Alice Garner

This is my first radio feature, produced for a history show on ABC Radio National, broadcast in late 2024. It draws on oral history archives and security files. I wrote the script, rough edited the audio, narrated, devised and played the cello soundtrack.

Show blurb: When superannuation pioneer Mavis Robertson was in her seventies, she was showered with awards and honours. But something was missing from the life story shared with the public at this time: the more than 30 years she spent as a leading member of the Communist Party of Australia. Historian Alice Garner and Mavis's son Peter Robertson delve into this part of his mother's life, including her extensive ASIO security file.

In this radio feature, I play myself and the role of my great great grandmother, Fanny Finch. I was also involved in project managing the production of this piece, which was written by Bill Garner and Sue Gore with historian Kacey Sinclair. 

Show blurb: 

What if the most remarkable of all your ancestors was the one left off the family tree? Historian Kacey Sinclair and two of Fanny Finch’s direct descendants reconstruct and reflect on the life and legacy of a goldfields trailblazer, a woman of colour whose story was hidden for generations.

This is a public presentation I gave at the National Library of Australia in 2023 at the completion of an oral history based research fellowship. In it I talk about the process of researching for an audio documentary.

Drawing on oral history archives, this non-narrated audio piece is a collection of memories of student life at the University of Melbourne from the 1920s until the 1960s. I sourced all the oral history recordings from existing archival collections. I edited the audio and played the cello improvisations that weave in and out. Ryan Pemberton mixed and mastered the piece. 

Produced for a public installation at MPavilion Parkville, on the University campus, in April 2025.

Choc-tops and Cassata digs into the ways Italian language films shaped the cultural life of Melbourne. Hosted by comedian, writer and producer Santo Cilauro alongside Italian and cinema studies academics Elisabetta Ferrari and Mark Nicholls. This is a 5-part series of The Secret Life of Language podcast. 

Part 1: How multicultural movies saved the Melbourne cinema scene.

Part 2: Saturday nights at the Metropolitan: Melbourne's Italian cinema experience

Part 3: Jan Sardi on Italian cinema and Australian screenwriting

Part 4: From vision to legacy: Antonio Zeccola and Italian cinema in Australia

Part 5: The Caste: the most quintessential Australian movie with an Italian vibe? 

-

I co-produced this series with Dr Elisabetta Ferrari and sound engineer Gavin Neibauer, contributing to research and post-interview editing.