Max Heerey didn’t know what he was getting into when he invited a fellow Hobart (Aust) runner out for a jog late in 2020. As it turned out, he had just organised a date with Grace Tame, who was named Australian of the Year 2021 just a couple of months later. In this So...podcast episode, Max talks publicly for the first time about his relationship with Grace, an advocate for survivors of sexual assault, particularly those who were abused in institutional settings. From the age of 15, Grace...

Melbourne based public, performance and contemporary artist, Brett Ashby talks to John McKenna on ‘So…’ podcast about flowing, ‘rolling’, and growth through art, creation, and connection. In his 15-year journey as both a local and international artist, Ashby opens up about how his artistic practice and connections helped him to discover his own story and healing. Using his childhood love of surfing and skating in a flow-state artistic process he calls ‘rolling’, Ashby explores how art can...

Why are all television newsreaders blonde? This is something Antoinette asked herself when she was at the gym almost 4 years ago and confronted with a sea of blonde newsreaders across every news show that was being broadcast. She looked from the TV to the people in the gym and saw people of all cultural backgrounds. She saw that the media was failing to represent Australia’s diverse community. In that moment, Antoinette conceived the idea of Media Diversity Australia, a not-for-profit that...

International students in the Australian news and media often carry the negative connotations of being "foreign", "problems" that are "exploited". Belle Lim is here to challenge that stereotype. Coming from Malaysia at the age of 17, Belle completed a Bachelor's degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences with honours as the Gold Medallist, received the prestigious Victorian Premier Award for International Students of the Year in 2019, and is currently pursuing a PhD degree in cancer genetics....

CONTENT WARNING: Violence against women and abuse. Violence against women is a major global public health problem. In Australia, one in six women have experienced violence from an intimate partner and more than one woman a week dies as a result of violence against women. PhD candidate Amy Warren and John discuss how this important issue is being addressed in Australia, around the world and what we can do to further these efforts. They look at the impact of fear and stigma, culture, and...

In Australia we live in a world of 'Royal Commissions'. Currently, the conversations are around the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability (known as the Disability Royal Commission). To dive into this further, So...Podcast is joined by two prominent people in the disability advocacy and trauma-informed counselling space. Mary Mallet is the CEO of the Disability Advocacy Network Australia (DANA), which is the peak body for independent...

Children's author and illustrator Trace Balla has always had a great fascination with trees and nature. Growing up, if she felt lonely she found companionship and comfort in the tree that grew in her garden. She called this her 'tree friend'. Trees, Trace says, have seen a lot and felt a lot. They carry a natural wisdom that is difficult for humans to tap into. Trace overcomes this by 'tree connecting', using a physical experience such as a hug to surrender her body into trees and let them...

In Australia we rely on the Western media to hear about what's happening across the globe. It shows us filtered versions of important world events and the voices of people these news stories are about can often be missed. Rugare Gomo, founder of the Gomo Foundation, joins the So...Podcast to bring some of these voices to listeners everywhere. Rugare grew up in Zimbabwe, in a context where white people were considered better than black people, where being gay could get you put in jail and...

It may sound like a contradiction, to have a chat about being more quiet. But that's exactly what John does with Christine Jackman in this podcast. Christine's 20-year career as a journalist took her to New York as a foreign correspondent and Canberra, where she worked in Australia's National Press Gallery, covering federal politics. Then she was headhunted to corporate communications where she gave advice to some of Australia's top business and political leaders. Along the way, her life...

The creative behind I've Never BIN to Me (YouTube) joins the So...Podcast to talk about the power of music. After taking inspiration from the viral Facebook page 'Bin Isolation Outing', which encouraged individuals in lockdown to fancy dress while taking the bin out, Danielle Matthews decided to put her spin on 'dressing up' to take the bin out. She wrote a parody of I've Never Been to Me by Charlene, exploring what it felt like to be in lockdown in Victoria. After 48 hours her video had 1...

In this episode John chats with Simon Kneebone - a cartoonist who's work has been featured in a number of places, including many social and community organisations. Simon had his start as a cartoonist by simply doodling and drawing pictures during his time at university. Someone he had studied with remembered his drawings, and offered him a job. This led to his current career in illustration. Find out exactly what a cartoon or an illustration is, and what its purpose should be. Creating a...

John and Oscar Trimboli, who is what some might call a professional listener, discuss the finer points of listening. Oscar is an expert in communication whose goal is to create 100 million deep listeners worldwide. He highlights how listening starts with you, and not with the speaker. Discover how you can listen better, how you can prepare yourself to listen, even when you don't feel like it, and what the purpose of listening really is. They also delve into the difference in speech between...

Alix Sampson a young, bisexual and socially innovative woman from the inner north of Melbourne, Australia joins the So...Podcast to talk about her community connection project that (literally) walks the talk. Brunswick Sole Mates, was an idea that Alix "birthed organically" in response to issues that had been challenging her local community. She loves to walk around her neighbourhood, before work, after work, usually when the sun is coming up or going down. But lately, Melbourne has felt...

John Mckenna talks to Dr Edward Upjohn MB.BS MMed FACD FACMS, a dermatologist in Melbourne, Australia, about different types of skin cancers and treatments. Dr Edward Upjohn talks about the three different types of skin cancers and how to potentially identify them: · Melanoma · Squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) · Basel cell carcinoma (BCC) Your General Practitioner (GP) is the best starting point if you notice something different on your skin. They use a device called a dermatoscope to examine...

When you walk past hard rubbish on the street, what do you see? Meg Renou doesn't just see a pile of junk, she sees inspiration. She describes herself as a bowerbird due to her love of collecting discarded objects and giving them a new and different life John talks to Meg about her reclaimed, reformed and restored art business that she runs in Melbourne. A kitchen table project she started a few years ago has become a creative passion, an outlet for letting go. Meg finds and reclaims...

This episode covers a sensitive topic. Before you listen please be aware that we are discussing suicide, the impact of suicide and resources surrounding suicide prevention. John talks with Shayne Connell, the CEO of LivingWorks. LivingWorks is an organisation that has been running for over 40 years and is focussed on suicide prevention. Shane believes in the principles of community development, the LivingWorks training model focusses on training people from within the communities they...

How can technology keep your loved ones in Aged Care safer and more connected? John O'Callaghan from Acsess Health talks about his game-changing products in Aged Care support. Acsess Health was founded in 2004 and are innovative leaders in using technology to improve accessibility. In this episode we dive into the world of technology, how it can empower us to support our loved ones and take the pressure off the hardworking carers. John O'Callaghan talks us through two of his revolutionary...

During the conversation with Philip Liu, who is a strong advocate for international students, we covered the following areas • Conscious and unconscious racist perceptions towards people of Asian descent. • Be yourself, don't change because of peer pressure • How international students in Australia can remain resilient and not feel like they need to say sorry all the time • Strategies in managing anxiety & confusion for international students during stressful time • The important...

"I'm not shaking your hand mate, I don't care who you are." This is one of the quotes that stuck in my mind, as I was producing this episode you are about to experience. It's a response from a client who was interacting with a Chief Executive Officer from an Australian Disability Service Provider. The CEO acknowledged "that sometimes you just got to stop and reflect, so that we can be reminded that when we need to do things rightly, advice can come from people we wouldn't normally...

Tim Ferguson and I had a funny chat, to be expected, as he is a professional comedian. (From his website cheekymonkeycomedy.com) Tim is a widely acclaimed comedian, writer and producer. He's toured the world performing stand-up and musical comedy, co-writing dozens of live stage comedy shows and light entertainment programmes. What made this conversation meaningful for me was that we spoke heart to heart as two people with disabilities and how we use humour when we interact with the rest of...

Christina Canters from Podcast Services Australia and producer and host of 'Stand Out Get Noticed' podcast joined me to talk about "Supporting those who are missing out on podcasts" Christina's insights into understanding the podcast audience enriched our conversation which focused on people who are not listening to podcasts and why. Christina and I shared different strategies for podcast listeners who are interested in helping others connect with podcasts. Existing barriers include...

In the spirit of staying connected during these times, the following 12 recordings are from individuals who live with disabilities such as, Schizoaffective disorder, Deaf Blindness, Cerebral palsy, Oculocutaneous Albinism, physical and intellectual disabilities and want to share their own personal message to the world. What's evident for me after listening to these insights, is that people with disabilities already live everyday with skills around being adaptable and robust. As the community...

Hi I'm John Mckenna from Melbourne Australia, host & producer of So...Podcast, also an individual who has a physical disability. I feel very passionate that peer support amongst people with disabilities is crucial right now, as information sharing continues to empower us. The first part of the podcast is an invitation to people with disabilities around the world, asking if they would like to share their own positive stories and strategies as empowered individuals during these times when...

Samantha Lovrich is the co-founder of Legal Tech Helper and legal operations coach. In this interview we talk about the importance of lawyers stepping into the shoes of their clients, the role of open questions and deep listening to build empathy, and the role of coaching and mentoring to create better culture in legal teams. We also discuss the role that technology can play to address unmet legal needs. We hear about online guided client interviews that allow ordinary people to get legal...