…a conversation that asks, ‘what is the best version of us, and how do we actually build it?’ How can we be more collaborative, transformative and ambitious? How can we help change systems, not just treat symptoms?
This is your home for nuanced, curious chats with Lily and Millie, alongside some of our most impactful leaders, thinkers and reMAKERs from all walks of life. It’s about politics and social change, about humans and all our weird and wonderful ways, about celebrating what we love while we reMAKE even more of the world we want. It’s a place to try on big ideas, change our minds, hear different perspectives and explore less chartered territory. Guests’ views are their own, obviously, and it would be pretty boring if we always agreed with each other and everything we heard.
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands and waters where we live, work, play and record these various conversations — honouring Elders past and present.
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I’m Lilian Spencer, Communications Lead for Australia reMADE and host of the reMAKERs. I’m from the US originally but have been lucky enough to spend the last 20-some years enjoying the beaches, coffee and eye-watering price of housing in Sydney, Australia. I’ve also got two young children, who keep me motivated, laughing, tidying endless mess and addicted to caffeine.
Before joining Australia reMADE I worked as a communications advisor for social enterprises, non-profits, campaigning organisations and the occasional political campaign —but I was never tribal enough for a fully fledged career in party politics. It seems the older I get, the less interested I am in ‘us vs them’, and the more interested I’ve become in building a larger us.
Australia reMADE and our community of reMAKERs inspire, challenge and delight me with their brilliant brains and beautiful hearts. You can find me on LinkedIn, or email me and the team at podcast@AustraliareMADE.org.
I’m Millie Rooney, National Coordinator of Australia reMADE and frequent cohost on the reMAKERS!
As a kid, I spent hours collecting toothbrushes outside supermarkets for Gulf War refugees and, although I wasn’t allowed to watch movies for fear of scary themes like ‘divorce’, was aware from a young age of scarier things like ‘war’. As a result, my childhood dream was to become a butterfly dancer on stilts, catch the eye of a journalist and make it to the front page of the paper so that there could be some good news for once. Is it any surprise I ended up involved in something like Australia reMADE?
Prior to joining Australia reMADE I also worked as an environment officer at both the Australian National University and the University of Tasmania. At the latter, I attended a single seminar on the power of ‘delight not fright’ that changed the course of my life and work. It’s a funny world.
I grew up in Canberra on Ngunnawal country, and although I now call Tasmania home, I still miss the dry scrappy dirt, the warble of the magpies and the smooth, flat bike paths. You can find me on Twitter at @_MillieRooney, or get in touch with me and the team at info@AustraliareMADE.org.
The reMAKERS is produced by the multi-talented Anna Wilson.
Thanks to our Chair (and source of wisdom and sanity) Louise Tarrant.
What does it mean to make a meaningful contribution, and what can we do better as a society to enable and recognise contribution? We speak to three wonderful leaders from three very different backgrounds and perspectives about what contribution means to them. Dismantle capitalism, anyone? Where should we begin?
Read MoreWe gathered three of the wisest, most wonderful people we could find to explore how we recognise, value and make time and space for CONNECTION. It’s our second Bonus Summer Series conversation, and it left us wanting to go sit in the rain under a tree. Happy listening.
Read MoreWe all want care in our lives, but we don’t tend to truly prioritise time for care in our economy, politics or public policy. Imagine, for instance, if we demanded a paid day each week to do care work — for ourselves, our families or our communities and environment? Imagine if we culturally celebrated the non-conformists who were ‘successful’ at life beyond the rat race? Join us for Bonus Summer Series conversation that reframes how we think about, value and practice CARE.
Read MoreIt’s the end of the year, folks. No one needs anything overly demanding to listen to (state of nation: “tired”). Enter Millie and Lily for the final reMAKERS pod: a pretty chill but perky chat that comes full circle. Why is 2022 the year Millie fell in love with public servants? What does Lily want to learn most next year? Plus some book and podcast recommendations for your summer (confession: Millie has no intention of reading ‘nerd books’ over summer, but you still can).
Read MoreWhat does it mean to be Australian? Do we have a national story, a national identity; and do we need one if we’re going to rise to the challenges before us in the coming years? Join us for a fascinating discussion with two of Australia’s leading historians, authors and academics about finding and evolving the story of us.
Read MoreShould arts and politics mix? Is designing Utopia better left firmly to fiction alone? What can fictional world-builders do that those of us stuck trying to change the real world find so hard? Millie and Lily delve into a conversation about the arts, politics and power — and the embarrassing things they love.
Read MoreRenowned playwright S. Shakthidharan joins us on the pod to explore the power and presence of story: how it connect us — literally in our breath when a live audience is engrossed in a show. How it can divide, or heal. How it teaches us to be publicly vulnerable, that most exquisite and excruciating of emotional experiences. He speaks deeply from his own story and experience of the stage as a sacred space, in a conversation we didn’t want to end.
Read MoreEver wondered what it’s like to be a climate scientist in 2022? Or how bad things really are, and what things could look like from here if we did everything right? Join us for a moving conversation with one of the world’s leading climate scientists, author and senior lecturer Dr Joëlle Gergis.
Read MoreA deep and reflective chat about meeting the world as it is with love, and learning to change the things we can. We interview Toni Hassan — an award-winning journalist, author, visual artist and parent, who invites us to nurture our ‘big self’, and so much more.
Read MoreFeeling climate freaked out? Need some grounded, practical hope? Want to learn about positive tipping points and hear stories of really cool people across business, government and community turning this ship around? This is the conversation for you.
Read MoreWant to be the person in the room who can explain Australia’s recent energy crisis? Yeah, us neither. But here we are. It’s a surprisingly enjoyable conversation about energy solutions that are way more exciting than just ‘remember to turn the lights off.’
Read MoreRun for office! Even if your response to that invitation is a firm ‘thanks but I’d rather tweeze out my eyebrow hairs one by one’ you’re going to love this conversation with Ruth McGowan. This was an election where more women stood, and more women were elected, to Federal Parliament than ever before (including women from diverse backgrounds, First Nations women). What does it take, why does it matter, and what happens now?
Read MoreWelcome to the Post-Election Therapeutic Celebratory Download Chat! Join Millie and Lily as we debrief, exhale and talk about where to from here. It’s a refreshing, cup-filling conversation about democracy, ‘strategic joy’ and hope, and where to from here.
Read MoreWhat does it look like to put the public good into action? Whether you’re optimistic, indifferent or freaking out about the election, this is a great conversation about purpose and how we build more of the public good.
Read MoreWe’ve been through a lot lately, and more of us are questioning our priorities as a country. Add to that a federal election, and we’ve got a real opportunity to reset our sense of purpose as a nation.
Read MoreThe reMAKERS podcast is back, and just in time for the federal election! Dare we be excited about democracy, even when it’s at its most nauseating?
