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Your world, explained. Exploring who we are, how we got here and where we are going. Australia’s top social scientists in conversation with journalist Ginger Gorman. Seriously interesting. Seriously insightful. Seriously social. Brought to you by the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia.
Episodes
Sunday Nov 29, 2020
Sunday Nov 29, 2020
Do you have a family recipe that keeps you together? Most of us have at least one dish in our repertoire that holds decades of memories - or even family history. Did you revisit that recipe this year? One of Australia’s eminent food historians shares how food keeps us together, even when we are apart – both in good times and times of crisis, and why your family recipes help you through hard times.
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- Bold Palates: Australia's gastronomic heritage Barbara Santich
Monday Nov 16, 2020
Monday Nov 16, 2020
How much would you pay to claw back some extra time? Would the answer be different now that, as one of the few silver linings of COVID 19, you can work from home a lot more? Would it be $10 a week? $20 a week? Transport expert Professor David Hensher actually knows the answer. (Spoiler: It’s a lot!)
The death of commuting is making many of us happier, but has 2020 really been our one-way road out of traffic congestion? And if it is, how will our cities look on the other side?
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- Advanced modelling of commuter choice model and work from home during COVID-19 restrictions in AustraliaCamila Balbontin, David A Hensher & Matthew J Beck
Monday Nov 02, 2020
Monday Nov 02, 2020
How far would you go to right a wrong? Would you crowdfund your way to the High Court? That’s exactly what Professor Jenny Hocking did when she realised Australians were being kept from accessing the real history behind the historic 1975 Whitlam government dismissal. We take you behind the scenes to the treasure hunt for those 200 explosive Palace letters - the same letters that led to one of the most controversial political actions in Australian history.
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Monday Sep 21, 2020
Monday Sep 21, 2020
Ross Gittins, Economics Editor for the Sydney Morning Herald, has seen both sides of three recessions. This one is the fourth he’s worked through. So why is this one “completely different” and why does this experienced commentator say it will it be harder to get out of? Listen in as Ross and host Ginger Gorman discuss the ins and outs of our struggling economy.
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Monday Sep 14, 2020
Monday Sep 14, 2020
As protests and riots continue in America over police brutality and persecution of people of colour, Australia’s own injustices against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people must also be subject to public scrutiny. Join Aboriginal Australian activist and human rights lawyer, Megan Davis, alongside host Ginger Gorman as they reflect on the significance of the Uluru Statement from the Heart three years on, and steps to reconciliation and equal political representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
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Monday Sep 07, 2020
Monday Sep 07, 2020
Pyjamas, commuting from bed to your desk just minutes after waking up, no boss looking over your shoulder–working from home sounds like a dream. But what about the pressures from family, bad technology, and lack of support from colleagues? Professor Sharon Parker, from the Future of Work Institute at Curtin University, and Laureate from the Australian Research Council, discusses the Australian workforce’s adjustment to isolated work. Listen to her and host Ginger Gorman as they theorise about the future of the Australian workforce.
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Monday Aug 31, 2020
Monday Aug 31, 2020
Male socialisation and ideals of masculinity already have a devastating effect on the health and well-being of men across the globe. With the added pressures from COVID-19, and forced isolation, this issue is turning into another kind of pandemic. Join Professor Jane Pirkis, Director of the Centre for Mental Health at the University of Melbourne speaking with journalist Ginger Gorman as they discuss their common area of expertise: suicide representation and prevention in the media. Listen as they consider how we can best look out for each other, encourage people to seek support, and learn alternative ways to check in with mates in our new normal.
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Monday Aug 24, 2020
Monday Aug 24, 2020
Australian higher education institutions are caught up in the fallout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. But closing borders to international students has had an unintended outcome: it’s highlighted faults in the system and raised new questions around higher education in Australian society. How can we best support our international students? Should high school students enrol in university or undertake vocational training at the end of their studies? Do ATARs encompass all of the relevant skills needed for higher education and the workforce? Join host Ginger Gorman with Chancellor of Western Sydney University, Professor Peter Shergold as they discuss Australia’s higher education system – both tertiary and otherwise – and the challenges, and future, of our education sector.
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Monday Aug 17, 2020
Monday Aug 17, 2020
When is a health crisis not just a health crisis? When it’s a global pandemic and it shows up the weak points that already existed in society. But could COVID19, for all its problems, be part of a much-needed reset for Australia’s health and other systems? Former Australian of the Year, Professor Fiona Stanley explores the opportunity to build a better future in this episode of the Seriously Social podcast.
Useful links
- Wicked Problems: Understanding and Responding to Complex Challenges by Brian W. Head
Monday Aug 10, 2020
Monday Aug 10, 2020
Why do CEOs get paid so much? Why are we so discriminatory about mental illness? And where would the Federal Government’s dollars be best spent in our efforts to reset the economy? Economist, lawyer and former chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Professor Allan Fels AO has spent much of his career fighting for the battler. In this engaging conversation between Fels and journalist Ginger Gorman, we find out why fighting the good fight matters.
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