The Yarn
The Yarn is a podcast showcasing work from The Centre for Advancing Journalism at the University of Melbourne. It features original reporting by students, content from The Citizen publication, as well as talks and events held by the Centre.
Producer: Clancy Balen
Episodes
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Birds, small spaces, holes – our phobias don’t always have to make sense for them to control our lives. But is there a way to break free from the anxieties we carry with us?
From a fear of getting pregnant, to deep water, and the thrill of horror movies, our journalists dig down into what terrifies us and why we might sometimes even enjoy scaring ourselves.
Reporting by Alyssa Herr, Li Yongrong, and Chenlu Chen.
This episode is made in collaboration with All the Best Radio and the Science Gallery Melbourne. Their new exhibition MENTAL: Head Inside is a welcoming place to confront societal bias and stereotypes around mental health. It runs from 20.01.22 -18.06.22
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We all carry baggage of some kind, in one way or another. In part two of our series MENTAL, we look at the neurological nuances that define us, separate us, and bring us together.
From epilepsy in Russian literature to Heavy Metal therapy and learning to live with Aphasia, we look at the beauty and complexity of neurodivergence.
Reporting by Zoe Stinson, Jesse Turland, Anthea van den Bergh, and Sophie Berrill.
This episode is made in collaboration with All the Best Radio and the Science Gallery Melbourne. Their new exhibition MENTAL: Head Inside is a welcoming place to confront societal bias and stereotypes around mental health. It runs from 20.01.22 -18.06.22
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Our brains are fickle things.
This week we bring you four stories that explore our stigmas, fears, and fantasies as we take a look under the hood and ask: why do we do what we do?
This week is all about the new you – from behaviour shaping algorithms to ‘smart’ pills, our journalists investigate how the ‘you’ in your head might not always be making the decisions.
Reporting by Nell Gereats, Xiyu Zha, Daniel Pfaender, and Peter Quattrocelli.
This episode is made in collaboration with the Science Gallery Melbourne. Their new exhibition MENTAL: Head Inside is a welcoming place to confront societal bias and stereotypes around mental health. It runs from 20.01.22 -18.06.22
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While Australia becomes increasingly infamous for being a laggard on climate action, many everyday Australians have decided to break ranks and take action into their own hands.
From the picket line to the court room, on our final episode of Tales of the Environment we hear how three Australians are pushing for a greener future.
Clancy Balen, Thomas Phillips, Jenny Cai and Jordyn Beazley report.
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Forests are among the most biodiverse places in the world and are crucial to regulating the planet’s weather and hauling back the climate change. But so much has been cleared that scientists warn a sixth mass extinction event has been triggered on earth.
In our second episode our Tales of the Environment podcast, we hear how three Australians are fighting tooth and nail to save Australia’s forests.
Clancy Balen, Thomas Phillips, Jenny Cai and Jordyn Beazley report.
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In Australia, where the mercury sometimes nears 50 degrees Celsius, people are grappling with a confronting question: what happens when their country becomes too hot to live in?
Kicking off part one of our new three-part series, Tales of the Environment, we hear how a doctor is looking to Indigenous knowledge, why heat is becoming a wealth issue, and the hopeful story of an endangered fish that walks along the ocean floor.
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On this weeks episode of The Yarn, we talk to reporters Nell Gereats and Mustafa Nuristani about Uncurated, a new seven-part podcast by students from the Centre for Advancing Journalism that unpacks Australia’s hidden histories.
Listen to Uncurated: Unpacking Australia’s hidden histories here.
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On this week’s episode of The Yarn podcast, we talk to Prealene Khera and Ayah Alkhars about their special photographic essay on being far from home, and cultivating connection to culture and distant family.
Read Prealene Khera’s original story and photographic essay For the locked-down student far from home, a little culture goes a long way here.
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On the latest episode of our weekly podcast The Yarn, host Fia Walsh talks to reporter Mariah Papadopoulos about the buzz around ‘resilience’ for aid and development programs as the impacts of climate heating get all too real. Building resilience is practical and pragmatic, some argue. Others see it as buckpassing the problem to those who have done the least to create it.
Read Mariah Papadopoulos story Climate ‘resilience’, a solution or another word for ‘not our problem’? here.
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Robots have been enlisted to the front line of the pandemic worldwide, including in Victoria, where authorities have flagged trialling them in managing hotel quarantine. On this week’s episode of The Yarn podcast, host Fia Walsh talks to reporter Petra Stock about her story on the many questions raised by the exploding use of artificial intelligence in healthcare.
Read Petra’s story ‘The robot will see you now’: artificial intelligence in COVID-19 here.
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When Lifeline recently recorded the highest number of calls in a day, it reaffirmed the shattering personal toll of the pandemic and the critical importance of 24-hour support. On this week’s episode of The Yarn podcast, host Fia Walsh talks to reporter Bec Pridham about her story on the Lifeline volunteers taking the calls.
Read Bec’s story ‘Heartbreak: joy and all things between, meet the Lifeline volunteers’ here.
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Fia Walsh talks to reporter Jordyn Beazley about her story on the confronting choice facing aid agencies in Afghanistan now the Taliban has taken power. While publicly the agencies pledge to ‘stay and deliver’ crucial programs in Afghanistan, internally they are torn as expats depart and their local colleagues face a dangerous future.
Read Jordyn’s story ‘Afghan staff in peril, aid agencies wrestle security versus mission’ here.