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#563 Coastal Creatures
This week, we’re sharing stories about coastal creatures. We’ll meet a couple of underwater explorers and discover some of the unexpected ways we’re all interconnected. Looking for Blueback Follow Amelia on a wild fish chase! She’s embarking on a quest to fulfil a childhood dream – meeting a Blue Groper. Produced by Amelia Mertha Sharks,…
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#562 Paper Orphans
This week, the story of an investigation into the inter-country adoption process in South Korea. Since the end of the Korean War, over 200,000 South Korean babies and children have been adopted overseas under one of the largest and longest running inter-country adoption programs in the world. Many of these adoptees are asking questions about…
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#561 Strong Stories of the Weak – Part Two
This week, we’re sharing the second part of Strong Stories of the Weak. A live storytelling event we put on with Word Travels for their 2023 Story Week, featuring live music from local composer Elizabeth Jigalin. In a Heartbeat Have you ever messed up so badly you just wanted to sink into the floor and…
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#560 Strong Stories of the Weak – Part One
This week, we’re sharing the stories recorded at Strong Stories of the Weak. A live storytelling event put on with the help of Word Travels for their 2023 Story Week. Six people with powerful stories let us into their foibles, moments of vulnerability and minor catastrophes, with stunning scoring by local composer and artist Elizabith…
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#559 Horror of the Everyday (Repeat)
This week, we’re re-sharing this episode from our archives for two reasons. Firstly, because it’s Halloween season. Secondly, because the horrors depicted, especially that of Islamophobia and racism, are sadly extremely relevant today. The stories come from a variety show called ‘Horror of the Everyday’ by producers from Refugee Art Project and New Moon artist…
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#558 Home Sweet Home
They say home is where the heart is…but is it ever that simple? This week we follow a couple’s dramatic attempts to get a foot on the property ladder, then a heartfelt reflection on saying goodbye to a family home. On The Ladder Our first story explores young people navigating the housing market. Written and…
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#557 – Sydney Poetry Slam Championship 2023
This week, we’re bringing you stories from stellar wordsmiths at the Sydney Final of the Australian Poetry Slam Competition 2023 – hosted by Word Travels. Through months of heats – Mt Druitt to Double Bay, Northern Beaches to Newtown – these lyricists gathered at Customs House to compete for the crown of Sydney Slam Champion.…
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#556 Animal Rescue (Repeat)
This week’s episode is all about animals. First up, the heroic efforts of the Community Cat Carers and their work on the streets of Sydney turning the lives of cats and kittens around. Next, Elina explores the complex and intricate matriarchy of bees. Content Warning: This story contains some talk of harm to animals. Producer: Ryan…
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#555 Bla Mela Stori – Robin Rogers
This week we’re bringing you another yarn from Bla Mela Stori, a program by Katherine Regional Arts. Robin Rogers describes the huge cultural shifts he has witnessed in his lifetime. Produced by Ernest Junior Daniels. Bla Mela Stori aim to empower young Indigenous people from remote areas to produce audio stories meaningful to them. It…
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#554 Connection to Homeland
This week, stories about people’s connection to their homeland. Chasing an 8pm Bedtime by Rosealee Pearson In our first story, Rosealee shares her exciting life as a dancer touring internationally and the events that lead to her return home. A warning that this story contains some swears and references to struggling with mental health. Story…
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#553 Dark Matter Part Two: Melbourne Uni Stories
What is a dark matter, to you? Darkness is so dependent on the individuals perception. This week, we are once again bringing you stories inspired by ‘dark matter’ from the Masters of Journalism students at the University of Melbourne. A warning that one of our tales contains themes of child abuse and slavery. Story One…
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#552 Queerstories: The extraordinary women in my life
This week we hear from two incredible entertainers about the extraordinary women they have known. A Tale of Two Women – told by Eddie Ayres In our first story, Eddie Ayres (also known as Ed Le Brocq) looks to the past to share stories of bravery from queer women in the 1960s. Eddie is a…
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#551 Western Sydney Uni Stories
This week we’re bringing you stories from students at the Western Sydney University. The students have been studying the fundamentals of podcasting, giving them the expertise needed to produce their own podcast feature. Each story involves a unique topic and perspective but are all linked by an exploration about the way we as people relate to…
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#550 Birds & Beetles
This week’s stories about birds and beetles will bring you up close and personal with some critters and creatures. The Retirement You probably think you’re too good for beetles. Algernon has lived underground for so long that his body is completely numb. The only part of his body that can sense is the inside of…
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#549 – A Leap of Faith
This week we’re bringing you stories that consist of a leap of faith. Pulpit to Plinth: There’s power in blood In our first story Matthew recounts his journey from a youth of worshiping a terrifying and charismatic God to an adulthood worshiping glitter and revelry. This story was told by Matthew van Roden. That story…
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#548 Bla Mela Stori – Language Man
This week we’re sharing another yarn from Bla Mela Stori from Grant Thompson. Grant works at the Ngukurr Language Centre to save his endangered Indigenous language – Ngandi. Language Man In this story Grant explains why it’s so important to keep language strong and how he went about revitalising Ngandi. This story was produced by…
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#547 Sounds of Family
This week on All The Best, stories about family – the messy, complicated and gorgeous humans who make us who we are. Where We Are by Michael Everitt Our first story is an exploration of the sounds that a new parent encounters in everyday life. The story’s producer, Michael, calls it a love letter to…
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#546 177 Nations: Jenny from Slovakia
This week we’re sharing the story of Jenny Williams from Slovakia. Jenny is an author who has written multiple books of her experiences growing up in and later fleeing from what was then known as Czechoslovakia. This story was from 177 Nations of Tasmania, a podcast by Mark Thomson. To hear the full episode head…
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#545 Eat, Pray, Gay – Queerstories Special
This week, we’re sharing a couple of pieces from iconic LGBTQI+ Storytelling night ‘Queerstories’. Hosted and curated by Maeve Marsden, Queerstories is a place where you’ll find true stories told by queer and trans people from all over the country all about their lives, loves and losses. Cry-baby President First, you’re going to hear All…
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#544 Dark Matter – Melbourne Uni Stories
‘Dark matter’ is a component of the universe that scientists say encompasses 80% of its makeup. It doesn’t emit light and is therefore invisible and it cannot be detected by electromagnetic or other means. Scientists say dark matter exists, not because they’ve encountered it but because it doesn’t make sense for the rest of the…
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#543 Dad Odyssey – Debris Feature
This week, our final instalment from our partnership with Debris Magazine, Issue 3. We began our relationship with Debris last year after featuring some of the recorded pieces from Issue #2. This year our relationship has expanded with All the Best pairing our volunteer sound designers with writers from the magazine. We love the result…
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#542 Oddly Familiar Fiction
Audio is a great medium to use for fictional storytelling. It can be used to heighten feelings of escapism or to tell a story in ways that cannot be done through video or the written word. It’s always a joy to share the creative contributions of our audio fiction producers, and these ones embody the…
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#541 Emulsions – Debris Feature
An emulsion is a mixture of two liquids that are usually immiscible, that is, unable to be mixed – like oil and vinegar. An emulsion can be beautiful or functional, but at the same time slightly wrong and in some cases, like when milk is split, off putting. This week’s stories bring you this contradiction.…
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#540 Power & Justice
This week, stories of justice and power from regional Australia. The case that transformed me In our first story, personal injury lawyer Sally Gearin speaks about seeking justice for a client whose courage to overcome her tragedy inspires Sally to this day. Sally originally shared this tale at SPUN, a live storytelling event from the…
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#539 Longing for Home – Signal Boost Stories
This week we’re bringing you stories from The Wheeler Centre’s Signal Boost programme, supported by the Ian Potter Foundation. Find out more at www.wheelercentre.com/signalboost. Daltabyo (Nostalgia) Told from the view of five Somalis now in Australia, our first story illustrates the diversity in Somali diaspora. By sharing unique migration journeys and relationships to heritage, it’s…
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#538 Bla Mela Stori: Tammy & Augie
Bla Mela Stori is a program by Katherine Regional Arts in the Northern Territory. It’s focus is enabling young Indigenous people in remote communities to produce and share audio stories with their community. All The Best is partnering with Bla Mela Stori and will be playing some of the stories from the project over the…
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#537 The Shooting Gallery (Repeat)
Over the last couple of years Melbourne has been experiencing a spike of heroin-related fatal overdoses. Consequently, the Victorian Government has been looking to put another safe injecting room in Melbourne CBD, with most recent talks suggesting Flinders Street Station could be the location. Melbourne’s first injecting room in Richmond has helped save 63 people…
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#536 An Ode To Mob Memory – Debris Feature
All the Best are collaborating with the Editors and Writers of Debris to turn their written work into audio storytelling. Debris is a story-driven literary magazine spanning Naarm to Paris where the contributors live, work, and write. We’re featuring pieces from issue three of the mag, which includes nonfiction, fiction, poetry, reviews and even recipes.…
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#535 Change is Coming with Decrim QLD
This week we’re bringing you a story from the sex workers behind the Decrim Queensland Movement. Just a heads up, this story contains a derogatory term for sex workers and discussions of non-consent, as well as police violence. This story was produced by Queenie (they/them) for Decrim Qld. You can find more of their work…
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#534 Staff Picks: Melbourne Uni Stories
For the past seven years, All the Best has collaborated with the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Advancing Journalism and the Science Gallery to mentor students in my Audio Journalism class and to provide audio editorial training. These produced narrative podcasts that have been used in the Science Gallery’s shows and broadcast on All the…
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#533 SPUN Special: Food Fumbles
This week on All the best, tales about food-related fumbles. They were originally told at SPUN Stories, a live story-telling night held in Darwin on the land of the Larrakia people. A Full Belly or Smelly Pits? First up this week, Clare shares a story about Christmas leftovers filled with excitement, adventure, and some potent…
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#532 Bike Noir & Milk Bar
This week we’re bringing you stories from our archives about making the best of difficult situations. Bike Noir by Cherese Sonkkila Cherese Sonkkila was just an ordinary person until the day her bike got stolen. That’s when Chelsea Stone showed up; a hardboiled alter-ego who would stop at nothing until she solved the case. This…
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#531 Wetland Warrior
Wetland Warrior This week we’re bringing you the story of how Carole went from Social Worker to ‘Wetland Warrior’. Carole was one of 300 people arrested during the campaign against the Roe 8 extension of Roe Highway in Western Australia. A campaign that was successful in stopping the planned destruction of wetlands in the area. …
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#530 Funny Business (Repeat)
If laughter is the best medicine, do we all have access to the same medicine cabinet? Yes, this is a terrible joke. Thankfully, this episode features professionals who genuinely make people laugh. Hear Me Laugh by Lauren Klein When Lauren Klein started doing stand up comedy, she couldn’t help but notice the lack of gender…
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#529 ARTEXPRESS
Recently, All the Best Production Manager Phoebe headed to the Art Gallery of New South Wales to interview some of the participants of ARTEXPRESS – the gallery’s exhibition of outstanding artworks from the HSC. It’s rare that old cultural institutions platform young, diverse and radical voices and that’s why ARTEXPRESS is such a great initiative.…
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#528 The Clothes We Wear
This week we’re bringing you stories about the transformative power of something many of us take for granted: the clothes we wear. Ori’s Wardrobe In our first story, Tiarne goes behind the scenes at the ABC and explores the amazing wardrobe of fashion designer Oriana Merullo. This is an edited version of a story that…
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#527 Farewell Danni
Goodbye </3 Danni first came to All The Best many years ago, working on the show as a baby contributing producer. She then took on the role of Community Coordinator, then Production Manager and finally Host. The show has been a huge part of Danni’s life, and Danni a huge part of the show for…
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#526 Children’s Books
This week, the importance of creating accessible spaces for children’s stories. Picture Book Politics “Children’s books are permission slips for children to be and imagine themselves and each other and think radically.” – Tess Up first, All The Best Editorial Manager Mell chats to Tess about her new children’s publishing company Slingshot. Produced by Mell…
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#525 Ecological Wonders
One of this country’s best qualities is its diverse and beautiful fauna. This week, we meet unknown creatures and learn unknown facts about familiar ones. Giant Cuttlefish Fans of the cephalopod, Dan and Indigo, venture to Whyalla to see a Giant Cuttlefish in the flesh. Producer: Mel Bakewell This story was originally broadcast on Radio…
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#524 World Pride: Community
Every LGBTQIA+ individual knows the profound value of finding and spending time with the people that make us feel safe and seen. This week special host and All the Best Trainee Madhuraa Prakash takes us back in the realm of World Pride 2023, sharing stories about the value of community. Drag Kings First up, Madhuraa…
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#523 Poetry Night
This week, FBi Presenter Deb is bringing us to one of their poetry nights. She’s recently started a poetry collective that meets once a fortnight. It’s a small and intimate space and in this episode Deb and her friends have brought their poetry into the studio to share with us. You’ll hear from Tyler, Max,…
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#522 World Pride: Love Stories
World Pride celebrations are going to be happening all around Sydney from 18th February to 5th March. In honour of this, All The Best is going to be sharing a couple of episodes that are focused on themes that are of significance to the LGBTQIA+ community. This week, since it’s also Valentine’s Day, we’re sharing…
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#521 177 Nations of Tasmania: Palestine
Adel : Born in Baghdad, spirit in Palestine, living in Tasmania This week we’re bringing you another story from the podcast ‘177 Nations of Tasmania’. 177 Nations is the creation of Mark Thomson, who started the project during Covid-19 lockdown in 2020 after reading the Australian Census and discovering that there are 177 different…
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#520 A Postcard From Greece
Good morning, Καλημέρα, Good night, Καληνυχτα Mel and Tiarne – two friends who booked parallel trips to Greece – one month apart. This week we’re bringing you the voice notes that Mel and Tiarne sent to each other, documenting their trips to Greece in September and October of 2022. Join us for an intimate portrayal…
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#519 Audio Postcards
Welcome to 2023! We hope your summer has consisted of moments of joy and rest. This week we’re bringing you some of these moments, which were generously shared with us during the summer holidays. We start the episode with All The Best host Danni Stewart taking us to the rainforest. The Konditorei / Walnut Torte …
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#518 Curate Poetry Feature
All The Best are collaborating with Curate Poetry, a brand new poetry and spoken word recurring event based in Naarm. Curate||Poetry is where word art meets visual art: an inaugural showcase of Australia’s best poets performing their curated back catalogue. Poets are invited to write signature pieces that respond to a current exhibition with the…
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#517 Seen and Unseen
International Day of People with Disability was on the 3rd of December, so this week we wanted to bring stories centred around experiences of people with disability. People’s lack of knowledge about disability and society’s overall lack of accessibility are both elements that contribute to this experience, something we should be aware of when supporting…
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#516 Memories
The way our minds generate and hold memories is a complex thing. They’re fickle. Multiple people can witness an event and remember it in completely different ways, with some of these people forgetting it entirely. This week we bring stories that delve into the concept of memory, and how they can be distorted both accidentally…
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#515 Tying the Knot
Recently, the 2022 World Cup has brought attention to the persecution of the LGBTQIA+ community in Qatar. As players around the world call for the decriminalisation of queer relationships, we’re taking a moment to remember how important it is to be able to love regardless of gender and sex. We hear the stories of beautiful…
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#514 Home
Home is more than just the house we live in. This week on All The Best, what home means for different people.
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#513 Online Identities (Repeat)
With Elon Musk taking on the mantle of Twitter CEO, there has been a renewal in conversations about the future of social media and the uses of platforms like Twitter. As a result, we wanted to take the time to bring back this exploration of online identity.
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#512 177 Nations of Tasmania
Melika shares the story of her and her husband’s decision to emigrate to Australia and the different ways she has fallen in love with Tasmania.
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#511 Critical Disdain
This week we’re bringing you stories from Critical Disdain. They’re a newsletter that describes themselves as ‘A weekly newsletter of new work from nobodies’.
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500 Retrospective: Age of Activism
This week we’re bringing back an episode that aired in 2021, ‘Age of Activism’. Coal mining is still a much-discussed topic around the country, with flooding and other natural disasters showcasing a need for climate action.
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#510 The Bold Source
This week we’re sharing stories from a collaboration with The Bold Source, a magazine led, curated and designed by creative young people in the city of Brimbank.
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500 Retrospective: Work In Progress
This week, for the Labour Day Public Holiday, two stories characterising the worker experience.
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500 Retrospective: Coast to Coast
For many people, the ocean rouses a sense of excitement and adventure, a chance to do something that hasn’t been done.
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#509 Animal Rescue
The workings of the animal kingdom are foreign to many of us. This week we bring you stories that delve deep into the hidden world of cats and later in the episode, the hidden world of bees.
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500 Retrospective: Endometriosis
This week we’re bringing you ‘Endometriosis’, an episode that first aired in March 2020. Reproductive health for people with uteruses is still an area that is under-researched, with people still finding it difficult to have their symptoms taken seriously and diagnosed.
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#508 Dolphins, Vultures and Eagles
This week, in a world of true stories that sometimes feel surreal, we’re bringing you some surrealist sci-fi audio fiction.
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500 Retrospective: Vanishing Voices
Stories about how language is passed between generations, and people working to keep languages alive.
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#507 Border Farce
This week, an exploration on coping with and processing trauma through the creation of art.
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500 Retrospective: Life After
This week we’re bringing you ‘Life After’, an episode that first aired in 2017. From a global pandemic to natural disasters, grief and loss have followed us all in the last few years, and now is a perfect time to reflect on these, often ignored, feelings.
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#506 Getting Out Of The City
This week, stories about people leaving the city to find something beautiful in the country.
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500 Retrospective: The Block Part Two
In celebration of All The Best reaching 500 episodes, we’re looking back into the archives and replaying episodes that, while recorded in years past, remain relevant today.
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500 Retrospective: The Block Part One
In celebration of All The Best reaching 500 episodes, we’re looking back into the archives and replaying episodes that, while recorded in years past, remain relevant today.
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#505 Not Trash
From dissent to disrespect, this week, we bring you stories that explore the diverse consequences of food waste.
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500 Retrospective: That Girl
500 Retrospective: ‘That Girl’ an episode from 2014 that had women speaking on their experiences with abortion.
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#504 Resistance
This week, for NAIDOC Week, stories that acknowledge the continued need for dissenting action by First Nations people.
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#503 My Grandparent’s Faith
This week, stories about young people trying to understand their grandparents’ lives and why religion is so important to them.
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#502 Breaking The Binary Part Two
This week, we’re sharing more stories produced by Melbourne Uni audio journalism students as part of our special collaboration with the Science Gallery. Each student will be sharing their take on the theme “Breaking The Binary”
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#501 Breaking The Binary Part One
Over the next two weeks we’ll be playing stories produced by Melbourne Uni audio journalism students as part of our special collaboration with the Science Gallery. Each student made a short story based on the theme “Breaking The Binary”
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#500th Episode Special
We’re celebrating a pretty huge milestone, our 500th episode!
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#499 Fires and Floods
In our recent Federal Election, Climate Change was a bigger agenda item than it has ever been before, and it’s no wonder. In the last four years, more Australians have been directly affected by Climate related disasters than every before.
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#498 After The Fall
The scariest part of falling is not knowing what happens after. This week we bring you stories of people getting back up again.
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#497 All The Best Live! Part Two
This is part two of stories compiled from All The Best LIve! a live storytelling event we put on with help from the City Of Sydney.
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#496 All The Best Live: Part One
This week, we’re sharing stories recorded at All The Best Live! A live storytelling event we put on with help from The City Of Sydney.
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#495 Finding Community
When you finally find your people, it can feel like a collective hug. This week, stories of people finding their community.
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#494 Animal Friends
This week we bring you some cute, quirky and wholesome stories of humans getting close to animals.
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#493 The Long Weekend (Repeat)
This week we’re joining in a birthday celebration, Easter egg hunts, a belated Lunar New Year dinner and creative backseat antics on family road trips.
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#492 Sweet Dreams
Some people love sleep, some find it difficult and some walk around and do weird stuff in their sleep without even realising.
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#491 Love and Injustice
Love can be a powerful force, a call to action that unifies us and empowers us in the most difficult of circumstances.
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#490 Psychonautics
This week on All The Best, we’re exploring the inner workings of the human mind.
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#489 Off Track
This week we have stories about trains and the very different places they hold in our imaginations.
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#488 Healing Touch
This week on All The Best we’re exploring why we crave touch from each other and how that connection can be like a kind of therapy.
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#487 Set The Table
This week, we’re cooking up a feast. Homemade noodles, thick and stretchy, boiled in lamb broth. Fresh egg tarts with warm, silky smooth custard, all washed down with a good glass of wine.
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What Does Queer Liberation Look Like?
Mardi Gras Season is upon us so this week on All The Best we’re asking the question, ‘what does queer liberation look like?’
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#485 Helenna’s Mix
This week we sadly bid farewell to our wonderful host Helenna. To round off her time at All The Best, Helenna has chosen three of her favourite stories.
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#484 Ghost Town
This week we’re going on a road trip, sharing stories of spooky places around the country.
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#483 A Long Way From Home
Last week marked the start of the Lunar New Year. It’s the year of the tiger, a symbol of bravery and strength, something it feels like we all need right now to face an uncertain world. Due to easing restrictions in Australia, many were able to celebrate the Spring Festival with family again, but with…
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#482 Chinatown
Australia has two of the oldest Chinatowns in the world. Due to COVID-19, the once busy streets have now become quiet, awaiting their revival. This week we have two stories about the past and present of Chinatowns in Sydney and Melbourne.
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#481 Boundless
This week, we’re excited to be bringing you a collection of stories, poems and songs performed live at Boundless Festival of Indigenous and Culturally Diverse writers.
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#480 Flowering Giants
This week, we have a story about the passion of people who are dedicated to saving some tall and beautiful trees.
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#479 Light At The End of The Tunnel
This week’s stories are about finding meaning in darkness and seeking joy in things around us.
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#478 Animal Sounds
This week we hear stories about animal sounds and interactions with nature, for better or worse!
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#477 Spooky
Plastic tombstones, spooky skeletons and jack-o’-lanterns are popping up in front yards, the closer we tick towards October 31st. Halloween is soon approaching and this week on All The Best, we’re celebrating the coming of the Spooky Season.
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#476 Behind The Curtain
We’re going behind the curtain and hearing the story of a juggler and a balloon performer.
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#475 Childhood Memories
We’re getting nostalgic this week and revisiting memories from childhood.
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#474 The Journey to Freedom
This week, we’re sharing two stories about injustice, persistence and freedom.
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#473 At The Tip Of My Tongue
Have you ever tried writing a bio with one sentence? Sometimes it can be tricky to find the right word to describe yourself. This week, we’re sharing two stories about languages, identity and home.
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