Santilla Chingaipe, Roxanne Moore, Tamar Hopkins and Fiona McLeod at the Wheeler Centre

In this edition of our Not Racist, But series, we discuss racial bias in the criminal justice system – from policing and legal aid to jury selection and sentencing.

Indigenous Australians account for just 2% of our country’s overall population and more than a quarter of our adult prison population. How, specifically, is this a function of explicit and structural racism across various facets of our enforcement and justice systems? And how are all non-white Australians – especially those from refugee backgrounds – disadvantaged when interacting with police and with the courts?

In this discussion, host Santilla Chingaipe and the panel explore how racial discrimination and bias play out on a daily and inter-generational basis in Australia. They look at racial data collection, too, and how sensationalist media reporting can skew perception, politics and policy.

With lawyer and Accountability Round Table Chair Fiona McLeod; Noongar woman, lawyer and NATSILS Executive Officer Roxanne Moore; and FKCLC Police Accountability Project founding lawyer Tamar Hopkins.

In this short, special episode – to mark the launch of Clean, the latest edition of Notes – we bring you 'Hygiene Fidelity'. Non-fiction writer and art student CB Mako remembers the cleanest room in the cleanest ward of the Royal Children’s Hospital.

Read by the author themselves, this piece of memoir also coincides with Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

Read the story here 12 Sep 2019 Note Hygiene Fidelity  /  Health, medicine & psychology

Guest post by CB Mako

This episode was recorded and produced by Scott Limbrick and Jon Tjhia. Sophie Quick edited the original story.

For years, Michael Pollan's books have changed minds.

Pollan’s books, like The Botany of Desire, The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto – and Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation, the latter now also a successful Netflix series – have strongly influenced contemporary ideas about agriculture, nature, nutrition and ethics. He's sparked debates on genetically modified organisms, and even on the definition of 'food' … and he's done it with charm, imagination and gusto, bringing serious scientific heft and optimism to all his work.

Michael Pollan and Christine Kenneally at Melbourne Town Hall — Photo: Scott Limbrick

Pollan’s latest investigation is more explicitly concerned than ever with changing minds. This time, he’s turned his attention to psychedelic drugs; their history and their potential. Pollan wants us to look beyond the myriad misconceptions and clichés to understand the groundbreaking new science around hallucinogens. In How To Change Your Mind, he discovers how they can help us learn more about human consciousness – as well as the benefits they may offer in the treatment of many illnesses.

A reviewer for the New York Times wrote that ‘[Pollan] makes losing your mind sound like the sanest thing a person could do’. Listen in as this icon of science journalism joins Christine Kenneally for a conversation about his most personal work yet.