Out Of The Box

Emelda’s grandfather was kidnapped on a beach in Vanuatu and brought to Australia as a 12 year old boy to work in unspeakably harsh conditions on the sugar plantations of Northern Queensland. It’s a story that makes her a direct descendent of blackbirding - Australia’s forgotten slave trade. Her own life has been defined by identity, community and a healthy dose of black power. Emelda Davis is the head of Australia’s South Sea Islanders - Port Jackson, the principal body advocating for the recognition of blackbirding and Australian South Sea Islander culture. Saratokowia String Band - Oh My Vanuatu The Jackson 5 - ABC Stevie Wonder - Black Man Bu-Baca Diop - Njare No Fixed Address - We Have Survived Producers: Bre Jones and Nicole De Palo

Today Joey chats with bass player Ray Ahn of Australia’s thumping 80s pub rock bands, controversially titled, The Hard-Ons. Ray acts as a chronicler of the wild Australian DIY scene of the 80s and 90s through his blog and, of course, his writing is full of stories about his own bands. In 2017 he released a book of his art titled, “The Art of Ray Ahn – What I Did During My School Holidays” and Ray will be hitting the road later this year with The Hard-Ons in support of their latest album, So I Could Have Them Destroyed. ABBA – Mamma Mia Skyhooks – All My Friends Are Getting Married The Blue Oyster Cult – (Don’t Fear) The Reaper DEVO – Freedom of Choice The Victims – Television Addict

Bri Lee was a District Court Judge's Associate in Queensland where she was exposed to some of the worst rape cases in the country. It was dealing with these traumatic stories that spurred Bri to confront her own history of sexual abuse and take the man that assaulted her to court. Her book is Eggshell Skull, its examination of the toll that our justice system takes on women and all survivors of abuse. Quickly become a leading advocate in this space. Destiny's Child - Independent Women (Part 1) LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends Fleetwood Mac - The Chain The Preatures - Yanada Best Coast - Feeling OK Producers: Bre Jones and Nicole De Palo

Rick Morton is a social affairs journalist and writer, but Rick’s own story is a social affairs scoop like no other. When Rick was little growing up in the extremely remote and dusty Qld outback a terrible accident was followed by the break-up of his family. His mum and siblings were driven out of the family home into a poverty they never quite managed to escape. Producers: Bre Jones and Nicole De Palo

  As a young boy, Dor Akech Achiek spent 9 years in a refugee camp in Kenya, after escaping war-torn South Sudan. Once Australia accepted his family as refugees, as a teenager, Dor was educated at one of Sydney's most prestigious private schools. He's recently represented Australia at the UNHCR and the Global Youth Refugee Youth Conference in Geneva.  

Steve Bunbajee Hodder Watt is a radio maker but you won’t hear him stuck in traffic in the city. As the Senior News & Current Affairs presenter at Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association he broadcasts from Alice Springs into the desert, his audience hailing from some of the most remote parts of Australia, and some of that have been hit hardest by poor government policy. He’s currently in Sydney for Audiocraft - it’s a podcast festival running from tomorrow until Sunday.

Mahmood Fazal was once the sergeant-of-arms of the Mongols, one of Australia’s largest outlaw motorcycle clubs. He was in an environment shrouded in addiction, violence and often death. Now this is the world and subculture he writes about for Vice Australia.Producers: Bre Jones and Nicole De Palo

Nina Oyama, has been a bong smoker, a party goer, and done a dash working the counter at Supré but she is nothing short of a chronic overachiever. Just out of uni she was picked up to play a recurring role in the hit comedy Utopia, she was a comedy writer and performer on Tonightly with Tom Ballard, and her self-written three part series The Angus Project was picked for the ABC’s Fresh Blood initiative just to name a few of her credits. Her award-winning stand up show Needs a Lift is playing at Sydney Comedy Festival every night until Sunday 19 May. Producers: Bre Jones and Nicole De Palo

Karl Kruszelnicki is better known as ‘Dr Karl’ is an Australian science communicator and populariser. Dr Karl can be found on radio and television spitting out interesting but bizarre facts on science. Dr Karl joins Joey on Out of the Box today to discuss how he ended up in Australia, the variety of jobs he’s worked and teaches us how radio works. Producers: Bre Jones and Nicole De Palo

Akala is a rapper, who through his music, activism and writing are confronting issues of race and class that are at the heart of the legacy of the British Empire. Our guest today has spoken at writers festivals, addressed the prestigious Oxford Union, done viral Ted Talks, written for rags as high flying as The Guardian and The Independent and researched history all around the world.  Akala joins Joey on Out of the Box today to discuss his childhood, street violence and race. Producers: Bre Jones and Nicole De Palo

Fiona Wright is a writer, poet and critic from South Sydney. While attending university at the age of 19, a malicious version of anorexia struck. One that would define her life today. She is now an essayist and poet — reflecting on her experiences. Her book of essays, Small Acts of Disappearance, won the 2016 Queensland Literary Award for non-fiction, and her poetry collection, Knuckled, won the 2012 Dame Gilmore Award. Fiona joins Joey on Out of the Box to discuss growing up, her experience in hospital, and living in Sri Lanka. Producers: Bre Jones and Nicole De Palo

Ella Dreyfus is a photographer with an impressive career spanning over 30 years. Her work is often confronting and deals with issues as conceptual as masculinity to as real as the holocaust, and the shadow it has cast over her family history. Ella is now a Senior Lecturer and Head of Public Programs at the National Art School in Sydney. Producers: Bre Jones and Nicole De Palo

Sara Mansour is a lawyer, poet, co-founder and director of Bankstown Poetry Slam. Sara uses her art and passion for justice to empower others through poetry. Sara Mansour, the oldest of eight children, was born into a traditional Lebanese family. She would attend Arabic school each week, learning and memorising the Qu’ran. At the time it was unveiled, it was seen as a collection of poetry, which allowed Sara to feel reconnected with a part of herself when she started performing poetry. In high school, Sara’s love and interest in rap and hip-hop were born from trying to fit in with the people around her and reconcile her place in Australia as "other". However, this leads to her developing her interest in writing poetry and what would result in co-founding the Bankstown Poetry Slam. Sara most recently has co-founded her own company Alepha where she hopes to engage with diverse writers, speakers, thinkers and teachers in meaningful opportunities. Sara joins Joey on Out of the Box to discuss being rai

Eddie Woo is an Australian mathematician best known for his YouTube Channel focused on explanations of math problems, live from the classroom. Eddie’s parents placed a lot of importance on education, as they had packed up and left Malaysia to give their children better prospects. So when Eddie told them he wanted to be a teacher, they weren’t exactly thrilled. However, having over half a million subscribers on his YouTube channel and a ‘master teacher’ with the NSW Department of Education, Eddie’s parents are more than supportive. Eddie is not only teaching students to love mathematics, but he is also influencing the role of the teacher in the classroom. Eddie joins Joey on Out of the Box to discuss fitting into Australian culture, his struggles at school and his philosophy to teaching. Producers: Bre Jones and Nicole De Palo

Nikhil Autar is a 25-year-old social entrepreneur, writer, speaker, medical student, and survivor of childhood cancer. Growing up Nikhil's dad made him watch every episode of M.A.S.H, where the character Hawkeye inspired him to become a doctor due to his humour and caring for fundamental human rights. However, in the first term of year 12 Nikhil's health was declining, where it was later discovered he had leukemia. Nikhil went through 21 cycles of chemotherapy, two bone marrow transplants, and the highest dose of radiation allowed before a bone marrow transplant. Remarkable, Nikhil is now in remission, and nothing is slowing him down due to the healthy mindset he instilled in himself during treatment. He has won the Student Start-Up on the year in 2018 and is on the NSW brand of the Sydney Youth Cancer Service advisory committee. This is all while he completes his childhood dream of becoming a doctor. Nikhil joins Joey on Out of the Box to discuss living with an uncle with cancer, his own journey and where he

Clementine Ford, is a prominant Australian feminist, writer and broadcaster. With two books, and a large social media following, Clementine is to the point in calling out sexism, and harpering on the importance of Feminism. Growing up, Clementine and her family were constantly moving from country to country, which brought on a heap of mental health struggle. These struggles followed her through her pregnancy, but she has taken it in her stride to talk about these tabbot issues, and let people know they are not alone. Clementine joins Joey on Out Of The Box to discuss her youth, her relationship with her family, her mental health journey, and how she became the loud feminist icon she is today. In her book Fight Like A Girl, she says: “Boys are given the universe in which to carve out their identities, the promise of infinite space for them to expand into and contract upon. Girls are allowed only enough room to be stars, and they must twinkle, twinkle if they want anyone to pay attention to them

Aunty Norma Ingram is a proud Indigenous woman, who was at the centre of the black movement in Australia in the 1970s, and is still fighting for Aboriginal rights now. Aunty Norma is a Wiradjuri woman born in Cowra NSW and raised on ‘Erambie’ Aboriginal Reserve.  Although the youngest of 11 children, her mother never failed to encourage the importance of education, and the impact it can have on a person’s life. She is the first Australian Indigenous woman to graduate from Harvard. “She strongly encouraged me as the youngest, well, all of us, but particularly me as the youngest, to get an education. ‘You can’t get anywhere, you have to have an education” Heavily involved in the Foundation for Aboriginal Affairs, and influenced by the Black Panther movement coming out of the US, Aunty Norma became involved in the Children’s program, which integrated Aboriginal culture into its learning programs. Aunty Norma joins us today talking about her childhood, the gene

Eva Cox is a woman who likes to push for change from the outside in. Eva is an activist, a feminist, socialist and social commentator. Eva Cox was born into a Jewish family in Vienna, just weeks before Hitler marched into Austria.  She grew up as a refugee in England with her mother, but her family eventually settled in Sydney, Australia, where Eva was once again on the outskirts of a new place. Placed on the outskirts once more, this didn’t stop Eva from being a strong woman but rather pushed her to create change within society. Eva has dedicated her life to elevating the status of women, particularly migrant women due to her own experience. On her personal website, she refers to herself as a "political junkie" and explains her passion for activism by suggesting, "My father used to embarrass me and adolescent friends by asking what we had done to save the world that day, so maybe it's genetic to feel that if something is wrong, I should try to fix it." Producers: Bre Jones and Nicol

Mojo Juju, founding member, songwriter and vocalist for notorious, seven-piece noir punk/garage switch bank ‘The Snake Oil Merchants’, sits down and tell us how she broke out on her own, although being told multiple times she was ‘too queer, too brown or not attractive enough to sell records.’ Mojo Juju draws inspiration from Jazz, early blues and Latin American ‘Pachuco’ culture of the 1930s and 1940s. Her latest album Native Tongue, discusses identity politics are coming from a place that is accessible to all — not just academics.  “I wanted to do something that addressed it from my own perspective, but approached it in a way that was very personal – because I don’t think that you can remove the personal from the political or vice versa.” Producers: Brie Jones and Nicole De Palo

Stella Donnelly is an Australian musician from Perth, Australia. Donnelly started off singing Green Day songs in her high school rock band. This eventually leads to her interest in jazz and contemporary as an adult studying at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts. After two whirlwind years of international record deals, massive spots, and calling out bulls**t, Stella is preparing to release her debut album. Producer: Nicole De Palo and Bre Jones