Join a live recording of the podcast Barely Gettin’ By as host Emma Shortis and special guests Jeff Sparrow and Mittul Vahanvati discuss the necessity of imagining different futures, local activism, action-based research and governments’ roles ..read more

Be part of the audience for a live recording of the podcast Barely Gettin’ By, hosted by Emma Shortis and featuring special guests: James Blackwell, Mittul Vahanvati and Jeff Sparrow. Forming part of Barely Getting By’s fourth season, “Up in Flames”, this event will examine climate policy as a global modern imperative. Tue 10 May - 6pm – 7pm The Capitol – RMIT 113 Swanston Street Melbourne 3000 Tickets are free and available here: https://www.eventopia.co/event/MKW-Barely-Gettin-By-Radical-Hope/475617 ..read more

3.1 Things Can Only Get Better 3.2 Goodbye, England’s Rose 3.3 Different Class In this episode, Emma and Chloe cross the Atlantic, moving on from ‘New Democrats’ to talk about ‘New Labour’. The 90s in Britain were a time when politicians, princesses, and pop stars promised modernisation of tired, worn-out traditions. But looking back on Tony Blair’s rise and the tragic death of Princess Di suggests not all was well beneath the surface of ‘Cool Britannia’. Chloe then goes on to explain why, in her opinion, some of the best explanations of what was really happening in Britain in the 90s came, i ..read more

E9: Standing in Front of a Boy E9.1 My Heart Will Go On Emma and Chloe confront the ghosts of pretty boys past, in this episode where they look at white masculinity in the 1990s and its legacy. They explore the careers of Leonardo DiCaprio and Hugh Grant, and how their careers and reputations have survived into the present while others’ didn’t. They also consider the ‘grunge’ movement, and how claims for the dissolution of the boundaries between men and women, despite some success, also left many women behind. Links James Hibberd, “Vanilla Ice throwing Fourth of July concert: 'We didn't hav ..read more

One week on from Boris Johnson’s big victory in the British General Election, Emma asks Chloe what on earth just happened. They talk racism, neoliberalism, and the role of leadership. Does “electability” matter? And how might all of this play out in other places, like Australia and the US? And speaking of the US...Trump has been impeached, but does it even matter? In this final episode of Barely Gettin’ By, Chloe and Emma reflect on the end of the year and what might be in store for the world in 2020. Merry Impeachmas everyone, and thanks for listening! P.S. Looking ahead to our next season ..read more

Episode 7: Pale Blue Dot E7.1 Rio to Ruin E7.2 Mr Vice President E7.3 Captain Planet On Valentine’s Day, 1990, we humans received a love letter from space. NASA’s Voyager 1 probe, from its position somewhere out past Neptune, turned around and took a picture of Earth, gifting us the iconic image that planetary scientist Carl Sagan would dub the ‘pale blue dot’. In this episode, Emma and Chloe ask why, when the decade opened with such promise for our little speck of dust in space, we didn’t see the progress the 1990s promised when it came to environmental protection. They discuss the failure ..read more

If Donald Trump’s presidency suggests America is sliding towards fascism, what can we do about it? Picking up on their last conversation, in this episode of Barely Gettin’ By Emma and Chloe look at the role of American institutions in enabling Trump. They compare this with the democratic weakness that enabled the Nazis’ rise to power in Germany in the 1930s, to unpick the myth of America’s uniquely strong, resilient democracy. If Congress, the Senate, and the Supreme Court can’t stop Trump, can Elizabeth Warren save America from a fascist future? Umberto Eco, ‘Ur-Fascism’, New York Review of ..read more

Barely Gettin' By might be on a lockdown hiatus, but the climate news keeps coming. In the lead up to the all-important COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow, this special episode examines the historic relationship between Australia and the United States when it comes to climate change. Emma reads an extract from her book, Our Exceptional Friend: Australia’s Fatal Alliance with the United States, and asks what that relationship might mean for Glasgow, and the future. Reading Emma Shortis, Our Exceptional Friend: Australia’s Fatal Alliance with the United States (Hardie Grant, 2021), https://www.ha ..read more

With Melbourne in the midst of Lockdown 5.0, we will be taking a short break until we can get back in to the studio again ..read more

This week, Scott Morrison is going to Washington--or is it Mar-a-Lago? In anticipation of the Australian PM’s state dinner with Donald Trump, Emma and Chloe look back on the history of American-Australian relations. From the ANZUS treaty to Iraq (and detouring through conspiracy theories, Gough Whitlam, and the CIA), Australia has a track record of following the US everywhere it goes, including into war. With Trump ‘locked and loaded’, Emma and Chloe ask whether history repeating, and will Australia find itself at war in Iran? Reading List On Trump and Morrison/the US in the World: Dexter ..read more