Race Matters

Korean-American author Min Jin Lee talks today's America, her 2017 best-selling novel Pachinko, how home and language inform her identity, and why Rihanna's 'Diamonds' is the antithesis to tall poppy syndrome. The book Min recommends is Racial Melancholia, Racial Dissociation by David L. Eng and Shinhee Han. Plus – if you have some spare change this week, please consider donating to RAICES: https://www.raicestexas.org/

Author and publisher Gerii Pleitez talks writing, relocation and bypassing literary gatekeepers as a woman of colour.

Dixie Crawford and Barbie-Lee Kirby join Sara Khan for a special NAIDOC Week 2019 edition of Race Matters, recorded live at the Australian Museum.

Sexual preference? Or a masked vehicle for racial and economic prejudice? Darren Lesaguis and Western Sydney Greek-Australian novelist, Peter Polites, dive in to the ways cis-gay men navigate identity and desire, including the ways language has been used to define our relationships. Peter's second novel, The Pillars, is out this month. It's a satirical interrogation of the Australian dream of home ownership over a bed of queer noir.

An insightful conversation with academic, activist and Behrouz Boochani's translator Omid Tofighian, plus a snippet from the live edition of Race Matters as part of NAIDOC Week 2019.

We celebrate NAIDOC Week 2019 with First Nations drag icon Felicia Foxx.

Multidisciplinary storyteller Emele Ugavule talks about her work, her experience navigating various sectors of the arts industry, and how AI can promote cultural preservation.

Talking movement, fluidity and gender with Sydney-based interdisciplinary artist Bhenji Ra. Grab tickets to Junglepussy at Oxford Art Factory, hosted by House of Slé + featuring a bunch of amazing guests, here.

Think arts writing has nothing in common with lasagne? Think again! Sydney-based arts writer and arts worker Soo-Min Shim explains all. Check out Desire Lines as mentioned by Soo-Min. Plus, catch Ecologies of Being at Kudos Gallery from July 2.

Perth-born, Sydney-based artist Abdul Abdullah talks racial profiling, challenging people's prejudiced perceptions of race and culture through art, and King Keanu.  See Abdul speak alongside Omar Musa with live music from OKENYO on Wednesday 8 June at the Art Gallery of NSW. More info here.

A look into the history and nuance of Reconciliation Week with Sara Khan and Georgia Mokak. For further reading, see 'Decolonization is not a metaphor' by Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang – available to read for free here.  

Naarm-based writer and social commentator Nayuka Gorrie on the power of Blak women, self-care and the moment they realised their race was powerful.

Intergenerational language, first times in drag and... Spider-Man fan fiction? Korean-American writer and essayist Alexander Chee talks to Darren about his best-seller How to Write an Autobiographical Novel and so, so much more.

Bestselling author of Friday Black, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, on home, his experience as a young Black male writer, and his passionate take on the latest season of Game of Thrones (spoiler alert for Season 8 Episode 3 from 29:30 – consider yourself warned!). This episode features tunes from ScHoolboy Q ft. Kendrick Lamar, Janelle Monae, Solange and Ramin Djawadi.

Sweatshop Western Sydney manager Winnie Siulolovao Dunn and author Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah examine the power of writing from the margins. Grab your copy of Sweatshop Women: Volume One here.

wāni Le Frère's very first spoken word performance was at an open mic, where he read his diary aloud at a friend's suggestion and moved audience members to tears. He then proceeded to fall in love with the artform via Tupac Shakur, John Coltrane and Nina Simone. Ahead of the Sydney premiere of Tales of an Afronaut at Griffin Theatre's Batch Festival, the Naarm-based artist speaks to Darren and Rhyan about the self, family, masculinity and what Nas’ Illmatic means to him.

Have you ever considered who gets to decide what's put in a museum? Nathan Sentance, First Nations project officer at the Australian Museum, joins Darren and Sara to speak about the importance of Indigenous ownership over the histories and stories told by cultural institutions about First Nations peoples. Read more of Nathan's work at Archival Decolonist, and follow him on Twitter.

In Sydney for the first time, Persian-Kiwi rapper, audio engineer and producer CHAII joins Georgia and Rhyan in conversation on the site of the 4Elements Hip Hop Festival in Bankstown. Watch her stellar debut music video here.

"I don't see myself casting as a white dude as the lead in my movie," Jordan Peele, director of Get Out – and the new and incredibly successful Us – has said. Darren and Sara chat about why Peele may feel this way, why it's an uncontroversial notion, and the importance of strong and varied representation in film.

An integral figure in Sydney's creative scene today, Nadia Hernández is a multidisciplinary artist based on Gadigal land. Over two days, Georgia Mokak and Rhyan Clapham shared tea and stories in Nadia's home, spanning reflections on her homeland Venezuela, the complexities of diaspora and the influence of both of these on her practice.