This morning I was interviewed on one of Melbourne’s best breakfast radio programs, Triple R Breakfasters, about Disaster Capitalism (after a very successful public screening in the city last night):
Category General
What Duterte's brutal drug war looks like in the Philippines
My investigation in Foreign Policy: MANILA, Philippines — The murdered man lay in a pool of his own blood. At around 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 22, two men on motorcycles shot Manny “Buddy” Wagan outside his small shop selling junk metal just outside Manila. He was killed instantly with two bullets to the head. A…
Public Q&A on Disaster Capitalism film and how aid is delivered
Last week in Sydney was the first public screening of my film, Disaster Capitalism. Director Thor Neureiter was in New York but co-producers Media Stockade were there along with a solid audience. There will be many more public screenings in Australia, the US and beyond soon. After the film, we held a Q&A around aid…
How the Philippines has been transformed by its war on drugs
My… story in Australian magazine Crikey: President Rodrigo Duterte has maintained a firm grip on the Philippines since being elected in July 2016. Although public support is slipping, due partly to the brutality unleashed by his “war on drugs”, which has seen up to 20,000 people killed in 18 months, the general population still backs the…
Who should really benefit from aid?
My article in the Guardian: Foreign aid has the power to save lives but also to corrupt nations. It’s regularly used as a political football as some argue for more financial support to the world’s most vulnerable people while others believe more money should be spent at home. It’s a false distinction, however, because the…
Interviewing Pink Floyd's Roger Waters about Palestine
Last Friday night in Melbourne, I interviewed Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters alongside Palestinian writer Randa Abdel-Fattah. The event was organised by the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network. Waters is in Australia on his massive “Us and Them” world tour (which I saw on Saturday night and it was one of the most spectacular music performances I’ve…
ABC Radio National interview on Disaster Capitalism film
My film Disaster Capitalism, with director Thor Neureiter and co-producers Media Stockade, is screening publicly soon. Last weekend I was interviewed by Hugh Riminton on Australia’s ABC Radio National Sunday Extra program about it: When war or disaster strikes, we assume our aid contributions are life-saving, or at the very least will help rebuild countries…
ABC Radio Australia interview on Disaster Capitalism film
My film, Disaster Capitalism, with director Thor Neureiter and co-producers Media Stockade, is starting to screen this month (initially in Sydney and Melbourne with many more locations in Australia and globally to come). I was interviewed today about the film on ABC Radio Australia’s Pacific Mornings program, broadcast across the entire Pacific region:
Destroying US democracy from within
My book review in The Australian newspaper: Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America By Nancy MacLean Scribe, $35, 368pp As Hurricane Irma was pounding the US, President Donald Trump made a major announcement. He wanted huge tax cuts for the wealthiest members of society. Standing alongside Secretary…
Fair Australia literary prize
In the last months, I’ve been a judge on a great literary prize, Fair Australia, organised by Overland magazine: What does a fairer world look like, and how do we get there?… The Fair Australia Prize… asks writers and artists to engage with these questions and imagine a new political agenda for Australia through fiction, essays, poetry,…