UNSW Centre for Ideas

From a family story rooted in Yarrabah, to the lawns of the White House in Washington DC, hear the incredible story of Daniel Joinbee, a proud Gunggandji man, Royal Australian Air Force veteran, and founder of Australia’s first and only 100% Aboriginal-owned aerospace consultancy and Indigenous youth program. Daniel and host Jonathan Webb will also discuss enabling Indigenous communities to blaze their own trails through empowering programs like Raising Horizons.
For more UNSW Centre for Ideas podcasts, visit unsw.to/cfi-podcast
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What happens when a master of the stage turns to the page?
Acclaimed playwright, screenwriter, artistic director and now novelist Andrew Upton has never been one to stay in his lane. Across theatre, film, television and fiction, his many creative pursuits are united by one calling: storytelling.
In this compelling conversation with Michaela Kalowski, recorded live at Belvoir St Theatre, Upton discusses his debut novel, Krank Fuss – a modern-day fable set against the gathering darkness of Europe in 1937. Moving from the stage to the page, he explores the craft behind the novel, the inspiration that drives his work and the different possibilities that emerge when creating for theatre and fiction. Their conversation travels across creativity, culture, technology, power and freedom – and considers the enduring ability of storytelling to help us see familiar questions from entirely new perspectives.
For more UNSW Centre for Ideas podcasts, visit unsw.to/cfi-podcast
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During his first night in prison at 16 years old, Michael Kwan knew it was time to take accountability for the choices he’d made. Now, Michael wants to share the opportunities he made for himself - an education, a part-time job, a place to call home - with other at-risk youth and those already inside the youth justice system. He’s now the CEO and co-founder of Praxis Youth, a non-profit that is translating big ideas into real action for young people.
On this episode of We built this thing, Michael chats with host Justine Rogers about what drove him to complete an education from behind bars, to graduate from high school, and pursue engineering at UNSW. As if he hasn’t accomplished enough in such a short time, they’ll also dive into Michael’s life as a CEO in his 20s and how he’s turned his life’s mission into an award-winning organisation.
For more episodes from We built this thing, visit unsw.to/wbtt.
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After 17 years at the United Nations, Janet Salem was growing frustrated with the gap between the sustainability data she was gathering, and the information businesses were using to make investment decisions. She saw an opportunity to give business’s crucial insight into their resource consumption and environmental impact to make more informed decisions, the same way food packaging provides nutritional information so that consumers can make more informed decisions. Now, she’s co-founded a start-up to help get sustainable investment a green thumbs up from the CFO.
Her journey from UNSW environmental engineering graduate to UN advisor to start-up co-founder sounds like a perfectly executed career path, but none of it was planned. On this episode of We built this thing, Janet chats with host Justine Rogers about being a first-time founder in her 40s. From getting over imposter syndrome in the tech-bro universe to the benefits of breaking the mould from the traditional ideas of what a fintech founder, UN advisor or engineer should be.
For more episodes from We built this thing, visit unsw.to/wbtt.
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As a veteran, Shannon thought his business idea, a machine that filters water from the air, would be a no-brainer for the military. But when the first round of funding fell through, he had to pivot. His next move led Shannon all the way to Buckingham Palace and is transforming countless lives across Australia in the process.
There are over two million Australians without access to fresh drinking water, but Shannon Lemanski intends to change that. On this episode of We built this thing, UNSW Canberra alumnus Shannon chats with host Justine Rogers about his uncertain path to becoming an award-winning founder. From his decision to swap his childhood plan of becoming a pilot to doing an engineering degree at uni, to the trials and tribulations of being a first-time founder, to finding out the secret sauce to start-up success isn’t the invention but the business plan.
For more episodes from We built this thing, visit unsw.to/wbtt.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.