Forgotten women of Australian history and our deep obsession with gambling
About this episode
The episode explores the underrepresentation of women in Australian history, the national obsession with gambling, and evolving parenting styles.
Less than 4 per cent of the statues in Australia depict women from our history. It reveals a lot about who we remember, and how they're immortalised. Our collective memory is shaped by historians' personal values, ideals and beliefs as much as it is by historical events themselves. So historian and guide Sita Sargeant took it upon herself to reshape this history to tell stories of the women we forgot. Shaun Micallef has never understood the appeal of gambling, but he's something of an outlier. Australians are among the biggest punters in the world, and we lose billions each year. He explains why he decided to investigate our national obsession in a new documentary series, and what can be done to protect future generations from falling prey to voracious betting companies. It's notoriously hard to hold the attention of teenage boys. But when Andy Griffiths stumbled across a novella in his school library about a man who wakes up as an insect, it sparked something wonderful. That reading experience would set him on the path to becoming an award-winning children's author with a penchant for the ridiculous. Parenting styles are a bit like fashion — norms are continually challenged…
People in this episode
Host: Full Name
Guests: Sita Sargeant, Shaun Micallef, Andy Griffiths, Christine Bagley-Jones
Topics covered
- women in history
- gambling
- parenting styles
- children's literature
- Australian culture
Keywords
- Australian history
- gambling addiction
- children's authors
- parenting trends
- women's stories
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Life Matters, ABC Australia
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