Photo by Angie Baongoc on Unsplash
Twenty-five years ago, Insiders went to air for the first time – the morning after the Aston by-election, before smartphones, before social media, and long before anyone had to explain what a fax machine was.
So how much of what's changed in Australian politics since has really been about the politicians, and how much about the technology reshaping how they communicate and how we watch?
Is the feminisation of politics and the press gallery a quarter-century story, or something that's only really happened in the last five years?
And now that everyone gets their news from a different, algorithmically sorted feed, is there still such a thing as a shared public – or a shared set of facts – for a democracy to argue over?
Historian Anna Clark, Professor of Public History at the University of Technology Sydney and author of Making Australian History, joins Democracy Sausage to mark Insiders' 25th anniversary and take the long view on how politics, the media and the public conversation between them have been transformed.
Listen here: Acast, Apple Podcasts, Spotify
Anna Clark is an award-winning historian, author and public commentator. She has a PhD in History from the University of Melbourne and is a Professor of Public History at the University of Technology Sydney. Anna is an internationally recognised scholar in Australian history, history education and the role of history in everyday life.
Dr Marija Taflaga is the Director of the ANU Centre for the Study of Australian Politics and a Lecturer at the ANU School of Politics and International Relations.
Prof Mark Kenny is the Director of the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the Australian National University after a high-profile journalistic career culminating in 6 years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times.
Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you get your podcasts.
We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to democracysausage@anu.edu.au.
This podcast is produced by The Australian National University.