Afternoon Light

Does a larrikin culture produce responsible fathers?

On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Kate Murphy about the evolution, expectations and lived reality of fathering across Australian history. A foundational topic in shaping the health of the nation but one which Aussie blokes, let alone historians, have often been reticent to speak about.

Want to learn more about the cultural history of the Menzies era? Listen to these episodes of Afternoon Light:

Matthew Bailey on the Rise of the Australian Shopping Centre: "A Triumph of Consumer Capitalism"

Lauren Samuelsson, ‘We don’t have a cuisine, but we do have a food culture’ The history of what Aussies eat

Jackie French & Kate O'Donnell on the History of Book Week: "United Through Books"

Kate Murphy is a Senior Lecturer and historian of Australia at Monash University, with a particular focus on twentieth century social and cultural history. Kate’s research interests include the history of the family and disability history. She has published a major co-authored book on the history of fathering titled Fathering: An Australian History (Melbourne University Publishing, 2025).

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How many times can we reinvent the same political heroes to fit the ever-shifting priorities of modern debates?

On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Emily Jones about The Disraeli Myth. A fascinating book exploring the manipulation of historical memory for political purposes. It reveals how Sir Robert Menzies is far from unique in being selectively quoted to push contemporary agendas, and that he may yet be reimagined many more times.

Want to learn more about the evolution of conservative thought? Listen to these episodes of Afternoon Light:

Greg Melleuish on the Evolution of Political Terms: "That's yesterday's liberalism, therefore it's conservatism"

Kit Kowol on Chamberlain, Churchill & the British Conservative Party during WW2: "There were other futures available"

Charles Moore on Margaret Thatcher's Life, Legacy & 100th Birthday: "Almost Revolutionary Fervour"

Emily Jones is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Manchester, who has previously worked at Columbia University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Oxford. Her DPhil was published as Edmund Burke and the Invention of Modern Conservatism, 1830-1914: An Intellectual History, which won the Longmans-History Today prize and was a Financial Times 'Book of the Year'. Her new book, The Disraeli Myth: The Making of a Conservative Tradition, was published in July 2026 by Princeton University Press. She is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Higher Education Academy.

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How did Australia maintain social cohesion and mitigate populist pressures during our greatest ever cost of living crisis?

On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with acclaimed historian Joan Beaumont to tell the story of Australia's Great Depression. A formative national trauma on par with our involvement in two world wars, and one in which the Australian experience was truly unique.

Want to learn more about how Australia survived the Depression? Listen to these episodes of Afternoon Light:

David Bird, ‘A parish pump politician from the potato plots of Tasmania’ Joseph Lyons

Michael Easson on Depression era PM James Scullin: "Trying to hold the place together"

David Clune, ‘Offered the people economic rainbows’ Jack Lang

Joan Beaumont is an internationally recognised historian of Australia in the two world wars, Australian defence and foreign policy, the history of prisoners of war and the memory and heritage of war. Her publications include the critically acclaimed Broken Nation: Australians and the Great War (Allen & Unwin, 2013), joint winner of the 2014 winner of the Prime Minister's Literary Award (Australian History), and Australia's Great Depression: How a nation shattered by the Great War survived the worst economic crisis it has ever faced. She is currently completing the trilogy with a book on Australia in the Second World War.

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Was the Northern Territory still 'unexplored' when the Anzacs landed at Gallipoli?

On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Mark Smith to tell the story of Australia's Forgotten Explorer William Wilkinson. A man who embarked on a remarkable journey across Northern Australia, and inadvertently helped to inspire and fund St Francis House - one of the earliest and most successful efforts to provide remote Indigenous children with the opportunity to get an education and become advocates for their communities.

Want to learn more about Australian explorers and our Indigenous pioneers? Listen to these episodes of Afternoon Light:

Grantlee Kieza on Matthew Flinders & the Naming of Australia: "The vast majority of Australians wouldn't know that"

Emma McEwin on Sir Douglas Mawson | “Always curious, always inquiring”

Bain Attwood, ‘A sense of kin’ The Life of William Cooper

Mark Smith is the Chair of the St Francis House Project. He studied politics and international relations at the University of Adelaide and graduated in 2006 with a first-class honours’ degree in history. His thesis compared the environmental impact of first European contact with Indigenous people in the Flinders Ranges with the South East of South Australia. Mark’s grandfather Percy Smith MBE was the first Anglican Archdeacon of the Northern Territory and founder of St Francis House, a South Australian hostel for inland children whose alumni range from Charles Perkins to the designer of the Indigenous flag. In 1947 Percy published The Strenuous Saint, now republished by Mark as William Wilkinson: Australia’s Forgotten Explorer.

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Has immigration really made Australia more prosperous?

On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer speaks with Mark Cully, former chief economist for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, about his new, revealing and monumental history Waves of Plenty: Immigration and the Making of Australia. One of the only books to ever chart Australia's full immigration story, from the early 19th century to the present, and full of the crucial historical insights that only an economist and a fresh pair of eyes can provide.

Want to learn more about immigration in Australia? Listen to these episodes of Afternoon Light:

Henry Ergas: What has multiculturalism done to Australia?

Peter Kurti on maintaining national unity amidst Australia's growing pluralism: "Multiculturalism works when it's Civic Anchored"

Alistair Thomson on the Ten Pound Poms: "Implicitly assumed they weren't migrants"

Francesco Ricatti on Italian Migration | “Your own identity... is evolving”

Mark Cully was chief economist for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and the Department of Industry, as well as chair of the OECD’s Working Party on Migration. As head of macroeconomic policy in the Treasury, he led the design of the JobKeeper program during the pandemic. He is an expert panel member of the Fair Work Commission and a visiting fellow at ANU’s Crawford School of Public Policy.

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