Episodes
If you thought we’d disappeared, think again! Nakkiah and Miranda have a treat for you. Recently, at the Melbourne Writers Festival, they sat down with journalist, memoirist and comic book writer Ta-Nehisi Coates to talk about race in general, and specifically whether democracy is failing people of colour in the US and in Australia, and why hope is irrelevant in the face of political struggle. But that’s not all! They also invited Melbourne-based artists Birdz and Alice Skye to perform in...
Published 10/19/18
In this special live episode, presented and recorded at the Sydney Opera House as part of the All About Women festival, Nakkiah and Miranda are joined by actor and budding director Shari Sebbens to unpack the fall out from the Marvel blockbuster Black Panther. They discuss how and why colonialism has become a subtext for mainstream blockbusters from Thor Ragnarok to Black Panther, and consider whether Australia is ready to play with terminology seeped in the violence of colonisation. Can a...
Published 03/16/18
We decided to record a bonus episode because recently Australia’s prime minister Malcolm Turnbull landed a pretty big blow on Indigenous Australians. Last week, he rejected the Indigenous Voice to Parliament proposed in the Uluru Statement From The Heart – a way forward for recognition devised by hundreds of Indigenous leaders earlier this year. We’re recording this conversation in front of a small live audience at Junket, a Canberra conference for future leaders and people doing interesting...
Published 11/04/17
In a perfect world Miranda Tapsell would be the star of a wildly successful rom-com, or a franchised superhero film. The Frances Ha or Jessica James of Australia, or an Aboriginal Storm in the next edition of X-Men. But in order to be Australia’s favourite romantic lead, Miranda has to write her own feature film because…let’s be honest — lead roles for Aboriginal actors in a rom-com aren’t all that common. But is there a shift afoot?Australian actors Blessing Mokgohloa (who was born in...
Published 11/01/17
Nakkiah and Miranda talk about race even when they’re not talking about race. It permeates their daily experience. Across the first season of Pretty For An Aboriginal, Nakkiah and Miranda have talked a lot about how important African American culture is to young Aboriginal people. Across TV, music, film and social media, it validates and makes visible much of their experience — the experience of being part of a community that continually battles subtle (and overt) societal and institutional...
Published 10/25/17
In this episode Nakkiah and Miranda talk to acclaimed stage and screen actor Shari Sebbens about code switching, why Taika Waititi is the mentor aspiring filmmakers of colour need, and why accents are such strong signifiers of race. They each have funny and confronting personal stories regarding assumptions made about race and cultural identity on the basis of accent. They’ll discuss what accents tell us about current societal hierarchies in Australia. Is the ability to change one’s accent a...
Published 10/18/17
In this episode Miranda Tapsell and Nakkiah Lui, share stories with former Dolly editor Marina Go about perceptions of beauty in Australia, and discuss how beauty is being defined on Aussie TV and in magazines. They also explore how and why Instagram has opened up a space of freedom for women of colour. Marina Go became editor of the iconic teenage Australian magazine Dolly at the age of 23. She, like Nakkiah and Miranda, learned about her body, sex and relationships by ripping open the...
Published 10/11/17
In this frank episode, Nakkiah Lui and Miranda Tapsell talk to LA-based, Melbourne model Emily Sears about the begetting of power through provocative imagery, why sexy women are feared, and why sexy black women are feared even more. In 2016, Emily made headlines when, upon receiving unsolicited graphic DMs from (mostly male) followers, she started to respond by sending back photos of their mothers, found on social media accounts. Or forwarding the messages to the sender’s partners, wives or...
Published 10/04/17
In this wide-ranging interview with American writer and essayist Roxane Gay, Nakkiah and Miranda trade stories about their mutual love of ice skating; compare experiences with weight loss and surgery; and consider why fat women aren’t allowed to be sexual in popular culture, yet are festishised and sexualised without question. And they tackle sexism in Australia.
Published 09/27/17
When Nakkiah and Miranda drew up their interview wish list for the podcast it was dominated by African American actors, writers and musicians. Like so many other young Australians, Miranda and Nakkiah have looked to the US for inspiration. In politics, protest and art, the African American community has shown talented young Indigenous Australians a way forward — towards success, change and brilliance. In this episode Miranda and Nakkiah chat with Australian actor and Orange Is The New Black...
Published 09/20/17
Rapper, writer, actor and record label boss Adam Briggs knows how to get work, be heard, and get paid. In other words, he knows how to hustle. In the first episode of Pretty For An Aboriginal, Briggs, Nakkiah and Miranda give our listeners tips for cutting through the b******t and getting ahead.When Briggs joined with fellow rapper Trials to record under the moniker A.B. Original, he thought it would be a career-ending project. Their music was political, urgent and unapologetically about...
Published 09/14/17
Nakkiah Lui and Miranda Tapsell are set to rock traditional perceptions of Indigenous Australia and challenge rigid mindsets of what women of colour can and cannot do. In our eight episode first season, we'll talk honestly about relationships, weight, dick pics and being a boss in male-dominated industries, and unpack the pervasive influence of African American popular culture and politics on young black people in Australia. We’ll discuss building a First Nations support system on social...
Published 09/12/17