Jordon Steele-John is a disability and youth activist and has been a Greens senator for Western Australia since 2017, when he replaced Scott Ludlam in the Senate at just 23 years old.
Here I ask Jordon about how parliament actually works and how it feels to be inside it as a Millennial Green. He explains why he's in parliament, his disappointment in the ALP, what being a socialist means to him, empowering young people, the fight for "ecological democracy" and the good and bad of the NDIS and the ongoing Royal Commission into the abuse and neglect of people with disabilities.
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jordon-steele-john.greensmps.org.au
ARTICLE: 'Aussie Squad' may be Labor's worst nightmare by Janet Albrechtsen
ARTICLE: Tim Hollo on "ecological democracy" for The Green Institute
ARTICLE: "We are sexual beings": why disability advocates want the NDIS to cover sexual services
Cause of the Week: People With Disabilities Australia (pwd.org.au)
Amy Remeikis is Guardian Australia's political reporter who writes the Australian politics live blog, covering the thrills and spills of Australian politics as they happen.
Amy joined me after another crazy week in Canberra, to reflect on the "Remeikis experience", why the political class sucks so much, what to make of the media bargaining code and Labor's strategy to win back Queensland at the next election.
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My 2021 show is called WE ARE ALL IN THIS – it’s on sale now at the Adelaide Fringe
ARTICLE: Facebook vs the media code: whoever wins, we lose by Lizzie O'Shea
ARTICLE: Labor's wicked problem: how to win back Queensland by Christopher Wallace
Cause of the Week: Support your local florist!
Dr. Evan Smith is a historian and academic who's extensively researched the history of the Far Left in Australia and the UK. Last year he released his book No Platforming: A History of Anti-Fascism, Universities and the Limits of Free Speech.
I reached out to Evan last month after the whackiness of the storming of the US Capitol and Trump's removal from Twitter. We only managed to find some time recently for a chat, but this is clearly still a relevant conversation (as Trump is formally acquitted by the Senate in his impeachment trial). Evan lays out the history of "no platform" as a political tactic, the moral and political arguments surrounding it, the grey areas and its potential limits as a strategy for the Left.
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My 2021 show is called WE ARE ALL IN THIS – it’s on sale now at the Adelaide Fringe
Evan's blog, New Historical Express
You can support Evan's work on Patreon
My interview with Douglas Murray on Tonightly
ARTICLE: Evan reviews Jeff Sparrow's Fascists Among Us
Cause of the Week: The Australian Unemployed Workers' Union (unemployedworkersunion.com)
Luke Savage is a Canadian socialist and staff writer for Jacobin magazine whose work has appeared in The Guardian, The Atlantic and The New Statesman.
I've always really enjoyed Luke's writing about US politics and political economy and was stoked that he joined me from Toronto to chat about Canada, the neoliberalism of Trudeau and the politics of Jimmy Kimmel's horrific "Goodbye Trump" animation video. I asked Luke about what the Obama years might tell us about the un-radical promise of a Biden presidency, the failure and limits of liberalism, why bipartisanship sucks and what might become of the Big Cheeto President now.
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My 2021 show is called WE ARE ALL IN THIS – it’s on sale now at the Adelaide Fringe
Luke's podcast Michael and Us on Patreon
Democratic Socialists of America
Luke's writing at Jacobin magazine
ARTICLE: Liberalism in Theory and Practice
ARTICLE: In 2009, Pundits Predicted a New Progressive Era. It Never Came.
ARTICLE: Joe Biden Wants to Make Health Care "Secure For All." He Should Just Make it Free.
Jimmy Kimmel's Goodbye Trump video
Cause of the Week: The Workers' Action Centre Toronto (workersactioncentre.org)
Doug Cameron is a former AMWU trade unionist who served as a Labor senator from 2008 to 2019. He's now retired to Hobart, but still regularly tweets out exactly what he thinks about Australian politics and the state of the ALP.
After a week of leadership speculation, a shadow cabinet reshuffle and a lot of chatter about how progressive people should just shut up and vote Labor no matter what, I found it refreshing to talk to an old-school class warrior like Doug who articulates bold, socialist politics. We talked about his experience as a socialist working in the trade union movement and the ALP, why the party should grow a spine, the Corbyn moment and why he thinks joining the Greens is the "easy way out".
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Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you
My 2021 show is called WE ARE ALL IN THIS – it’s on sale now at the Adelaide Fringe
Footage of Doug Cameron's valedictory speech
ARTICLE: Doug Cameron was right all along by Bernard Keane
Floodcast's episode on the state of Albo and the ALP, Damp Warm Lettuce
Cause of the Week: Everybody's Home Campaign (everybodyshome.com.au)
Luke Pearson is a Gamilaroi man who in 2012 founded IndigenousX: a 100% Indigenous owned and operated, independent media, consultancy, and training organisation.
As January 26th approaches, I wanted to ask Luke about what he makes of the Australia Day culture warring, his critique of the #changethedate campaign, our national amnesia when it comes to our history and why we need to #changethenation instead. He explains the nature of the ongoing occupation of this country, what political action might bring about material change for First Nations people and why the idea of changing the national holiday is like a gym membership.
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My 2021 show is called WE ARE ALL IN THIS – it’s on sale now at the Adelaide Fringe
ARTICLE: Why we need to change the date of Australia Day
ARTICLE: Maybe we shouldn't change the date of Australia Day after all
ARTICLE: Why I no longer support #changethedate
ARTICLE: Why we need to #ChangeTheNation (by Shiralee Lawson)
ARTICLE: Why I was gutted when Australia applauded the anthem change
ARTICLE: Remembering 1938 'Day of Mourning' declaration
ARTICLE: 'We hereby make protest' - a history of 1938
Andrew Jakubowicz's research on "Harmony Day"
CAUSE OF THE WEEK: indigenousx.com.au
Oh hello. Happy New Year.
Amy MacMahon is the new Greens member for the Queensland state seat of South Brisbane after unseating Labor's Jackie Trad at the 2020 election.
Amy tells me how her politics were informed by her experiences in Bangladesh and her mum's stroke of a few years ago. We discuss what running on a socialist platform looks like in Australia today, that stupid "Mean Girls" tweet scandal, what the ALP has become and how the Greens can reach out to the labour movement, as well as the Greens' priorities for Queensland in the year ahead.
If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron
Join the LIASYO Facebook group here please and thank you
My 2021 show is called WE ARE ALL IN THIS - it's on sale now at the Adelaide Fringe
ARTICLE: How a 'Mean Girls' Quote Became a Stupid QLD Election Scandal
Amy's response to the "Means Girls" quote nonsense
Young Greens' panel: Should the Greens embrace socialism?
ARTICLE: Thousands sign petition to investigate historic Aboriginal land sale (Deebing Creek)
Cause of the Week: Mums 4 Refugees (mums4refugees.org)