Yindyamarra

18: C. S. Lewis's magic: A walk around Magdalen College

Join Stan and Jack as they take a walking tour around Magdalen College, reflecting on the life and thought of C. S. Lewis at Oxford, the role of magic and enchantment in our lives, and as they take (a windy) stop to watch some Deer go about their way of life!

#17 Among the Ruins: On Writing a Novel in England

Join Stan and Jack as they speak (this time, in person!) about Stan’s journey to Oxford to write a new novel. They discuss their plans for Stan's stay, his initial thoughts on creative writing, what makes England a beautiful place to live and think, but also some of the challenges posed to England's identity by globalisation, insecurity, and a crumbling global order.
(Please excuse the sound quality and background sounds—we excitedly decided to record this outside on a sunny day at Jack’s home in Oxford, oblivious to the busy street outside).

#16 In Search of Decency with Scott Stephens

Join Stan and Jack as they speak with Scott Stephens about decency, beauty, and what it means to encounter the other through experiment and the search for self-knowledge in the modern age.
Scott will be the speaker for the 2026 Yindyamarra Oration, “On the Beauty of Decency.”

#15 If there is Hope, it must lie in Local Democracy with Prof. Mark Evans

Join Stan and Jack as they speak with Prof. Mark Evans about his work on the recent Democratic Audit of Australia. The importance of localised democracy stretches across their discussions of: nation-building in Afghanistan in the wake of American withdrawal; the joint crises of democracy in Europe and in America; the health, and political challenges of Australian democracy; the future and prospects for a solidarity-focused Left in building new democratic futures; and why the hope for democracy must ultimately lie in energising communities to undertake localised solutions.

#14 Is Simplicity, Wisdom?

Join Jack and Stan as they discuss the ramifications of the Sam Kerr trial, William Faulkner and his book Requiem for a Nun, narratives of victimhood and power, and what it might take to search for a common language capable of speaking to each other in our complexities 

#13 Australia's Evolving Democracy with Prof. Patrick Dunleavy

Join Stan and Jack as they speak with Patrick Dunleavy, Emeritus Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at LSE, about his work, alongside Prof. Mark Evans, on their recent democratic audit of Australia. How do Australia's democratic safeguards compare with those of the United Kingdom and United States? What are we to make of the rise of populism, in the midst of the cultural wars? What do the new threats to democracy look like from the view of 1989? We explore all these questions and more. 
 
Australia's democratic audit can be accessed here: https://press.lse.ac.uk/site/books/e/10.31389/lsepress.ada/ 

#12 A Voice of Gratitude: Australia Day

Join Stan and Jack as they discuss their responses to January 26, Australia Day. The story of Australia, Stan thinks, is a story of us, one that cannot be weaponised nor claimed. This is a conversation about the soft intimacy of small spaces, about how showing gratitude for each other – and seeking out the other – might be the only ways to hold a space for love itself in the face of darker history.
 

#11 Reading Murriyang and Reflections on a New Way of Living

Join Jack and Stan on the last day of 2024 as they discuss Stan's new book, Murriyang (Bundyi, December 2024), reflect on their yearly ritual reading John Williams's Stoner, and on what it means to live a life attentive to life's quiet graces. 

#10 “Love as the underpinning logic of the universe” with Elizabeth Oldfield

“It is not an easy thing to believe in this bleeding world, that love is the trajectory that we’re on, that love is calling us home.” Yet love is what Elizabeth Oldfield, Host of the Sacred Podcast, and former director of the Theos think-tank, has tried to build her world on. Join  Jack and Stan as they speak with Elizabeth about her new book, Fully Alive: Tending to the Soul in Turbulent Times, and what it means to live generously, and fully, with others, in a world evermore disillusioned and divided.  

#9 Liberalism and the search for a higher language of inspiration with Ethan Taylor

Jack and Stan speak with Ethan Taylor, a Warumungu man and a political theory student at Oxford, asking big questions about First Nations justice and liberal reform. How can liberalism, in the wake of the Voice’s defeat, be made to work better for First Nations people and all Australians? Can liberalism, on its own, sustain us, or must our roots be elsewhere – in society, the sacred, or somewhere else altogether? Join us for this conversation across the generations.