Last week I spoke at Sydney’s Politics in the Pub about the recent Gaza conflict and implications for global attitudes towards Israel. Thanks to Cathy Vogan for filming the event:
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…
ABCTV Big Ideas on a reporter's focus since 9/11
During the recent Byron Bay Writer’s Festival this event, broadcast by ABCTV1’s Big Ideas, was a robust discussion on the rights, responsibilities and pressures of conflict reporting in a post 9/11 world: In this session writers Abbas El-Zein, Antony Loewenstein and Washington Post journalist David Finkel deliver strikingly different perspectives on the Iraqi and Afghan…
ABCTV Big Ideas on identity in modern Australia
I recently attended the Wordstorm literary festival in Darwin and participated in the following event that was recorded and broadcast by ABCTV1’s Big Ideas: This panel brings together a group of Australians of Italian, Chinese, Indigenous, Jewish, and Vietnamese descent to talk over the notion of home. What is it? Where is it? What is…
One man's remarkable escape from ISIS
Every day we’re reading new stories about the ferocity and barbarism of ISIS in Iraq and Syria (see here, here and here). This powerful New York Times short film tells the story of an Iraqi man who barely escaped ISIS:
New teaser for my Disaster Capitalism film
For the last years I’ve been working with New York based film-maker Thor Neureiter on a documentary about Disaster Capitalism. We successfully raised money on Kickstarter last year and we’re currently pursuing funding from a range of global sources. Film-making is a long, painful and challenging process. I’m happy to release the new teaser that…
Political scandal in New Zealand offer lessons for the world
My weekly Guardian column: It’s extremely rare to have the genesis of a political smear campaign uncovered for all to see, just like it is uncommon to read the correspondence between senior government officials and media backers to attack opponents and critics. And yet, that’s exactly what is unfolding in New Zealand. New Zealanders are…
Inside the mind of ISIS
I’m currently in America, investigating disaster capitalism in privatised immigration detention for my 2015 Verso book. I’ve been watching a lot of cable TV (lord knows why but I’m a masochist) and it’s been ISIS day and night (apart from mostly awful coverage of the killing of Michael Brown and white blindness on racism). Fox…
Why Jewish dissent over Israel signifies move away from tribalism
My weekly Guardian column: The South African national high school debating team was recently in Bangkok for the world debating championships. During the competition, the team uploaded a picture of themselves at the tournament’s opening ceremony to Facebook, and controversy ensued. “Team South Africa wearing Palestinian badges and Keffiyehs to show our opposition to the…
Public talk on From Iraq to Gaza: The Politics of Fear
Last Friday I gave the following speech at Sydney’s… Lebanese Muslim Association forum on terrorism, Gaza, ISIS and Western governments spreading fear and anger towards the Islamic faith. Labor MP Tony Burke and Liberal MP Craig Laundy both pledged to bring harmony to the community and yet both their parties have flamed bigotry. Government surveillance is…