Counterpoint
Michael Duffy and Paul Comrie-Thomson field commentary and debate from all sides of Australian society, economics and culture.
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4 Episodes of this Podcast:
Counterpoint - 2009-11-16
Published: 2009-11-15 09:00:00The fall of the Berlin Wall: a Polish perspective For many, images of the Berlin Wall being dismantled by deliriously enthusiastic Germans twenty years ago marks the end of Communism in Eastern Europe. But Martin Krygier argues that the beginning of the end of Soviet domination began months earlier as a result of the Polish elections of June 4th 1989. He discusses the fall of the wall from a Polish perspective and reminds us of what everyday life was really like in a Communist State. The Philistines Archaeologist Louise Hitchcock says we should try and think of a new term to describe the uncouth and uncivilized because the word Philistine when used as a pejorative is based on an historical falsehood. Joe Hockey: In Defence of God A short preview of Joe Hockey's speech where the Shadow Treasurer defends the virtues of all religions. The Education Revolution: an assessment For many years, former teacher Kevin Donnelly has fought to alert Australians to what he regards as the dumbing down of our school education system. His latest publication is a collection of his newspaper columns and articles that provides a spirited attack on the Federal Government´s education policies.
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Counterpoint - 2009-11-09
Published: 2009-11-08 09:00:00Women and work Cristina Odone challenges the assumption that men and women value a full-time career above everything else. Partick Cook: Diplomacy Counterpoint´s resident satirist, Patrick Cook, looks at communism, diplomacy and Australian politics. Management consultants There are always times in any job when a fresh look at a problem might yield useful insights, but just how often does this really occur when you engage a management consultant? Comedy: The Banker John Bird and John Fortune with their sketch The Banker broadcast in September 2006 from the DVD Bird and Fortune: Two Johns and a dinner party (C4DVD 10277) released to celebrate one hundred and fifty shows for Channel 4 in the UK.
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Counterpoint - 2009-11-02
Published: 2009-11-01 09:00:00Black swans, debt, risk and mother nature The idea that All swans are white" was held to be true, in all possible worlds until black swans were found in Western Australia. That discovery changed, forever, the way we view the world and our understanding of what is possible. Nassim Taleb has taken the discovery of black swans in the natural world and utilised it as a metaphor for unprecedented happenings. The internet, the 9/11 attack on New York and the recent global financial crisis are examples of Black Swan events. Such events were once unimaginable yet like a black swan, they are now part of our known world. Highlights of Nassim Taleb in conversation with UK Conservative party leader David Cameron. They discuss how Black Swan thinking can be applied to make an economy more robust and less prone to collapse.
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Counterpoint - 2009-10-26
Published: 2009-10-25 10:00:00The not so wild, wild west Popular culture has long told us how the American frontier was wild, in fact it´s been branded as the Wild West. But the authors of a book published earlier this year make the controversial claim that the west, with the important exception of the warfare between settlers and indigenous people, was not so wild after all. They say that despite the absence of government authority in the west, often for decades, the settlers did a remarkably efficient job of working out how to get on and resolve their differences with each other. Pirates Many books have been written recently that use economics to explain aspects of everyday life. The Invisible Hook by Peter Leeson takes the genre in a new direction by looking at what economics can tell us about the behaviour of pirates. Leeson says you could construct a whole business course around the workings of a typical eighteenth century pirate ship. I can't believe I'm sitting next to a Republican !! Author Harry Stein explains what it´s like for a conservative to live and work in one of the most liberal and progressive enclaves in America.
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