Seriously Social

Feeling burned out? It’s not surprising: experts say we all have a 30% chance of experiencing it. (Sorry to doctors, teachers and others in caring professions: your chances are way higher.) In this episode, the founder of the Black Dog Institute, Professor Gordon Parker, explains what burnout is, why it’s often misdiagnosed, and which personalities are most at risk of experiencing this syndrome which can impact our relationships, personality, and brain function.

Useful links:

• Burnout: A guide to identifying burnout and pathways to recovery by Gordon Parker, Gabriela Tavella and Kerrie Eyers
• The Carers Club
• Lifeline: 13 11 14

Did you know there have been more dictatorships than democracies? Ever wondered if all dictators are cut from the same cloth? With the help of author Professor Graeme Gill and journalist Matt Bevan from the ABC “If you’re listening” podcasts, we explore how dictatorships work and why democracy is a more unusual system of government than most of us realise. 

Useful Links

• If You're Listening Podcast with Matt Bevan
• Bridling Dictators: Rules and Authoritarian Politics by Graeme Gill

What makes a speech, especially a political speech impactful, memorable and stirring? And why does it always feel so long between those times when we hear a good one? In this episode of Seriously Social, political historian Professor Sean Scalmer joins us to discuss the origins of the stump speech, and what it takes to move hearts and minds with words.

Useful Links

• On the Stump: Campaign Oratory and Democracy in the United States, Britain and Australia by Sean Scalmer
• Julia Gillard's Misogyny Speech in Full (2012) ABC News
• Lieutenant General David Morrison AO ICMI Speakers and Entertainment
• Jacqui Lambie delivers emotional speech condemning uni fee rises ABC News
• Winston Churchill Speech Before Commons (June 4, 1940) Hanover Education
• Australian Election Speeches: Gough Whitlam 1972 Museum of Australian Democracy
• Paul Keating speech on impact of European settlement on Indigenous Australia (1992) ABC Australia
• Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins address the National Press Club of Australia National Press Club of Australia

The data is in: racism in Australia is on the rise. But in recent years has racism become more covert than it once was? We unpack the spectrum of racist behaviour as we look at racism in Australia today, and consider why, even as it goes undercover, it's getting worse.

Useful links:

• Racism in Australia Today (2021) by Amanuel Elias, Fethi Mansouri and Yin Paradies
• Lies, Damned Lies (2021) by Claire G. Coleman
• The School That Tried To End Racism (2021, ABC) hosted by Marc Fennell
• The impact of racism on the health and wellbeing of young Australians (2009) Fethi Mansouri, Louise Jenkins, Les Morgan, Mona Taouk
• Couldn't be fairer documentary (1984)

What helped you find hope this past year or two? Was it a person, a hobby, or something else? In the final episode of Season 4 we explore where individuals look to keep hope alive in their toughest times. With insights from our expert guest, Professor Lenore Manderson, we also consider areas where Australia has stripped some people of the right to be hopeful.

Useful Links

Lifeline 13 11 44

If you have a few ‘buy now pay later’ purchases on the go, is that debt? And if it is, do you think of it as good debt or bad debt? With the introduction of options like Afterpay and its many competitors, this episode explores how debt has become a game that's easy to begin but nearly impossible to end, especially for Australia’s young people. 

Useful Links

• Buy Now, Pay Later: The Extraordinary Story of Afterpay Jonathan Shapiro & James Eyers
• Young people, debt and consumer credit pilot study report University of Newcastle

Have you found it harder to motivate yourself these past two years? What incentives would have turned things around? We talk to two experts about incentives and learn that humans aren’t as rational as we’d like to think, making the business of incentives a tricky one indeed

Useful Links

Jo Pybus HerCanberra

Ever cut your own hair then speed dialled your hairdresser for a fix? Regretted a spot of DIY? If so, you’ll have a new respect for experts. But now that everyone has a platform, which voices can we trust to keep us informed? Or are we happier just listening to anyone willing to tell us what we want to hear? Australia’s Chief Scientist Dr Cathy Foley and Ken Henry (a familiar name to many) join us in this episode of Seriously Social where we sort the experts from the commentators and help you understand the difference. 

Useful Links

Australian Academy of Science

Australian Academy of the Humanities

Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering

Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences

National Science and Technology Council

Go on, admit it. When Prince Harry and Megan Markle left the UK – you took note. Ok, maybe YOU didn’t, but millions of others did.  But why, in modern society, are monarchies so persistent? Guided by declared republican Professor Dennis Altman, we look at monarchies from a global perspective: the ones that work, the ones that don't, and the ones that remain popular even when they make no political sense.

Useful Links

• God Save the Queen: The Strange Persistence of Monarchies by Dennis Altman

If you hooked up with your partner in recent years chances are, you met online. For those who spent their early years of dating ‘old school’, the shift to online dating came with some bias. But what is the impact of internet dating on human relationships? Hear from Emerita Professor Christine Beasley, author of Internet Dating: Intimacy and Social Change (2021).

Useful Links

• Internet Dating: Intimacy and Social Change by Christine Beasley and Mary Holmes