Breaking Down Babylon — "Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, None but ourselves can free our minds" — From "Redemption Song" by Bob Marley. In his 50th anniversary year, Bob Marley's powerful challenge remains relevant not only for Jamaicans, but for all people of the world with the legacies of imperialism. Marley's untimely death at 36 robbed Jamaica of its most famous musician and of a powerful political figure as well. ABC Radio National, Saturday, April 8, 3.30pm.
Women Out Loud: Bingo, Bowls and Bedpans — Looking at the lives of women in nursing homes. ABC Radio National, Saturday, April 8, 5.05pm.
Nomads — The Australian continent is criss-crossed with the tracks of 20th century nomads: boarding school boys gone tribal and middle-aged men on the run from commitments. Some you find camped by waterholes off the highway in remote desert country, living off roots and nuts, the urge to reach their next destination having temporarily vanished. Or they might be in the workshops of seasonal cities like Darwin and Cairns, picking up a bit of work, then taking off again when the rains come. Why, in 20th-century Australia, do nomads roam? ABC Radio National, Sunday, April 9, 8.30pm.
Christiania — Christiania is the oldest, largest and arguably most successful anarchistic, post-hippy squatter community in Europe. More than 1000 people live on the site of this former military barracks in the centre of Copenhagen, a community that had its beginnings in an occupation of the site by some 300 squatters in September 1971. Now, a diverse group, from high-flying journalists and academics to one time bag ladies and spiritual healers live and work in an autonomous enclave. The self-managing citizens of Christiania pay neither income tax nor VAT. They operate manufacturing workshops, a health centre, a recycled building materials warehouse and the myriad other goods and services that keep a community functioning. ABC Classic FM, Monday, April 10, 9pm.
Red Like the Devil — Radio play by Teresa Crea. A fascinating bilingual production from Adelaide's Doppio Teatro. Based on fact, it tells the story of Francesco Fantin, interned as an "enemy alien" during the second world war although he had worked in Australia for 20 years as a cane cutter and anti-fascist organiser. Crea has done extensive research into the life of Fantin, the Italian canecutters in north Queensland and the history of the Loveday internment camp in South Australia. The bilingual nature of the play works perfectly in the prison camp setting, highlighted by Bob Petchell's music, which uses motifs from fascist, communist and anarchist songs of the time. ABC Classic FM, Tuesday, April 11, 8pm.