The Wheeler Centre

Apr 15 2025 100 ep. 52 mins 3.9k
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Subscribe to the Wheeler Centre's podcast to hear full recordings of our talks, featuring the best in books, writing and ideas from Melbourne, Australia.

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Pankaj Mishra: The World After Gaza

Apr 15 2025 57 mins  
For the past 20 years, Pankaj Mishra has written incisive studies of a world marked by inequalities and the effects of globalisation. He has traced global histories of fascism, the impacts of rising nationalism and applied an astute lens to the fragility of our democratic institutions.    Now, he sets his expert mind to the war in Gaza.   Garnering praise f

Fit Check: Size, Price and Sustainability in Fashion

Apr 01 2025 44 mins  
In this panel discussion journalist Emma Do, A Plus Market founder Sam van Zweden and writer and podcast host Maggie Zhou examine the barriers within the industry and discuss the evolving vision of an inclusive fashion future. Moderated by cultural commentator Sabina McKenna, these fashion experts and enthusiasts explore the most pressing issues in fashion, from size inclusivity an

Geraldine Brooks at Montalto

Mar 25 2025 46 mins  
After spending their early years together in conflict zones as foreign correspondents, Geraldine Brooks and partner Tony Horwitz relocated from Australia to the idyllic Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, USA, to raise their children.  The life they built there was one of meaningful work, good humour and tenderness. But all this ended abruptly when, during the spring of 2019,

Rachel Kushner: Creation Lake

Mar 18 2025 49 mins  
Rachel Kushner’s new novel Creation Lake tells the story of Sadie Smith, an American spy-for-hire working in the secretive world of privately contracted surveillance. Tasked with infiltrating a commune of anarchists in rural France, she becomes entranced by a mysterious cult-leader-like figure named Bruno Lacombe who believes that freedom from the pain of the modern condition

Ben Shewry is Going to Die

Dec 13 2024 57 mins  
Ben Shewry knows obsession well. It’s what has propelled his innovative Melbourne restaurant, Attica, to national and global acclaim. His new memoir-meets-manifesto, Uses for Obsession: A (Chef’s) Memoir, is a reflection on leadership, hospitality and humanity, and an unforgettable look inside the sometimes-brutal world of cheffing.  Shewry joins host Marieke Hardy

Kasey Chambers in Conversation: Just Don't Be a D**khead [Geelong]

Nov 29 2024 61 mins  
Content warning: This episode includes occasional course language. From her childhood in the Australian outback to the heights of her chart-topping international success as a singer-songwriter, country music icon Kasey Chambers has trusted her gut, stuck to her values and learned some hard truths, always while trying to live by the best advice she’s ever received: just don’t be

Roxane Gay: Opinions

Nov 22 2024 66 mins  
Unapologetic, sometimes controversial, and always unflinchingly honest, Roxane Gay has built a remarkable career using her powerful voice to articulate the nuances of our most pervasive issues. Body image, civil rights, feminism, popular culture, social etiquette – you name it, Gay has written about it. The esteemed writer, professor and cultural commentator was joined by host Ja

Noni Hazelhurst in Conversation: Dropping the Mask

Nov 15 2024 58 mins  
National treasure Noni Hazlehurst details her life on stage and screen and takes us behind-the-scenes of a brilliant career. Noni Hazlehurst’s versatility as a performer knows no bounds. A household name and a beloved actor, she's graced Australian screens and theatre stages for over forty years. From Playschool and Better Homes and Gardens, to Monkey Grip and her acclaimed thea

Liminal Festival: Critical Limit

Nov 12 2024 57 mins  
Critics Eda Gunaydin, Michael Sun and Cher Tan examine the present state and potential futures of literary criticism. Literary criticism seems to be in an endless state of decline. In so-called Australia, a particular flavour of cultural cringe is yoked to cultural hegemony: a critic might find themselves locked within the ivory tower, or self-censoring for fear of offence, or deli

Liminal Festival: Language Under Occupation

Nov 12 2024 62 mins  
Content warning: This recording includes occasional course language.Evelyn Araluen, Hasib Hourani and Mykaela Saunders discuss the careful craft of shaping a language unsettled. Trace the contours of language, seek out its limits and push. Histories are cut up, struck through, misplaced, misremembered. Join Evelyn Araluen, Hasib Hourani and Mykaela Saunders as they discuss the care