Past Programs
Drug Use and Abuse - 2008
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The Hard Road
09/11/2008
Since early this year homeless people across Australia have been going to soccer training each week in the build-up to the International Homeless World Cup. For many of them, playing soccer is the highlight of their week; a time to socialise, get some exercise, eat some of the free food and forget about the stresses of surviving on the streets.
The training program is run by the Big Issue, with support from local volunteer agencies and support services. They train and regularly play matches against local corporate teams.
This December Melbourne will play host to teams of homeless players from over 50 nations at the 6th annual Homeless World Cup.
The build-up to the inaugural National Championships took place in July, with teams from across the country heading to Melbourne for the games and a two-day training camp.
Street Stories followed the Sydney team, including Chad, Alex, Elmo, Garry and Mahad. These are their stories.
Sticks and Stones
11/05/2008
Claude Ranger was a legendary Canadian jazz drummer who disappeared into thin air seven years ago. Through his friends and admirers we piece together the remarkable journey that led to this talented but tortured musician's demise.
Claude Ranger is probably the finest jazz drummer Canada has ever produced, he played with the country's best musicians, and visiting jazz greats from the United States asked for Claude by name. He had his own band full of young, talented, untried players who were willing to put it all on the line to play with their hero.
But there was nothing smooth or maninstream about his life; as a composer and a player he pushed the envelope. His burning no-compromise dedication to music gave him his sweetest moments, but the price in real life was high. He entered re-hab a little while before he vanished, leaving his friends and fellow musicians mystified yet somehow not surprised.
This program was produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Smokers and a Pleasure Worth Dying For
27/01/2008
Once smoking was regarded as both a pleasure and a right; and wherever you looked, advertisers had a brand for you. Whether your secret self image was international jet-setter or cowboy, sophisticated gent or regular Aussie larrikin, the enticement was there to light up. Not any more. Yet smoking is still legal and still brings great pleasure to millions. Smokers are just more conflicted now.
Today's cigarette packets are decorated with pictures of gangrenous feet and victims of mouth cancer. The message is strong - and repulsive - but are you going to give up? How does one renounce that path to relaxation and that connection with your vision of a more glamorous or masculine self? How do you beat addiction - and would you be the same person if you did?
In the 1950s, smoking was a family affair.
