From dance floor to ‘orgy room’: What happens on a typical swingers’ night?
In this episode we talk to Jess Cattelly, the co-founder of Sydney swingers club Our Secret Spot. The 32-year-old got into swinging – also known as The Lifestyle - when she was just 20, and her Parramatta Road venue has since become an example of the way in which the swinging community is changing. Middle-class suburban key parties are no longer, nor is the practice as grimy or seedy as popular culture might have you imagine. Instead, The Lifestyle is big on respect and consent, joy and community, and, as Cattelly notes, usually led by the female gaze. It's also welcoming a new generation of Zoomers who are experiencing app fatigue, and see swinging as a more transparent and intentional option for hooking up. Hosting this conversation is senior writer Konrad Marshall, who interviewed Cattelly along with dozens of venue owners, party organisers, kink performers and “consent angels” for this week’s Good Weekend cover story: Swing Set.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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What worries Sarah Wilson? Nothing less than the collapse of civilisation
In this episode, we talk to Sarah Wilson. She’s had an incredibly diverse career - from teenage model, to newspaper columnist, to women’s magazine editor, and then best-selling author of the book, I Quit Sugar, in 2012. More books followed, on anxiety, and finding purpose in a disconnected world, especially through the climate change crisis. Now she’s focused on cascading and wicked problems - such as climate change, inequality, artificial intelligence and political polarisation - that will lead to nothing less than the collapse of civilisation. But she also thinks there might just be an upside. Wilson is the subject of our cover story this week - THE CRUSADER - and hosting our conversation today is the journalist behind that profile, Good Weekend senior writer Gay Alcorn.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Meet Hugh de Kretser - president of the Australian Human Rights Commission
In this episode, we talk to Hugh de Kretser. The president of the Australian Human Rights Commission has quite the job. Never has society been more polarised, with distressing displays of religious and ethnic hatred bursting onto our streets - while at the same time the relevance of the commission itself has been called into question. De Kretser, who gave up a promising corporate legal career to work in community law, is up for the challenge of defending the institution. But he’s also got to protect the rights of people caught up in the most contentious conflict of our time, the war in the Middle East and how it affects communities in Australia. He’s the topic of our cover story this week - Man in the Middle - and hosting our conversation is the writer of that profile, James Button.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Soprano singer Danielle de Niese - making opera cool again
In this episode, we talk to Danielle de Niese. The internationally acclaimed soprano has dazzled audiences since childhood – from her breakthrough on the TV show Young Talent Time at just nine years old to starring on the world’s greatest opera stages. She joins us to chat about her life in music, and what keeps her voice – and spirit – so vibrant. Following a remarkable path which also includes an early Emmy win and teenage debut with the Los Angeles Opera, de Niese now has a passion for making opera feel fresh, cool and accessible to new audiences. Hosting this conversation – about everything from backstage rituals and vocal care to what it truly feels like to stand under stage lights and inhabit a role – is Spectrum editor Melanie Kembrey.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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True crime writer Mark Dapin on cops, Chopper, and the good within bad people
In this episode, we speak with Mark Dapin. Dapin is a veteran true crime writer, with a career including a stint as editor of the lad mag Ralph - but also as a columnist for Good Weekend. He has spent many, many hours with infamous hardened criminals, and now - for a story in the current issue of Good Weekend - has flipped sides to see through the eyes of aspiring police officers. Dapin - an irreverent but incisive and insightful writer - joins us today for a chat about that piece, but also the wild popularity of the true crime genre more generally, touching on his own encounters with the likes of hit man Chopper Read, and con man Jack Karlson (of “succulent Chinese meal” fame). And hosting this conversation - about kidnappers and murderers, and the darkness in us all - is Good Weekend acting editor Greg Callaghan.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Good Weekend Talks features in-depth conversations with the people fascinating Australians right now, from sport to politics to the arts, business and beyond, interviewed weekly by the country's top journalists. Consider it a magazine for your ears.
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