Mother danced with Göring
In 1936 Judith Halse Rogers, aged 21, travelled with her family from Australia to Germany for the Berlin Olympics. There, she was a guest of members of the Nazi elite including von Ribbentrop, Göring and Goebbels. Beautiful, tall, dark and dignified, and already affecting a monocle, she was known for intimidating men. And they say she danced with Göring.
Healing our rivers
Last weekend, a ceremony was performed in the high country near the headwaters of south-eastern Australia's biggest rivers - for the first time in 160 years. The narjong - or water healing - ceremony was attended by traditional owners from four interconnected waterways - the Lachlan, the Darling, the Murrumbidgee and Murray.
On track: walking the Bundian Way
In October 2010, on behalf of Eden Local Aboriginal Land Council, a crew of six Aboriginal men with writer and naturalist John Blay began a survey of the Bundian Way that would lead to its inclusion on the NSW Heritage List in 2012. They would work ten days on, four days off, camping out and walking up to 30 kilometres a day.
Billy sees inside the sea
Uncle Billy was an Aboriginal man of the NSW south coast who had a rare talent for seeing fish when others couldn't. Known as the region's best fish spotter, time and again he proved he could see fish where others saw only the surface of the water and its dazzling reflections.
Living Water
Aboriginal people have been managing water for thousands of years on the driest continent on earth. But what's the future for this most precious resource? Jane Ulman gathered stories from all over the continent and finds a common thread.
White Cliffs - A self portrait
What draws people to White Cliffs, and what keeps them there? Maybe the flash of precious opal, the wide skies, the freedom, the underground lifestyle. Perhaps it’s the country itself—dry, spare, spiritual. It’s a town of contrasts and harmony, a cross-section of retired rural workers and urbanites, Vietnam Vets and ex-cops, miners and artists. Most are escaping conformity, the city or the past.
Wheelwork of Nature: Tesla & the 21st century
He’s been called a poet of science, modern Prometheus, creator of the 20th century and has been likened, in his polymath genius, to Leonardo da Vinci.
Jon Rose - Out There
For nearly 40 years Jon Rose has been at and the sharp end of experimental, new and improvised music both in this country and on the global stage. He is a violinist, instrument maker, software developer, composer, performer, provocateur, innovator and inspiring mentor to three generations of music explorers.
Pop Up Circus - an outback odyssey
Last spring, the opal mining Corner Country town of White Cliffs held an Underground Art Festival and, as part of the celebration, Jon Rose led a group of musician/sound artists into the small but very engaged community.
Holding back the storm
Nabubuhay sa tagilid na daga or “living on tilted earth”, is how Filipinos from the Bikol region refer to their relationship with their landscape. And 'how can we hold back the storm?' is the biggest question of the Filipino people, particularly in the wake of supertyphoon Yolanda (Haiyan), of 2013.
Instruments of War
Where there are humans, there is music. Where there is war, there is noise. Going back thousands of years, records show that music and related sounds have been a vital part of warfare, used both for communication and as a psychological tool, to galvanise fighters and intimidate the foe.
Sonic sketches of NSW
ABC producer and avid field recordist, Jane Ulman, captures two NSW locations through sound. Twofold Bay on the far South Coast of NSW is a place of great natural beauty, abundant wildlife and a rich shared history. The Currango Plain and surrounding slopes rest on the shores of Lake Tantangara in a wild part of the Snowy Mountains.
Like a writing desk
Are crows smarter than chimpanzees? Can they solve riddles? And why exactly is a raven like a writing desk? This dark comedy profiles Bella Radcliffe, a curator assembling an exhibition entitled ‘True Crow’, alongside Charles and Grace Brenner, a young couple whose house is being overrun by a flock of crows.
Bird Interrupted
At first glance, birdsong might seem to tell a small and incomplete story, but birdsong is a biomarker of ecological integrity. Field recordings tell us a lot about the environment. Even in the most remote outback places at almost any hour of the day or night, it’s difficult to escape the noise of our fellow humans or to make a recording without intrusions from the mechanised world. In our current state of rapid environmental change, we don’t yet know the winners and losers.
Among Animals
Our interactions with animals have always been complex. How do we view 'the other'? In a time when there is increasing scrutiny of our treatment of farmed animals and a huge interest in both animal sentience and cognition, this program offers many perspectives on the parallel lives we lead with our fellow creatures.
Looking Within the World
Janet Laurence is a leading Australian artist who works in a variety of mediums creating both gallery and site specific works. Her art addresses our relationship to the natural world, the interconnection between all living forms and the fragility of the living environment. As her career has progressed, she has delved more and more deeply into concerns for an environment that is becoming undone, a wilderness that is an integral part of the planet.
Martin Wesley-Smith—the well tempered composer
What sets Martin Wesley-Smith apart from his contemporaries in the Australian music scene? Perhaps it’s the kaleidoscopic span of his music which encompasses simple children’s songs, complex melodious choral works, music theatre, cutting-edge electronic compositions, opera, environmental events and political audio-visual pieces.
Like an Animal
Award winning radio maker and sound artist Jane Ulman explores the complexity of our relationship with animals, with the help of comic artist Bailey Sharp. This piece was developed from the more extended ‘Among Animals’.
'To one who asked for summer': Les Murray
In this feature, producers Jane and Phillip Ulman visit the Bunyah home of Les Murray, his wife Valerie and son Alexander. Surrounded by winged musicians, frogs, insects and domestic animals, the participants walk and talk and share a meal.
On the Road (Part 1): Samuel Wagan Watson and Martin Harrison
In this edition, we're taking a literary road trip with poets Martin Harrison and Samuel Wagan Watson. In 2005, these two writers got together to read and discuss their work, both privately and with an audience at the Sydney Writers' Festival. Their readings form a conversation, a dialogue of poems, as they travel through urban and outback landscapes, noting the imagery of life on the road from their different perspectives.
On the Road (Part 2): Samuel Wagan Watson and Martin Harrison
In this edition, we're continuing our literary road trip with poets Martin Harrison and Samuel Wagan Watson. In 2005, these two writers got together to read and discuss their work, both privately and with an audience at the Sydney Writers' Festival. Their readings form a conversation, a dialogue of poems, as they travel through urban and outback landscapes, noting the imagery of life on the road from their different perspectives.