We’re all about the good life – but we’re not heading to a wellness retreat in Byron Bay. We’re measuring our quality of life using cold, hard stats, and looking at our brains with a portable scanner. No ice baths required! Champagne encouraged.

See images discussed in the episode and more on the website.

In this live recording of the Australian Highlights series for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival we’re exploring local medical innovations, from a portable brain scanner currently being tested by the Royal Flying Doctor Service, to advancements in statistical measurements of patient outcomes: can the numbers really be centered on what is important to patients?

Dr Freda Werdiger, who was at the University of Melbourne at the time, takes us through the numbers and dials of her field to illuminate the promising leaps in human health happening across Australia right now, including improving care for Indigenous peoples in aged care and reducing the effects of strokes in emergency situations.

Host Rachel Rayner may faint (she’s quite squeamish, despite having her own aneurysm problems) but she’ll be joined by local comedy legend, Laura Davis, to laugh at how amazing and ridiculous the human condition is.

Credits

Producer: Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer

Guests: Freda Werdiger, Laura Davis

Venue: The Library at the Dock, Australia’s first six Green Star-rated public building

Tech: Luke Morris

Music: Michelle Cashman

Editing: Graham Hunt

Made possible through Meta Australia Journalism Fund, administered by the Walkley Foundation, with support from Comedy Victoria.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer and confidante, Kirsty Kapp, catch up on a flash of five episodes.

They consider the statistical definition of deadly, argue about the failures of communicating acid rain, poke at Rachel's hatred of Paul Gauguin, and get excited about ancient trade routes.

Head to each individual episode for more information on our website: Australian Highlights, Season 2.

Credits

Producer: Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer

Guest: Kirsty Kapp

Music: Michelle Cashman

Editing: Graham Hunter

Made possible through Meta Australia Journalism Fund, administered by the Walkley Foundation, with support from Comedy Victoria.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Innovation in Australia has been happening for tens of thousands of years.

Professor Lynette Russell is the co-author of Innovation: Knowledge and Ingenuity, which is part of the First Knowledges series.

In conversation with comedian Luke Morris and host Rachel Rayner, we explore the rich history and innovations of Indigenous Australians, particularly in the areas of language, trade, land management, and technology. We discuss how Western historical narratives have often overlooked or dismissed the sophistication and ingenuity of Indigenous societies, and how recent research is finally bringing this all to light.

Lynette shares her story of becoming an anthropological historian rather than an archaeologist, and her current line of research into trade relations between Australia and Indonesia thousands of years ago, while Luke spends much of the episode aghast at how little he knew of all this.

Transcript

Links for more:

Get the book, or get the whole series

Find out more on Lynette

Follow Luke and Comedy Victoria

Credits

Producer: Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer

Guests: Professor Lynette Russell AM, Luke Morris

Music: Michelle Cashman

Editing: Graham Hunter

Made possible through Meta Australia Journalism Fund, administered by the Walkley Foundation, with support from Comedy Victoria.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Not all innovations are gears and coding. Some are a cultural awareness and, always, an ability to use what you have to improve the situation.

Between the Wars, Ethel Anderson was bringing visibility to a new art movement that was being overlooked by those in charge of the nation's galleries and newspapers. She supported artists to ensure that Australia had a Modern voice that would endure. Artists like Grace Cossington-Smith, who has the crown of producing Australia's first post-impressionist painting (The Sock Knitter, 1915), were producing a new visual identity for what was happening in Australia. Ethel new this new work was important. She made sure these artists had space and visibility to take the place of the heralded (and dated) pastoral landscapes of "the Australian frontier".

Dr Victoria Souliman is an art historian at the University of Sydney. Her research focuses on issues of national identity, expatriatism, and women’s agency in the artistic exchanges between Australia, France, and Britain in the early 20th century. She introduces star of the modernist movement in Australia, Ethel Anderson, to comedian Tori Crisp, who has purposefully avoided the history of art all her life.

We also get to learn how much Rachel hates the work of Paul Gauguin, and how easily she can offend those in the field.

Visit the website for pictures of the paintings mentioned in this episode.

Transcript

Credits

Producer: Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer

Guests: Victoria Souliman, Tori Crisp

Music: Michelle Cashman

Editing: Harry Hughes

Made possible through Meta Australia Journalism Fund, administered by the Walkley Foundation, with support from Comedy Victoria.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What does it mean to communicate and, more specifically, what does it mean to communicate science? And then, how can we learn to be better science communicators?

Who is helping us understand the big science topics, and what did they do to get there?

A niche field of research and career pathway is having its moment as our connected and complex world requires more and more people to accurately communicate the science underpinning it all.

Recording live at SciTech in Perth, Western Australia, as part of FRINGE WORLD, hear from head of science communication studies at the University of Western Australia, Dr Heather Bray as she outlines the importance of dedicated science communicators and Australia’s innovative role.

Australia had a huge role to play in developing and supporting the growth of science communication as a profession. A part of policy, education, media and pandemics, science communicators are helping everyone navigate the world and make the big decisions.

So how did Australia come to be involved in developing a professional discipline, and how is it continuing to lead the world in untangling the big issues for all audiences?

Comedian Nicky Wilkinson discovers more about this totally meta field and where science and comedy can work learn from each other.

Hosted by Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer, who sounds more nervous than usual.

Transcript

Credits

Producer: Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer

Guests: Heather Bray, Nicky Wilkinson

Venue: SciTech, Perth

Tech: Melody Rachel, Luke Morris

Music: Michelle Cashman

Editing: Graham Hunt

Made possible through Meta Australia Journalism Fund, administered by the Walkley Foundation, with support from Comedy Victoria.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nearly all of us have a close-encounter story or two. With spiders, that is.

In our previous episode, we spoke to arachnologist Caitlin Creak about her work with funnel web spiders. What also came about were our personal interactions with the creatures that live in and around our homes. Collected here are our recollections and questions on what to do with the spiders amongst us, with a bit extra on the behind-the-scenes of Caitlin's research. And we finally get to hear what springs to mind when actor Nicholas Richard hears the phrase, "old-world spider"

Hosted by Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer.

Transcript

Credits

Producer: Rachel Rayner

Guests: Caitlin Creak, Nicholas Richard

Music: Michelle Cashman

Editing: Dianne Weller

Made possible through Meta Australia Public Interest Journalism Fund, administered by the Walkley Foundation, with support from Comedy Victoria.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How much do we know about the world’s deadliest spider, which lives only in Australia’s largest city?

Turns out, not much!

The Sydney funnel web, Atrax Robustus, has a venom only toxic to primates. While their venom has been studied in depth, resulting in an antivenom, little is known about their life and habits.

Arachnologist Caitlin Creak studies the Sydney funnel web spider unlike anyone else before – in the wild. This dangerous, cold and wet field work has never dampened her love for these spiders and her quest to know more about them.

Hear actor behind Hoot from Giggle and Hoot, Nicholas Richard, grapple with his respect and fear of our eight-legged neighbours. Will he come to love the creature we’ve been taught to avoid?

Transcript

Links for more

The Australian Museum page on funnel webs

The Australian Reptile Park page on handling funnel webs for the antivenom program

Caitlin’s website for more spider insights

Follow Nick on Instagram

Credits

Producer: Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer

Guests: Caitlin Creak, Nicholas Richard

Music: Michelle Cashman

Editor: Dianne Weller

Made possible through Meta Australia Public Interest Journalism Fund, administered by the Walkley Foundation, with support from Comedy Victoria.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why do we not know this? Why is this not in the mainstream?

This is a catch up that generates more questions than answers. As we unfold insights from each episode in our latest flash, there are a few tangential revelations: Rachel drops a koala-related bombshell; Kirsty learns about Australia’s feral cat problem; and Rachel wants everyone to know about the true Australian highlight, the numbat.

Overall, Kirsty is astounded at how much from our previous episodes are not common knowledge. How many of our topics and tangents were you aware of?

See our episode writeups on the website: australianhighlights.com.au

Transcript

Credits:

Producer: Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer

Guest: Kirsty Kapp

Music: Michelle Cashman

Editing: Graham Hunter

Made possible through Meta Australia Public Interest Journalism Fund, administered by the Walkley Foundation, with support from Comedy Victoria.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.