The Wheeler Centre
Episodes
Laila Lalami: The Dream Hotel
17 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Longlisted for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction, Laila Lalami’s The Dream Hotel is a chilling dissection of surveillance culture, techno...
Kate Reid: On Fast Cars and Croissants
09 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
At 13, Kate Reid already knew exactly where she was headed: a career in Formula 1 and a life lived at full throttle. But after earning a degree in aer...
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This
25 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Hear Omar El Akkad discuss his searing work, 'One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This' with host Tasneem Chopra. Sparked by his viral twe...
Sophie Gilbert: Girl on Girl
12 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Hear from Atlantic culture critic and Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer Sophie Gilbert as she discusses her new book 'Girl on Girl' with host Kate Jinx....
Australian Story: Leigh Sales with Jelena Dokic
28 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After arriving in Australia as a refugee, Jelena Dokic shot to fame when she made the semi-finals of Wimbledon at just 17 years of age. But off the co...
[Podcast Exclusive] Eric Puchner: Dream State
14 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An exclusive Wheeler Centre live-recorded podcast featuring best-selling American author Eric Puchner, as he lifts the curtain on his latest novel 'Dr...
We Used to Be Journos: Live
07 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Get your fix of honest and original media analysis from two insiders who’ve broken plenty of news and been broken by it, too. In this special li...
Liz Pelly: Mood Machine
17 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the age of algorithms, music is under constant pressure to respond to mood, brand and data.Hear from music journalist and cultural critic Liz Pelly...
You Are Here with David Nicholls
02 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Beloved author David Nicholls takes to the stage with host Beverley Wang, to discuss his latest novel 'You Are Here'.This talk was originally presente...
Consuming Culture
19 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Each year at the Melbourne International Film Festival, a panel of guests gather to dissect the highs and lows of the zeitgeist. Host Michael Sun, ess...
Jacinta Parsons at Montalto
05 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What can ageing teach us? For broadcast and writer Jacinta Parsons, the answer is – perhaps everything. Inspired by many conversation...
Lauren Roberts: Fearless
22 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Join New York Times bestselling author Lauren Roberts in her exclusive Melbourne appearance to celebrate Fearless, the highly anticipated third and fi...
Cheng Lei: A Memoir of Freedom
08 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 2020, Cheng Lei was working as a business reporter for China's state-run English language television station when she was arrested on charges of sh...
Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
American Jewish journalist Peter Beinart reflects on the world around him – and his place within it – amid the ongoing conflict in the Mid...
Jeanette Winterson: 40 Years of Storytelling
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 1985, Jeanette Winterson published her debut novel – the groundbreaking and subversive Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit. Genre-bending and narr...
Back to Back Barries Live: Does Anthony Albanese have the guts for big reform?
28 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Join Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barry, hosts of the Guardian’s political podcast Back to Back Barries, for a clear-eyed analysis of the 2025 Austra...
Jamila Rizvi and Rosie Waterland at Montalto
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Over an intimate two-course dinner at Montalto, broadcaster and social policy expert Jamila Rizvi and comedian and podcaster Rosie Waterland come toge...
Kara Swisher: Burn Book
07 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Legendary tech journalist and podcaster Kara Swisher opens up about a lifetime of reporting on Silicon Valley with host Sophie Black. In a...
Love, Loss and Ambition with Brooke Boney
29 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Trailblazing journalist and proud Gamilaroi woman Brooke Boney opens up like never before in All of It, her powerful debut essay collection. Like many...
Pankaj Mishra: The World After Gaza
15 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For the past 20 years, Pankaj Mishra has written incisive studies of a world marked by inequalities and the effects of globalisation. He has traced gl...
Fit Check: Size, Price and Sustainability in Fashion
01 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this panel discussion journalist Emma Do, A Plus Market founder Sam van Zweden and writer and podcast host Maggie Zhou examine the barriers within ...
Geraldine Brooks at Montalto
25 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After spending their early years together in conflict zones as foreign correspondents, Geraldine Brooks and partner Tony Horwitz relocated from Austra...
Rachel Kushner: Creation Lake
18 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Rachel Kushner’s new novel Creation Lake tells the story of Sadie Smith, an American spy-for-hire working in the secretive world of privately co...
Ben Shewry is Going to Die
13 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ben Shewry knows obsession well. It’s what has propelled his innovative Melbourne restaurant, Attica, to national and global acclaim. His new me...
Kasey Chambers in Conversation: Just Don't Be a D**khead [Geelong]
29 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Content warning: This episode includes occasional course language. From her childhood in the Australian outback to the heights of her chart-topping in...
Roxane Gay: Opinions
22 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Unapologetic, sometimes controversial, and always unflinchingly honest, Roxane Gay has built a remarkable career using her powerful voice to articulat...
Noni Hazelhurst in Conversation: Dropping the Mask
15 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
National treasure Noni Hazlehurst details her life on stage and screen and takes us behind-the-scenes of a brilliant career. Noni Hazlehurst’s ver...
Liminal Festival: Critical Limit
12 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Critics Eda Gunaydin, Michael Sun and Cher Tan examine the present state and potential futures of literary criticism. Literary criticism seems to be ...
Liminal Festival: Language Under Occupation
12 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Content warning: This recording includes occasional course language.Evelyn Araluen, Hasib Hourani and Mykaela Saunders discuss the careful craft of sh...
Liminal Festival: The Novel
12 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What is the future of the great Australian novel? Novelists Jessica Au, Brian Castro and André Dao contemplate the novel, the nation and its literatu...
Rebecca F. Kuang: Yellowface
08 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
International bestselling author Rebecca F. Kuang discusses her groundbreaking novel Yellowface and the future of storytelling at this exclusive Melb...
Bonnie Garmus: Lessons in Chemistry
27 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A runaway favourite of book clubs the world over, Bonnie Garmus’s debut novel Lessons in Chemistry transports readers to early 1960s California. Eli...
Don Watson: On the US Election
20 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On the 5 November this year, the American people will go to the polls to make a choice, the impact of which will be felt around the globe. Will Repu...
The Great Aussie Road Trip: Heather Ewart in conversation with Barrie Cassidy [Kyneton]
13 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Award-winning journalist Heather Ewart hits the Back Roads to Kyneton to journey through her great Australian road trips. Over a career spanning f...
Consuming Culture
06 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Our annual panel of pop culture experts Brodie Lancaster, Alison Willmore, Hannah Diviney and Jared Richards gather for a dissection of the zeitgeist....
The Garden Against Time: A Conversation with Olivia Laing
26 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As part of The Wheeler Centre's 2024 Spring Fling program and in partnership with Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, listen to an exclusive podcast inter...
Boys to Men: Remodelling Masculinity
16 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
From ‘manfluencer’ culture and the rising popularity of Andrew Tate, to lists ranking teenage girls on their appearance, there’s an urgent need ...
Blak, Loud and Proud: First Nations Classics 2024 [Tamala Shelton]
02 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers have been sharing stories on this continent for millennia. From best-selling and award-winning poetry, m...
Global Game Changers: The Evolution of the Olympic Games
12 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Olympic Games have always been a site of soft diplomacy for participating nations. This has never been truer than in 2024, as athletes and countri...
Surveillance Technology and AI: Meredith Whittaker in Conversation
05 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Meredith Whittaker is not afraid to take on tech giants. In 2018, she led the famous mass staff walkout at Google over the company’s laissez faire a...
[Podcast Exclusive]: Khin Myint in Conversation with Anna Krien
21 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this Wheeler Centre podcast exclusive, hear former Next Chapter recipient Khin Myint in conversation with Anna Krien as they discuss Myint's Fragil...
Ma Thida: Myanmar's Struggle for Democracy
14 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In 1993, Ma Thida was sentenced to 20 years in prison for her support of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy and for ‘endangering pub...
Cultural Catalysts: Creativity in the Sri Lankan Diaspora
07 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
S Shakthidharan’s debut play Counting and Cracking began with a shoebox of his great-grandfather’s letters. Working with his family and the wider ...
Sam Elkin: Detachable Penis
31 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Elkin’s Detachable Penis: A Queer Legal Saga, recounts his bumpy journey from lesbian to transgender lawyer in the aftermath of the 2017 marriag...
Dervla McTiernan: What Happened to Nina? [Geelong]
24 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Bestselling author Dervla McTiernan discusses her suspenseful new novel about two families at war with host J.P. Pomare at Geelong Library. Nina and S...
Steve Albini
17 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Steve Albini was a legendary audio engineer and musician. The frontman of Big Black and Shellac, Albini saw the machinations of the industry up close ...
Paul Auster: Burning Boy
10 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Paul Auster was a true giant of American literature. Acclaimed for his best-selling works of fiction, nonfiction and poetry, including The New York Tr...
In Conversation with Fern Brady: Strong Female Character
03 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Fern Brady, one of the UK’s most exciting stand-ups, visited The Wheeler Centre to discuss her bestselling book Strong Female Character as part of t...
Chanel Contos: Consent Laid Bare
26 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Chanel Contos has led a powerful movement to include consent education in the national curriculum, and was recently appointed by Julia Gillard to chai...
Origin of You: Mindy Meng Wang 王萌 and Sui Zhen
19 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Origin of You by Mindy Meng Wang 王萌 and Sui Zhen is a highly personal musical exploration of lived experiences of migration, motherhood, grief and...
Richard Flanagan: Question 7
12 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Flanagan’s masterful new novel Question 7 is his most personal book yet: a tribute to his parents and to his island home of Tasmania, and a ...
Being Biracial Live at The Round with Aurelia St Clair and Darcy Vescio
05 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Join co-hosts and co-creators Maria Birch-Morunga and Kate Robinson for a special live recording of their hit podcast Being Biracial, coinciding with ...
Patrick deWitt: The Librarianist
29 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Known for literary masterpieces like The Sisters Brothers and French Exit, Canadian writer Patrick deWitt has been delighting readers for more than a ...
Jane Harrison: The Visitors
18 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Jane Harrison’s work has captivated audiences globally, earning her international acclaim for plays including Stolen and Rainbow’s End. With an im...
Richard Ford in Conversation
08 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Ford is a true literary luminary. The author of eight novels and four short story collections, Ford’s illustrious career spans nearly five d...
Jane Smiley in Conversation
01 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Author Jane Smiley has been hailed as one of the Great American Novelists of the 20th century. Her remarkable career spans more than 30 books, includi...
Brittany Spanos: Swiftmania (Taylor's Version)
16 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Taylor Swift’s concerts have shifted the economic climate of entire cities; she has prompted US Senate hearings about major ticketing reforms and in...
Day of the Imprisoned Writer: Behrouz Boochani and Kylie Moore-Gilbert
09 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Kurdish-Iranian journalist Behrouz Boochani was imprisoned on Manus Island for over six years, and during that time he became acutely aware that oppre...
Trent Dalton: Lola in the Mirror
26 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Before he found runaway success with his debut novel, Boy Swallows Universe, and follow-up All Our Shimmering Skies, Trent Dalton spent decades as a j...
Comedy Crystal Ball: What's in Store for 2024
19 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For the Wheeler Centre’s 2023 end-of-year showcase, a host of the brightest names in Australian stand-up comedy – including Janty Blair, Scout Box...
Everybody's Trying to Find Their Way Home
15 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When acclaimed songwriter and performer Jen Cloher (Ngāti Kahu, Ngāpuhi) started to learn about their Māori heritage their whole outlook on life ch...
Nazanin Boniadi: The 2023 Sydney Peace Prize Lecture
08 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Acclaimed actor, activist and 2023 Sydney Peace Prize-winner Nazanin Boniadi shares her dream of a 'a free, prosperous and secular democratic Iran'. I...
Leigh Sales at Montalto
01 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Leigh Sales is one of Australia’s most beloved journalists. A veteran anchor of the ABC’s flagship current affairs program 7.30, the new presenter...
Rebecca Makkai Has Some Questions
24 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The author of The Great Believers and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Rebecca Makkai is back with an explosive new work. Described by the New York ...
Ed Yong: An Immense World
17 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, acclaimed science journalist Ed Yong takes us beyond the limits of human perception to uncover the world through the eyes of animals....
Caroline O'Donoghue: The Rachel Incident
10 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Caroline O’Donoghue, bestselling author and host of the award-winning podcast Sentimental Garbage discusses her new novel The Rache...
See Also: Live at the Wheeler Centre
03 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Pop culture aficionados Kate Jinx and Brodie Lancaster join us for a special live recording of their hit podcast See Also. Each week on their pod, Bro...
Melissa Lucashenko: Torching the Colonial Myth
27 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In her most ambitious work to date, acclaimed Goorie author and Miles Franklin Literary Award winner Melissa Lucashenko turns her hand to historical f...
Carly Findlay: A Perfectly Melbourne Day
16 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
To celebrate the Wheeler Centre’s Spring Fling, we asked six beloved Victorian writers to reflect on the theme Above and Beyond: considering what it...
Alice Pung: A Great Mischief
11 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
To celebrate the Wheeler Centre’s Spring Fling, we asked six beloved Victorian writers to reflect on the theme Above and Beyond: considering what it...
Opening Night: Above and Beyond - Thomas Mayo
09 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
To open the Wheeler Centre’s 2023 Spring Fling series, six Australian cultural icons took to the stage at Melbourne Town Hall for an intimate evenin...
Claire G. Coleman: The Walls I Carry
05 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
To celebrate the Wheeler Centre’s Spring Fling, we asked six beloved Victorian writers to reflect on the theme Above and Beyond: considering what it...
Jennifer Down: The Immortality of the Crab
03 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
To celebrate the Wheeler Centre’s Spring Fling, we asked six beloved Victorian writers to reflect on the theme Above and Beyond: considering what it...
Nevo Zisin: As Above, So Below
28 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
To celebrate the Wheeler Centre’s Spring Fling, we asked six beloved Victorian writers to reflect on the theme Above and Beyond: considering what it...
Bruce Pascoe: Jinoor
26 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
To celebrate the Wheeler Centre’s Spring Fling, we asked six beloved Victorian writers to reflect on the theme Above and Beyond: considering what it...
Kevin Jared Hosein: Hungry Ghosts [Podcast Exclusive]
22 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Kevin Jared Hosein is fast becoming known as one of global literature’s most exciting new talents. His new novel, Hungry Ghosts, explores violence, ...
Chloe Hayden's Lightbulb Moment
08 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Wheeler Centre’s Spring Fling returns for 2023 and this year we’re going Above and Beyond. From October 2 to 14 we’re celebrating the big id...
Angela Saini: The Patriarchs
01 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In her latest book The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule, award-winning science journalist Angela Saini explores the science and history of male domina...
Maxine Beneba Clarke's Lightbulb Moment
25 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Wheeler Centre’s Spring Fling returns for 2023 and this year we’re going Above and Beyond. From October 2 to 14 we’re celebrating the big id...
Introducing Spring Fling: Above and Beyond (Oct 2-14)
18 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Hear from our Head of Programming, Veronica Sullivan, as she reflects on last year’s successful Spring Fling, and shares what’s in store for audie...
Colson Whitehead: Harlem Shuffle
11 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
One of only four writers to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction twice, Colson Whitehead is the multi-award-winning and bestselling author of works incl...
Kicking Goals: Soccer, Equality and the Women's World Cup
04 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The 2023 Women’s World Cup is being held Australia, and with more than two billion viewers expected to tune into this year’s tournament, it’s a ...
Lunch with Asma Kahn at Montalto
28 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As the owner of Darjeeling Express, British restaurateur Asma Khan astounds diners with sumptuous Indian cuisine and inspires as an advocate for socia...
Lunch with Kate Legge at Montalto
21 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In her latest work of non-fiction, renowned journalist and author Kate Legge turns her attention to the oft-taboo topic of infidelity. Drawing from he...
A Lifetime of Advocacy: An Evening with Dame Graça Machel
14 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dame Graça Machel is one of the world’s leading humanitarians and political activists. She was the first Education Minister of Mozambique, the co-f...
Room for Everyone: Designing for Inclusivity
07 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“Where are the people who are the other in this room? Because actually they have the skills, the capacity, the resilience, the understanding, and al...
Powering Up: Australia's Path to Clean Energy
30 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“Coal, oil and gas shouldn’t be vilified. They’ve brought us the civilisation we have – but with side effects. The big one is carbon dioxide l...
Surreal Realities and Cursed Bunnies with Bora Chung
23 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“Real people are weirder than characters in any story” - Bora Chung. With its unique blend of horror, speculative fiction and folklore, Bora Chu...
Saving Time with Jenny Odell
16 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“Being able to pay a certain type of attention requires time, and it’s obviously helped by having more control over your time or how time feels, b...
Dear Prudence: Life Lessons with Daniel M Lavery
09 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Content warning: The Wheeler Centre wishes to advise this recording includes occasional coarse language.“I want to be responsible towards the person...
Disruptive Comedy: Breaking Barriers with Laughter
04 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“For me it’s just like, I know who I am off stage, I know how we’re perceived within our communities - and I’m proud and I want to make fun of...
Finding the Heart of the Nation: Thomas Mayo in-conversation with Catherine Liddle
25 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“And he says, yes, the real Uluru Statement. So he pulls it out of this giant cylinder and lays it on my loungeroom floor. And everyone stands up an...
Craig Foster: The Republic Question
19 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“And what we’re really talking about is vesting the sovereignty of Australia in the people. But actually, the most extraordinary and beautiful thi...
Sloane Crosley: Cult Classic
10 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“I feel like the trick to writing about yourself is to not write about yourself. You are the sort of prism, or you know, the observational tank thro...
Role Mothers: Art, Creativity and Motherhood
02 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“What I discovered eventually was to use all your resources to get as much support as you can, it makes a huge difference to everybody. And give up ...
Rachel Yoder: Nightbitch
18 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“It felt like energy, like the words, the story, it just felt like something that had to come out of my body. And if I wasn’t going to write it, I...
International Women's Day: Power and Politics
11 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
"Women who often have the least amount of resources, that have the least safety net, that have the least visibility, that have the least voices or rep...
Jonathan Van Ness: Love That Story
30 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 2022, Jonathan Van Ness – Emmy nominated television personality, comedian, best-selling author, podcaster and hairstylist – joined Australian w...
Natasha Brown: Assembly
20 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
"It was important to me to try and use the book to explore this shift and this gap between what I see in the media, what I see in fiction and on telev...
Norman Swan at Montalto
06 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
"Exercise is like a vacuum cleaner for aging tissue and renews your tissue. You can look at the biopsy of muscle and your muscle is frail and old. A...