Sally Warhaft and Derryn Hinch — Photo: Jon Tjhia

Derryn Hinch is among the Australian media’s most controversial and unpredictable characters. He’s the former editor of the Sun and the former New York bureau chief for Fairfax. He’s been sacked from high-rating shows on Channel Seven and 3AW and he’s received on-air death threats from gangsters. He’s written 14 books, been jailed twice, married five times, toured with The Rocky Horror Picture Show and undergone liver transplant surgery.

As a veteran broadcaster, journalist and activist, Derryn Hinch has been dubbed ‘the human headline’ – as often the subject, as the reporter, of news. Over the years, he’s embraced the moniker, using his notoriety to crusade for causes he cares about, especially criminal justice reform.

Now a Victorian Senator with his own political party, Hinch continues to work towards tougher penalties for convicted criminals. His new book, Hinch Vs Canberra, describes his late-in-life foray into federal politics. With Sally Warhaft, Hinch talks about crime, contempt, the media and the world of Canberra politics.

For the 2018 Wheeler Centre Gala Night of Storytelling, we invited our speakers to probe a blazing, hot topic: the power of the written word and the loaded tenets of speech.  

When do words inspire and when do they incite? When is speech free, and when is it hateful? Fighting words, funny words, insulting words and incendiary words – for better or for worse, language moves us and it matters.

In this episode, actor, director and writer Leah Purcell tells us about eight words and slogans that 'lit my fire, fired me up and almost smothered it out'. 

Leah Purcell, on stage at the Athenaeum Theatre — Photo: Jon Tjhia