Innovation in Australia has been happening for tens of thousands of years.

Professor Lynette Russell is the co-author of Innovation: Knowledge and Ingenuity, which is part of the First Knowledges series.

In conversation with comedian Luke Morris and host Rachel Rayner, we explore the rich history and innovations of Indigenous Australians, particularly in the areas of language, trade, land management, and technology. We discuss how Western historical narratives have often overlooked or dismissed the sophistication and ingenuity of Indigenous societies, and how recent research is finally bringing this all to light.

Lynette shares her story of becoming an anthropological historian rather than an archaeologist, and her current line of research into trade relations between Australia and Indonesia thousands of years ago, while Luke spends much of the episode aghast at how little he knew of all this.

Transcript

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Credits

Producer: Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer

Guests: Professor Lynette Russell AM, Luke Morris

Music: Michelle Cashman

Editing: Graham Hunter

Made possible through Meta Australia Journalism Fund, administered by the Walkley Foundation, with support from Comedy Victoria.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Not all innovations are gears and coding. Some are a cultural awareness and, always, an ability to use what you have to improve the situation.

Between the Wars, Ethel Anderson was bringing visibility to a new art movement that was being overlooked by those in charge of the nation's galleries and newspapers. She supported artists to ensure that Australia had a Modern voice that would endure. Artists like Grace Cossington-Smith, who has the crown of producing Australia's first post-impressionist painting (The Sock Knitter, 1915), were producing a new visual identity for what was happening in Australia. Ethel new this new work was important. She made sure these artists had space and visibility to take the place of the heralded (and dated) pastoral landscapes of "the Australian frontier".

Dr Victoria Souliman is an art historian at the University of Sydney. Her research focuses on issues of national identity, expatriatism, and women’s agency in the artistic exchanges between Australia, France, and Britain in the early 20th century. She introduces star of the modernist movement in Australia, Ethel Anderson, to comedian Tori Crisp, who has purposefully avoided the history of art all her life.

We also get to learn how much Rachel hates the work of Paul Gauguin, and how easily she can offend those in the field.

Visit the website for pictures of the paintings mentioned in this episode.

Transcript

Credits

Producer: Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer

Guests: Victoria Souliman, Tori Crisp

Music: Michelle Cashman

Editing: Harry Hughes

Made possible through Meta Australia Journalism Fund, administered by the Walkley Foundation, with support from Comedy Victoria.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does it mean to communicate and, more specifically, what does it mean to communicate science? And then, how can we learn to be better science communicators?

Who is helping us understand the big science topics, and what did they do to get there?

A niche field of research and career pathway is having its moment as our connected and complex world requires more and more people to accurately communicate the science underpinning it all.

Recording live at SciTech in Perth, Western Australia, as part of FRINGE WORLD, hear from head of science communication studies at the University of Western Australia, Dr Heather Bray as she outlines the importance of dedicated science communicators and Australia’s innovative role.

Australia had a huge role to play in developing and supporting the growth of science communication as a profession. A part of policy, education, media and pandemics, science communicators are helping everyone navigate the world and make the big decisions.

So how did Australia come to be involved in developing a professional discipline, and how is it continuing to lead the world in untangling the big issues for all audiences?

Comedian Nicky Wilkinson discovers more about this totally meta field and where science and comedy can work learn from each other.

Hosted by Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer, who sounds more nervous than usual.

Transcript

Credits

Producer: Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer

Guests: Heather Bray, Nicky Wilkinson

Venue: SciTech, Perth

Tech: Melody Rachel, Luke Morris

Music: Michelle Cashman

Editing: Graham Hunt

Made possible through Meta Australia Journalism Fund, administered by the Walkley Foundation, with support from Comedy Victoria.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.