IN CONVERSATION
3–4pm Sunday 10 April 2022
Conversation doesn’t come easy to everybody, but it is at the heart of our lives. With a bit of reflection and practice, broadcaster Jane Hutcheon believes we can elevate our conversations to a new realm.
Her new book, Rebel Talk is an invitation to shake off the numbness and dig deep into our own conversations; to find our inner rebels. Most of the problems in society stem from our conversations being in a state of decline. We’d rather criticise remotely, attack anonymously or simply avoid having dialogue altogether. Ignoring problems doesn’t strengthen us. In fact, we need to create our own mini-rebellions so we don’t have to live under the umbrella of anxiety and shame. If we taught ourselves to speak up, what impact would that have on our mental health, loneliness and inequality?
Jane Hutcheon is one of Australia’s best known and well-respected interviewers. Over the course of her 30-year career as a professional conversationalist – aka journalist – she conducted somewhere in the region of 10,000 interviews. In 2010 Jane developed One Plus One for ABC TV, a weekly in-depth conversation with celebrities, writers, scientists and many little-known heroes. Jane hosted the program until 2019 and Rebel Talk is the culmination of decades of experience honing the art of conversation.
Jennifer Wong is a comedian, writer, and presenter of Chopsticks or Fork, a six-part ABC series about Chinese restaurants in regional Australia. As a comedian, she’s performed stand-up at comedy and arts festivals in Australia, Shanghai, and Edinburgh. She’s one of five storytellers performing in the food and theatre show, Double Delicious, which will tour NSW and VIC in May and June 2022.