Unleashed presents diverse and robust opinion about politics, society, belief and behaviour.
Last Updated: 21/11/2008 5:03:45 PM
21 November 2008, 17:00
Anna Funder on Courage
Anna Funder shot to international prominence with the publication of her 2003 book Stasiland, about the East German secret police, and the attempts of some brave citizens to resist their oppressors. Now working on a novel, the author has taken time out to write and deliver the final of the 2008 PEN International Voices lecture series. Her essay is about Courage.
This video is presented by Unleashed in conjunction with ABC Fora, a great source of talks and debates online. More...
21 November 2008, 16.00
PG Nation
The alcopop crisis, children in porn, filtering the net: Matthew Thompson reflects on a year of the Rudd Government's wowser assault on Australia.
"That November election night a year ago when Kevin Rudd defeated the conservatives, I guzzled French champagne. 'Materialism has been defeated!' cried my wealthy host, popping another bottle to toast a new dawn of progressive values. Our binge peaked: my Fabian friend jubilant because tomorrow he would wake glad-hearted, if sore-headed; as for me, sometimes intoxication just feels good. Then Kevin hit the stage." More...
21 November 2008, 13.00
Hold on to your hat dear, we're receding!
Lisa Nicol says the signs of financial hardship won't be hard to spot.
"Some things will just disappear completely. $400 face cream? Wiped out. Spas? Just baths again. Foie Gras? Gone. And all those geese will be joining that unemployment queue too." More...
21 November 2008, 10.30
Dark Deutschland
Brigid Delaney looks at how German cinema is helping the country deal with its past.
"...in acknowledging the past - in its architecture, art and filmmaking - there are some remarkable stories being told out of Berlin; stories that were previously suppressed through guilt, shame and a lack of confidence in sharing them with an international audience." More...
20 November 2008, 15:30
Lesotho or bust
Helen Razer laments Australia's position in the Global Gender Gap Report:
"Of the 130 countries surveyed, we're at a shameful 21. We were beaten by Moldova, Latvia and Lesotho. I must concede to Sarah Palin-itis when it comes to Lesotho. I don't know how to pronounce Lesotho let alone locate the damn place on an atlas." More...
20 November 2008, 13:15
The wonders of a walk
Susan Merrell celebrates her conversion to life as a regular walker.
"It's taken me almost half a century to discover the joys of walking. Since I have I've become somewhat of a zealot. Worse even than a reformed smoker... I use walking as a means of transport. And, I always include a small treat for myself during the walk. It might be a coffee at a favourite café en route, for example. Consequently, all those occasions where I would routinely get in the car - hairdressers, shopping, whatever, are now done on foot. I have also embraced 'local'. I estimate I walk between 40 and 50 kilometres a week. More...
20 November 2008, 10.30
Green car plan one small step in the right direction
Senator Christine Milne says the Government's Green Car Package is a positive sign but more needs to, and can be done to tackle Australia's climate and financial problems simultaneously.
"There is no reason why the Green Car Plan could not have been presented as a Green Transport Plan that would shift car manufacturing onto a green base and drive investment and job creation in rolling out buses, trains, ferries, trams and cycleways." More...
19 November 2008, 16.30
Our movies are television
Tony Barrell says the Australian film industry is failing because of it's attempt to be the antipodean Hollywood.
"Nobody wants to admit to the obvious truth. Most Australian movies aren't movies and the reason why they aren't 'developed' well enough for the big screen is because they are ideas and stories more suited to television. They are not made for the big dark building full of people." More...
19 November 2008, 13.30
Kissing Cousins
Nick Holland says the restrictions imposed on him by the AFL means the return of Ben Cousins may have ended already.
"The AFL should have treated Cousins as they would any other player in his comeback. Instead they have shown little faith in the current illicit drug policy and have angered the AFLPA by altering the drug code to deal with Cousins without seeking the prior approval from the player's body. In imposing the strict conditions they may also have deterred any AFL clubs that had a passing interest in Cousins from pursuing this path." More...
19 November 2008, 12.00
Racism set in stone?
Why Australia should think hard about bringing back the concrete Aborigine.
"Are concrete Aborigines an overly racist symbol, or are they just a sign of a much simpler time? And, more importantly, what do our nation's lawn ornaments say about the type of people we were then, and are now?" More...
19 November 2008, 10:30
How the cold creeps as the fire dies at length
David Barnett says the launch of the Australian Sex Party will highlight the country's serious problem with censorship.
"Censorship of sexual material is in due course followed by more general political censorship. The censorship tide ebbs and flows. In Australia today, the Rudd Government's proposed legislation to censor the internet through compulsory filtering means it is flowing." More...
18 November 2008, 17:00
Arun Gandhi: Lessons from my grandfather Mahatma
Arun Gandhi is the fifth grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, and he was a young boy and actually living with his grandfather at the time of the tragic assassination
This video is presented by Unleashed in conjunction with ABC Fora, a great source of talks and debates online. More...
18 November 2008, 13:30
Kerr's curse
David Horton thinks it's wrong that the right have so much success setting the contemporary political agenda.
"...fair crack of the whip, cobbers, it's time to reduce the representation of the radical right to the level of their representation in society. Get them off the boards, out of the newspapers, off the radio, don't put them in front of tv news cameras, or on breakfast television. Occasionally one could just come out of the Gordon Gecko Institute for Greed and say a few words to a tabloid newspaper, one of their on-going series on eccentrics, but that would be their lot. Sort of like UFO believers, only less mainstream." More...
18 November 2008, 10:00
Why I hate Bill Gates
Donald Brook mulls over decades of peril at his PC.
"I didn't always hate Bill Gates. Quite the contrary. Decades ago, when he was living on junk food in a garage tinkering with something called 'DOS' (which we understood to mean 'dirty operating system') I thought that he deserved encouragement. Unlike most academics in the humanities I had a lot of respect for the pure and the applied sciences. It seemed to me that computers might one day be useful, and I pre-empted my retirement by buying one that was only slightly heavier than its shelf of operating manuals." More...
17 November 2008, 18:00
Keating, Patten & Turnbull on the state of the world
Former Australian Prime Minister, Paul Keating; current Leader of the Federal Opposition, Malcolm Turnbull and former governor of Hong Kong Chris Patten are not the usual people you'd expect to see having a chat after dinner.
This video is presented by Unleashed in conjunction with ABC Fora, a great source of talks and debates online. More...
17 November 2008, 16.30
Learning from mistakes
Ben Power says that the Government is using the ABC Learning collapse to continue it's attack on the free market, despite Government intervention helping cause the problems in the first place.
"ABC Learning is an example of a company that neglected to run itself well and instead focused on milking the government. It chose as its chairwoman former Brisbane Lord Mayor Sallyanne Atkinson, a politician." More...
17 November 2008, 15.00
Second guessing America's primaries
Harry Melkonian says that although the Democrat's victory in the US election was decisive it was not the landslide of some previous polls and wonders why the exhaustive system of primaries failed to elect the best man for the job.
"John McCain secured the GOP nomination for President by April 2008, long before the world economic melt-down. Senator McCain's big issue was his support of the surge in Iraq. However, by October - who cared? Probably not even John McCain. But the Republicans were stuck with a candidate who had virtually no understanding or interest in economics or fiscal policy." More...
17 November 2008, 09.30
Co-ed is not co-equal
Girls taught at single-sex schools are better off, says Amanda Bell.
"Girls educated in a single-sex environment gain the benefit of not only an education tailored to the learning styles and needs of girls, but they are also more frequently exposed to strong female role models who exemplify what women can achieve in their lives beyond school." More...
14 November 2008, 17:00
Patrick Dodson gives the Peace Prize Lecture
Aboriginal leader and rights advocate, Patrick Dodson, was recently awarded the "2008 Sydney Peace Prize". Past recipients have included former U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix and Palestinian activist Dr Hanan Ashrawi. Dodson is often called the "father of reconciliation" for his determination to build bridges between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.
Here Dodson presents the "Peace Prize Lecture" in which he urges Australia to follow the lead of the American President-elect, Barack Obama, in its approach to dialogue with our Aboriginal people.
This video is presented by Unleashed in conjunction with ABC Fora, a great source of talks and debates online. More...
14 November 2008, 16:15
At least I'm not an Arab American
Irfan Yusuf says the difference between religion and race still poses problems. Especially if you're American...
"These days, calling someone Arab has become a slur, especially in the United States of America. Barack Obama's middle name was made an issue of. Why? Because it was an Arab name. The fact that many Baghdad Jews commonly carried this as a given name or surname is irrelevant." More...
14 November 2008, 12.00
Sub-prime society
Keith Jacobs says the Australian dream is at risk of turning into a nightmare.
"So ingrained is the belief that homeownership is a 'natural' form of tenure that most of us are happy to endorse government subsidies that accentuate house price inflation but have little impact on increasing the supply of housing." More...
14 November 2008, 09:45
And what are your plans today?
Tim Bowden's had enough of enforced customer relations masquerading as matey banter:
"'Have a nice day' is still well and truly with us, but there is a new mantra gaining ground which must be stopped. Paying for fuel at a servo with a credit card not so long ago, the young man behind the counter, said chirpily: 'And what are your plans for this weekend?' I should have said, 'None of your bloody business', but cravenly muttered something like, 'Haven't really thought yet', and escaped." More...
13 November 2008, 17:00
Brawl Keating
David Long says Paul Keating's attack on Gallipoli was a shameful use of history in order to continue his bitter stance against Britain.
"WWI may have been fought principally in Europe, but it was a world war and had Germany won, Australia, along with every other nation would have become a satellite to the Kaiser... By ignoring such factors, we can see the shameful way Paul Keating attempts to undermine the national belief that the spirit of mateship germinated in the death and suffering of a battle waged on that lonely beach so far from home. It is this heroic effort of volunteers that he tries to belittle by insisting it was at the demand of the 'imperial [British] government'" More...
13 November 2008, 15:00
Who should spend it when you're dead?
Would you leave money to charity in your Will? Dr Kym Madden says the image of a wealthy loner leaving vast sums to charity is outdated. New research suggests more everyday Australians are leaving bequests but our generosity still lags behind other nations.
"As a nation, Australians are less generous than other countries. Although figures are improving, the latest statistics from the Giving Australia study in 2005 show Australians on average give 0.7 per cent of GDP to charity, compared with 1.7 per cent in the US. The British and New Zealanders both give more, as a percentage of GDP, than Australians. In tough economic times, this is of more serious concern." More...
13 November 2008, 13:00
Aussies are the fittest and leanest
Gerard Oosterman tells the story of a long distance indoor rower.
"Of course there will always be some losers. Those misfits who, after having dragged home the 325kg Magnetic Rowing machine, assembled it over three months with the help of an Allen key and upside down written instructions, and after a smashed bevelled mirror and a costly divorce, have now lost the will to go on. Somehow, the bonhomie and smiling army of those strong jawed men with ribbed and shiny hairless pectorals and lovely girls all in sports bras did not materialise..." More...
13 November 2008, 10:30
Is the Reserve Bank Pushing on a String?
Jon Stanford says it's become clear the global slowdown in economic activity is much more severe than originally thought and the Reserve Bank will have to cut official rates even more.
"...as we have seen over the last couple of months, the banks, especially the Big4 banks, have been recalcitrant. They have been loath to pass on in full the cut in the official interest rate...
The only response the Commonwealth government has made to the banks' recalcitrance is jaw-boning; and, as is well known, jaw-boning only works well when it is backed by some credible threat. The government has long since lost any threat to use against the banks." More...
12 November 2008, 16.00
Bretton Woods stew
Warren Hogan says the G20 summit won't solve any current financial problems.
"Contrary to much of the chatter as to what the forthcoming meeting might be addressing in the financial sphere, the dominant thrust of discussion is most likely to address the ways in which the dominant role of the United States and European countries during the postwar decades may be watered down by the much more active participation by the Chinese and the greater involvement of India and Brazil along with others from East Asia, the Americas and the Gulf." More...
12 November 2008, 14.30
Over but not out
Dileep Premachandran says that whilst the Australian cricket squad aren't the team they once were, reports of a West Indies style fall from grace are greatly exaggerated.
"...while Indian forecasts of future dominance are certainly premature, there's little doubt that Australia's aura is fading. Defeat here is no disgrace. Better teams than this one, like Steve Waugh's side of 2001, have made the passage to India and been denied the fruits of cricket conquest. It's the manner of the surrender that should worry Australian fans though... the two defeats were by 320 and 172 runs, the kind of hammering that Australia routinely meted out to other teams in the Taylor and Waugh years." More...
12 November 2008, 10:30
Can Obama stare them down?
John Kelly wonders what will happen once the election victory glow fades and Barack Obama has to meet the enormous expectations of the US for change.
"Americans have always struggled with their image and that, by definition, includes the issue of race. They struggle primarily because their ancestors created the circumstances that brought about the race issue: kidnapping free Africans and bringing them to a place where they were committed to slavery, all of which irks the collective conscience." More...
12 November 2008, 09:30
Breeding perfect babies
Bioethicist Julian Savulescu argues we have a moral obligation to select human embryos with the best chance of the best life. New technology available in Britain will allow it to happen at a price almost anyone can afford.
"The (AU$3,440) test, called karyomapping, which should be available as early as next year, will allow couples at risk of passing on gene defects to conceive healthy children using IVF treatment... Such Preimplantation Genetic Screening of embryos could be used not just to test for the genetic predisposition to disease, but also for genes which contribute to intelligence, personality type (neurotic, extroverted, etc), memory, impulse control, perfect pitch, and, in general, the genetic contribution to our physical and mental abilities, and disabilities." More...
11 November 2008, 16:00
William McInnes in conversation
William McInnes is probably best known to most of us as Nick in Blue Heelers, or perhaps Max in SeaChange. But he's also a prolific author, most recently of a book called That'd Be Right.
This video is presented by Unleashed in conjunction with ABC Fora, a great source of talks and debates online. More...
11 November 2008, 14:00
Real change under Obama?
Jake Lynch reflects on the military decisions awaiting Barak Obama and revisits one of Martin Luther King's lesser-known speeches.
"The historic events of November 4th prompted many a broadcaster round the world to dust off recordings of the most famous piece of oratory by Martin Luther King, the "I have a dream" speech he gave the day before he was assassinated. But there's another, almost as well-known, that should serve as the watchword for an Obama presidency. "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift", King declared, to a congregation at New York's colossal Riverside Church, "is approaching spiritual death". More...
11 November 2008, 11.00
Dictators and do-gooders: a mo for all seasons
Gregor Stronach tracks the shifting meaning of wearing a moustache.
"Moustaches have all manner of negative connotations. During a recent Political Journalism class at uni, the topic of dictators and the moustache came up - and we began to run through the who's who of nasty political finaglers who sported a soup strainer either while in power, or during their glorious People's Struggle to Wrest Control of the State... These days it seems as if the mo - clearly the most reviled of all facial growths - is making a comeback. For the most part, it's a strictly seasonal thing, as young men around Australia strive to raise money for research into depression and prostate cancer." More...
11 November 2008, 10:00
ANZAC: the legend's problems
On this Remembrance Day Tony Smith argues for broader public discussion of defence and foreign policy.
"It would be far preferable for the general community to contribute to the formulation of the basic values that should underpin our defence. Political leaders, strategic analysts and senior military personnel should be given specific guidelines to assist in their decisions about defence of Australia and use of the military. This would be an improvement on the present ad hoc system of considering Australia's interests within the context of one alliance, and much better than the post hoc justification based on an often cynical appeal to an arguably outdated Anzac myth of selfless sacrifice and proud support." More...
10 November 2008, 17:00
God, Darwin and Design
Is intelligent design about to win America's soul? This is the question asked by Brown University Professor of Biology, Dr Kenneth Miller, at the Chautauqua Institution in New York State.
This video is presented by Unleashed in conjunction with ABC Fora, a great source of talks and debates online. More...
10 November 2008, 16:45
Bark Obama
With the trivial stuff out the way, Barack Obama can now focus on the important matter of what type of dog to get his daughters. Chris Gregory says that like many White House-related issues, history can offer a valuable lesson.
"There are certain breeds with certain behavioural tendencies that would not work out well in the White House. Herding dogs are out, as Ronald Reagan learned. Nancy Reagan was given a Bouvier des Flandres called Lucky, a large herding dog, which would herd visitors to the White House from room to room. Lucky dragged Ronald around the White House lawn while Maggie Thatcher laughed and the photographers snapped pictures. Then, on a second occasion but again in front of photographers, Lucky pushed it too far and bit Reagan on the arse, drawing blood, and Lucky was retired to the ranch." More...
10 November 2008, 12:50
Divorced from reality
Alasdair Duncan looks at gay divorce and the knots governments are tying themselves up in by fudging the issue.
"Our current government have stubbornly refused to address the issue of same sex civil unions – whenever the subject comes up around Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, he bravely sticks his fingers in his ears and insists that Australia needs to look at the issue on a state by state basis, much like America... because it's worked out really well for them." More...
10 November 2008, 09:30
The best of luck, the worst of luck
The odds were always against Barak Obama winning the top job in US politics. But with a legacy of problems from George W Bush, is this presidency a poisoned chalice, asks Brendon O'Connor.
"Much more so than in ordinary times, Obama's transformative and messianic rhetoric has struck a chord with his fellow Americans in this difficult period in their country's history. In the short term this rhetoric is inspiring particularly with regards to healing America's history of racism and discrimination. However, what of the practical and overwhelming issues of the economy, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the massive challenge of climate change?" More...
