The Antony Loewenstein Podcast

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This week, Antony Loewenstein speaks with Randa Abdel-Fattah; Palestinian Australian writer, academic, and former lawyer, and author most recently of “Discipline”.

They reflect on knowing each other for over two decades, before turning to Randa’s visits to Palestine in 2000 and 2010 with her father, including returning to his village Burqa, and what dispossession looks like when it fractures people from land, memory, and ancestry.

The conversation moves to the present: how Randa thinks about “after Zionism,” why she rejects future-tense ideas of “coexistence,” and what it means to practise solidarity now, including with anti-Zionist Jewish communities.

They discuss how Palestinians process ongoing violence in Gaza and the West Bank, the psychological toll of constant exposure, and why refusing to “switch off” has become a discipline in itself.

Antony and Randa also examine Australia’s media and cultural institutions including the silencing of pro-Palestinian voices, the use of “risk management” as censorship, and what the Adelaide Writers’ Week controversy revealed about power, narrative control, and whose speech is treated as dangerous.

The episode closes with a wider discussion about the rise of the far right in Australia, the positioning of far-right parties as “pro-Israel,” and why Randa believes building independent institutions and alternative platforms is no longer optional.
Overlay sources:
https://meanjin.com.au/latest/inaudible/
https://mondoweiss.net/2026/01/paraglides-cultural-safety-and-decolonization-randa-abdel-fattah-on-her-ban-from-adelaide-writers-week-and-the-silencing-of-palestinians/
https://tickets.bluemountainswritersfestival.com.au/Events/AFTER-ZIONISM

If you value independent journalism, support this show: https://bit.ly/4rqn9wF
In this episode, Antony Loewenstein speaks with Grace Tame; survivor, advocate, columnist, and former Australian of the Year, about the accelerating crisis of child sexual abuse in the age of artificial intelligence
As AI tools become cheaper, faster, and more accessible, Grace explains how child sex offenders are once again early adopters, using generative AI, chatbots, encrypted platforms, and gaming environments to produce abuse material, automate grooming, evade detection, and normalise harm.
This is not a new problem, but technology has radically lowered the barrier to entry, while governments and platforms continue to respond with hand-wringing instead of accountability.
Grace also speaks candidly about her own experiences engaging with tech platforms, governments, and regulators and why meaningful reform continues to be resisted.
This episode is confronting, essential listening for anyone working in media, technology, policy, or child protection and for anyone who wants to understand how power protects abuse in plain sight.
Overlay sources:
https://www.kake.com/home/kansas-man-who-used-ai-to-create-child-porn-sentenced-to-25-years/article_dc17ae50-e3fd-476e-9f07-905ce45e7eab.html
https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/roblox-ceo-predators
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-25/grace-tame-criticised-for-cold-interaction-with-prime-minister/100781262
https://www.humanrights.unsw.edu.au/news/worlds-largest-child-sexual-abuse-perpetration-prevalence-study-recommends-significant-investment-early-intervention-measures

If you value independent journalism, support this show: https://bit.ly/4rqn9wF
In the first episode of 2026, Antony Loewenstein unpacks the political aftershocks of the Bondi attack and the fight now raging over how it’s being used.
From the push for a Royal Commission to the weaponisation of antisemitism claims, to the shrinking space for Palestinian and Muslim voices in Australia’s cultural institutions, this is a clear-eyed look at how fear becomes policy and how dissent gets managed. Antony also breaks down the Adelaide Writers’ Week fallout and why Gaza has been pushed off the front page when it matters most.

Overlay sources:
https://www.afr.com/world/middle-east/iran-exposes-israel-double-standards-20260112-p5ntbv
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/13/i-cannot-be-party-to-silencing-writers-which-is-why-i-am-resigning-as-director-of-adelaide-writers-week-ntwnfb
https://overland.org.au/2026/01/universities-and-the-arts-after-bondi-from-definitions-to-ambient-antisemitism/
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2026/jan/13/adelaide-writers-week-cancelled-as-board-apologises-to-randa-abdel-fattah-for-how-decision-was-represented-ntwnfb

If you value independent journalism, support this show: https://bit.ly/4rqn9wF
In this episode independent journalist Antony Loewenstein joins Jan Fran to discuss the Bondi terror attacks and the timid media response to proposals that curb civil liberties. 
Jan Fran and Antony move carefully through the tension between allowing victims time to greive and challenging political agendas that seek to curb anti-genocide protest, shrink public discourse, and mute criticism of Israel.
Antony talks through what he believes is driving the rise in antisemitism, and why parts of the Jewish diaspora feel increasingly alienated from the pro-Israel lobby’s line.
He also lays out why the crowd keeps speaking and keeps moving, even when the powerful wish the masses would go silent.
Need a last minute gift? Tickets to Jan and Antoinette's live shows in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane can be bought here.

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Thanks to @jaidanielpyne for composing the music for Jan and Antoinette's podcast.

If you value independent journalism, support this show: https://bit.ly/4rqn9wF
Recorded less than 24 hours after the horrific massacre in Bondi, this episode is a raw, urgent response to violence, fear, and the political weaponisation that has already followed.
Speaking as a Jewish Australian, I reflect on grief, anger, and the dangers of conflating antisemitism with criticism of Israel. I unpack how pro-Palestine movements are being blamed without evidence, why knee-jerk calls for expanded police powers and immigration crackdowns should alarm us all, and how fear is being exploited to silence dissent.
This is a call for clarity: to mourn without manipulation, to oppose violence against all civilians, and to resist narratives that trade supposed safety for authoritarianism.