I’m sitting in the Labour in Vain hotel sipping a pint of dark ale. The resident tom cat is under my table and Joni Mitchell is singing about paradise long paved. Outside, the election rattles past. The whole thing’s looking pretty tired: ragged journalists scurry behind it, lobbyists and strategists drag it along. Candidates keepContinue reading “Senate Guide 2019”
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The Disrupted
This essay about automation was written and published for Melbourne Knowledge Week 2017. THE DISRPUTED “Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.” – Genesis 17:26, KJV The weavers are coming to break the machines. They charge through streets thatContinue reading “The Disrupted”
I, Latham
I, Marcus Williamus Externus Lathamus This-that-and-the-other (for I shall not trouble you yet with all my titles), who was once, and not so long ago either, known to my infinite enemies as ‘A Racist’, or ‘Bonecrusher’…
Their Melbourne
From Southbank to Carlton, the city of Melbourne is littered with sky-blue posters. They carry the slogan Our Melbourne and the beaming face of Lord Mayoral candidate Sally Capp. Capp is the frontrunner for the by-election that follows by the resignation of Lord Mayor Robert Doyle after an independent investigation found that he sexually harassedContinue reading “Their Melbourne”
Cognitive Traps with Leo
When is our mind tricking us? I chat to Leo Bremanis about how cognitive bias and heuristics effect marketing, behavioural economics, conspiracy theories, fascism and mental health.
The Minister for Home Affairs
Content note: This piece includes graphic discussion of suicide and reference to abuse Just as I said I wouldn’t, I forgot them, and their stories got tangled up with all the other distant horrors. In May, last year, two young refugees under Australian care set themselves on fire. Omid Masoumali, an 23 year old heldContinue reading “The Minister for Home Affairs”
Bensplaining Ep 4: Choice under Capitalism with Josh
Is ethical consumption possible? I chat to writer Josh Dabelstein about choice, charity, boycotts, responsibility, Tony Abbott & the Apex Gang. Check out Josh’s writing at https://newmatilda.com/tag/joshua_dabelstein/
Bensplaining Ep 3: Sound Design & Theme Music with Mitch
In this episode, audio engineer and musician Mitchell Pasmans makes a theme song for the show and talks music industry, art, baselines and automation. Check out his stuff at:
Fields of Wheat
“Me and my friends sort of used to run through the fields of wheat…” the Prime Minister says, a gleam of merriment finding her eyes, “the farmers weren’t too pleased about that… Their cries were sort of like those of animals. Gosh, they ran and ran… their filthy, skinny haunches carrying them as best theyContinue reading “Fields of Wheat”
Ep 1: The Commodification of Time
Welcome to Bensplaining, a podcast where I talk to guests about ideas they know more about than me then talk just as much as I do anyway. In the first episode, me and Pat talk about time, work, idleness, the gig economy and capitalism.
