Alex Kelly has been involved in climate and Indigenous campaigning and social change for decades - with a focus on communications, storytelling and the arts. She has long taught people about how to communicate their messages in the media. But in January 2026, she found herself at the centre of unprecedented bushfires then flooding in regional Victoria - and used her skills to project a message about disaster and climate change.

In this episode we explore what she learnt from her experience on the frontline, and what her experience can teach others about how to communicate and link our personal experiences and testimony to bigger public causes and issues when talking to the media - and when telling stories more generally.

For more:

Alex's website and project archive https://echotango.org/

The Unquiet Collective - Alex's film and impact home https://unquiet.com.au/

The Things We Did Next speculative futures project https://www.thethingswedidnext.org/

Economic Media Centre - free spokesperson training https://www.economicmediacentre.org/

The Point op-ed on disaster levy: https://thepoint.com.au/opinions/260115-harcourt-fires-show-need-for-disaster-levy

350.org post on resilience https://350.org/wildfires-building-community-resilience/?r=AU&c=OC

Duty of care & lived experience spokesperson resources https://docs.google.com/document/d/14OWJxTJ8y08iouwxg2E4MIsATT7Vv_Xtey4mpekgfXQ/edit?tab=t.0

Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action Lived Experience Guide to Climate Campaigning https://static1.squarespace.com/static/60ee407ec551f135b5c1a9a8/t/66e0e408260d51146efd7c06/1726014473102/Lived+Experience+Guide+to+Climate+Campaigning+2024.pdf

Documentary Accountability Working Group https://www.docaccountability.org/

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We talk with Michael Bradley who has taken on Murdoch as well as defending the rights of refugees about what it takes to be a lawyer and a change maker at the same time. He shares his 20 year journey from conventional law to a different kind of lawyering that he has now practiced for 17 years at Marque Lawyers – and how he now centres his legal practice around relationships.

He also shares a few war stories of how he has used the law to fight for justice, including the battle against Lachlan Murdoch’s attempt to sue Crickey for defamation.

Whether you are a lawyer or you are a lawyer sceptic – there is something powerful in Michael’s dissection of the legal profession and his identification of a different way to practice the law.

This was first released in April 2025.

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Trump's abusive war against immigrants has been jailing children and extracting people's neighbours for years - but in Minnesota his abuses are being challenged directly, powerfully and with enormous bravery. For our first episode for 2026, we speak with Erik Peterson who is a 40 year resident and community organiser and also someone who has trained community organisers across Minnesota, the rest of the US and in Australia as well! Indeed he is a good friend of mine, and a friend of many big community groups and movements in Australia.

Erik shares a deeper context to help us understand the ICE battle that goes far beyond the news - such as Minnesota's long history of progressive politics and organising, and then reveals how that context and history is playing out in the streets of Minnesota's cities.

This story has radical lessons about how to mobilise against injustice, but also insights about how we make change in dark authoritarian times. Its a story about a horrible chapter in US history, and also about the hope that can emerge from taking action for what we believe in.

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For our last episode of 2025, we listen back to one of the leading communications specialists in US politics - Anat Shenker-Osorio. Lucky for listeners in Sydney, Anat is visiting Australia in December and you can get tickets to see her speak hosted by Australian Progress on December 11 at the University of Sydney. More details here: https://www.australianprogress.org.au/events/anat-in-conversation-sydney

This episode was recorded back in 2024, before the 2024 US Presidential Election - and includes Anat sharing stories from her own podcast Words to Win By. Details below. And - we will be back in 2026 with our 10th Season at the beginning of February!! See you then.

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We talk with one of the world’s leading communication specialists for progressive change. Anat Shenker-Osorio has spend decades working with communities, movements and progressive political candidates across the world helping them to sharpen and improve how they communicate their ideas. Anat brings a deep understanding of change making principles in her work – and today she unpacks where her communications methodology came from and some of its key principles.

This Chat is full of change making stories, many of which are drawn from her fantastic podcast Words to Win By.

You can find out more about Anat’s work and method by:

• Listening to her podcast Words to Win By – which is now releasing its third season!
• Reading her book – Don’t Buy It: The Trouble with Talking Nonsense about the Economy

For more on ChangeMakers check us out:

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When Zohran Mamdani voted in the New York Mayoral election last week he told the press that he followed the Working Families Party ticket. Who is the Working FamiliesParty?

This episode is one we recorded earlier with the national leader of the Working Families Party - Maurice Mitchell. This episode was recorded in the wake of the Movement for Black Lives protests, but he also explains the origins of Working Families and their urban origins in community organising movements like ACORN in the US.

There is a long story behind one of the many strands emerging in resistance politics in the US.

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We have a chat with Radio Nation's Saturday Extra Host Nick Bryant about all things America - and the long story behind the intractable conflicts in the US. This episode was recorded in December 2024 - after President Trump's election but before he took office so it doesn't focus on what has happened in 2025. Instead it casts a long history that sheds light on the fissures and conflicts, the trend towards authoritarianism and the racism that is not new in American politics.

It is also a lovely background to the indefatigable host of Australia's number one (or at least our number one) current affairs radio show!

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In Australia, since 2012 there has been an explosive growth in community independents who have been challenging the two-party system and bringing new voices in the parliament. But there is a much bigger story than just the arrival of many new faces in parliament. Behind the new elected representatives is a massive movement of people - the "Voices of" movement - that started in Indi and has spread out across the country. That national movement is called Voices for Australia.

Denis was a founding member of the Indi movement and has played a leadership role in supporting and sharing these ideas nationally. In this chat we find out about his long history in rural community activism and then we unpack some of the features of the Voices of movement that has led to its success so far ....

You can also read more about Voices for Indi in their book available here:

https://scribepublications.com.au/books/the-indi-way

Or read this shorter piece in Arena by Denis and Lesley Howard about the Community Independents movement:

https://arena.org.au/a-positive-politics-community-independents-and-the-new-wave-of-political-engagement/

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When millions of fish died overnight in Menindee in western NSW, the community came together to mourn, interpret and respond to what had happened through a series of powerful arts events. What happened was supported by the use of a socially-engaged arts practice that brought people together across difference to create a space where communities could lead a response.

This chat is with Vic McEwan, an internationally recognised artist and researcher, founder of the Cad Factory and now resident of Narrandera in Western NSW. He has led a well recognised program of amazing art produced with communities. In this episode he shares some of his journey into this work from the nightlife of Marrickville and working on the 000 hotline, and tells us about some of the emerging principles and practices he has learnt from his practice.

Vic is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Sydney. You can read about his other work here.

• For more on the Cad Factory - https://www.cadfactory.com.au.
• Here is a story on ABC RN Big Ideas show about the Fish Kills projects.
• More on his work at Sydney Uni

For more on ChangeMakers check us out:

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