Witt Gorrie at Trans Day of Action 2025, The Nightmare Sequence, Autism Supports for Comfort, Care and Connection, Renters’ Federal Election Priorities
Acknowledgement of Country// Headlines:Human rights groups condemn University of Melbourne surveillance policiesAttack on Zamzam camp in Sudan’s North Darfur regionGaza and West Bank updatesCalls for review of AUKUS dealMedical groups urge federal candidates to prioritise climate change-induced health crisesConcerns about City of Melbourne’s greening strategy Witt Gorrie at Trans Day of Action 2025//We listened to a speech recorded at the Trans Day of Action rally held on the 31st of March by Witt Gorrie, who described the ties between First Nations justice, trans liberation and decarceration. If you want to hear more about Witt’s collaborative, abolition focused work, you can revisit our show from the 28th of February featuring Witt Gorrie and Beyond Bricks and Bars steering committee members Kate and Gia in conversation with Priya.Keep up this important work and show your support by coming down to Parliament House next Saturday the 26th April at 11:30am for the Trans Liberation Counter Protest. Bring along your p2/n95 face masks, friends, family and noisemakers!// The Nightmare Sequence//Omar Sakr and Safdar Ahmed spoke with Priya about their new collaborative work The Nightmare Sequence, which is out now with the University of Queensland Press (all author royalties donated to Palestinian charities). The Nightmare Sequence, featuring poetry by Omar and illustrations by Safdar, is a searing response to the atrocities committed by Israel and its allies in Gaza and beyond since October 2023. Born of collective suffering and despair, the book interrogates the position of witness: the terrible and helpless distance of vision, the impact of being exposed to violence of this scale on a daily basis, and what it means to live in a society that is actively participating in the catastrophic destruction of Arabs and Muslims overseas.  Omar is a poet and writer born in Western Sydney to Lebanese and Turkish Muslim migrants. He is the acclaimed author of the novel Son of Sin and three poetry collections, including The Lost Arabs, which won the 2020 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Poetry. Safdar Ahmed is an award-winning artist, writer, musician and cultural worker. His graphic novel Still Alive won the Multicultural NSW Award and was named Book of the Year in the 2022 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. Safdar is a founding member of the Refugee Art Project and a member of eleven, a collective of contemporary Muslim Australian artists, curators and writers.// Autism Supports for Comfort, Care and Connection//Prof Deborah Lupton joins us to discuss the new autistic-led project, Autism Supports for Comfort, Care and Connection with the Project Lead, Dr Megan Rose and illustrator Sarah Firth. The project reveals the everyday and creative ways autistic adults use objects, services, and creatures to support their wellbeing. Published by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making & Society at UNSW, the project provides beautiful illustrations and rich inner worlds of Autistic adults about the supports that help them, special interests that fill them up, and challenges they face. The illustration published with this week's episode has been used with permission from the project team.// Renters’ Federal Election Priorities//Bernie Barrett, Acting CEO of Better Renting, unpacks what's on the table for renters in the major parties' housing policy platforms announced last weekend. Bernie also speaks about Better Renting's Renter's Election pledge, and what it means to think about renters in so-called australia as a voting bloc. Head to renters-election.au to find out more about and sign up to the pledge.//
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