Radio Reversal

The Second Inaugural Meeting of the NOlympics Committee 2032

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +1000

This week on Radio Reversal, join us for the Second Inaugural Meeting of the NOlympics Committee 2032. In this episode, Anna and Nat are continuing the conversation from our first NOlympics show to consider why exactly the Olympics is such a bad proposition for host cities (and what we could be doing about it!)

We are continuing our conversation using John Rennie Short's theory of "event capture" to express the many and varied ways that these kinds of mega events work to reorganise the city around the needs and interests of global capital rather than local people. Towards the end of the show, we also introduce the idea of "narrative capture" to consider how mega events work by reinvigorating and operationalizing repressive forms of nationalism; and how this goes hand in hand with rising fascism and new forms of colonialism and colonial violence.

Songs played
SAMARA - Woman
Council Grounds - Doubt
Worm Girlz - Kills me like you do
Clover Love - Quarter Life Crisis

Palestine Activism Roundup

Thu, 18 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +1000

Happy Thursday, Zedly ones! It’s han and Marissa in the studio with you today for an extended Radio Reversal show (we’re taking over the Talking Zeds slot from 10am-12pm too). This week, we’re bringing you a roundup of reflections from the struggle for Palestinian liberation in so-called australia, from folks resisting Palestinian censorship and oppression.

First up, we’ll hear from Dana Endelmanis, dear friend of Radio Reversal, proud unionist and trans justice organiser, about her experiences at the Palestine solidarity protest last Sunday in Magandjin - Six Words for a Free Palestine. In particular, Dana will be talking to us about her arrest under Queensland’s current anti-Palestine speech laws. After that, we’ll be speaking with Rouba Rayan, an organiser with Justice for Palestine Magan-djin about the High Court challenge to those same laws. Finally, we share an interview with Jordy Silverstein with some early reflections on the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion. The federal government established the Royal Commission following the Bondi attack and a concerted lobby campaign by Zionist organisations and their supporters. Or as Nick Reimer's piece in Overland names it: zionism in real time.

Today’s extended show is a reminder of the power and magic of community radio. Making the connections between action on the streets, in Parliament, and in courtrooms is important, even as we work hard to build a world outside the constraints of colonial, racist and carceral systems. The violence of settler colonialism is international, from Palestine to so-called australia, and so is the resistance to it. Always was, always will be! Palestine will be free!

You can donate to support Justice for Palestine Magan-djin's High Court challenge here: https://chuffed.org/project/173177-justice-for-palestine-legal-defence

Image credit: @smilingalexb on Instagram (collab with @stronghearts4palestine & others), https://www.instagram.com/p/DZTqPArCVMO

Songs played
Phil Monsour, Ethan Enoch, Sophie Nishizawa, Matt Hsu - Which Side Are You On?
Byrd of Paradise & Lil Mase - Sky's The Limit
Phoebe Bridgers - Scott Street
Kiss Facility - Qamar 14

NOlympics 2032

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +1000

This morning on Radio Reversal, Anna and Nat discuss the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games, and why being a host city is, overwhelmingly, a bad thing for the city and a worse thing for a city's poorer and more marginalised inhabitants. We draw on John Rennie Short's idea of "event capture" to look at the ways hosting a mega-event redirects urban processes (further!) away from more just modes of planning and transformation, the ways mega-events drive further dispossession of First Nations Peoples and displace poorer residents, and the ways even fairly limited checks and balances around social and environmental protections, and transparency and accountability in the planning and governance system get dodged, or overriden. All in service of an event that will cost billions and that will not even break even. We want to dig into the extensive evidence-base for why hosting the Olympics is a bad idea for cities, and why our refusals of specific venues should be coupled with refusing the Olympics anywhere.

Songs played
Isabelle Skye - Subaru
Sarah Guppy - Alice Says
Cygnette - Old Friend
Sophie Nishizawa - on the seventh day

Updates from the Goori Camp Embassy

Thu, 4 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +1000

On today's show, we've got plenty of great new music to play for you, plus some updates from the Goori Camp Embassy at Barrambin (Victoria Park) ahead of construction of a stadium for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. You can support Goori Camp Embassy here. The removal of First Nations Peoples and supporters from the Goori Camp site is especially aggregious as it has taken place during so-called "Reconciliation Week". We reflect on the project of Reconciliation as one that prioritises settler comfort over meaningful action in service of recognition, reparations, restitution, and responsibility towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, as identified by Dr Innez Haua from the Centre for Global Indigenous Futures.

Songs played
Feist - Borrow Trouble
Jaguar Jonze - Naked
Serebii - Bends Not Breaks
Sophie Nishizawa - when will our bodies feel like our own
Gurridyula - Running Out Of Time
TIAHN - More
Lykke Li - Happy Now
Grace Cummings - My God
Isabelle Skye - Subaru
Ethan Enoch - I Express

28th of May

Thu, 28 May 2026 10:00:00 +1000

In this episode, join Anna and Jonno as they reverse the radio on fascism in the colony. We dig into the idea of colonial fascism - the specific ways that fascism exists in the DNA of colonial states - and talk about why this concept is so helpful in understanding what's going on in the world at the moment. We talk a bit about the media reporting on the torture and harassment of participants in the Global Sumud Flotilla (including our dear friend and comrade Sam Woripa Watson) and how western states have tried to exceptionalise the actions of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and completely erase the context of these actions in the context of an ongoing genocide and occupation of Gaza. We then turn to the rise of hard-right electoral movements - from Trump in the US, to Reform in the UK and One Nation here in so-called australia. We reflect on the value of colonial fascism as a way of understanding that these movements aren't an aberration or a departure from business as usual in the colony - they're just moments where the liberal mask of colonialism slips and its underlying logics are laid bare.

A big, juicy, chatty show today and as always, we'd love to hear your thoughts! What do you think about colonial fascism in this moment? Do you think the concept is useful in thinking about this political moment?

If this week's discussion makes you curious to learn more, come along to our monthly community event "No Phones, No Phascists" tomorrow (Friday 29 May!) to hear Aunty Dr. Mary Graham talking about colonial fascism in person! Details below!

Songs played
Dobby - Sabotage!
Joan and the Giants - Still Breathing
Miss Kannina - MOB TIES
Tia Gostelow - Nothing Else Matters

Activist roundup - Global Sumud Flotilla + Kanak Delegation

Thu, 21 May 2026 10:00:00 +1000

Happy Thursday, Zedly ones! It’s Marissa and Rosh in the studio today. This week, we’re bringing you a roundup of activist happenings around Magan-djin from the last few weeks.

First up, we’ll hear from Subhi about the Global Sumud Flotilla, in an interview with our wonderful co-producer, Anna. Subhi is an organiser with Northern Rivers for Palestine and a local spokesperson for the Global Sumud Flotilla. As you may be aware, all of the boats on the current mission of the Global Sumud Flotilla travelling to Gaza carrying essential humanitarian aid have now been intercepted in international waters by the Israeli Occupation Forces, and the IOF have forcibly detained participants. 11 Australian citizens have been taken to Israeli prisons, including our dear comrades Sam Woripa Watson, a Wangerriburrah and Birri Gubba community activist and filmmaker based here in Magan-djin and Surya McEwen.

After that, we’ll share some recordings from the Kanak delegation’s recent visit to Magan-djin. These recordings are from a panel event at Echo&Bounce on 3 May, organised with Treaty Before Sports. We’ll hear from leaders in the movement for Kanak liberation from French colonisation in the Pacific. These contributions were interpreted live, so you’ll hear from delegates in their own voices and from the interpreter. It’s very special to be able to share these with you, thanks to our co-producer Rosh recording on the night.

Today’s show is yet another reminder of the power and necessity of taking action together. Gather with friends, get in the streets, contact your political representatives, join a Justice for Palestine Magan-djin organising meeting, get down to the Goori Camp embassy at Barambin, sign up to the BREAD substack newsletter and find like-minded comrades in real life. All of these actions matters. As Sam reminds us, show up and keep showing up. Until Palestine is free. Always was, always will be.

Image credit: @northernriversforpalestine on instagram, https://www.instagram.com/p/DYgh25dEiBG/

Songs played
The Jungle Giants - Where Can I Put All My Love
Drifting Clouds - Raarrandharr
Sophie Nishiwaza - on the seventh day
Jen Cloher - He Toka-Tu-Moana

NDIS in the media and the budget, part 2 of Radio Reversal x Only Human crossover with Belle

Thu, 14 May 2026 10:00:00 +1000

Good morning Zedheads!!

This week on the show we are digging into the changes announced to the NDIS in this year’s federal budget, and how those major cuts to the NDIS have been explained and justified by the Labor party and in the media. Like many of you, we were horrified to see the announcement that NDIS funding would be dramatically reduced in this budget, amid an emerging moral panic about the idea that people are “rorting” the system.

We also wanted to share the final parts of Anna's interview with Belle from Only Human on 4ZZZ Zed Digital, where we talked about Belle's experiences of psychiatric illness and disability, the life changing impact of accessing the NDIS, and the scary normalisation of carceral and punitive responses to psychosis. Today we want to use the final part of this beautiful chat with Belle in part to contextualise the announcements regarding NDIS funding that we have seen this year - to help emphasise the very real and dangerous impacts that reducing support for people with disabilities will have for their wellbeing.

We'll also be playing lots of new and local music, some twinkly folk for the sunshowers.

Tune in from 9-10am on 4ZZZ, or catch up later on demand, via the 4ZZZ website. You can also catch us on the Community Radio Network and in a podcasting app near you! (that is, on your phone).

Songs played
Emma Donovan - I can't stand the rain
Arianna - Hearts Collide
Ruby Mae - Aunty
Hag - Henry

Radio Reversal x Only Human - Lived experience and disability justice with Belle from Only Human

Thu, 7 May 2026 10:00:00 +1000

Happy Thursday, Zedly ones! It’s Marissa in the studio today, bringing you an interview that our wonderful co-producer Anna recorded with 4zzz’s very own Belle from Only Human.

As you probably know, Only Human is a show on 4zzz that airs live on 102.1fm on Sundays, from 12-1pm and on Zed Digital on Tuesdays from 6-7pm. It is produced by disabled folks and centres disability justice, disabled and queer artists, and so much more. You can find links to everything Only Human online via their helpful Linktree.

Today’s interview is a thought-provoking and tender conversation in which Belle shares generously from and about their lived experience of bipolar. The conversation touches on disability justice and the intersection between the health system and carceral logics, as well as the importance of access to life-saving systems like the NDIS.

If the show brings up distress or challenges for you, please remember that you can call Lifeline’s 24 hour crisis support line on 13 11 14 or, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners, you can call 13 92 76. And reach out to your personal support networks too.

Also a reminder about the National Day of Action to protect the NDIS this Saturday, 9 May. The rally starts at 3.15pm at King George Square and has been organised in response to the Commonwealth Government’s announcement of funding cuts to the NDIS. Masks are encouraged and will be available on the day. Show up if you can to show your support!

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Image credit: belle.frieda.aimee, https://www.instagram.com/p/DSO8Gb3iflI/?igsh=eDUxa2RsbW5vampm

Songs played
The Neon Signs - Wishful Thinking (feat. Mocara Kelly)
Grace Alexandra - Spotlight
Djanaba - Doin 2 Me feat. Ngaiire and Jewel Owusu
Naavikaran - New Beginnings
Teenage Joans - Intifada

Sam Woripa Watson on the Global Sumud Flotilla

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 10:00:00 +1000

Hi Zedforce! On today's show, Anna catches up with Sam Woripa Watson, a Wangerriburrah and Birri Gubba community activist and filmmaker, as he sails with the Global Sumud Flotilla to deliver food and medicine to Gaza. Anna chats with Sam about what sailing with the Flotilla involves, why they chose to participate, and what this Flotilla hopes to achieve.

“We see our collective liberation in Palestinian liberation, and theirs in ours. As First Nations people, we know what colonial violence looks like - land theft and erasure. Palestinians are facing that same violence now. Standing with Gaza is standing for justice everywhere. Let Palestinians live. Let aid flow. Cut ties with Israel.”
- Sam Woripa Watson

You can chip in to support Sam's participation in the Global Sumud Flotilla here.

Songs played
Still Full From Lunch - Rain
Porches - Shape
Dobby - Sabotage! ft. Josh Pyke
Kiss Facility - Kotshena
Kneecap - FENIAN
Selve - Desire
Absolutely - Nowhere to Hide

Reflections on legal action for human rights with Sam Tracy from Basic Rights Queensland

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 10:00:00 +1000

Good morning Zed-legends! It’s Marissa in the studio today, bringing you an interview with Sam Tracy, Practice Director at Basic Rights Queensland, a community legal centre that works on human rights, discrimination and poverty-related laws. Sam discusses a recent win on behalf of homeless clients in the Supreme Court in the case of Bobeldyk and Anor v Moreton Bay City Council; Eichin & Ors v Moreton Bay City Council [2026] QSC 27. While the decision sadly does not stop Council’s from enforcing laws to move people on and destroy their belongings, it’s a starting point for thinking about the role of lawyers and the legal system in this moment.

In this conversation, Sam also discusses some proposed legislation to further expand police powers to ban people from prescribed public places. Alongside the recent laws banning pro-Palestine speech and the arrests at protests over the weekend, these laws represent a concerning trend to control how people use and exist in public places. As always, this is a reminder that struggles for justice on stolen First Nations land are interconnected and necessarily anti-colonial, anti-racist and anti-capitalist.

Don’t forget it’s April Atonement, making it a perfect time to (re)subscribe to 4zzz to support community radio that centres these struggles for justice. You can get your warm inner glow at www.4zzz.org.au/support.

Image credit: @manukoreri and @magandjininsurgentmedia on instagram (support if you can!)

Songs played
3% - Welcome 2 Country (feat. Mi-Kaisha)
Ancient Channels - Black Metals
YINGURAY - Friends
Mop & The Dropouts - Brisbane Blacks
Media Puzzle - More Horse, Less Code

Palestine Calling - Roads to Justice p2

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 10:00:00 +1000

The broadcast from the 16th of April.

Songs played
YINGURAY - Friends
Asha Jefferies - Backwards Baby
Mia Lovelock - We Belong
ssszlami - girl on the screen
Nat Pavlovic - Big Heart