Australian Highlights
Rachel Rayner
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About This Podcast
The Australian Highlights series is the place where we find the innovative people and ideas which are not – yet! – common knowledge.
Hosted by Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer, this series takes the form of regular podcast episodes and online articles where we explore the captivating stories behind Australia's groundbreaking creative moments. With a focus on game-changing women and Indigenous trailblazers, this collection of interviews, explainers and articles shines a light on the ingenuity and diversity that propel Australia forward.
We’ll hear from people themselves doing amazing work; industry leaders that have been inspired by innovators from our past; and those who are enabling people to step forward and be spotlighted themselves. It's a lot of fun, as we've got comedians hearing these amazing stories for the first time!
There will bonus episodes of snippets and stories that didn't make it into the full interviews and there will be regular catch-ups where you can hear a rapporteur account of previous episodes.
So come join us. Head to our website for more information, australianhighlights.com.au, follow us on our socials, or send us an email if you know someone who should be highlighted on this show: [email protected]
The production of this series is funding by the Meta Australian Journalism Fund, administered by The Walkley Foundation, and is supported by Comedy Victoria.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Recent Episodes
S2E25 LIVE: Space food
What snack would you like on a trip to Mars?Professor Jenny Mortimer is a space horticulturalist, who is looking at the best nutritious solutions for astronauts hurtling through the solar system. She…
S2E24 LIVE: Brains and Biostats
We’re all about the good life – but we’re not heading to a wellness retreat in Byron Bay. We’re measuring our quality of life using cold, hard stats, and looking at our brains with a portable…
S2E23 Catch up
Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer and confidante, Kirsty Kapp, catch up on a flash of five episodes.They consider the statistical definition of deadly, argue about the failures of communicating acid…
S2E22 Indigenous Innovation
Innovation in Australia has been happening for tens of thousands of years. Professor Lynette Russell is the co-author of Innovation: Knowledge and Ingenuity, which is part of the First Knowledges…
S2E21 Ethel Anderson, art patron
Not all innovations are gears and coding. Some are a cultural awareness and, always, an ability to use what you have to improve the situation.Between the Wars, Ethel Anderson was bringing visibility…
S2E20 LIVE: Heather Bray, science communicator
What does it mean to communicate and, more specifically, what does it mean to communicate science? And then, how can we learn to be better science communicators?Who is helping us understand the big…
S2E19 Bonus: More spiders
Nearly all of us have a close-encounter story or two. With spiders, that is.In our previous episode, we spoke to arachnologist Caitlin Creak about her work with funnel web spiders. What also came…
S2E18 Caitlin Creak, arachnologist
How much do we know about the world’s deadliest spider, which lives only in Australia’s largest city?Turns out, not much!The Sydney funnel web, Atrax Robustus, has a venom only toxic to primates.…
Catch up
Why do we not know this? Why is this not in the mainstream?This is a catch up that generates more questions than answers. As we unfold insights from each episode in our latest flash, there are a few…
Bonus: Capturing creative ideas
A great discussion on writing practice came out of our science poetry episode with poet Tricia Dearborn and comedian Jeeves Verma. While it did not make the final episode, the discussion has been…
Tricia Dearborn, poet
Can science really be the perfect inspiration for poetry?Tricia is one of many poets around the world embedding science into their writing. The award-winning writer and editor lives in a world where…
LIVE: Natasha Hurley-Walker, astronomer
This is the recording of our launch event for the Australian Highlight series, which took place at SciTech’s Chevron Theatre on 8 Feb, 2025 in front of a live audience.See Natasha's radio sky…
Veena Sahajwalla, material engineer
What if we saw rubbish as a valuable resource?Scientia Professor Veena Sahajwalla is an inventor, engineer and leading expert in the field of recycling science. She is the founding Director of the…
Corey Tutt, Deadly Science founder
The power of positive role models cannot be understated.No one knows this best than Associate Professor Corey Tutt OAM, founder of Deadly Science. The results of his work are obvious. As he…
Catch up
Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer and confidante, Kirsty Kapp, catch up on a flash of five episodes.They consider tall poppies, argue about what moths eat, apologise to Perth, and avoid a deep dive…
Vanessa Moss, astronomer
Can you build your own collaborator? And what goes on behind the scenes of our big, complex, scientific infrastructure?Astronomer Dr Vanessa Moss is Head of Science Operations for CSIRO’s ASKAP radio…
The Scott sisters, scientific illustrators
Dr Vanessa Finney, Head of World Cultures, Archives and Research Library at the Australian Museum introduces us to the Scott sisters, possibly Australia’s first professional female illustrators.…
Kat Ross, Include Her founder
Astronomer Dr Kat Ross has been frustrated many times by the ‘lone male genius’ myth in science. Pervasive narratives that ‘women don’t do science’ are not accurate, and Kat is on a mission to prove…
Bonus: The Bueller Method
In our previous episode, we spoke to Mandy Scotney and Jonathan Englert about innovation in Australia and particular types of innovators and what inspired them.During that talk, we actually spoke a…
Culture Shocks
Where does Australia’s culture of innovation come from, if it exists at all?Dr Jonathan Englert unravels the conundrum, fresh from his PhD looking into Australian innovation, where he interviewed…
Frequently Asked Questions
Australian Highlights has published 26 episodes since January 2025, covering topics in Arts, Science.
Australian Highlights is currently highly active with new episodes monthly. Average episode length is 36m.
Sign up on Grep.FM to access contact details for Australian Highlights, including email and social media links.
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