Brazen

Deborah Small

Episode 9 is the last of Brazen's first season. It's with Deborah Small.

 

Deborah Small is a New York lawyer and social justice activist. She founded the organisation Break the Chains, aimed at reducing the harms caused by drugs - and also drug policy around drugs - especially on communities of colour. 

 

Dame Margaret Sparrow

Episode 8 is with Dame Margaret Sparrow.

Dame Margaret has been at the forefront of the abortion reform battle in New Zealand since it began.

She fought for it when it was first introduced back in the mid 70s, was the head of the Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand for 32 years between 1975 and 2011, and was still fighting for it right up until it was removed from the crimes act in March this year.  

She’s also been a sex ed teacher, an author and even gave the snip to an uncle of one of the Brazen team! 

Laura Clarke

Episode 7 is with British High Commissioner to New Zealand, Laura Clarke.

Laura made headlines when, in her official role, she made an expression of regret for the Māori killed when Captain Cook arrived in Aotearoa.

She's also one of the youngest High Commissioners New Zealand has ever had, she's Cambridge educated and a remarkable person. Despite all these things, she still gets mansplained to a lot.

Julia Whaipooti

Episode 6 is with Julia Whaipooti.

Julia is a proper activist. She's chair of Just Speak, a network of young people speaking up for a more fair and just Aotearoa. Julia also works as an advisor to the Children’s Commissioner, Judge Andrew Becroft, and sits on the board of the Drug Foundation.

In this episode she talks about her background, growing up Māori in Australia, versus New Zealand, the racism that exists in our society and marrying a Pākehā woman.

Clementine Ford part 2

Episode 5 is the the second half with Australian writer, broadcaster, public speaker and amazing feminist icon, Clementine Ford.

In part 2 Susie and Clem talk about raising children, the extraordinary thing that is carrying a child, and get into the weirdness of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.

Clementine Ford part 1

Episode 4 is the the first half of a two-parter with Australian writer, broadcaster, public speaker and amazing feminist icon, Clementine Ford.

Part 1 sees Clem talk about how she became to identify as a feminist, the existence, or lack thereof, of a typical boy or girl and how men can be victims of the patriarchy too.

Charlotte McLauchlan

In episode three, Susie talks to Charlotte McLauchlan who has been working in PR for nearly two decades.

In that time she’s worked with Coleen Rooney, wife of a famous football player, the Australian TV studio that produces Masterchef and when we interviewed her she was working at MediaWorks.

Charlotte talks about her time working with someone who was at the mercy of the British tabloids, and what it’s like to be working a very intense job while being a mum to two children.

 

asha bandele

In episode two, Susie interviews US activist and writer asha bandele. asha noticed some big differences in the way that New Zealand treats its prison inmates compared to the US. She talks about how the war on drugs is just an extension of racist policies to entrench white supremacy and walks us through her background from being an adopted foster child to parenting her own child with a prisoner who was ultimately deported.

Michèle A'Court

In our first episode, Susie talks to writer and comedian Michèle A'Court. We hear how she got her big break on What Now in the 1980s, being a pioneering stand-up comic in New Zealand, and the sexism that came with being a woman stand-up comic. She also talks about dealing with a newborn child and a partner who had a substance abuse problem, what her future holds and more.