Collaborative + Community Media

In 2014 Jess O'Callaghan (best friend / serial collaborator) and I pitched a job share arrangement for Executive Producer of All The Best, an Australian storytelling and documentary podcast. We produced a weekly half hour of features, first person and narrative audio with a team of contributors from around the country, many of them radio rookies. I'm incredibly proud of what we made. Our full archive is online, and there are links to a few of my favourite episodes below.

During that time I was also the Executive Producer and host of Backchat, FBi Radio's politics and current affairs program. I led a crew of young people to create news that was accessible but never condescending. We interviewed federal, state and local politicians, ran investigations and covered the issues were important to our listeners, including the effect of sweeping changes to the state's nightlife laws. 

A Walk in the Park

When 17-year-old Masa Vukotic was murdered in the Melbourne suburb of Doncaster while out for a walk in a park near her house, the Victorian Homicide Squad Chief responded to the tragedy by suggesting that “people, particularly females, they shouldn’t be alone in parks…I’m sorry to say that is the case.”

With contributions from 13 women producers, we produced this episode about the chasm between a walk home for women and a walk home for men, and commissioned original sound design from local musician Alyx Dennison. 

Image by Melbourne artist Stephanie Freda Leigh

Then It Was Us - Syrian refugees in Amman

I worked with rookie producer Domenique Sherab as executive producer of this feature for All The Best. Domenique came to me with loads of tape and only a week to log, cut, write and edit her very first radio documentary.

We worked hard, stayed up late and wrestled it into this powerful story. 

Photo by Domenique Sherab

Blowing the Whistle

In late 2014 the Australian government introduced sweeping changes to national security legislation, including making it illegal to publish information about special intelligence operations. But those operations are declared in secret, creating a minefield for journalists. Jess O'Callaghan, Leona Hameed and produced this episode on the culture and history of whistleblowing in Australia to put Section 35P of the ASIO Act under the spotlight and into context.