Videos

When author and rugby legend Peter FitzSimons came to the Wheeler Centre he could have been mistaken for a bucaneer in his red bandana. But his lyrical storytelling and deep honesty won over the crowd who learnt of his father’s struggles with depression and how his childhood gave him a ground in A Simple Life. Plus he explains why wearing a bandana is the best form of mid-life crisis.

In the time poor, opinion rich world of modern book reviewing, Washington Post’s Book World fiction editor Ron Charles knows you don’t have time to actually read book reviews. So he’s swapped the keyboard for the camera to do his first Totally Hip Video Book Review complete with jazzy intro music and exotic locations including his kitchen, backyard and in front of his bookshelf.

First up is Mona Simpson’s My Hollywood which he reviews in a series of jumps between scenes and outfits with a playful book review.

For most of us the election is still a mess, but for George Megalogenis it represents a re-awakening of democracy and a chance to get down and dirty with some of the most fascinating polling data in electoral history.

In this video he looks at why Queensland and the mining states staged a “grumpy” vote, how Gillard lost her traditional base to the Greens and why Tony Abbott didn’t win his home state. No matter who eventually forms a government, Megalogenis' analysis looks at how the party that loses could find themselves in the electoral wilderness for the next ten years.

Want a preview of Alex Miller at tonight’s Melbourne Writer’s Festival keynote: Eight Ways of Being Human? At our Opening Gala, he told this bittersweet story from his Scottish father. Close your eyes and his brogue will whisk you off to the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

This year Joss Whedon made his musical debut on This American Life with his own piano accompanied piece. It’s classic Whedon – endearing, nerdy and with a few in-jokes – but in case he doesn’t sing at his Melbourne Writers Festival keynote you can hum along to this little number.

When father and broadcaster Ian Brown discovered his son had an orphan syndrome his life changed. He talks about fighting for better funding in education and health for the disabled based on the changes in his own world view.

Are you tired of just one partner? Sue-Ann Post got sick of being jealously asked “So who was that on the phone?” and stopping her partner from enjoying their sex life so she took on polyamory. With both her girlfriends in the audience, Sue-Ann Post argues that monogamy isn’t our natural state and that we need to get over “the one”.

When Adam Bandt came to do a Lunchbox/Soapbox, no-one thought he’d deliver an address that predicted the failure of the two-party system and his own historic election as the first Green in the Federal House of Representatives.

Tired of budgie smugglers? So are Bea White and Bea Right aka Tony Abbott’s Iron Ladies and in this rare interview they uncover the budgie himself and ask what it’s really like to be smuggled.

It’s not often we re-publish a video from College Humour, but this classic gives you a look at what Comic Sans would wear, how Wingdings would sound and if Ransom can ever be trusted…

Melbourne publisher Sleepers are bringing out an app of their yearly anthologies and they’re produced a trailer featuring some of their favourite authors including Kalinda Ashton and David Astle.

Former Debut Monday author Chris Womersley has this released his second book Bereft and this haunting trailer is a good primer for the book. Interestingly the text at the video offers the book in “e-book or traditional format”.

In this Lunchbox/Soapbox Hanifa Deen talks about how she’s sick of writing about Muslims and now it’s time to get someone else to do it. She looks for a PR firm for the Muslim makeover, wonders why Julia Gillard isn’t hugging hijabs and tries to find that other m-word: multiculturalism.

When Jonathan Mills delivered the inaugural State of the Arts lecture at the NGV he created quite a stir. His argument that arts should be part of our daily lives – not out of reach in ivory towers. This video presents his full address that Alison Croggon responded to with her Ways of Meaning post.

Not sure if it’ll make you feel guilty or sad for the book, but depending on how you look at this short film it’s a pessimistic look at the life of a book or an argument for e-books.

Politicians are talking about building our civil society, but philosopher Tim Southhommasane proposes that by doing community or military service we could create a better sense of our national identity.

Andrew McCarthy played Clay in the film version of Less Than Zero, so when Bret Easton Ellis looked for someone to read his new novel McCarthy found the character again. His first response was “Oh, him! I know him!” and of course he thinks the new book “would make a very good movie”.

If the Melbourne International Film Festival has got you inspired to write a screenplay or direct a short then this Reading on Vocation is for you. Our panel of filmmakers discussed the books that help them make their craft from Robert McKee’s Story to The Penguin Leunig. Claymator Adam Elliott, director Sue Maslin and Camille Chen give their advice to screenwriters.

Originally published in 1987, it’s taken a long time for Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood to make it to the big screen, but later this year a film will hit the screens. This teaser is tantalisingly brief but promises much including a production in Japanese rather than the threatened Hollywood re-make.

If you’re doubting the importance of grammar, this video features an impassioned critique of the tweets of reality TV star Snooki. In John’s own words “The reason grammar and spelling exists is to make communicative experiences as clear and transparent as possible… so today we’re going to look at some recent Snooki Tweets to see how poor grammar and spelling can lead to confusion and threesomes.”

With an election coming up, Greens candidate Adam Bandt sees the two big political parties growing closer together as debate becomes spin and policies become sound bites.

In Bandt’s words “The old parties conduct elections as if the only seats that matter are a handful of marginals in Queensland or NSW or sometimes in outer suburban Victoria – so effectively the national debate ends up being centred around a few thousand voters.” But how can third parties make a difference?

Just a week ago this video of bonnets and biffo hit the web and already there’s talk of a feature length movie. Jane Austen’s Fight Club could be the next Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. Warning fight rules are “No corsets, no hatpins and no crying.”

This week everyone’s favourite Twit dandy comes to Melbourne, which is as good an excuse as any to hear him wax erudite about philosophy, religion and how “the Dalai Lama seems rather charming”.

The Female Eunuch has been inspiring feminists for generations, but Monica Dux thinks Greer and the book has been savaged by the “parsnip school” of criticism personified by Louis Nowra.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali appeared on Lateline this week talking about why the approach of “respecting the culture” of forced marriage and genital mutilation has failed women.

Novelist Gary Shteyngart gives his formula for blurbing other authors and how he hopes to blurb so much that it actually detracts from the value of the book. Not since Tolstoy has a writer blurbed so much about so little.

Indigenous art and culture is a contentious issue and none more so than Truganini, the so-called “last Tasmanian Aborigine”. Dr David Hansen wrote his challenging essay asking how we can understand and exhibit indigenous culture. Brenda L Croft and Tony Brown create an active debate around the idea that “there’s too much political correctness” and how social value conflicts with economic value of art.

John Birmingham talks action heroines from Buffy to Dr Who and beyond but also talks about how he went from sharehouse yarns to tomes about aircraft carriers going back in time to “kick Hitler’s ass”.

The Old Spice Guy had some fans over at the Harold B Lee Library who put together this parody/promo video. In just 5 days more than 1.2 million people viewed the video – proof you can keep your shirt on and make libraries sexy.

Speaking of talking down to the electorate, here’s the Liberal’s ad explaining exactly what happened during the Gillard/Rudd power struggle – apparently purple hoodies were to blame.

What is romance? Craig Sheborne reckons it’s about the “whoosh” then exploitation, while for Kate Holden there are only two love stories: hello and goodbye. For Hannie Rayson it was about “URST” and keeping the stars of Seachange from getting together for 39 episodes.

The “Old Spice guy” talks about the value of libraries – they hold words including “I’m handsome, you’re pretty. Let’s eat peanut butter.” Most importantly, this endorsement is made without his shirt. Via the State Library of Victoria tweet

“Erotic fan fiction – yum…” so begins Miles O'Neil’s introduction to one of our more risque events. Then there’s Justin Heazlewood – he looks like such a sweet young man but then goes off into a Knight Rider story that just goes that bit too far.

Joss Whedon will be visiting us shortly thanks to the Melbourne Writers Festival – so now’s the time to catch up on his obscure Dr Horrible and compose poignant questions about it. The series was made during the writer’s strike when actors had little else to do but singalong to Weedon’s score.

If you can’t get enough of our Week of Love & Lust then bestselling author Stephanie Laurens' appearance on The Circle gives you even more romance.

Ahead of the release of his Super Sad True Love Story, author Gary Shteyngart has released a book trailer and he’s pulled in some big names including Jeffrey Eugenides and actor James Franco with advice on how to laugh at a literary soiree.

If you need a laugh, this vintage Race Around the World episode from Tony Wilson will show you how to do the the Swing or Lion Laugh. Wilson visit’s Dr Kataria and his School of Unconditional Laughter in Mumbai and an early lesson in chuckling.

From taking on Dickens, Ned Kelly and Alexis de Tocqueville, Peter Carey has never shied away from big subjects in his writing. In this Melbourne appearance, he talks about the “lack of value we place on education” and the lessons the French Revolution holds for contemporary culture. He responds to his Sydney Writers' Festival appearance and accusations of snobbery with a call for better education. “We can teach people to read,” Carey asserts. “We’re just not committed to doing it.”

We pay tribute to the life of one of Australia’s great poets with readings and reminiscences including Chris Wallace Crabbe reading Porter’s “Sydney Cove 1788” and actor Genevieve Picot gives a rare reading of “At Whitechurch Canonicorum”.

Potter fans are getting their first glimpses of the last part of the multi-book saga, but they’ll have to wait. The Warner Brothers trailer promises Part 1 in November with Part 2 in July. That’s more than six months of post-production wizardry and marketing sorcery.

Racism, sexism and drugs have found their way onto our sporting fields, but can we run fair events in the modern sporting world?

Joel Bowden talks about how most AFL players use illicit drugs under the influence of alcohol while Gerard Whateley believes recent racist comments are “of a generation” and how this could be a “a moment of enlightenment” for the NRL.

Author and gestator Monica Dux looked at the expectations placed on pregnant women and couldn’t see her own experience. In this wry look at the pregnancy happiness culture, Dux asks why are women drown out fear and anxiety of motherhood with advice to “remain positive” or worse “pamper yourself”.

In the last Meanland lecture series, Chris Meade from the groundbreaking Institute for the Future of the Book talked about digital texts including why William Blake would have loved blogging and how online fiction tricks boys into reading. Plus games writer Paul Callaghan examines story and character in games.

Abbott and Gillard’s regular confrontations on the Today show are given a cheeky romantic treatment in this montage.

Ever wondered what your doctor is reading in between appointments? Ramona Koval discovers that there’s more than Gray’s Anatomy and some even wander into the Twilight series.

Humourous author Shane Maloney shares his thoughts on our libraries, reading in our society and his love of silence in public spaces. Strong language is used.

David Marr’s Quarterly Essay blasted Prime Minister Kevin Rudd for his lack of leadership, compassion and policy. In conversation with Robert Mann, the essayist discusses how “He has failed spectacularly to deliver, according to the Christian values that he himself has talked about.”

With school holidays almost upon us, JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series has a new destination for littlies' to flex their pester power. Now your kids will be nagging for tickets to the boy wizard’s American home in Orlando, Florida. This dark tour takes you into the reconstructed Hogwarts.

David Owen, author of Green Metropolis, came to the Deakin lecture series to offer his thoughts on why moving to the country means moving into a car and the environmental lessons New York could teach Australia.

Back in 1990, Tim Ferguson sung “I Want to Spill the Blood of a Hippy” with the Doug Anthony Allstars, but he believes comedians are becoming too conservative. Come hear his diatribe at tomorrow’s Lunchbox/Soapbox.

If you’d rather wait for the video the Wall Street Journal’s Marshall Crook tries to sum up the history of the book in less than 6 minutes – and points out the Bible’s best typo along the way.

Tim Jackson on building greener cities

Julian Burnside’s Lunchbox/Soapbox called “Mind Your Language” was one of our most popular yet. Here’s a chance to catch up on Burnside’s love of the word.

This year’s Sydney Writers' Festival saw Tim Flannery, Ross Garnaut, Clive Hamilton and Bill McKibben asking have we been conned on climate change? Slow TV was there to capture their discussion.

What the world needs now is an iconic pooch to save the world, according to Chris Flynn. Lassie, Benji and Inspector Rex were all great heroic hounds, but who will be the next great canine?

When Irish author Colm Toibin came to Melbourne he spoke to Michael Williams about his novel Brooklyn, being the youngest child and how Irish charm shouldn’t be trusted.

Casey Bennetto talks and sings about the “the unremitting evil of the blank page” when it comes to writing and performing musical theatre.

How do you re-work a 20th-century classic into an illustrated work that depicts the main characters as sea creatures or monsters? Illustrator/writer Nicki Greenberg talks us through her version of The Great Gatsby.

Colm Toibin gave a special performance in Melbourne for the Wheeler Centre. Here he remembers his last trip to Australia by reading and singing from Brooklyn.

The Grattan Institute report looked at how viable a carbon price would be for Australia’s largest industries. In this Slow TV video, report authors John Daley and Tristan Edis show how a carbon price won’t bring about job losses, increase prices or send big business broke.

Over her long career Jana Wendt has become one of Australia’s most respected female journalists. Here she retells some of the more harrowing moments from Russian train journeys to prizefighting.

Alan Kohler chairs a debate on ethics for big business.

Ethicist Peter Singer kicked off our Lunchbox/Soapbox series by suggesting that we need a beef tax.

Ever wondered how a crossword maker’s brain ticks? Word whiz David Astle (aka DA to puzzlers everywhere) scrambles words before your eyes.

After Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, it makes sense for English literature’s biggest family to have their ow action figures. Fear them forming the mighty Brontë-saurus.

Historian LM Robinson takes us on a private tour of Little Lonsdale St, which was once “teeming with ladies of the night”.

Looking like a feelgood teen flick with a nasty twist, trailers for the film of John Marsden’s Tomorrow When the War Began have begun appearing in cinemas. The hotly anticipated film opens 2 September.

“Women can be bitches,” according to Kate Holden who explores how women regard each other and how divisive this can be.

Kaiser Kuo talks about how metal came to China and how he formed Tang Dynasty – “the greatest band China will ever see”. He’s also a highly regarded technologist. See him rock out at the Wheeler Centre.

Feminist Naomi Wolf on The Beauty Myth, sexual harassment in the media and her relationship with Germaine Greer.

As a prelude to the Deakin Lectures, Clive Hamilton talks about Requiem for a Species and how it may be too late to act on climate change.

Internet guru and rock star talks about how the internet has brought empowerment to the people of China.

Book tickets to Kaiser Kuo in Melbourne.

Lee Child chats with John Birmingham about his transition from TV to thriller, his writing method and why he once wanted to be in the Beatles.

In this cheeky mash-up Art house film producer Werner Herzog gives a metaphysical look at the Where’s Waldo books: “In searching for Waldo did we really find ourselves?”

Robin Boyd’s The Australian Ugliness discussed by publisher Michael Heyward, architect Karen Burns, writer Gideon Haigh and historian Brenda Niall.

Toni Jordan defends trash fiction. Add your comments and join the debate here.

Geoff Dyer at the Wheeler Centre

Paul Kelly sings at A Gala Night of Storytelling

Malcolm Fraser: Part Two
Malcolm Fraser: Part Three
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Lunchbox/ Soapbox: George Megalogenis on the Kevin Rudd Performance Index, arguing that perhaps, "if the prime minister said less, we'd remember more." Comment here.

Helen Garner in conversation with Jennifer Byrne

Ezra Bix: "Poetry, poesy, poems sing the truths which our hearts long to harmonise."

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If you can't be bothered to see it in the cinema...

Where the Wild things are is in Australian cinemas today

This trailer for Jonathan Safran Foer's latest book provokes emotions ranging from New Lit Crush to a desire to punch the book in question. Where do you fall on the spectrum?

NZ Book Council: Going West

Literary Barbie