Commons Conversations Podcast

Commons Library Director Holly Hammond chats with activist Allison Rich and activist-scholar Dr Alicia Pawluczuk about their creative activism and the Endo Violence Collective. The collective works to amplify the voices of those affected by endometriosis and foster a rich, inclusive dialogue that transcends conventional boundaries.Read transcript.

In this podcast Movement Monitor Fellow Isabella Todd interviews Dan Sherrell, from the Australian Council of Trade Unions, and Desiree Cai, from the Tomorrow Movement. They discuss the lessons learnt from campaigning around a policy and legislation win, in the form of the 2024 founding of the Net Zero Authority. In particular they explore how this work brought together and strengthened relationships between unions, climate activists and others.

Common Library Engagement Officer Aoife Carli Hannan chats with two activists from Timor-Leste.First off Aoife is joined by Upe, a human rights activist and member of the LGBTIQA+ community, sharing his experiences in the Pride Movement in Timor, his involvement in international solidarity movements, and his experiences joining the fight to save Binybarra / Lee Point on Larrakia Country.After this, she chats with the formidable Bella Galhos, a freedom fighter, survivor, social activist and current Presidential Advisor. During this interview, Bella talks about her role in Timor-Leste's liberation struggle, advancing LGBTIQA+ and women's rights in Timor, and the ongoing challenges facing the nation.These interviews were conducted during a trip to Dili, Timor-Leste in August 2024.The transcript is available to read in the following formats:DocPDF

In a conversation held in late 2024 Tarneen Onus Browne and Noura Mansour discuss solidarity between First Nations and Palestinian communities in Australia, highlighting the resilience and strength derived from resistance to shared experiences of genocide and settler colonialism. Tarneen Onus-Browne is a proud Gunditjmara, Yorta Yorta person through their mother and Bindal and Meriam person through their father and they live on the unceded land of the Wurundjeri peoples. They are a community organising lead at Australian Progress and a community organiser for Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance working on Invasion Day, Black Deaths in Custody and Black Lives Matter. Noura Mansour is a Palestinian educator, political analyst, writer, activist and community organizer who is the National Director of Democracy in Colour. Read transcriptDocPDF

In this episode Emily Trounce-Wood interviews anti-nuclear activists Al Lad and Annie McGovern. They discuss their four decades of campaigning against the Olympic Dam uranium mine at Roxby Downs, including taking part in blockades and maintaining a vigil during 1983 and 1984 and conducting citizen science in the years since.Read transcriptDocPDF

In this conversation Alex Kelly interviews Jackie Turner about the importance of building solidarity, community and knowledge of history while combating disinformation. Alex is an activist,filmmaker and the Economic Media Centre Communications Director. Jackie is the Director of the Trans Justice Project. Read transcript.

In this episode Commons Librarian Iain McIntyre interviews Kenzie Harris from the Global Grassroots Support Network about the assistance and resources the group provides to justice oriented activist groups from around the world. Particular attention is paid to findings and insights gleaned from a research report about climate justice campaigns entitled How We Win, which was released during 2024.To find out more visit-https://blueprintsfc.org/ggsn/https://commonslibrary.org/ingredients-for-wins-lessons-from-successful-climate-justice-campaigns-in-north-america/Read transcript-https://commonslibrary.org/commons-conversations-podcast/#Episodes-3

In this episode environmental justice activist Radhika Jhaveri is interviewed by Kenzie (Mackenzie) Harris, the principal coordinator for the Global Grassroots Support Network (GGSN). Radhika is the the GGSN coordinator for India, a member of the youth based collective "Let India Breathe", and the founder of Pantrynook- a zerowaste (plastic free) food packaging company. In the interview she discusses how the campaign to protect Aarey, a forest within the suburbs of Mumbai, brought together a coalition of urban and Indigenous communities from the mid to late 2010s. In doing so she describes how this gave rise to new ways of campaigning in India, as well as how it revealed the advantages and pitfalls involved with broad coalitions. Amongst other topics the interview also explores the importance of long term visions within social change work and ways in which current campaigns supporting Palestine are providing a lead for global solidarity more generally.

Aoife Carli-Hannan, engagement officer with the Commons Library, chats with Ned Howey, the co-founder of Tectonica, a movement building agency whose stated mission is “to create a seismic shift in the way politics are done, through innovations that empower social, economic, and environmental justice movements.” Alongside directly helping organizations, political parties, and unions with an array of strategic, creative and technological services the agency also created and facilitates the Tectonica Organising Network (TON). In this conversation Aoife and Ned focus on the democratic dilemmas, opportunities and challenges associated with new generative AI technologies. They discuss the potential of these tools to deepen existing biases and power imbalances but also the possibilities they create for fostering practices that can connect people to social change movements and transform our societies for the better.