Past Programs
Government and Politics - 2008
Poetry and politics in Joel Deane's Magisterium Read Transcript
10/07/2008
Joel Deane lives his life alternately as a poet and as a political speechwriter. He talks to writer Michael Gurr about his latest collection of poetry, Magisterium, where these two worlds collide.
Australian sedition laws revisited
10/07/2008
While no-one has been convicted of sedition in Australia since 1951, the crime of inciting rebellion against a government was given new impetus in 2005 when the Howard government strengthened anti-terrorism laws and revamped the crime of sedition. At the time the legislation created concern within Australia's arts community, particularly among writers, who feared the new measures could restrict freedom of expression. Before the last election the then shadow Arts Minister, Peter Garrett, told The Book Show that if Labor were elected the new government would move immediately to repeal the sedition laws. So far the legislation is still in place and writers and artists continue to be concerned.
Dreams from my Father - Barack Obama (review) Read Transcript
03/07/2008
As well as being a candidate for the United States presidency, Barack Obama is an author. His first book, Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, was originally published in 1995 and has recently been re-released. It was written before Obama became involved in politics and is part meditation on race relations and part personal memoir. In it he writes about his childhhood, his years as an organiser in Chicago, and his family connection with Kenya.
Script editor and former ABC drama producer Rodney Wetherell reviews it for The Book Show.
The literary Karl Marx Read Transcript
06/05/2008
Karl Marx became one of the most significant political scientists of his age and then of the 20th century, but during his college years he wasn't sure what path to take in life. At one stage he considered a literary future but wasn't sure if he should write poetry, plays or fiction. He burned much of his lyrical work after his political transformation but his fictional attempts are contained in a violet notebook that he sent to his father.
Robert Silvers, editor of the New York Review of Books
04/05/2008
Robert Silvers talks about a new book from writer, naturalist and co-founder of The Paris Review, Peter Matthiessen. It's called Shadow Country and revolves around the real-life, although somewhat mythological, figure of Edgar J. Watson. Plus a man whose writing is an adjunct to his view of the world and his philanthropic ambitions—George Soros is a billionaire who sees making money as having meaning only when it can make positive changes in the world around him.
Robert Silvers, editor of the New York Review of Books
30/04/2008
Robert Silvers talks about a new book from writer, naturalist and co-founder of The Paris Review, Peter Matthiessen. It's called Shadow Country and revolves around the real-life, although somewhat mythological, figure of Edgar J. Watson. Plus a man whose writing is an adjunct to his view of the world and his philanthropic ambitions—George Soros is a billionaire who sees making money as having meaning only when it can make positive changes in the world around him.
John Berger's political ways of seeing Read Transcript
14/01/2008
John Berger is a novelist, storyteller, poet, screenwriter, and art critic. His 1972 BBC series and book Ways of Seeing made an enormous impact as a reaction to Kenneth Clark's series on art Civilisation. Now 80, his new book is Hold Everything Dear: Dispatches on Survival and Resistance and it's a series of reflections written between 2001 and 2006, arising from contemporary political moments -- London in the aftermath of the July 7 bombings, New Orleans after its destruction by Hurricane Katrina, New York after 9/11, and the Middle Eastern troubles, from Bagdad to Gaza.
