You know the old rule – it’s impolite to talk about politics or religion. This week on All the Best, we break it, bringing you stories of faith. We ask people brazenly about their beliefs and take a look at a church without a religion.
Michael was joined in the studio by Elizabeth Redman, and they had a chat about a couple of instances where her faith as a Christian and her job as a journalist have come together in different ways. They spoke about comedy and climate change.
I Believe
Why do people believe in what they do? Whether they’re Christian, Muslim or a Scientologist, their belief comes from somewhere, sparked by something. Zoe Ferguson spoke to people about their religion and how they came to believe.
Produced by Zoe Ferguson
Music Credits: Nujabes
Sunday Assembly
A new church has opened in Sydney, but there’s a funny thing about it: there’s no God. There’s no Allah either. No Jesus, no Mary, no Vishnu, there’s no Bible and no Koran. In fact, at this church there’s no religion at all. It’s called the Sunday Assembly and basically it’s a church for atheists.
One Sunday morning, Jacqueline Breen went along curious about what these people are looking for, wondering whether they can find it in this not-church in Redfern.
Produced by Jacqueline Breen
Music Credits: ‘Wonderwall’ by Oasis
Presenters: Michael Brydon and Michaela Morgan
Community Coordinator: Pip Rasmussen
Executive Producers: Giordana Caputo & Belinda Lopez
Features Executive Producers: Heidi Pett & Jess O’Callaghan
Image Credit: Marina Burity
Music Credits: ‘Laughing With’ by Regina Spektor
All grandparents have stories they tell over and over again. The time your mum was late to school. The time your uncle got his toe broken in a sliding door. The time you were really scared of an emu. But what about the stories they don’t tell us? The lifetime of stories they think we wouldn’t be interested in? In this weeks episode, we asked our grandparents to tell us stories they’d never told us before.
Zipper
All the Best presenter Michaela Morgan talks to her Great Aunty Noelene about sewing ball gowns to dance in Sydney, 1952.
Produced by Michaela Morgan
Music credits: ‘The Sheik of Araby’ by Fats Waller & His Rhythm, ‘Diga Diga Doo’ by Artie Shaw, ‘King of the Trocadero’ a recording from National Film and Sound Archive, ‘Yes! We Have No Bananas’ by Frank Coughlan
Sandwiches in the Park
Pip Rasmussen spoke to her grandmother about a time in Australia when there was a great fear of HIV, but she looked past the misconceptions and held out her hand to her friends who were suffering.
Produced by Pip Rasmussen
Music credits: ‘Youth’ by Daughter, ‘A World Alone’ by Lorde, ‘Far from View’ by Jack Cowell and the Owls and ‘Autumn Breeze’ by Exit Strategy.
A 1950s Love Story
In 1951, a holiday to the sleepy town of the Gold Coast saw the beginning of a love story between Yvonne Hoffman and Hal Leslie. Yvonne was on holiday from Sydney with her mother and grandfather in Burleigh Heads, Queensland when she met Hal. He and six of his friends from Narrabeen, NSW were in town for a Surf Life Saving competition. Yvonne reminisces about her holiday with Hal and his mates on the Gold Coast 62 years ago.
Produced by Sydney Pead
Music credits: “Sweetheart Swing” by Tim Garland, published by Audio Network
His Story’s in the Suitcase
There have always been unanswered questions about Flynn’s refugee grandfather. Flynn’s mum describes him as a polymath “admired by people from all walks of life and disciplines”, who would join him in his study for intense discussions that would last hours. He arrived in Australia in February, 1951 on board the S. S. Castelbianco. The family mythology holds that he was born in Russia, and raised in a military academy after returning home one day to find his mother frozen to death. That’s all he ever said about his parents, apart from the fact they were Russian. A few weeks ago, Flynn found a suitcase full of documents that might answer some of those questions.
by Heidi Pett
Music credits: ‘Transnautica – Wintercoats remix’ by Guerre, ‘Mazu Heart Sutra – Namine remix’ by Guerre
She Got A Free Holiday
Lucie sat with her grandfather by the fire and he told her the story of crazy Aunt Jess, and how she fell in love.
Produced by Lucie Robson
Final song: ‘Jack, Where You At’ by Caitlin Park
Presenters: Michaela Morgan and Michael Brydon
Community Coordinator: Pip Rasmussen
Executive Producers: Giordana Caputo & Belinda Lopez
Features Executive Producers: Heidi Pett & Jess O’Callaghan
Image Credit: Something Something Free Parking
The internet has changed so much in the past twenty years that it’s hard to imagine a time without it. Even harder is remembering what the internet used to be like, in its many incarnations. When we first brought up the topic of internet memories, a bunch of producers started to talk all over each other, excitedly. When everyone calmed down, we found each person seemed to be talking about very different internets. The internet that Ian remembered, a private club where coding was necessary and ‘netiquette’ was expected was very different from Pip’s take on Tumblr culture and Heidi’s memory of MySpace songs.
In this episode, we bring you stories from the internet, past and present.
None from the future. That’s a bit too terrifying.
Eternal September
Today the internet is available to almost anyone – on your phone, on your watch, even in your fridge. But all All the Best contributor Ian Woolf remembers when the internet was just for the initiated – those who knew the rules. That was, until the day the internet died.
Produced by Ian Woolf
Music Credit: Podington Bear
Black Book
Well before Tinder, Grinder, Blender or any of those matchmaking websites took off, Tiger Webb and his girlfriend at the time were pioneers in online dating. Too awkward to talk in person, they interacted online – their high school romance played out over email. Tiger kept all of those emails, printed them all out and collated them for her for their first birthday together. What happens when your internet history is a tangible object? Does it make any difference?
Produced by Tiger Webb
Music Credits: ‘Computer Camp Love’ by Datarock, ‘Knocked Up’ by Kings of Leon
Letters to my Former Internet Self
We asked some of our favourite writers to think of their Former Internet Selves, throw their pride out the window, and offer that person some advice. Thanks to Sally Whyte, Michelle See-Tho, A.H.Cayley, Sam Ryan, Josie Wright and Tom Joyner for obliging. We became a bit obsessed with your internet memories, so you can hear all the letters in full at our blog.
Produced by Jess O’Callaghan and Heidi Pett
Music Credits: ‘Steppin Intro’ by Poddington Bear
Imposter Syndrome
On the internet, everyone always seems to be somewhere cooler than you are. Parties look more fun than the one you’re at, clothes are crisper, countryside more pristine. Imagine if, somehow, you managed to slip into the life of someone who seems on Facebook to have all the fun. This story is fiction, by Zacha Rosen.
Produced by Zacha Rosen
Music Credits: ‘Choy Lin’ by Fishing, ‘Get By’ by Talib Kweli, ‘Corporate World’ by The Dust Brothers, ‘Oraculum’ by Trent Reznor, ‘Shake Break Bounce’ by The Chemical Brothers, ‘White Sheet Beach’ by Fishing.
Presenters: Michael Brydon and Michaela Morgan
Community Coordinator: Pip Rasmussen
Executive Producers: Giordana Caputo & Belinda Lopez
Features Executive Producers: Heidi Pett & Jess O’Callaghan
Image Credit: Eris Stassi
Music Credit: ‘Paddling Ghost’ by Dan Deacon
Everyone can tell the story of an awesome woman. A mother, grandma, sister, friend, or teacher. This year International Women’s Day is celebrating women who inspire change, and today All the Best tells the stories of awesome women doing this in all sorts of ways. From a celebrant to a beekeeper, a journalist to young women sharing stories online, we look at the stories of Australian women.
Judy Aulich
Briefly, in December 2013, same-sex marriage was legalised in the Australian Capital Territory. Judy Aulich, a Canberra-based celebrant, performed 11 same sex marriage ceremonies in the five days it was legal. She tells that story to Farz Edraki, as well as some of the stranger weddings she’s performed in her time as a celebrant.
Produced by Farz Edraki
Music Credits: ‘Love is in the Air’ by John Paul Young, ‘I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do’ by ABBA, ‘Lovefool’ by Cardigans, ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ by Dusty Springfield, ‘Love Me Tender’ by Elvis Presley, ‘My Baby Just Cares for Me’ by Nina Simone
Creating Feminism
Feminism can sometimes seem like an exclusive club. Josie Wright looks at the ways that young women are making feminism more accessible, through creating, writing, and making.
Produced by Josie Wright
Uh huh honey
Melbourne City Rooftop Honey is a coalition of beekeepers who are introducing honeybees to the city in an effort to protect them from the ravages of disease and human habitation. Their honey is used and sold in restaurants across Melbourne. Vanessa showed us some of their hives nestled high above Federation Square in the CBD.
Produced by Leona Hameed
Music Credits: ‘Yeezus’ by Kanye West, ‘Sweet Nothings’ by Brenda Lee, ‘It’s Dope’ by J Dilla, ‘Slow Like Honey’ by Slow Like Honey, ‘The Birds and the Bees’ by Dean Martin
Woman to Woman
The next woman you’re going to hear from received a letter last year. She opened it standing in her kitchen, in the semi-darkness, after a long day of work. Joanne McCarthy, is journalist with the Newcastle Herald, a newspaper in the Hunter region on the New South Wales central coast. The letter was from another Australian woman, and it’s already become a celebrated part of Australian political history.
Produced by Jacqueline Breen
Presenters: Michaela Morgan and Michael Brydon
Community Coordinator: Pip Rasmussen
Executive Producers: Giordana Caputo & Belinda Lopez
Features Executive Producers: Heidi Pett & Jess O’Callaghan
Image Credit: Rebecca O’Callaghan
Technology is taking all the jobs. It’s hard to avoid articles and opinions about the end of video stores, of newspapers, of the humble bookshop. This week, we went looking for a few of those endangered jobs – a man giving a heartfelt eulogy for his bookstore, and a mother suddenly made redundant. We hear from the tram conductors of Melbourne and about the surprising success of a bricks and mortar video shop.
Bookshop
When was the last time you bought a book from a bookshop? Physical, paper-paged books are fewer and fewer. This is the story of a beloved Sydney bookshop, Maclay Books, which is closing its doors this weekend.
Produced by Monique Sebire
Music Credits: ‘I Read A Lot’ by Nick Lowe, ‘Falcon Hood (Tight)’ by Podington Bear, ‘The Wild One’ by Johnny O’Keefe, ‘Friday on My Mind’ by The Easybeats, ‘Pink Bullets’ by The Shins,
Tram Conductor
It might have been a while since “fares please” was heard on Melbourne’s trams, but it wasn’t so long ago that each tram had its own conductor. This is the story of one tram conductor, Jeff, who spoke to Michael about his old job.
Produced by Michael Brydon
Mum
This is the story of Carly’s mum, who had always been a mum and once her children finished school went on to be a successful Australian designer and personality.
Produced by Carly Anne Kenneally
Music Credits: ‘(They long to be) Close to You by The Carpenters, ‘Can’t Stop’ by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, ‘Mama’ by the Spice Girls and ‘Say a Little Prayer’ by Aretha Franklin
Video Store
If it’s been a while since you hired a DVD or video – you’re not alone. Video stores seem to be on there way out, but the Film Club in Darlinghurst is no ordinary video store.
Produced by Kim Tan
Presenters: Michael Brydon and Michaela Morgan
Community Coordinator: Pip Rasmussen
Executive Producers: Giordana Caputo & Belinda Lopez
Features Executive Producers: Heidi Pett & Jess O’Callaghan
Image Credit: Stephen-Cleary
