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This Day Tonight: Understanding satire: the 'ocker' Australian

What do 'Borat', 'The Simpsons', 'Gulliver's Travels' and political cartoons have in common? They are all forms of satire: a particularly tricky genre of text. In this clip, explore the concept of satire and how it is constructed.

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Wuthering Heights: Violence and cruelty

Why might Emily Bronte have included numerous instances of cruelty in Wuthering Heights? Listen as John Bowen, Professor of Nineteeth-century Literature, considers the reasons behind the brutality in the novel. This clip is one in a series of four from the British Library.

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Heywire: Perspectives of 'a copper's daughter'

What perspectives on life do you think the daughter of a policeman in a coastal town might have? In this Heywire audio story, Jordyn Royle reveals both how her her dad's job affects her and that not everybody shares her attitudes towards the police. As you listen, think about how Jordyn's attitudes and values, and those ...

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Heywire: This isn't English, it's Australian English!

Mara Zeissig had a hard time understanding what was going on when she first went to school in Australia after moving from Buenos Aires, Argentina. In her Heywire audio story, explore the importance of language in our social interactions.<br /><br />Could you write or record a story about yourself and/or your community? ...

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Growing an organic edible garden

Find out about the roles that earthworms and other animals play in a sustainable organic garden. View this clip called 'Great pizzas', created by young reporters from Willunga Primary School, South Australia. The clip was developed as part of the ABC Splash Live 'Making the news!' project, which featured local sustainability ...

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Can We Help?: Borrowed words: the processes of language change

Do you know any words from another language? Chances are, you know more than you think you do! English is a polyglot language; one that borrows words from other languages. In this Professor Kate Burridge discusses the origins of the phrases 'short-shrift' and 'lily-livered'.

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Feathers, Fur and Fins: A Song about a sulphur-crested cockatoo

Do you know any songs about Australian animals? Listen to this song about sulphur-crested cockatoos performed by Don Spencer. Get a close up look at a sulphur-crested cockatoo and see the antics (funny actions) it gets up to.

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BTN: Internet privacy

Imagine if 60,000 people turned up to your birthday party! How would you convince your parents that it wasn't your fault? A good way would be to use evidence to make your argument credible, or believable. Watch how this clip, a news story about Facebook and internet privacy, carefully selects sources of information to make ...

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This Day Tonight: Debating Vietnam: using counter-arguments, 1967

Imagine agreeing with your opponent in a debate. How could that possibly help your argument? Many successful speakers, however, realise that concession is an important persuasive technique. In this clip, explore how two speakers discussing the effectiveness of Vietnam War protest marches both use concession to improve their ...

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Story development and plot holes with Andy Griffiths

How do you move your characters forward in a story? A trick Andy Griffiths uses is asking a lot of questions. His favourite question to ask is "what's the worst thing that can happen next?" Try asking yourself that question if you get stuck when writing your next story. In this clip Andy also talks about plot holes. What ...

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Jennifer Byrne Presents: Should some YA novels be banned?

Ever since Mark Twain's 'Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' was published in 1884, books for teenagers have come under close scrutiny by adults concerned about their appropriateness for younger audiences. Why are some adults so worried about what teenagers read? Are they right to be concerned? Explore the tricky topic of censorship ...

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First Tuesday Book Club: Confabulating on 'Cold Comfort Farm'

Join in the debate about whether the 1932 novel 'Cold Comfort Farm' by Stella Gibbons should be considered a classic. The novel follows Flora Poste, a young woman who moves in with her country relatives in a village called Howling. It parodies other novels that represented rural life as woeful, and is filled with delightfully ...

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The Buyungurra who didn't listen

Listen as Bianca McNeair shares the story of "The Buyungurra who didn't listen". This is a traditional story that Bianca's mother told her when she was growing up. Bianca uses words from the Malgana language, which is spoken in the area around Shark Bay in Western Australia.

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Heywire: Presenting a point of view about marriage equality

Marriage equality is a controversial issue in Australia, one that has provoked media sensationalism, political rhetoric and heated arguments. Sometimes, however, quieter voices make their point amid all the furore. Explore the voice of Lochsley Wilson in his Heywire audio story.<br /><br />To talk with someone about anxiety ...

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Radio National: 'The Great Gatsby' and Baz's blockbuster

Have you ever been drawn into one of those arguments about which is better: the film or the book? In this clip, explore some responses to Baz Luhrmann's film adaptation of 'The Great Gatsby' and discover some of the factors that influence people's evaluations. It would be boring if we all had the same opinions, but have ...

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Migratory birds

Discover a program that builds awareness about Tasmania's shore birds. See how community involvement is helping to monitor their populations. View this clip called 'Migratory birds', created by young reporters from Circular Head Christian School, Tasmania. The clip was developed as part of the ABC Splash Live 'Making the ...

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Sustainability of a historic community garden

Discover the history of a local community garden and find out about some of its new sustainable features. View this clip called 'Sustainability in Edinburgh', created by young reporters from North Fitzroy Primary School, Victoria. The clip was developed as part of the ABC Splash Live 'Making the news!' project, which featured ...

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Grass-fed beef or grain-fed beef?

Do you know the different ways that grass fed beef and grain fed beef are produced? Discover the resources that each method uses. View this clip created by young reporters from Circular Head Christian School, Tasmania. The clip was developed as part of the ABC Splash Live 'Making the news!' project, which featured local ...

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Feathers, Fur and Fins: A song about flying foxes

Have you seen a flying fox which is a type of fruit bat? Don Spencer uses descriptive words and phrases in his flying fox song to help us understand these animals and explore a day in their life.

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From sewage to reclaimed water

Discover the benefits of recycling sewage, or waste water, to create 'reclaimed water'. View this clip called 'Reuse your pooh!', created by young reporters from Willunga Primary School, South Australia. The clip was developed as part of the ABC Splash Live 'Making the news!' project, which featured local sustainability ...