You stand on a plinth of lies

From white settlement of Australia and the massacres of Indigenous peoples that followed, to statues commemorating slave traders, around the world protesters are starting important new conversations on history. Joining Mark Kenny to discuss the lessons we really should be learning from the past are journalists Stan Grant and Julia Baird, and historian Professor Paul Pickering.

From the blowing up of sacred Indigenous sites by a mining company, to the removal by an angry crowd of the statue of slave trader Edward Colston, around the world history is being destroyed, revisited, contested, and reassessed in real time. But is pulling statues down erasing history, or a necessary reckoning against the trauma of the past? And are the statues scattered in our cities and towns reinforcing a version of history that needs to be challenged? Joining Mark Kenny on this Democracy Sausage Second Serve are journalist and Vice-Chancellor’s Chair of Australian/Indigenous Belonging at Charles Sturt University Stan Grant, author and journalist Julia Baird, and Professor Paul Pickering of the ANU Australian Studies Institute.

Paul Pickering is a Professor at The Australian National University and Director of the ANU Australian Studies Institute.

Julia Baird is an author, broadcaster and journalist, currently hosting The Drum on ABC 24.

Stan Grant is the Vice Chancellor's Chair of Australian/Indigenous Belonging at Charles Sturt University. He was formerly ABC's Global Affairs and Indigenous Affairs Analyst.

Mark Kenny is a Professor in the ANU Australian Studies Institute. He came to the university after a high-profile journalistic career including six years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times.

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This podcast is produced in partnership with The Australian National University.

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