Podcast, book, and documentary recommendations

Podcast, book, and documentary recommendations

Podcast, book, and documentary recommendations

Each week in my Friday email I send to paid subscribers of the NOW, I include a section called Some things you might like. I share recent podcasts, videos, TV shows, blog posts, or newsletters that I think readers might like. I love that I have documented these recommendations because when friends then ask me for podcasts to listen to or documentaries to watch, I can easily find things I have loved!

To give you an insight into the podcasts I share I have created a list of 11 for you from the Friday newsletters. I don’t just recommend a podcast in its entirety but a specific episode. Happy listening and if you have any podcast episodes you would like to share, please leave a link in the comments!

11 podcast episodes I recommend

  1. A Bit of Optimism with Simon Senek – Setting Boundaries with Sara Kuburic – Sarah is known as the Millennial Therapist and was born in Yugoslavia and raised in Canada. She shares insights on self-love, trauma and authenticity and she does so with a kind heart and profound wisdom.
  2. The Tim Ferris Podcast – Anne Lamott on Taming Your Inner Critic, Finding Grace, and Prayer – I loved this podcast so much that I have it in my queue to listen to again. Anne Lamott is so genuine, so insightful, and full of lived wisdom – there was so much I took away from this episode.
  3. Thinking Nutrition – Focussing on eating healthier is better than trying to eat less – Dr. Tim Crowe is an Australian research scientist and educator. His podcast is excellent and in this short 7 min episode, he discusses a recent study designed to educate people on portion sizes, which actually found that people ate more food. But the catch was that it was healthier food options they were choosing, with the flow-on benefit of them eating fewer kilojoules overall.
  4. Australia, If You’re Listening – The legacy of our first decisions on climate change. This is the sixth season of this series and it is looking at Australia’s turbulent history with climate change, and what that means for the future.
  5. The Body Never Lies – The Myths of Body Composition and Performance with Libby – Wescombe – it is great to listen to two smart women discuss body composition and performance! They offer up such great advice such as eating more carbs, prioritising recovery, building an aerobic base, health problems that come with caloric restriction, plus much more.
  6. Feel Better, Live More with Dr. Rangan Chatterjee – How To Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life with Nir Eyal – this is a short clip from a longer interview with Eyal but it is a great reminder that we have the power to control where our attention goes.
  7. Wild with Sarah Wilson – Sister Helen Prejean: The radical(!) nun who wrote ‘Dead Man Walking’ – I loved this interview and found this 82-year-old nun so inspiring!
  8. Small Things Often – The Relationship Myths to Ignore – this podcast is under 4 minutes and looks at some relationship myths that are not only false, but potentially destructive. Super helpful advice.
  9. Socially Democratic Podcast – Treaty Update with First Peoples Assembly Co-Chair Marcus Stewart – The First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria is the independent and democratically elected body to represent Traditional Owners and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Victoria. They are working towards creating a treaty between the First People of Victoria and the Government of Victoria. On the podcast, they talk about how they currently establishing the foundations and framework to enable that.
  10. Routines & Ruts – On moving out of the indecision spiral – how to make a decision when you’re caught in a yes/no spiral. Madeleine also looks at what she calls the standstill of indecision and how to handle the regret we can feel. I really enjoyed this episode.
  11. Daily Dad Podcast – What does your calendar say?  – a 4 min podcast that gives you some perspective on how you are spending your time.

Recent reader recommendations on First Nations Peoples

When I share my recommendations, awesome readers also write in with their recommendations for me to share also. Thanks so much to everyone who has sent in recommendations – I truly appreciate it! I now have lots of saved podcast episodes and reservations at the library! Here are some recent reader recommendations you might like to check out!

Nadia’s recommendations

Here are some of my all time favourite gentle starters for you. Some focus on Sydney because white colonisation began here, but there are some excellent projects and publications coming out of Victoria as well:

Amanda’s recommendations

  • I feel it’s really important to really examine and understand the ways in which “whiteness” is and has been constructed over time. A really helpful starting point for this for me was the podcast series “Seeing White”.
  • Ideas at the house – End of Empire | Afua Hirsch at Antidote 2021 – a reader sent me a link to this podcast episode and it is a great discussion on the legacy of colonialism. It has made me think significantly about my privilege and how much easier my life has been because of the colour of my skin.

Alysa’s recommendations

Alysa sent me an amazing list of resources. Here are three documentaries from her list that I am making my way through:

  • In My Blood It Runs – Ten-year-old Dujuan is a child-healer, a good hunter and speaks three languages. As he shares his wisdom of history and the complex world around him we see his spark and intelligence. Yet Dujuan is ‘failing’ in school and facing increasing scrutiny from welfare and the police. As he travels perilously close to incarceration, his family fight to give him a strong Arrernte education alongside his western education lest he becomes another statistic. We walk with him as he grapples with these pressures, shares his truths and somewhere in-between finds space to dream, imagine and hope for his future self. I have watched this doco and it is beautifully made and hugely impactful, I can highly recommend – Nic.
  • Another Country – The great Australian Aboriginal actor David Dalaithngu tells the tale of ‘Another Country’, a story of what happened when his people’s way of life was interrupted by ours.
  • Wik Vs Queensland – This landmark feature documentary surrounds the historical court decision in 1996 by the High Court of Australia, granting native title to the Wik People of Cape York, and the demonisation that followed at the hands of politicians and media. With unique access to the key players of that moment in history, and featuring never-before seen footage of the two (then) young lawyers, Noel Pearson and Marcia Langton, Wik Vs Queensland tells a very personal story set against the backdrop of a tumultuous time in Queensland’s history.

Do you have any podcast or First Nation Resources recommendations?

You can find previous podcast recommedation posts here: