Podcast Series and Documentary
Deadliest Day
A six part podcast series produced for the BBC R4 program Beyond Today.
A string of improvised explosive devices killed five British soldiers from one platoon in a matter of minutes. They were in Helmand, Afghanistan, fighting the Taliban. That was ten years ago and since then, two more of the platoon have died. I worked with reporter Claire Read to get to know the soldiers and families both saved and broken by war.
The Spectator called it “for once, money well spent” which I believe is their highest form of praise for the BBC. Others have called it intimate, unflinching and poignant, and brutally authentic.
Australia’s Coalface
A feature length documentary for the BBC World Service program Global Business.
The world is transitioning away from coal. So why is the Australian government not just approving new coal mines, but subsidising them?
The Carmichael mine will open up a massive new coal deposit in regional Queensland. I visited the people and towns in the region to understand why Australia remains committed to coal.
Chinese Dreams: Australia
As China grows in power, there are fears that it is trying to alter the course of Australian politics. The Australian government has legislated against "foreign influence operations" after allegations of Chinese spies making payments to lawmakers. More recently, there have been disputes on university campuses between students supporting the pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong and those loyal to mainland China – with allegations that the latter have the covert support of the Chinese Embassy. Are these genuine concerns, or are they merely the latest expression of covert racism towards Australia’s Chinese minority?
Lead Affected
My favourite piece, which topped The Guardian's list of the best Australian podcast episodes of 2016.
"I felt betrayed, because I loved Broken Hill and I loved my house and I loved the town, and I loved the streets and I loved everything about it. And to think that my lovely town was poisoning my beautiful baby was heartbreaking."
Nobody wants to be a bad parent. So how does a community cope when the place they live is harming their children?
That Girl
A special episode of All The Best that I created with Kate Montague, Jessica Bineth and Jess O'Callaghan.
“I didn’t want to be That Girl Who Had An Abortion, because I’m not… When you look at the statistics, there are many of those girls”
We have so many conversations about abortion, but most of the time they’re abstract and political, they’re not about the lived experiences and choices of women who’ve terminated a pregnancy.
The image for this episode is an illustration by Leah Goren, used with permission.
What Might Have Been
There’s a place on the north coast of NSW called North Arm Cove. There are 400ish residents, no shop, no town water, but they do have a tennis court they built with money from the government’s GFC stimulus package a few years back.
But North Arm Cove was slated to be something much bigger. For a brief, shining moment, it might have been the capital of Australia. That didn’t happen, obviously. But plans were drawn up and roads carved through the bush, and due to a strange confluence of planning laws and economics, a small community lives in a perfectly planned city that’s mostly gravel boulevards and eucalyptus trees.