Marlee Silva, left, and Briggs

Adam Briggs – better known simply as Briggs – is a Yorta Yorta rapper, record label owner, comedy writer and actor. He’s part of the ARIA-winning hip hop duo A.B. Original, and outside of music, he’s appeared regularly in ABC TV shows (Black Comedy, Cleverman, The Weekly with Charlie Pickering). Recently, he’s been a writer for Matt Groening’s animated Netflix series, Disenchantment.

Now, Briggs adds children’s book author to his CV. Adapted from his song, ‘The Children Came Back’ – with illustrators Kate Moon and Rachael Sarra – Our Home, Our Heartbeat is a beautiful picture book that celebrates Indigenous resilience, honours legends past and present, and salutes emerging generations of the oldest continuous culture on earth.

'You weren’t that yesterday; you’re this today. What could you be tomorrow?'

Briggs

In conversation with writer, podcaster and Tiddas 4 Tiddas co-founder Marlee Silva, Briggs talks about the importance of children seeing themselves in picture books – and the rise of books (like Young Dark Emu and Welcome to Country) that distil complex conversations into accessible formats.

It’s an uncertain moment for the arts, for writers and for everybody. If you’re in a position to support our efforts to bring you books, writing and ideas from a safe distance, you can make a contribution here. Thank you for your generosity.

'We always talk about daddy issues for women … I think that mommy issues for women is so much bigger, specifically when it comes to desire.'

Lisa Taddeo

'With the #MeToo movement right now, we are finally saying what we don't want as a gender,' Lisa Taddeo has said. 'But we are still not talking about what we do want.' 

Taddeo's bestselling book, Three Women, is all about what women want. It's a work of immersive non-fiction, telling the intimate true stories of three American women, and of how their sexual desires have been shaped, distorted, fulfilled and exploited. 

Described on NPR as 'a work of deep observation, long conversations, and a kind of journalistic alchemy', Three Women took Taddeo eight years to write. She travelled across the country to be near her subjects for months at a time, to learn about their lives and their personal histories. 

With its focus on power, judgement, shame and infatuation, the book has become an international bestseller, sparking impassioned discussion and debate. How do we surprise and disturb others – and ourselves – with what we want? How are our desires deeply idiosyncratic and how are they universal?

In this podcast-only conversation – originally slated to be held in May, in partnership with Sydney Writers' Festival – Taddeo discusses these ideas and more with Sophie Black.

‘Where do you get your ideas?’

It’s a common question, asked of all kinds of writers and storytellers – and of musicians, artists, journalists. Their answers typically involve some combination of curiosity, hard work and practice. Often, a simple prompt or idea becomes the seed of something unexpected and engrossing.

This event marks the opening of applications for Signal Boost – the Wheeler Centre’s new podcast mentorship and development scheme. Applications are open until 17 June 2020. (Update: the application deadline has been extended to 22 June 2020!)

Becky Sui-Zhen, Daniel Browning, Jess O'Callaghan, Helen Zaltzman, Elizabeth Kulas and Ivy Shih

This year, applicants will be asked to share a creative response to a theme – 'public'. To show us how it’s done, we’re inviting a range of accomplished audio makers to share stories, pitches and short audio samples interpreting the theme ‘float’.

Hear from an outstanding group of audio producers: Helen Zaltzman (The Allusionist, Answer Me This, Veronica Mars Investigations; UK), Daniel Browning (Awaye!), Jess O’Callaghan (Audiocraft, The Party Room, Background Briefing, RN Fictions) and Elizabeth Kulas (Planet Money, 7am, Reply All) – plus musician Becky Sui Zhen, and 2019 Signal Boost pilot participant Ivy Shih.

Together, they launch Signal Boost 2020, toast the open-ended power of audio storytelling and celebrate the act of creating great ideas from small beginnings. Hosted by Wheeler Centre audio producer Beth Atkinson-Quinton. #TWCSignalBoost

The 2020 Signal Boost programme is supported by the Ian Potter Foundation and LOM.

Sally Warhaft, left, and Joshua Wong

Joshua Wong was still a teenager when he rose to international prominence as a leader in Hong Kong’s 2014 Umbrella Movement, protesting increased Chinese Communist Party intervention in the city’s electoral system. 

‘That’s the transformation of Hong Kongers … Before last summer, nobody could imagine more than 2 million people taking to the streets. […] But we did it. Almost one-fourth of the population [stood] up against the regime of Beijing.’

A lot has happened since. Wong has served two prison terms and been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He's co-founded a new political party, Demosistō, and written a book, Unfree Speech. All the while, the protest movement in Hong Kong has simmered on, boiling over last year into extraordinary mass protests and brutal police confrontations.

With Sally Warhaft, Wong talks about the evolution of Hong Kong’s democracy movement and the impact of COVID-19. Assembly restrictions enforced due to the pandemic have hampered demonstrations and possibly cleared the path for more authoritarian rule in the city. In mid-April, more than a dozen high-profile pro-democracy activists were arrested.

How does Wong expect these arrests to impact Hong Kong's legislative elections in September? What effect might a weakened United States and an emboldened China have on the One Country, Two Systems principle that grants Hong Kong special autonomy?

Wong reflects on these questions and more. 

#TWCFifthEstate

See also   The Fifth Estate: Joshua Wong: Unfree Speech  /  Activism

With Joshua Wong and Sally Warhaft

  The Fifth Estate: The World’s Largest Party: China  /  Australian politics   What’s That Sound? Activism Today  /  Activism

With Tess Lawley, Gary Foley, Amelia Telford and 2 others