fossil-fuel workers & communities. Hand over land conservation management to First Nations Australians Start preserving our water and treating it as a precious resource not a commodity. @CatastrophicPodinfo@listenuppodcasting.com.auIf you or anyone you know has a story they would like to share from or about the Aussie bushfires please instant message us via the Catastrophic Podcast Facebook page or email us at and we will get in touch to record your story. SHOW NOTES: Catastrophic Facebook @CatastrophicPod :Listen Up Podcastingwww.listenuppodcasting.com.auFacebook @ListenUpPodcasting Kel ButlerFacebook and Twitter @KelButler
. 3 respected writers and journalists came together to discuss reporting, writing and telling stories in the age of fake news and denialism.This special episode on Writing 4 Climate Change is taken from the Writes4Women podcast are all fighting for action around Climate Change for very different audiences. All of them believe in the power of words as a tool for change and all of them have concerns about the ethical implications of writing around this crisis. So we've brought them together to discuss what that means for writers, now and into the future.Journalist - Jess HIll, Audio Storyteller - Gretchen Miller and Children's book author - Sheryl Gwyther Catastrophic is a dual podcast and political protest. Every episode we release of the Catastrophic podcast will also be emailed to the politicians and the media with the following demands for Climate Action:
No new coal, oil and gas projects, including the Adani mine and the Wallarah 2 coal project. 100% renewable energy generation & exports by 2030 Fund a just transition & job creation for all fossil-fuel workers & communities. Hand over land conservation management to First Nations Australians Start preserving our water and treating it as a precious resource not a commodity. SHOW NOTES: Catastrophic Facebook @CatastrophicPodEmail: info@listenuppodcasting.com.au :Listen Up Podcastingwww.listenuppodcasting.com.auFacebook @ListenUpPodcastingEmail: info@listenuppodcasting.com.au
Karen Viggers lives in Canberra, she is a Vet who works with native wildlife in the field. This January she volunteered her services to help the animals and saw first hand the impact of the catastrophic bushfires on flora and fauna. Karen has had experience with a number of big bushfires throughout her life, including the Black Saturday fires of 2009 but has never seen anything like the fires of this past Christmas and New year. She gives an interesting scientific perspective on the impact, cause and repair of the Aussie bushfires. Catastrophic is a dual podcast and political protest. Catastrophic tells the tales of the Australian bushfires and calls for all-partisan political action around Climate Change. Each episode of Catastrophic features an Australian talking about their experience of living through the bushfire crisis, what their fears are now and for the future and what they would like to see done about it on a government level. But it doesn’t end when the episode goes out. We at Listen Up Podcasting are taking every story we gather, every episode we release of the Catastrophic podcast and putting them together into one big audio file and sending it to ALL the politicians. These are our demands: They are the same demands people have been protesting about and calling for over the last few years:
No new coal, oil and gas projects, including the Adani mine and the Wallarah 2 coal project. 100% renewable energy generation & exports by 2030 Fund a just transition & job creation for all fossil-fuel workers & communities. Hand over land conservation management to First Nations Australians Start preserving our water and treating it as a precious resource not a commodity. SHOW NOTES: Catastrophic Facebook @CatastrophicPodEmail: info@listenuppodcasting.com.au :Listen Up Podcastingwww.listenuppodcasting.com.auFacebook @ListenUpPodcastingEmail: info@listenuppodcasting.com.au Kel ButlerFacebook and Twitter @KelButler
Sulari Gentill lives in the NSW town of Batlow, home of the Batlow apple. Her husband, Michael and son, Edmund, are both volunteer firefighters with the RFS. They have been fighting fires for years but they have never experienced anything like this. In the first weekend of January 2020 the town of Batlow was decimated by a mega fire. Sulari evacuated their home, while Michael and Edmund almost lost their lives fighting to save their beloved town. This is Sulari's story. Catastrophic is a dual podcast and political protest. Catastrophic tells the tales of the Australian bushfires and calls for all-partisan political action around Climate Change. Each episode of Catastrophic features an Australian talking about their experience of living through the bushfire crisis, what their fears are now and for the future and what they would like to see done about it on a government level. But it doesn’t end when the episode goes out. We at Listen Up Podcasting are taking every story we gather, every episode we release of the Catastrophic podcast and putting them together into one big audio file and sending it to ALL the politicians. These are our demands: They are the same demands people have been protesting about and calling for over the last few years:
No new coal, oil and gas projects, including the Adani mine and the Wallarah 2 coal project. 100% renewable energy generation & exports by 2030 Fund a just transition & job creation for all fossil-fuel workers & communities. Hand over land conservation management to First Nations Australians Start preserving our water and treating it as a precious resource not a commodity. SHOW NOTES: Catastrophic Facebook @CatastrophicPod :Listen Up Podcastingwww.listenuppodcasting.com.auFacebook @ListenUpPodcasting Kel ButlerFacebook and Twitter @KelButler
Pamela Cook is an Author living on the South Coast of NSW. Her daughter, son in law and 2 year old grandson all live and work on her property in Milton. The young family run their business out of that property, it is how they earn a living. Not anymore. This Christmas saw them lose that business and very nearly lose their home. The town of Milton is decimated, people have lost everything and they aren't out of the fire season yet. This is Pamela's story. @CatastrophicPod)info@listenuppodcasting.com.auIf you or anyone you know has a story they would like to share from or about the Aussie bushfires please instant message us via the Catastrophic Podcast Facebook page (or email us at and we will get in touch to record your story. Catastrophic is a dual podcast and political protest. Catastrophic tells the tales of the Australian bushfires and calls for all-partisan political action around Climate Change. Each episode of Catastrophic features an Australian talking about their experience of living through the bushfire crisis, what their fears are now and for the future and what they would like to see done about it on a government level. But it doesn’t end when the episode goes out. We at Listen Up Podcasting are taking every story we gather, every episode we release of the Catastrophic podcast and putting them together into one big audio file and sending it to ALL the politicians. The LNP, the ALP, The Greens, One Nation and all of the Independents - both state and federal goverment. We will also be alerting the media organisations every time the file goes out to keep the pollies honest. These are our demands: They are the same demands people have been protesting about and calling for over the last few years:
No new coal, oil and gas projects, including the Adani mine and the Wallarah 2 coal project. 100% renewable energy generation & exports by 2030 Fund a just transition & job creation for all fossil-fuel workers & communities. Hand over land conservation management to First Nations Australians Start preserving our water and treating it as a precious resource not a commodity. SHOW NOTES: Catastrophic Facebook @CatastrophicPod :Listen Up Podcastingwww.listenuppodcasting.com.auFacebook @ListenUpPodcasting Kel ButlerFacebook and Twitter @KelButler
Sophie Masson is an author living near Armidale in Northern NSW. Sophie has always thought she was safe out there and water was a given. In 2019 both drought and fires hit for the first time. She did not lose her home but she now knows what fear of fire and climate change feels like. This is Sophie's story. @CatastrophicPod)info@listenuppodcasting.com.auIf you or anyone you know has a story they would like to share from or about the Aussie bushfires please instant message us via the Catastrophic Podcast Facebook page (or email us at and we will get in touch to record your story. Catastrophic is a dual podcast and political protest. Catastrophic tells the tales of the Australian bushfires and calls for all-partisan political action around Climate Change. Each episode of Catastrophic features an Australian talking about their experience of living through the bushfire crisis, what their fears are now and for the future and what they would like to see done about it on a government level. But it doesn’t end when the episode goes out. We at Listen Up Podcasting are taking every story we gather, every episode we release of the Catastrophic podcast and putting them together into one big audio file and sending it to ALL the politicians. The LNP, the ALP, The Greens, One Nation and all of the Independents - both state and federal goverment. We will also be alerting the media organisations every time the file goes out to keep the pollies honest. These are our demands: They are the same demands people have been protesting about and calling for over the last few years:
No new coal, oil and gas projects, including the Adani mine and the Wallarah 2 coal project. 100% renewable energy generation & exports by 2030 Fund a just transition & job creation for all fossil-fuel workers & communities. Hand over land conservation management to First Nations Australians Start preserving our water and treating it as a precious resource not a commodity. SHOW NOTES: Catastrophic Facebook @CatastrophicPod : Listen Up Podcastingwww.listenuppodcasting.com.auFacebook @ListenUpPodcasting Kel ButlerFacebook and Twitter @KelButler
Catastrophic" is a raw collection of short stories from people all over Australia giving their first hand accounts of what it is like to live through catastrophic bushfires and face the aftermath. It is a way for people to express their fear and their grief and a call to action to all political parties to get real about taking action on Climate Change." The overwhelming majority of Australians are screaming for all politicians to get off their butts and do SOMETHING about climate change. But our climate denying government isn't listening. So Listen Up Podcasting decided to make "Catastrophic" to force them to listen. Listen Up are collecting and collating as many stories from the Aussie bushfires as possible to send to all the major political parties and push for funding and action around climate change. from the bushfires that you would like to get heard by the politicians and the public, info@listenuppodcasting.com.auand we will arrange for your story to be included. If you have a story (or know someone who has a story) please get in touch with us via email at If you would like to donate to the Bushfire Crisis below is a list of reputable places who are doing great work: NSW Royal Fire Service https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/about-us/fundraising The Country Fire Association of Victoria:https://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/donate1 Rural Fire Brigades Association Queensland:https://www.rfbaq.org/donate-to-rfbaq SA State Emergency Relief Fund:https://www.sa.gov.au/topics/emergencies-and-safety/recovery/donating Fire Relief Fund for First Nations Communities: https://www.gofundme.com/f/fire-relief-fund-for-first-nations-communities?utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet : WWFhttps://www.wwf.org.au/get-involved/save-koalas :WIREShttps://www.wires.org.au THIS PODCAST IS PROUDLY PRODUCED BY:Listen Up Podcasting"Podcasts for a Positive World"www.listenuppodcasting.com.auFacebook @listenuppodcasting & @KelButler Twitter @KelB