Radio Work

22nd February 2009

Here are just a few of the stories I’ve done for triple j’s current affairs show, Hack.

Young and Uninsured in America

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The United States is the only industrialised nation that does not have a universal health care system. The government only covers less than 30 per cent of the population. For almost a century, governments have failed to introduce across-the-board care. The WHO says US Health care is the most expensive in the world; and the US spends twice as much per person than any other developed country on it. One estimate says that “as many as 22,000″ die every year because they don’t have health insurance. (triple j’s hack, 24/08/2009)

Through The Cracks: the Sichuan earthquake, one year on

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It’s almost a year since the devastating earthquake in China. A lack of government money and accountability, combined with thousands of aftershocks, is making life tough for those trying to rebuild. You’ll meet Principal Kang, from the Guangji Community Kindergarten; Peter Goff, the director of Sichuan Quake Relief, and the Australian architect he’s brought along to help rebuild the school.
(triple j’s hack, 06/04/2009

The Final Days of Boarding School

Part One: Family
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Leaving school can be tough. Especially if you’ve called it home for 6 years. Hack’s special 3-part series on saying goodbye to school. There are 24 thousand boarders in nearly 200 independent and Catholic boarding houses around Australia. In this series, you’re going to meet two year 12 boarders, Zac and Steve from Newington College, an independent boys school in Sydney.  The school has 30 boarders living in an old converted hospital off-campus. And after years of being super-tight mates, it’s time to leave the boarding house family forever.

Part Two: Sex
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Today it’s time for the tricky questions — about girls, about relationships, and some of the darker things in boarding house culture. You’re going to hear Zac and Steve again — the two 17 year old Newington College boarders who over this week have been packing their things, and leaving boarding school for the last time. You might have in your head a picture of boarding school as a pretty tough environment — where if you don’t cut it, you have it rough. But in 2008, how real is the stereotype of an old school, tough guy boarding house?

Part Three: Saying Goodbye
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While Zac and Steve finished exams and packed their rooms, James West stalked them with a microphone. And today in the last installment of The Final Days of Boarding School — it’s time to say goodbye. Maybe you’ll hear PART FOUR: THE FORMAL soon on Hack. Who knows. Enjoy schoolies, guys. (triple j’s hack, 12-14/11/2008)

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