Yes, say my guests:

Andrew Hadley, COO, Credit Union Australia
Tony Beck, Group Manager, Corporate Affairs, ME Bank (Members Equity)

They both belong to organisations that can provide all of the same services that you get from your bank - and they will do it with less fees and with much more customer service. Why? Both organisations are owned by their members instead of shareholders. In CUA’s case, they are owned by their customers. In ME’s case, they are owned by a group of superannuation firms which, in turn, are owned by their members.

So both organisations exist to provide good service - not solely for the sake of returning profits to shareholders. And, judging by their NPS scores, it makes a difference.

Do you want an independent media?

Today’s music is by:

Rick Estrin & The Nightcats
“U B U” (mp3)
from “Twisted”
(Alligator Records)

Buy at Amazon

Interestingly, Francis doesn’t seem to believe the biblical stories and yet considers himself a Catholic.

If you want to hear my other shows about the historicity of Jesus, check out this page.

Do you want an independent media?

Abigail Washburn & The Shanghai Restoration Project
“Sala” (mp3)
from “Afterquake”
(Undercover Culture Music)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Rhapsody
Buy at Napster
Stream from Rhapsody
Buy at Puretracks
More On This Album

My guest on today’s show is Michael Doneman - one part business coach, one part social activist, one part guru.

Over the last few months his name has come up in a startling variety of conversations I’ve had with people. These people have a few things in common - they are very bright, have a sparkle in their eye, are entrepreneurs, think they can change the world - and they are students of Doneman.

Michael explains the basis of his business / school, Edgeware, where he teaches something he calls “ethical entrepreneurship” and we discuss the future of capitalism.

This is also the first interview in my series where I intend to interview Brisbane’s Best Minds. If you want to nominate someone to be interviewed as part of this series, please submit their details here.

Further links:

John Gray video

Edgeware site

Follow Michael Doneman on Twitter

Do you want an independent media?

Abigail Washburn & The Shanghai Restoration Project
“Sala” (mp3)
from “Afterquake”
(Undercover Culture Music)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Rhapsody
Buy at Napster
Stream from Rhapsody
Buy at Puretracks
More On This Album

A few people on Twitter tried to suggest there was no connection between abuse in Ireland and in Australia, so I invited Dr Wayne Chamley from Broken Rites onto the show. Broken Rites is an Australian advocacy group that works with victims of religious child abuse. He believes that if we had a Royal Commission into Catholic child abuse in this country we would discover TENS OF THOUSANDS of victims.

By the way folks, don’t forget - if you are looking for an easy way to listen to the G’Day World archives (all 381 episodes!), and you’ve got iTunes installed, go to our page on iTunes. While you’re there, give the show a quick review!

By the way folks, don’t forget - if you are looking for an easy way to listen to the G’Day World archives (all 381 episodes!), and you’ve got iTunes installed, go to our page on iTunes. While you’re there, give the show a quick review!

We hate banks. (see my recent poll) It’s true. You know it. I know it. The only people who don’t seem to know it are the banks themselves. Although, I suspect they DO know it - they just don’t care. They’ve had an effective oligopoly for so long they think they can just say and do whatever they want and we’ll just sit here and take it.

Well I’m not taking it anymore. I’m going to do a series of shows exploring why we hate banks so much and what the alternatives are. We have a voice. Let’s use it to change things.

Today on the show I interview three people - Jen Storey from Online Banking Review, Mike Jarocki from Credit Card Finder, and Owen Davies, Group Manager, Corporate Affairs, Bendigo Bank, the bank that Aussies seem to actually like a bit.

Show sponsor:

In 1992, Melbourne businesswoman Yvonne Bornstein and her husband Daniel went to Russia on a business trip. They were kidnapped at the airport and tortured for 11 days in captivity while their captors held them for random. They were finally rescued in a joint operation by the FBI and the KGB. Yvonne joined me on G’Day World Live tonight to tell her story - what they went through and how she has dealt with it in the years since.

links:
Yvonne’ website.
Yvonne is on Twitter!
NYTimes article from 1992.
Melbourne Herald Sun article from 1992.
“Burned”, the novelization of her story, just released.

“Eleven Days Of Hell”, Yvonne’s book.

Are you a member of the TPN500?

Yesterday afternoon I was sitting in a cafe here in Brisbane, reading, thinking about how unlikely it was that Chrissy and I were both in Ajaccio at the same time last year. How, statistically, we should never have met. And then I started thinking about what lead me there… about all of the little events that happened over my life that put me in Ajaccio in July 2008. So I started to jot down this mindmap, tracing each event back in time to the event that had to happen, HAD TO HAPPEN, in order for me to end up in Ajaccio.

Listen to the podcast if you want to know more.

Are you a member of the TPN500?

Anyway, this show is a live recording of the event.

Are you a member of the TPN500?

(note: this isn’t Kevlex - photo courtesy of Toastie14)

We talked about what it takes to be a superhero in the real world. Fascinating stuff.

You too can be a superhero by becoming a member of the TPN500!

A few days after recording this interview, Philip and his wife were detained at London’s Heathrow airport for nine hours and denied access to a lawyer. During the interview he mentioned spending more time in the UK - after this week’s experience, he is reconsidering.

My guest on the show is Steve McDonald from a company called Transcendence.

Steve has consulted in change management, strategic planning and organisational development in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors since 1998. His professional background spans the defence, aviation and emergency services industries.

He came on the show to explain to me what Spiral Dynamics is all about.

Steve is blogging about change at http://www.eman8.net

Follow Steve on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stevemc1

Every now and again I get to chat with someone who has been an inspiration to me for many years - Noam Chomsky, Ray Kurzweil, Doc Searls, Leo Sayer, John Romero, Vint Cerf - and this is another of those episodes.

Kalle Lasn is the founder of Adbusters magazine and author of the books Culture Jam and Design Anarchy. He is the CEO of the Blackspot Anticorporation. For 20 years, Kalle has been trying to buy space on TV networks around the world to show Adbusters’ anti-consumerism commercials such as these:

He is continually rejected by the networks who refuse to take his money and show his ads on the ground that it will offend their larger advertisers. So Kalle has been fighting them in the courts to try to get equal access to the airwaves and, after 20 years of the cases being dismissed by the courts, he’s finally had a win. He joined me recently to talk about it.

Follow Adbusters on Twitter!

Adbusters are the folks behind “Buy Nothing Day”. I shot some video of folks promoting BND in Melbourne back in 2006:

Rebel Priest Fr Peter Kennedy’s Last St Mary’s Mass from Cameron Reilly on Vimeo.

On G’Day World Live this week my guest was Fi Bendall from Bendalls Group. Fi is one of Australia’s best known digital strategists who has worked with clients from MTV to Amnesty. She came on to chat about how social media is challenging corporate cultures in Australia and what needs to happen before those companies will be ready to embrace things like Twitter. You can follow Fi on Twitter.

G’Day World Live broadcasts every Tuesday evening, 8pm AEST. Join in the fun! Lately it’s been running for about four hours - I play guitar and we talk about all the things you’re not supposed to talk about in polite company - from politics to religion, sex, social media and single malt whisky.

And finally, please support TPN’s April drive! We need your support!

If you want to keep TPN on the air, please show your support. If just the listeners of this show contributed $20 a month, I could fund TPN indefinitely! Is the information and entertainment you get from TPN worth a bottle of cheap wine?

Follow Tara on Twitter or her blog and read about the book here.

If you want to join me in celebrating
Vanini Day, then join the club.

If you want to listen to some of my other podcasts on the history of Jesus, see this page.

And finally, please support TPN’s April drive! We need your support!

If you want to keep TPN on the air, please show your support. If just the listeners of this show contributed $20 a month, I could fund TPN indefinitely! Is the information and entertainment you get from TPN worth a bottle of cheap wine?

We talk about the survey that the CPX has recently sponsored that finds that 55 per cent of Australians don’t believe that Jesus rose from the dead but only 11 per cent doubt that Jesus was a real historical figure. As you know, I am one of those 11 per cent. So Greg and I also had a chat about the lack of evidence (as I see it) for the existence of Jesus. As Greg works in the Dept of Ancient History I thought he could confirm for me that my basic facts are correct. As you’ll hear, that was like drawing blood from a stone.

Here are the census stats for religion in Australia.

If you want to join me in celebrating
Vanini Day, then join the club.

If you want to listen to some of my other podcasts on the history of Jesus, see this page.

And finally, please support TPN’s April drive! We need your support!

If you want to keep TPN on the air, please show your support. If just the listeners of this show contributed $20 a month, I could fund TPN indefinitely! Is the information and entertainment you get from TPN worth a bottle of cheap wine?

During this four hour marathon, Nick and I discussed:

Australia’s National Broadband Network

America’s bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Whether or not Nick is an atheist or an agnostic

The financial crisis scam and what we might replace capitalism with

The ethics of veganism

The Church of LOTU

The historicity of Jesus (or lack thereof)

And much, much more.

Listen to the full three hours - if you dare.

Tune in to future live shows every Tuesday night at 8pm here.

Peter’s “sins” include talking about and promoting advaita and trying to include homosexuals and women in his services.

View part one here and part two here.

Peter’s “sins” include talking about and promoting advaita and trying to include homosexuals and women in his services.

View part one here.

Peter Kennedy, Rebel Priest, Part Two from Cameron Reilly on Vimeo.

Peter’s “sins” include talking about and promoting advaita and trying to include homosexuals and women in his services.

Peter Kennedy, Rebel Priest - part 1 from Cameron Reilly on Vimeo.

Irwin Zalkin is a US attorney whose firm, The Zalkin Law Firm PC, specializes in clergy sexual abuse cases. He joins me to talk about the recent news that the Vatican can be sued in a United States court over alleged molestation by its priests.

If you want to keep TPN on the air, please show your support. If just the listeners of this show contributed $20 a month, I could fund TPN indefinitely!

On today’s show I get to chat with one of the most powerful men in Hollywood - Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of Dreamworks Animation - about their new film MONSTERS V ALIENS and the introduction of their new 3D technology. I also chat with the director of the film, Conrad Vernon.

I chatted with Peter today about the recent IPCC report, Kevin Rudd’s emissions trading scheme and whether or not we are all doomed, as George Monbiot is suggesting. Peter told me that our politicians and media are focusing on the wrong thing. We shouldn’t be just thinking about reducing emissions, we should be talking about MINING THE SKY.

As always, I just loved talking to Peter. He never fails to inspire. He’s now on Twitter (I gave him a crash course today), so make sure you follow him. And we also have a Facebook group for Peter call “The Future Makers Club“, make sure you sign up for that as well.

If you are a journalist, blogger, twitterer or podcaster and you’d like a review copy of Designing 2050, please email me.

Ian Kath - The Polyamorist
Nick Beaugeard - The Climate Change Skeptic
and
Kate Edwards - The Polyamory Skeptic

On today’s show I just have another little heart-to-heart chat with anyone out there who is still listening. Among other things, I talk about:

The State of TPN’s finances

The threat of marketing spam on Twitter

Obama’s plan for Cuba

Sean Penn’s interviews with Chavez and Raul Castro

Obama’s encourage of stem cell research

Some talk about my book Debunking Christianity For Dummies and why it’s important to debate Christians in public

My review of CS Lewis’ book ‘Mere Christianity‘

If you read comics at all, you’re probably know who Ben Templesmith is already. If you don’t read comics - then why not?

Anyway, Templesmith is an Australian-born comic book artist / writer who now lives and works in the USA where is perhaps best known for his work on 30 DAYS OF NIGHT (which he co-created and which was subsequently turned into a hit Hollywood film), WORMWOOD, HELLSPAWN and FELL (which is authored by Warren Ellis, perhaps the best known comic book writer working today).

Ben has a new book THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES which just came out, as well as a new comic GROOM LAKE and a one-off DOCTOR WHO.

I chatted with him recently about how you become a world-famous comic book artist and what motivates his art.

PLEASE SUPPORT THE TPN PLEDGE!

Green Cross Australia is a new national NGO that works on the frontline of climate change: the human dimension. We anticipate and resolve conflicts over natural resources that put our environment at risk, and we foster sustainable partnerships between business, government and the community. We prepare communities for environmental impacts in Australia and overseas. This ranges from the impact of fires, floods and environmental disasters on Australian cities to the mass displacement of populations due to rising sea levels.

Pretty topical, with the floods in QLD and the fires in VIC. Mara talks about her background (which is an interesting story) and the vision of Green Cross.

PLEASE SUPPORT THE TPN PLEDGE!

Livewire is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Starlight Children’s Foundation and is supported by funding from the Australian Government under the Clever Networks Program and in-kind contributions from Starlight and Livewire partners.

Together we are working towards keeping children & young people living with illness or disability connected

It’s estimated there are over 400,000 children and young people aged 10-21 years old coping with the impact of living with a serious illness, a chronic condition or a disability in Australia.

While I think a social networking community for young people with serious illnesses is a good thing, I am concerned that this site has cost $14.7 million to set up, with half of that money coming from the Federal Government. I asked Omar and Cinnamon where the money went.

PLEASE SUPPORT THE TPN PLEDGE!

Harry Truman - Among other things, authorized the only use of nuclear weapons on a civilian population in history

John Kennedy - Among other things, authorized the attempted invasion of Cuba, nearly brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, was sleeping with Marilyn Monroe, etc.

Lyndon Johnson - Among other things, escalated the Vietnam war. Possibly implicated in the Kennedy assassination.

Jimmy Carter - Actually, a pretty good guy, defender of human rights.

Bill Clinton - Bombed and starved the people of Iraq, decided the best way to spend his days in the White House was to get blowjobs and stick cigars up an intern’s vag.

So… will Obama be another Jimmy Carter? Or… one of the others?

Anyway, Jed joins me on the show today to talk about our hopes and concerns for the Obama administration.

PLEASE SUPPORT THE TPN PLEDGE.

Palestinian casualties - 1,400 dead including more than 400 children and 100 women. Israeli casualties - 12 Israeli soldiers and 3 civilians.

My guest on this show is Antony Loewenstein, Sydney-based journalist, author and blogger.

Read more:

David Rose article in Vanity Fair

Henry Siegman, director of the US Middle East Project in New York, former national director of the American Jewish Congress and of the Synagogue Council of America, article “Israel’s Lies”

PLEASE SUPPORT THE TPN PLEDGE.

A note about this show:

With the help of my two assistants Tim Grainger and Jonathan Hewlett, we ran a LIVE TWITSTREAM of the interview through the gdayworld twitter account. We asked people to submit questions via Twitter during the interview and I fed those back to Antony during our call. It was my first attempt at podcast twinterviewing and the results were interesting.

Thanks to Darryl King from iReckon for seeding the filthy idea into my head over coffee a few days ago.