Why paddling the Murray River is an adventure for everyone: Sarah Davis
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After fulfilling her dream of paddling the River Nile, Sarah Davis set her sights on paddling Australia’s longest river – the Murray. The adventurer paddled solo from its source in the Australian Alps to its end in South Australia.
On this episode Sarah talks about why the Murray River is an accessible adventure we all could tackle.
This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Liz Ginis (Managing Editor Digital at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com)
You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic
Why flies are way cooler than you think: Bryan Lessard
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Bryan Lessard, better known as “Bry the Fly Guy”, is an entomologist who’s dedicated to changing our perception of flies and other insects. He has discovered many new fly species and had the privilege of naming them, often having fun along the way with names such as Scaptia beyonceae, aka Beyoncé fly.
On this episode of Talking Australia Bryan explains why flies and other insects are crucial to pollination and why insects in particular are becoming a billion dollar industry.
This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Angela Heathcote (Digital Producer at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).
You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic
The man behind the creative direction of Australian Geographic: Mike Ellott
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Mike Ellott is one of the country’s leading publishing designers. Australian Geographic´s creative director chats about how he got started – on magazines in London – to what it took to land his current, highly coveted role.
He also delves into the art of turning complicated facts into beautiful, educational graphics, and where he finds his inspiration.
How our cities can be safe havens for wildlife: Dieter Hochulli
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Dieter Hochulli is an urban ecologist who specialises in understanding how cities impact Australia’s unique wildlife. During the recent, unprecedented bushfires we saw how cities could act as refuges in dangerous weather situations.
However, as Australia has become more urbanised Dieter has observed how animals such as the brush turkey, orb weaving spider and our unique flora have found surprising success against all the odds our city lives put them up against.
This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Angela Heathcote (Digital Producer at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).
You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic
What makes Australian birds so smart: Gisela Kaplan
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Behavioural ecologist Gisela Kaplan has studied native Australian birds for decades and understands them better than most people. The expression “bird brain” means quite the opposite of what we think and some species are outsmarting human children in some areas. Her biggest worry is that Australians take their birds for granted and our way of life is pushing them to the brink.
On this episode Gisela talks about how to save native birds by understanding their behaviour and needs. It’s not too late, yet.
This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Angela Heathcote (Digital Producer at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).
You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic
The man behind that “one billion animals” bushfire figure: Chris Dickman
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Ecologist Chris Dickman is the man behind one of the biggest news stories of Australia’s worst-ever bushfire season – his estimate of one billion animals killed or injured during the catastrophe went viral. The weight of his findings drew further international focus to the devastation and fuelled demand for action on climate change.
On this episode Chris explains how he calculated this huge number and what it truly means for Australia’s wildlife and future.
This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Angela Heathcote (Digital Producer at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).
You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic
Animal pathologist Dr Lydia Tong reinvented the role of veterinarian. After uncovering a cruel dog-killing scandal, she spearheaded a campaign to enforce stricter rules on racing-dog breeders, as well as bringing attention to animal abuse in households with domestic violence. Her most important work, however, might be the discovery of a new method to determine, within seconds, whether an animal has been illegally captured or bred in captivity.
On this episode she shares how she discovered a new role for vets in pathology and her work at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo.
This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Angela Heathcote (Digital Producer at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).
You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic
Inspiring a whole generation to explore Australia: Mal Leyland (Part 2)
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In the 1970s Mal Leyland and his brother Mike hosted several highly successful TV series, including the iconic Ask the Leyland Brothers, which launched in 1976 and drew a weekly audience of 2.5 million people. The duo inspired a whole generation of Australians to get out and explore their vast country and showed it could even be done in a van with the family.
The brothers became national icons but also experienced the dark side of stardom after they lost everything in a failed attempt to build their own theme park.
As well as losing his fortune, Mal lost his brother, and two years ago, after 50 years of marriage, his beloved wife. Both died. His ‘never quit’ attitude, however, has helped him secure a new gig with Network 10 and he’s working on a new TV show too.
This is part one of our conversation with Mal. Make sure to check out part two.
This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Chrissie Goldrick (Editor-in-chief at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).
You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic
Inspiring a whole generation to explore Australia: Mal Leyland (Part 1)
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In the 1970s Mal Leyland and his brother Mike hosted several highly successful TV series, including the iconic Ask the Leyland Brothers, which launched in 1976 and drew a weekly audience of 2.5 million people. The duo inspired a whole generation of Australians to get out and explore their vast country and showed it could even be done in a van with the family.
The brothers became national icons but also experienced the dark side of stardom after they lost everything in a failed attempt to build their own theme park.
As well as losing his fortune, Mal lost his brother, and two years ago, after 50 years of marriage, his beloved wife. Both died. His ‘never quit’ attitude, however, has helped him secure a new gig with Network 10 and he’s working on a new TV show too.
This is part one of our conversation with Mal. Make sure to check out part two.
This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Chrissie Goldrick (Editor-in-chief at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).
You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic
Besides his day job as a University Research Assistant Corey Tutt works tirelessly to raise funds and books for his initiative Deadly Science. So far the program has distributed 5000 books and 70 telescopes to Australian schools. For his efforts to bring knowledge and resources to some of Australia’s most remote schools Corey has been named the 2020 NSW Young Australian of the Year.
Being an indigenous person himself his motivation is to inspire other young indigenous people and empower them to believe they can be whatever they dream to be.
On this episode he talks about his upbringing, what it is like to work as an Alpaca shearer and how he got to become a zookeeper without a university degree. Corey also shares how Deadly Science evolved from sending out a few private books to an ever-growing initiative that raises thousands of dollars and gains more and more supporters.
You can find out more about Deadly Science here:
https://deadlyscience.icu/
This Episode of Talking Australia is hosted by Angela Heathcote (Digital Producer at Australian Geographic) and produced by Ben Kanthak (www.beachshackpodcasts.com).
You can also follow us on Instagram @australiangeographic
