I was interviewed this week by 2SER’s AidWorks about many issues of the day:
Category General
Beware all the instant Islamist experts
My weekly Guardian column: Nav K. Samir converted to Islam two years ago. He’s a young Sydney-based writer from an Indian background who recently featured in the successful new Facebook campaign, Australian Muslim Faces. Born into a Hindu family, Samir was attracted to the spiritual and intellectual life of Islam. At the age of 23,…
Progressive Podcast Australia interview on Iraq, ISIS and Syria
Last week I was interviewed by the Progressive Podcast Australia on Iraq, Obama’s new war in the Middle East and ISIS:
Handy explainer of the little war in Ukraine
Some classy and pointed German satire (select English subtitles below):
Thoughts and insights from Cape Town's Open Book literary festival
I’ve just returned from Cape Town’s Open Book literary festival where I was a guest speaker. It was a stimulating week of discussions about politics, South Africa’s post 1994 reality, apartheid, Palestine, writing, Africa and much in between. I was warmly welcomed and often provoked by the conversations. One of my sessions was on disaster…
Australia's role as dutiful US client state
My weekly Guardian column: Back in July, Australian Opposition Leader Bill Shorten delivered a speech… at the Australian American Leadership Dialogue at the New York academy of sciences. It was full of motherhood statements – “We are bonded, we are blood cousins” – praise for Israel’s “innovation” (no mention of the Palestinians) and clichéd rhetoric about…
Making a fortune in US from imprisoning immigrants
My Guardian feature (plus a collection of my photographs): Stewart immigration detention centre is situated on the outskirts of Lumpkin, Georgia, a ghost town seven days a week. Visitors and detainees arriving at the centre – capacity: 2,000, all male – are greeted by a huge painted sign on a water tank: “CCA: America’s Leader…
Radio New Zealand interview on Profits of Doom
My book Profits of Doom has just been released in an updated edition. I was extensively interviewed last weekend by Wallace Chapman on the Radio New Zealand program, Sunday Morning. It’s rare having this much time to discuss issues:
ABCTV Big Ideas on IQ2 debate over technology
In August I was involved in an IQ2 Squared debate in Sydney (and my side won, for the record, despite the audience starting off backing the other team.) This was broadcast by ABCTV1’s Big Ideas: Are we becoming enslaved to our technology? This was a decent Intelligence Squared debate with the audience split between the…