From The Embers

Melbourne became a ghost town during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pubs and venues closed their doors, leaving many of the city’s artists and creatives without a stage to perform on or an audience to perform for.

Yet over successive lockdowns, it was the creative industries that kept communities strong, as we all adapted to unprecedented circumstances. 

In The Stage Goes Dark, four creatives share their struggles and victories during the pandemic and cry out for an overlooked community, calling for a lifeline.

Guests:

Eilish Gilligan

Brenton Harris

Neil Morris (DRMNGNOW)

Virginia Gay

Credits:

Producer: Erin Dick

Executive Producer and sound design: Sarah Mashman

Engineer: Tegan Nichols

Theme composer: Oliver Beard

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions

Management team: Abe Killian and Sime Knezevic

Made in co-operation with: SYN, Melbourne

This episode was made on the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation and the muwinina people from Country around nipaluna. These lands were never ceded. 

From the Embers Season 2: Phoenix is supported by The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas, The Paul Ramsay Foundation, Monash University’s Fire to Flourish program and The Minderoo Foundation Fire and Flood Resilience Initiative and broadcast across Australia via the Community Radio Network

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Four Emergency level bushfires burned over one weekend in Western Australia in February 2022. With roughly 30% of WA agricultural land, most farmers are prepared for fire at any time. But when one comes, they rely heavily on volunteer farmers and locals who form the  Bush Fire Brigade.

On February 6, 2022 near the small farming town of Narrogin, extreme wind and heat, coupled with a powerline spark in a dry pasture paddock, resulted in a massive fire. Only one house was lost but the impact on livestock and farmland will affect farmers years into the future.  

Content warning this feature contains stories of animals in distress

Guests:

Angus Armstrong

Mike Burges

Tammy Freestone

Michael Lange

Credits:

Producer: Leith Alexander

Executive producer and sound design: Sarah Mashman

Engineering: Tegan Nicholls

Theme music: Oliver Beard

Additional music: Blue Dot Sessions

Management team: Abe Killian and Sime Knezevic

Made in co-operation with: Harvey Community Radio, Western Australia

This episode was made on the Wiilman and Wadjuk Countries of the Nyoongar Nation and the lands of the muwinina people from Country around nipaluna. These lands were never ceded.

From the Embers Season 2: Phoenix is supported by The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas, The Paul Ramsay Foundation, Monash University’s Fire to Flourish program and The Minderoo Foundation Fire and Flood Resilience Initiative – and broadcast across Australia via the Community Radio Network

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Day after day of intense rainfall fell across south east Queensland In February 2022, breaking riverbanks, swamping roads and flooding homes.

The city of Brisbane experienced one of the worst floods on record. In three days alone, Brisbane received 80 per cent of its annual rainfall as people scrambled to find higher ground to shelter.

As people recover and start to rebuild, questions are being raised over where to live and how to prepare for the future.

Guests:

Milena Cifali

Richard Hamernik

Carolyn Karafa

Councillor Johnathon Sri

Credits:

Producer: Maureen Mopio

Executive producer and sound design: Sarah Mashman

Engineering: Tegan Nicholls

Theme music: Oliver Beard

Additional music: Blue Dot Sessions

Management team: Abe Killian and Sime Knezevic

Made in co-operation with 4EB, Brisbane

This episode was made on the lands of the Turrbal and Jagera peoples, and the land of the muwinina people from Country around nipaluna. These lands were never ceded.

From the Embers Season 2: Phoenix is supported by The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas, The Paul Ramsay Foundation, Monash University’s Fire to Flourish program and The Minderoo Foundation Fire and Flood Resilience Initiative – and broadcast across Australia via the Community Radio Network

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever increasing record high flood levels are marked on the side of Lismore’s flood levee. 

Lismore, a town in Northern New South Wales is dissected by two major rivers. When there’s heavy rainfall, water flows down from the surrounding hills, slowing at the bottom and spreading across the floodplain. 

The town’s residents know floods, their houses are built high, some four metres off the ground in the canopies of trees. Many have flood plans, keeping kayaks and dinghies tethered to their homes in case of emergency.

On February 27 2022, water inundated the town, sweeping away cars, stranding residents on rooftops and filling houses with inches of mud.

In the weeks that followed volunteer hubs sprang up to feed and clothe locals forced to shelter in tents and cars as they struggle to recover with minimal support and start to clean out and rebuild their homes in the trees.  

Guests: 

Vicki Findlay

Naomi Moran

Aidan Ricketts

Lucy Wise

Freya Woodland

Production team

Producer and sound design: Sarah Mashman

Engineer: Tegan Nichols

Theme composer: Oliver Beard

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions

Management team: Abe Killian and Sime Knezevic

Made with the co-operation of 2NCR, Lismore and the Koori Mail

Roofs above water was made on Widjabul Wia-bal Country of the Bundjalung Nation and the lands of the muwinina people from Country around nipaluna. These lands were never ceded.

From the Embers Season 2: Phoenix is supported by The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas, The Paul Ramsay Foundation, Monash University’s Fire to Flourish program and The Minderoo Foundation Fire and Flood Resilience Initiative and broadcast across Australia via the Community Radio Network

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One and a half million hectares of Yuin Country was destroyed by the 2019/2020 mega fires in the South Coast of New South Wales. These fires killed countless animals, plants and insect species - some of which are now on the brink of extinction.

Many members of the South Coast Yuin Community call these mega fires, ‘Wrong Fire,’ fires that can’t be controlled and have the capacity to injure and kill. This type of fire is vastly different to Right Fire, often called Cultural Burning. Right Fire has been practised for thousands of years and has the capacity to heal and care for all. 

Content warning this feature contains stories from the 2019/2020 Fires.  

Guests: 

Andrew White

Uncle Nook

Vikki Parsley

Credits:

Producer: Alice Ansara

Executive producer and sound design: Sarah Mashman

Engineer: Tegan Nicholls

Theme music by Oliver Beard

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions

Minga-Yung - Your Mother by Jordan Nye

Management team: Abe Killian and Sime Knecevic

In co-operation with 2EAR, Moruya

This podcast was made on the lands of the Walbunga and the Yuin Nation and the lands of the muwinina people from Country around nipaluna. These lands were never ceded.

From the Embers Season 2: Phoenix is supported by The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas, The Paul Ramsay Foundation, Monash University’s Fire to Flourish program and The Minderoo Foundation Fire and Flood Resilience Initiative and broadcast across Australia via the Community Radio Network

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The fires that tore through the South Coast of New South Wales in 2019/2020 hit towns on the coast and in the bush.

Within the community, homes were lost, some experienced events that left them traumatised and all inhabited a devastated landscape.

Animal habitats were also affected, and when both logging companies and urban developers began to encroach on the habitat of the critically endangered Swift Parrot, locals from the South Coast began to stand up and take action to save the home that this small bird needs in order to survive.

Content warning: this feature contains stories from the 2019/2020 Fires.

Guests:
Bill Eger

Nick Hopkins

Jordan Nye

Dr. Debbie Saunders

Credits:

Producer: Alice Ansara

Executive producer and sound design: Sarah Mashman

Engineer: Tegan Nicholls

Theme music by Oliver Beard

Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions

Management team: Abe Killian and Sime Knecevic

In co-operation with 2EAR, Moruya

This episode was made on the lands of the Walbunga and the Budawang people of the Yuin Nation and the lands of the muwinina people from Country around nipaluna. These lands were never ceded

From the Embers Season 2: Phoenix is supported by The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas, The Paul Ramsay Foundation, Monash University’s Fire to Flourish program and The Minderoo Foundation Fire and Flood Resilience Initiative and broadcast across Australia via the Community Radio Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two years on from the massive fire that tore through Mallacoota, a tiny coastal town  in Victoria, the camping grounds are full again, koalas can be spotted in the crowns of eucalypts and the landscape is green with epicormic growth.

But the town is dotted with empty lots where houses once stood and the new green growth only hides the blackened trunks.

Photojournalist Rachel Mounsey documented the approach of the bushfire and the aftermath, focusing her camera on the people who lost their homes amidst the devastation. 

Content warning this feature contains stories from the 2019/2020 Fires.  

Guests

Justin Brady

Brodie Cummingham

Kate Jackson

Rachel Mounsey

Jiya Rose Nation

Credits:

Producer and presenter: Sarah Mashman

Engineer: Tegan Nicholls

Theme music by Oliver Beard

Additional music from Blue Dot Sessions

Production management team: Abe Killian and Sime Knezevic

In co-operation with 3MGB, Mallacoota

Framing Disaster was made on the lands of the Gunai Kurnai people and the muwinina people from Country around nipaluna. These lands were never ceded.

From the Embers Season 2: Phoenix is supported by The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas, The Paul Ramsay Foundation, Monash University’s Fire to Flourish program and The Minderoo Foundation Fire and Flood Resilience Initiative and broadcast across Australia via the Community Radio Network.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Residents in Lobethal fled their properties for safety in December 2019, not knowing if they’d return and find their houses still standing.

Adelaide’s Cudlee Creek fire filled the air with black smoke and destroyed 85 homes over 10 days. As the recovery rolled-out, the pandemic crept in - isolating people and leaving those who’d lost their homes feeling isolated and forgotten.

Content warning this feature contains stories from the 2019/2020 Fires.  

Guests:

• Belinda Broughton
• Hana Broughton
• Evan Edwards
• Nicole McIntosh

Credits:

• Producer: Lisa Burns
• Executive producer and presenter: Sarah Mashman
• Engineer: Tegan Nichols
• Theme composer: Oliver Beard
• Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
• Management: Abe Killian and Sime Knezevic
• In co-operation with: Radio Adelaide

The House on the Hill was made on the lands of the Kaurna people and the Peramangk people and the muwinina people from Country around nipaluna. These lands were never ceded.

From the Embers Season 2: Phoenix is supported by The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas, The Paul Ramsay Foundation, Monash University’s Fire to Flourish program and The Minderoo Foundation Fire and Flood Resilience Initiative and broadcast across Australia via the Community Radio Network”

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Severe storms and fire are a part of life on Kangaroo Island. But the firestorms that blasted across the Island’s landscape in January 2022 were unlike anything ever seen before, and forbode of a changing climate.

Two years on, birds and mammals are only just starting to return to fire-ravaged habitats, and a question looms over the community - what will come when the fire siren rings again?

When Lightning Strikes Twice is made in Tribute to Sarah Strong- Law. 

Content warning this feature contains stories from the 2019/2020 Fires.  

Guests:

Jayne Bates

Brenton Davis

Sabrina Davis

Margi Prideaux

Sarah Strong-Law

Alice Teasdale

Credits:

Producer: Lisa Burns

Executive producer and sound design: Sarah Mashman

Engineer: Tegan Nichols

Theme composer: Oliver Beard

Management: Abe Killian and Sime Knezevic

In co-operation with KIX FM, Kangaroo Island

This podcast was made on lands of significance to the Ngarrindjeri-Ramindjeri, Kaurna and Narungga peoples and the land of the muwinina people from Country around nipaluna. These lands were never ceded.

From the Embers Season 2: Phoenix is supported by The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas, The Paul Ramsay Foundation, Monash University’s Fire to Flourish program and The Minderoo Foundation Fire and Flood Resilience Initiative and broadcast across Australia via the Community Radio Network

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From the Embers 2: Phoenix returns to several places featured in the first series when in 2019, major fires surged across Australia lasting until rains and floods extinguished them in 2020. Most remember this as the worst season Australia had experienced.

The second series returns to Mallacoota, Kangaroo Island, the forests of the Far north of New South Wales, to explore how communities are recovering from the fires and the issues that stem from trauma and isolation, coupled with the strength is gained when so much is lost.

This series will also visit communities who are recovering from floods and seemingly never ending COVID lockdowns.

From The Embers 2: Phoenix is a co-operation between the series producers and local community radio stations.
Duration

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The roads to Omeo were closed as fires surged towards the small East Gippsland town.

Locals retreated to the Recreation Reserve to camp in outbuildings and halls clustered around the football field.

Then out of the heavy smoke, birds appeared, Chinooks and Black Hawks offering an escape to some of the community.

This is the final episode of Season One of From the Embers, a nine-part series sharing first-hand accounts from Australia’s devastating summer of fire. 

Guests: 

• Natalie O’Connell
• Leonie Pendergast
• Ann Peterson
• Dennis and Jill Riethmiller
• Graeme Symons

Credits:

• Producer: Anne Wall
• Additional assistance Alice Ansara and Lisa Burns
• Executive Producer and Sound Design: Sarah Mashman
• Production Management Team: Vicky Rouse and Abe Killian
• Engineering: Tegan Nichols
• Script Consultation: Zoe Ferguson
• Theme: Oliver Beard

This podcast has been brought to you by the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia, and is supported by The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas and The Paul Ramsay Foundation

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does a “properly defended” house look like?

Is it a bunker in a hill? A mop and bucket at every corner? Do you just need a hose and access to a tap?

Across Australia during the bushfire season, a repeated message is that people should only stay if they’re prepared to fight the fires, but as a bushfire approaches, even those who are most prepared, often have to make a difficult decision.

The Gippsland Emergency Relief Fund directly helps people in the Victorian region: more information: www.gerf.org.au/ 

Guests: 

• Peter and Jenny Cadby
• Amy Fisher
• Kevin Perry 
• Charmaine Sellings

Credits:

• Producer: Anne Wall
• Executive Producer and Sound Design: Sarah Mashman
• Production Management Team: Vicky Rouse and Abe Killian
• Engineering: Tegan Nichols
• Script Consultation: Zoe Ferguson
• Theme: Oliver Beard

This podcast has been brought to you by the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia, and is supported by The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas and The Paul Ramsay Foundation

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

First, the road closed. Then on the morning of New Year’s Day, night came and the skies turned red. Images from the coastal town of Mallacoota went viral as thousands of people sheltered on the wharf, the beach and in the caravan park that overlooks the lake. And during that time, the community radio station, helmed by Francesca Winterson played on…until they couldn’t.

Guests:

• Francesca Winterson
• Don Ashby
• Brodie Gaudion
• Kristin Rule
• Kate Jackson

Credits:

• Producer: Anne Wall
• Executive Producer and Sound Design Sarah Mashman
• Production Management Team Vicky Rouse and Abe Killian
• Engineering Tegan Nichols
• Script Consultation Zoe Ferguson
• Theme Oliver Beard

This podcast has been brought to you by the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia and is supported by The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas and The Paul Ramsay Foundation.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kangaroo Island is the oldest bee sanctuary in the world and home to one of the last disease-free koala populations in Australia.

At the end of 2019, two lightning strikes lit up the bushland at Flinders Chase National Park, resulting in uncontrollable firestorms that tore across the island at speeds the community had never seen before, scorching the earth and destroying animal habitats. 

A warning to listeners, this episode contains stories of animals in distress.

Guests:

• Kate Welz
• Sabrina Davis
• Peter Davis
• Jayne Bates
• Dana Mitchell

Credits:

• Producer: Lisa Burns
• Executive Producer and Sound Design: Sarah Mashman
• Production Management Team: Vicky Rouse and Abe Killian
• Engineering: Tegan Nichols
• Script Consultation: Zoe Ferguson
• Theme: Oliver Beard

This podcast has been brought to you by the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) and is supported by The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas and The Paul Ramsay Foundation.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When a fast-moving fire started in Cudlee Creek in the Adelaide Hills, residents throughout the region had to stop, drop what they were doing and return to their homes to defend, evacuate, or take shelter.

If they chose to flee to safety, they faced another tough decision - what to take with them and what to leave behind?

Guests:

• Matt and Bec Edwards
• Caz
• Meg Stephens

Credits:

• Producer: Lisa Burns
• Executive Producer and Sound Design: Sarah Mashman
• Production Management Team: Vicky Rouse and Abe Killian
• Engineering: Tegan Nichols
• Script Consultation: Zoe Ferguson
• Theme: Oliver Beard

This podcast has been brought to you by the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) and is supported by The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas and The Paul Ramsay Foundation.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People move to Cooma for the landscape, to walk through forests, to farm, to be embraced in a small community that welcomes outsiders. 

But in the summer of 2019, danger was lurking in the hills around Cooma and as the year ticked over, Cooma was visited by an unexpected disaster.

Guests:

• Yvi Henderson
• Sujeed Bosco
• Louise Jenkins
• Jodi Brooks

Credits:

• Producer Lisa Burns
• Executive Producer and Sound Design Sarah Mashman
• Production Management Team Vicky Rouse and Abe Killian
• Engineering Tegan Nichols
• Script consultant Zoe Ferguson
• Theme Oliver Beard

This podcast has been brought to you by the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia and is supported by The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas and The Paul Ramsay Foundation.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Early in the bushfire season, the town of Mongarlowe was encircled by flames and cut off from outside support.  The town was facing encroaching fires so vast and severe, that in any other circumstance support teams of extra fire trucks and crews, emergency services and much more would have been sent to aid the town - but in this season of fires, there was no extra support to give.

So the town spawned a grassroots firefighting collective to assist the local Rural Fire Services Brigade - the Mongarlowe Mosquito Army.

Guests:

• James ‘Bolj’ Bakerboljevac
• Hollie Bakerboljevac
• Paul Bott
• Rowena Hall

Credits:

• Producer - Alice Ansara
• Executive Producer and Sound Design - Sarah Mashman
• Production Management Team - Vicky Rouse and Abe Killian
• Engineering - Tegan Nichols
• Script Consultation - Zoe Ferguson
• Theme - Oliver Beard

This podcast has been brought to you by the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) and is supported by The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas and The Paul Ramsay Foundation

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Early data placed the number of wildlife lost in the recent bushfires at over a billion. The impact of Australia’s recent fire season on wildlife has been devastating. Before the fires hit their zenith, wildlife carers and rescuers - some defending their homes and properties at the same time, were stepping up, and strangers from around the world donated time and money, to help Australia’s wildlife.

So what happens to the animals too injured to survive in the wild and how are we helping bring life back to the burnt forests?

A warning to listeners, this episode discusses the loss of wildlife and contains stories of animals in distress and euthanasia.

Guests:

• Nick Hopkins
• Julie Taylor Mills
• Rachel McInnes
• Frances Carleton
• Andrew White
• Robynne Murphy

Credits:

• Producer - Alice Ansara
• Executive Producer and Sound Design - Sarah Mashman
• Production Management Team - Vicky Rouse and Abe Killian
• Engineering - Tegan Nichols
• Script Consultation - Zoe Ferguson
• Theme - Oliver Beard
• Additional music: Blue Dot Sessions, Rest you Sleeping Giant

This podcast has been brought to you by the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) and is supported by The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas and The Paul Ramsay Foundation.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A transistor radio and couple of batteries kept people connected during the bushfires as they listened to the constant emergency alerts. But in between the official messages are the human ones. Five presenters working across two regions share their experience of the recent summer of fire and what happened when one region’s transmitter went down.

Guests include:

• Kathy Shields from Eurobodalla Access Radio (2EAR FM)
• Gordon Waters - Braidwood Community Radio
• Rod McClure- Braidwood Community Radio
• Simon Lauder - ABC South East and
• Jen Hunt - ABC South East

Credits:

• Producer - Alice Ansara
• Executive Producer and Sound Design - Sarah Mashman
• Production Management Team - Vicky Rouse and Abe Killian
• Engineering - Tegan Nichols
• Script Consultation - Zoe Ferguson
• Theme - Oliver Beard
• Additional music: Blue Dot Sessions Rest you Sleeping Giant

This podcast has been brought to you by the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia (CBAA) and is supported by The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas and The Paul Ramsay Foundation.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the wake of COVID-19, it's easy to forget that only a few short months ago, hundreds of communities across Australia were faced with fire and smoke, homes destroyed and one of the most difficult bushfire seasons Australia has ever seen. Not only has the rise of COVID-19 slowed recovery efforts, as the media focus their attentions on a global crisis, those who have lost everything are now also left behind.

Premiering on Tuesday 28th April, the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia's documentary series From the Embers takes listeners to the very heart of nine communities affected by the recent bushfire crisis. From the Embers is an important reminder to us all of the essential role that storytelling plays in ensuring we allow those affected to be honoured and heal, without feeling overlooked.

Created in partnership with nine community radio stations who faced the frontline of the fire, with generous support from the Judith Neilson Institute of Journalism and Ideas and the Paul Ramsay Foundation.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.