On this week's episode we speak to Titaua Porcher, Associate Professor in French and Francophone Pacific literatures at the University of French Polynesia, about how writers, poets and playwrights in Te Ao Maohi/French Polynesia have grappled with the impacts of France's nuclear weapons testing in the region through literature. As a playwright herself, Titaua also discusses the important role of literature in providing different perspectives on history and people, countering stereotypes such as the ‘post card’ view of French Polynesia.

In this episode, we sit with researcher Mercedes Zanker to discuss the military supply chain of critical minerals, from the colonisation and expropriation of sovereign Aboriginal lands to raining bombs on people implicated in US terror wars. Mercedes has extensively written and researched military supply chains as part of her work for Renegade Activists and her show on 3CR, A Friday Night Rave. 

On this episode of Women on the Line we listen to snippets from a panel discussion about the new research released by the Racial Profiling Data Monitoring Project. We hear from:Dr Tamar Hopkins, a Researcher on Racial ProfilingSabrina Adem, a Community organiserLauren Caufield, Advocacy coordinator at Beyond Survival, Flat OutBee Charika, Rising Red Lantern and VixenDr Tasnim Sammak, Palestinian activist and organiserThe panel was moderated by Idil Ali, a community organiser.The panel was held on Monday 1 December at the Institute for Postcolonial Studies in Narrm.  

On this episode of Women on the Line, we’re honoring the late disabled writer and activist, Alice Wong, who passed away on the 14 November 2025 at the age of 51. We’re listening to her presentation titled ‘The Last Disabled Oracle’ from 2020, where she speaks from the future of 2029. The presentation was delivered as part of Alex Kelly’s Assembly for the Future. You can listen to the full presentation on 3CR here. You can learn more about Alice's work via The Disability Visibility Project. 

On this episode of Women on the Line we speak with Sharvari, a theatre historian from India currently teaching at University of Chicago, about her first book project, Performances of Posterity: Theater, Archives and Cultural Regulation in Modern India. Sharvari talks to us about her research, the historical erasure of caste and gender in theatre, the impermanence of researching performance, the linguistic complexities of Indian theatre, and the changing nature of resistance and oppression through art.

This week, we turn to Western Sahara, often referred to as the last colony in Africa and one of the most overlooked frontlines of imperial power. In the wake of the UN Security Council’s 31 October resolution, which lends weight to Morocco’s autonomy plan and extends the MINURSO mandate (which has been extended annually since 1991), we examine what this means for Sahrawi self-determination. This moment is especially significant because 6 November 2025 marks 50 years of Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara, and five decades that Sahrawis have lived in exile in refugee camps in Southwest Algeria.Our guest today is Sahrawi human rights activist and teacher Najla Mohamed-Lamin, who focuses on women's rights and environmental issues. She established the Almasar Library Centre, which educated women and children living in Sahrawi refugee camps about climate change. She speaks about life under exile and why Sahrawi resistance endures despite displacement, resource plunder, and global indifference.

On this episode of Women on the Line we covering the latest update on Treaty in Victoria. We hear from Sue-Ann, Wurundjeri and Ngurai Illum Wurrung woman,  who is the Deputy Chair And Commissioner of the Yoorrook Justice Commission. She delivered a speech at the Women’s Rights at Work Conference Held at Vic Trades Hall on Friday 5 September. Her speech covers how union members can play a vital role in supporting meaningful solidarity in their workplaces and communities for Treaty. She covers the key findings of the Commission’s report and steps towards Treaty in Victoria.

This week on the program we examine the distressing news that Queensland’s LNP State Government has doubled down on their ban on young people seeking access to gender affirming care.The ban on accessing puberty blockers and hormone treatment for new adolescent patients in the public health system was initially put in place in January this year, and on October 28 was immediately reinstated by the Queensland State Government after being overturned in a Supreme Court Challenge brought by the mother of a trans child.We speak with Brianna Hammond, President of QTrans, and Piper Valkyrie from Magandjin People's Pride to understand the context of the ban, its impact on young people trying to access gender affirming care and what the response has been so far from the trans and gender diverse community and their allies.You can donate to Project 491 to help facilitate access to care for the young people shut out of the Queensland Public Health system.You can also sign the petition to reinstate care for trans young people.If today's episode has been distressing for you or someone you care about you can reach out to QLife for support.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners are advised that the following program contains references to colonial violence. If you need to speak to someone about the issues covered in the show, you can contact:13 YARN on 13 92 76 - a dedicated 24/7 national crisis support line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander PeoplesYarning Safe'n'Strong on 1800 959 563 - a free and confidential 24-hour counselling service for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander PeoplesOn this week’s episode we bring you audio from the ‘Cry for Truth and Justice’ rally that took place on Sunday 19th October in Djilang/Geelong on the lands of the Wadawurrung people. Organised by Be Tru, a group of First Nations Peoples and non-Indigenous members, this rally and march aimed to unite the community in declaring a firm NO to racism, and coincided with other anti-racism protests that took place across the state. Today we’re going to hear from Corrina Eccles, Julie Saylor-Briggs, Aunty Annie Nicholson, Aunty Wendy Brabham and Irith Williams.Thank you to Amy Ciara from 3CR's Kill Your Lawn and Kick Your Fence for the recordings.

We are dedicating this special episode to the Shuhada, the martyrs of Gaza. On 7 October 2025, the Palestinian community in Victoria gathered to mourn and honour those killed by Israel, and to speak truth against silence and erasure. We take you to that vigil, the commemoration in honour of Gaza and Palestine in Naarm/Melbourne.We hear from women who hold that grief and resistance in their voices. We hear from Camellia, Nour, and some of the names of Palestinian children martyred over the last two years. Featured song: Mawtini, performed by children in Gaza in 2015, available on YouTube.Image by @gabinthesun

On this episode of Women on the Line we chat with Huong Truong and Lily Vu about their upcoming workshop for ViệtSpeak as well as the importance of Vietnamese language, bilingual education, language diversity and community organising tactics. Huong Truong is a grassroots organiser and former Greens MP. Lily Vu is part of the ViệtSpeak Committee.  The workshop will be held on Sunday 26 October in Footscray. All are welcome to attend. RSVP here.

On this episode of Women on the Line we hear from Emma Valente, one of the co-artistic directors of the RABBLE. Emma talks to us about their new Fringe Festival show, UNWOMAN (the protest), a durational artwork celebrating the multitude of experiences around birth, fertility and pregnancy. If you want to be a part of the show and share your experience, go here. Emma and the RABBLE will support you all the way through! The show is free and will be performed at Fed Square on Sunday 5 October - to book a spot go here.   

On this week's episde we speak to Munanjahli and South Sea Islander woman, Professor Chelsea Watego, about her new book, Black Thoughts Matter: Essays on Black Love, Black Power and Black Joy. Providing critical context to some of the groundbreaking essays published across a range of digital platforms, ‘Black thoughts matter’ honours the Black thinkers that have shaped Watego’s intellectual and political formation to date. It is a testament to the love, power and joy that is at the heart of Black thinking and writing in the fight against racial violence in so-called ‘Australia’. In this interview we also speak about the power and ongoing challenges of writing in the colony and reflecting on 10 years of articles and essays, as well as the power, the joy, and the importance of embracing rage.

This week, we hear from researcher and activist Dr. Sadia Agsous-Bienstein, recorded at a teach-in hosted at the Institute of Postcolonial Studies in Naarm/Melbourne.Sadia speaks on the erased histories of Arab–Jewish solidarities and their meaning in the current moment of genocide in Gaza, perpetrated by Israel and its Zionist footsoldiers — including descendants of Jewish communities of North Africa and the Middle East.From anti-fascist resistance in colonial Algeria, to Arab solidarities against European antisemitism, to shared struggles against colonial rule in the Maghreb and Mashreq, Sadia traces how Western colonial divide-and-rule and Zionist settler-colonialism fractured and erased attempts at common life and joint struggle between Jews, Arab-Muslims, and Palestinians.In the second half of the show, Tasnim Sammak joins Sadia in conversation to reflect on what these histories mean in the current moment of genocide in Gaza — and how remembering solidarities is itself an act of resistance.Sadia mentions the following authors in her talk:Avi Shlaim, Three Worlds: Memoirs of an Arab-Jew. London: Oneworld Publications, 2019.Ella Shohat, On the Arab-Jew, Palestine, and Other Displacements. London: Pluto Press, 2017.Rashid Hussein, Selected Poems. Edited by Adina Hoffman, translated by Sasson Somekh. Jerusalem: Ibis Editions, 2002.Sadia Agsous, Le dialogue culturel entre Palestiniens et Israéliens dans les années 1950 : Rashed Hussein et Sasson Somekh, histoire d’un rendez-vous manqué, dossier spécial,  L’histoire culturelle des relations entre Juifs et Arabes en Palestine/Israël de la fin du XIXe siècle au début du XXIe siècle, Revue d’histoire culturelle XVIIIe-XXIe siècles, 2021.Mahmoud Darwish, interview cited in Elia J. Ayoub, The Jewish and Arab Questions and European Fascism, eliaayoub.com, 22 May 2021. Please note the guest lecture was co-organised by Tasnim Sammak and this week's presenter, Scheherazade Bloul.

Today we hear from Dr Samah Jabr, a Palestinian psychiatrist living in Jerusalem who recently visited Australia for the first time to tour her new book, Radiance in Pain and Resilience: The Global Reverberation of Palestinian Historical Trauma.We spoke with Dr Jabr shortly ahead of a lecture and panel discussion organised by the Shifa Project held at RMIT on August 17.The event was MCed by Nasser Mashni along with panellists Leah Manaema Avene and Tasnim Samak. Dr Gary Foley was also scheduled to speak but was unfortunately unable to attend on the day.

 On this episode of Women on the Line we chat with 44 Flats United (44FU) are a group of residents, former residents and supporters of public housing, organising against the Victorian State Government's decision to demolish the 44 high-rise commission flats and a growing number of walkups across Narrm (Melbourne). They are guided by the principle that not one person should be left worse off because of this government's decision to demolish their homes, that public housing needs to be defended and protected for current residents and future generations to come and that on the unceded sovereign land of First Peoples, no decisions should be made about the sale or leasing of public land until Treaties with First Peoples have been negotiated and finalised.We hear from R-Coo Tran, leader of 44 FU and Thi, a Vietnamese woman living in a housing estate in Richmond. We chat about the major problems with the estate demolition plan, what impact this is having on residents and how 44FU is organising on this campaign. Please note that parts of the conversation are in Vietnamese and have been translated and edited for brevity.

On this week’s episode we look into big tech companies - their complicity in war, their pervasive use of surveillance and data, and the impacts this is having on us as individuals, as artists, and as communities. Our first conversation is with Cher Tan, an essayist and critic whose written work has been published widely. Cher delves into the dark side of Spotify; its ties to the military-industrial complex, its role in stripping artists of their rights and dignity, as well as the way it has homogenised art and culture. Later in the program, we’ll hear an interview with Lucinda Thorpe, Privacy Campaigner at Digital Rights Watch, which aired on 3CR’s Tuesday Breakfast on 12 August 2025. In this interview, Lucinda outlines the latest Productivity Commission report which calls for a pause on AI regulation; how this benefits big tech companies and the negative impacts this will have on our privacy.

Today we hear speeches from the Convergence on Canberra which took place from 20-22 July.More than a thousand people from across so-called Australia gathered outside Parliament House to demand that the Federal Government impose sanctions on Israel in response to the state’s ongoing genocide of Palestinians.There were over 24 speakers across the Convergence, today we hear from Amal Naser, Leah House, Janet Parker and Hiba Farra.

On this episode of Women on the Line we hear from Thaan, founder of Wholistik Permaculture, a social enterprise based in Chiang Mai, Thailand that aims to connect people with nature and create an alternative to living within capitalism. Thaan talks to us about the importance of permaculture, building sustainably, creating safe queer spaces in nature, educating children and families about sustainability, and sharing knowledge and skills across brown, black and Indigenous cultures and communities. Follow Thaan's work on Instagram @wholistik_permaculture and his music @fluidfrequenciesmusic   

In the first half of the show, we bring you speeches from the “Future Fund Invests in Genocide” rally held on June 26 in Naarm/Melbourne. We hear from Jaimie Jeffrey, who is a member of the No Aukus Vic and Elbit Out of Vic campaigns, as well as Romina Beitseen, an Iranian unionist and peace campaigner with the Campaign for International Cooperation and Disarmament.In the second half, sound artist Bridget Chappell takes us to the occupied West Bank, where they interview Yara Dowani, co-founder of Om Sleiman Farm in Bil’in village, west of Ramallah. Yara speaks about agroecology as a form of resistance, centring Palestinian food sovereignty, solidarity economies, and the reclamation of land and identity in the face of Israeli coloniality in its various manifestations.