Hi, i’m Mundanara Bayles, host of the award-winning Black Magic Woman Podcast, where I celebrate the voices of First Nations people, leaders, and changemakers who are shaping our communities today. With honesty, laughter, and deep connection, I invite you into yarns that help us all learn, unlearn, and walk together towards a more just future.

🎙️ Tune in now and hear the stories that inspire, challenge, and uplift — told through a Blak lens.

Hi, i&rsquo;m Mundanara Bayles, host of the award-winning Black Magic Woman Podcast, where I celebrate the voices of First Nations people, leaders, and changemakers who are shaping our communities today. With honesty, laughter, and deep connection, I invite you into yarns that help us all learn, unlearn, and walk together towards a more just future.
🎙️ Tune in now and hear the stories that inspire, challenge, and uplift &mdash; told through a Blak lens.

Hosted by Mundanara Bayles who was born and raised in Redfern (Sydney) Australia and currently lives in Queensland. The Black Magic Woman Podcast is an uplifting conversational style program featuring mainly First Nations people from Australia and around the world sharing their stories about their journey to highlight the diversity amongst First Nations peoples and the resilience of her people. She hopes these stories inspire her listeners and also create a better understanding of what First Nations Peoples culture and history.

 

Mundanara is guided by Aboriginal Terms of Reference and focusses more on who people are rather than on what they do. Mundanara makes people feel relaxed and comfortable as if they were sitting around the kitchen table just having a yarn. It’s the way First Nations people have been building relationships and getting to know each other for tens of thousands of years. She draws from a long family history in the media industry and has grown up in culturally strong, politically active family who have been at the forefront of the Aboriginal Rights movement since the 1960’s.

 

Mundanara sees this platform as an opportunity to share her cultural knowledge and insights to her audience in a non confrontational way that brings people along with her to create change for a better Australia. To connect more with Mundanara check out the work she does with her elders at www.theblackcard.com.au

 

If you'd like to support the show by making a financial contribution, visit www.theblackcard.com.au Any help is appreciated and goes a long way. I encourage to get behind any First Nations media, contribute, share and be apart of positive change that Australia needs.

Hosted by Mundanara Bayles who was born and raised in Redfern (Sydney) Australia and currently lives in Queensland. The Black Magic Woman Podcast is an uplifting conversational style program featuring mainly First Nations people from Australia and around the world sharing their stories about their journey to highlight the diversity amongst First Nations peoples and the resilience of her people. She hopes these stories inspire her listeners and also create a better understanding of what First Nations Peoples culture and history.
&nbsp;
Mundanara is guided by Aboriginal Terms of Reference and focusses more on who people are rather than on what they do. Mundanara makes people feel relaxed and comfortable as if they were sitting around the kitchen table just having a yarn. It&rsquo;s the way First Nations people have been building relationships and getting to know each other for tens of thousands of years. She draws from a long family history in the media industry and has grown up in culturally strong, politically active family who have been at the forefront of the Aboriginal Rights movement since the 1960&rsquo;s.
&nbsp;
Mundanara sees this platform as an opportunity to share her cultural knowledge and insights to her audience in a non confrontational way that brings people along with her to create change for a better Australia. To connect more with Mundanara check out the work she does with her elders at <a href="https://www.theblackcard.com.au">www.theblackcard.com.au</a>
&nbsp;
If you'd like to support the show by making a financial contribution, visit <a href="https://www.theblackcard.com.au">www.theblackcard.com.au</a> Any help is appreciated and goes a long way. I encourage to get behind any First Nations media, contribute, share and be apart of positive change that Australia needs.

Black Magic Woman with Mundanara Bayles

Hosted by Mundanara Bayles who was born and raised in Redfern (Sydney) Australia and currently lives in Queensland. The Black Magic Woman Podcast is an uplifting conversational style program featuring mainly First Nations people from Australia and around the world sharing their stories about their journey to highlight the diversity amongst First Nations peoples and the resilience of her people. She hopes these stories inspire her listeners and also create a better understanding of what First Nations Peoples culture and history.



Mundanara is guided by Aboriginal Terms of Reference and focusses more on who people are rather than on what they do. Mundanara makes people feel relaxed and comfortable as if they were sitting around the kitchen table just having a yarn. It’s the way First Nations people have been building relationships and getting to know each other for tens of thousands of years. She draws from a long family history in the media industry and has grown up in culturally strong, politically active family who have been at the forefront of the Aboriginal Rights movement since the 1960’s.



Mundanara sees this platform as an opportunity to share her cultural knowledge and insights to her audience in a non confrontational way that brings people along with her to create change for a better Australia. To connect more with Mundanara check out the work she does with her elders at www.theblackcard.com.au.



If you'd like to support the show by making a financial contribution, visit https://www.theblackcard.com.au./ Any help is appreciated and goes a long way. I encourage to get behind any First Nations media, contribute, share and be apart of positive change that Australia needs.

Hosted by Mundanara Bayles who was born and raised in Redfern (Sydney) Australia and currently lives in Queensland. The Black Magic Woman Podcast is an uplifting conversational style program featuring mainly First Nations people from Australia and around the world sharing their stories about their journey to highlight the diversity amongst First Nations peoples and the resilience of her people. She hopes these stories inspire her listeners and also create a better understanding of what First Nations Peoples culture and history.
 
Mundanara is guided by Aboriginal Terms of Reference and focusses more on who people are rather than on what they do. Mundanara makes people feel relaxed and comfortable as if they were sitting around the kitchen table just having a yarn. It’s the way First Nations people have been building relationships and getting to know each other for tens of thousands of years. She draws from a long family history in the media industry and has grown up in culturally strong, politically active family who have been at the forefront of the Aboriginal Rights movement since the 1960’s.
 
Mundanara sees this platform as an opportunity to share her cultural knowledge and insights to her audience in a non confrontational way that brings people along with her to create change for a better Australia. To connect more with Mundanara check out the work she does with her elders at www.theblackcard.com.au.
 
If you'd like to support the show by making a financial contribution, visit https://www.theblackcard.com.au./ Any help is appreciated and goes a long way. I encourage to get behind any First Nations media, contribute, share and be apart of positive change that Australia needs.

Black Magic Woman

Welcome to the Black Magic Woman Podcast

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/fa326977-3de5-4283-9b8b-af3500c58607/clips/67f06acc-34b8-4e24-9c54-b33c01883e55/transcript

This week I'm joined by my brother James Saunders, a Gunditjmara, Wiradjuri and Wongaibon storyteller, producer and media specialist.

James runs Barragi Mawang and has spent more than a decade working alongside our communities. But this yarn goes further back than any of that, to where the creativity started, and it isn't where you'd expect.

We yarn about Country from the sky, and what a drone taught him about the stories held in the land. We yarn about the film he worked on in the Pilbara, and the phone call that opened a door nobody else could open. We yarn about his uncle, a Gunditjmara man who walked into an enlistment office at nineteen, and the two years James spent putting that story on the page.

And we yarn about fear. What he's overcome, and what it took to step into who he is.

There's a lot in this one. Have a listen.

Fighting for Country: The Extraordinary Life of Reg Saunders, Australia's First Indigenous Military Officer, Hero of Two Wars, published by Allen & Unwin, out 1 September: 

Yurlu | Country, directed by Yaara Bou Melhem, co-produced by James Saunders. Written by the late Maitland Parker, Banjima Elder. Watch and support the campaign at yurlucountry.com and cleanupwittenoom.com

Barragi Mawang: https://barragimawang.com/

Mob Stock, launching October for Indigenous Business Month: mobstock.com.au 

Website: www.blackmagicwoman.com.au
Follow us on Instagram - @blackmagicwomanpodcast

If you enjoyed this episode, please 'Subscribe' on Apple Podcasts or 'Follow' on your Spotify app and tell your friends and family about us! If you'd like to contact us, please email, info@blackmagicwoman.com.au

Black Magic Woman is produced by BlakCast.

This week I'm joined by my brother James Saunders, a Gunditjmara, Wiradjuri and Wongaibon storyteller, producer and media specialist.
James runs Barragi Mawang and has spent more than a decade working alongside our communities. But this yarn goes further back than any of that, to where the creativity started, and it isn't where you'd expect.
We yarn about Country from the sky, and what a drone taught him about the stories held in the land. We yarn about the film he worked on in the Pilbara, and the phone call that opened a door nobody else could open. We yarn about his uncle, a Gunditjmara man who walked into an enlistment office at nineteen, and the two years James spent putting that story on the page.
And we yarn about fear. What he's overcome, and what it took to step into who he is.
There's a lot in this one. Have a listen.
<a href="https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/book/James-Saunders-Fighting-for-Country-9781761471988">Fighting for Country: The Extraordinary Life of Reg Saunders</a>, Australia's First Indigenous Military Officer, Hero of Two Wars, published by Allen &amp; Unwin, out 1 September:&nbsp;
<a href="https://illuminate-films.com.au/projects/yurlu-country/">Yurlu | Country</a>, directed by Yaara Bou Melhem, co-produced by James Saunders. Written by the late Maitland Parker, Banjima Elder. Watch and support the campaign at yurlucountry.com and cleanupwittenoom.com
Barragi Mawang: <a href="https://barragimawang.com/">https://barragimawang.com/</a>
Mob Stock, launching October for Indigenous Business Month: <a href="https://www.mobstock.com.au/">mobstock.com.au&nbsp;</a>
Website: <a href="https://www.blackmagicwoman.com.au">www.blackmagicwoman.com.au</a> Follow us on Instagram - @blackmagicwomanpodcast
If you enjoyed this episode, please 'Subscribe' on Apple Podcasts or 'Follow' on your Spotify app and tell your friends and family about us! If you'd like to contact us, please email, <a href="mailto:info@blackmagicwoman.com.au">info@blackmagicwoman.com.au</a>
Black Magic Woman is produced by BlakCast.

Blackfulla Ways in a Digital World: The Book, the Film and Mobstock

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/fa326977-3de5-4283-9b8b-af3500c58607/clips/9b2055b6-101f-45df-86f6-b4b3002eec57/transcript

I've done a lot of yarns on this podcast. This one went somewhere I've never taken a conversation before.

Sam Johnson grew up in Glebe, raised by the aunties who made sure he was safe when there wasn't much else. He was 18, living on his own, being aged out of a system that had already taken his sister, when he worked out the only door left to him was one he'd have to open himself. He topped his school in legal studies. Then he graduated and was homeless.

Today he runs a 100 per cent Aboriginal-owned agency working on the very systems he came up through, and he's putting money back into our young people.

We got into things I wasn't expecting. Where violence in this country actually began. Why our men were taken, and what it means that they're coming back. What his father asked for once and was refused, six months before they came for his daughter on a Friday night.

And then Sam asked if he could leave us with a poem.

Some of what we talk about in this episode is heavy. If it brings anything up for you, 13YARN is 13 92 76 and Lifeline is 13 11 14.

RESOURCES AND LINKS

Sam Johnson
Impact Policy: https://www.impactpolicy.com.au
Impact Policy Podcast: https://shows.acast.com/impact-policy
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-alderton-johnson

Amy McQuire
Dr Amy McQuire is a Darumbal and South Sea Islander journalist whose work covers the disappearance and killing of Aboriginal women and children, and how media reporting shapes who gets seen as a victim.
Black Witness, published by UQP
Curtain The Podcast, co-hosted with Martin Hodgson, on the BlakCast Network: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/curtain-the-podcast/id1164804753
Substack: https://amymcquire.substack.com

Also mentioned
The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson, written and directed by Leah Purcell
Sherele Moody, Australian Femicide Watch: https://australianfemicidewatch.org
Barnardos Australia: https://www.barnardos.org.au

Support
13YARN: 13 92 76
Lifeline: 13 11 14
1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732

Website: www.blackmagicwoman.com.au
Follow us on Instagram - @blackmagicwomanpodcast

If you enjoyed this episode, please 'Subscribe' on Apple Podcasts or 'Follow' on your Spotify app and tell your friends and family about us! If you'd like to contact us, please email, info@blackmagicwoman.com.au

Black Magic Woman is produced by BlakCast.

I've done a lot of yarns on this podcast. This one went somewhere I've never taken a conversation before.
Sam Johnson grew up in Glebe, raised by the aunties who made sure he was safe when there wasn't much else. He was 18, living on his own, being aged out of a system that had already taken his sister, when he worked out the only door left to him was one he'd have to open himself. He topped his school in legal studies. Then he graduated and was homeless.
Today he runs a 100 per cent Aboriginal-owned agency working on the very systems he came up through, and he's putting money back into our young people.
We got into things I wasn't expecting. Where violence in this country actually began. Why our men were taken, and what it means that they're coming back. What his father asked for once and was refused, six months before they came for his daughter on a Friday night.
And then Sam asked if he could leave us with a poem.
Some of what we talk about in this episode is heavy. If it brings anything up for you, 13YARN is 13 92 76 and Lifeline is 13 11 14.
RESOURCES AND LINKS
Sam Johnson Impact Policy: <a href="https://www.impactpolicy.com.au">https://www.impactpolicy.com.au</a> Impact Policy Podcast: <a href="https://shows.acast.com/impact-policy">https://shows.acast.com/impact-policy</a> LinkedIn: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-alderton-johnson">https://www.linkedin.com/in/sam-alderton-johnson</a>
Amy McQuire Dr Amy McQuire is a Darumbal and South Sea Islander journalist whose work covers the disappearance and killing of Aboriginal women and children, and how media reporting shapes who gets seen as a victim. Black Witness, published by UQP Curtain The Podcast, co-hosted with Martin Hodgson, on the BlakCast Network: <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/curtain-the-podcast/id1164804753">https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/curtain-the-podcast/id1164804753</a> Substack: <a href="https://amymcquire.substack.com">https://amymcquire.substack.com</a>
Also mentioned The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson, written and directed by Leah Purcell Sherele Moody, Australian Femicide Watch: <a href="https://australianfemicidewatch.org">https://australianfemicidewatch.org</a> Barnardos Australia: <a href="https://www.barnardos.org.au">https://www.barnardos.org.au</a>
Support 13YARN: 13 92 76 Lifeline: 13 11 14 1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732
<hr>
Website: <a href="https://www.blackmagicwoman.com.au">www.blackmagicwoman.com.au</a> Follow us on Instagram - @blackmagicwomanpodcast
If you enjoyed this episode, please 'Subscribe' on Apple Podcasts or 'Follow' on your Spotify app and tell your friends and family about us! If you'd like to contact us, please email, <a href="mailto:info@blackmagicwoman.com.au">info@blackmagicwoman.com.au</a>
Black Magic Woman is produced by BlakCast.

There Is No Justice. It Is Just Us.

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/fa326977-3de5-4283-9b8b-af3500c58607/clips/32e37643-86e0-49c7-8f5f-b4a50002edc9/transcript

Want this conversation before anyone else? Become a BlakCast Patreon member for early access to new episodes, ad free listening, and exclusive bonus content. Join at Patreon.com/BlakCastNetwork

It's National Missing Persons Week, and this yarn is one of the most important I have had on Black Magic Woman.

When Ginny Jones' little brother Jai didn't come home, her family knew something wasn't right. What happened next, and how fast our mob mobilised when the systems that were meant to help stood still, became the reason The Disappeared Project exists today.

The Disappeared Project is Australia's first Aboriginal-led organisation walking beside families whose loved ones have been disappeared. They stand with families through police, media and community searches, they are building the first First Nations-led database of our disappeared people, and they are working to change the way our people are spoken about and searched for. It is work that should have existed decades ago, carried right now by volunteers.

I sit down with co-founders Ginny Jones and Kevin Yow Yeh for a yarn about love, grief, and what our communities build when we refuse to let each other be forgotten.

This is a heavy yarn, and an important one. Please look after yourself as you listen.

If anything in this episode brings things up for you, please reach out. 13YARN 13 92 76 for First Nations peoples, and Lifeline 13 11 14.

To learn more about The Disappeared Project, follow them on Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook, or visit thedisappearedproject.com

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TheDisappearedProject

Justice for Monique

Monique Clubb, a proud Butchulla and Woppaburra woman, disappeared in June 2013 after travelling from Hervey Bay to Brisbane. Her family are petitioning the Queensland Minister for Police and the Commissioner of the Queensland Police Service to offer a $1 million reward for information leading to the recovery of her remains. Sign and share the petition:change.org

Website: www.blackmagicwoman.com.au

Follow us on Instagram - @blackmagicwomanpodcast

If you enjoyed this episode, please ‘Subscribe’ on Apple Podcasts or ‘Follow’ on your Spotify app and tell your friends and family about us! If you’d like to contact us, please email, info@blackmagicwoman.com.au

Black Magic Woman is produced by BlakCast.

 

Want this conversation before anyone else? Become a BlakCast Patreon member for early access to new episodes, ad free listening, and exclusive bonus content. Join at Patreon.com/BlakCastNetwork
It's National Missing Persons Week, and this yarn is one of the most important I have had on Black Magic Woman.
When Ginny Jones' little brother Jai didn't come home, her family knew something wasn't right. What happened next, and how fast our mob mobilised when the systems that were meant to help stood still, became the reason The Disappeared Project exists today.
The Disappeared Project is Australia's first Aboriginal-led organisation walking beside families whose loved ones have been disappeared. They stand with families through police, media and community searches, they are building the first First Nations-led database of our disappeared people, and they are working to change the way our people are spoken about and searched for. It is work that should have existed decades ago, carried right now by volunteers.
I sit down with co-founders Ginny Jones and Kevin Yow Yeh for a yarn about love, grief, and what our communities build when we refuse to let each other be forgotten.
This is a heavy yarn, and an important one. Please look after yourself as you listen.
If anything in this episode brings things up for you, please reach out. 13YARN 13 92 76 for First Nations peoples, and Lifeline 13 11 14.
To learn more about The Disappeared Project, follow them on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thedisappearedproject/">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/thedisappearedproject/">LinkedIn</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064496778192">Facebook</a>, or visit&nbsp;<a href="https://thedisappearedproject.com/">thedisappearedproject.com</a>
Patreon: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/TheDisappearedProject">https://www.patreon.com/TheDisappearedProject</a>
Justice for Monique
Monique Clubb, a proud Butchulla and Woppaburra woman, disappeared in June 2013 after travelling from Hervey Bay to Brisbane. Her family are petitioning the Queensland Minister for Police and the Commissioner of the Queensland Police Service to offer a $1 million reward for information leading to the recovery of her remains. Sign and share the petition: <a href="https://www.change.org/p/justice-for-monique-b10c7899-7af0-4b9f-a814-cf71fbcd728e">change.org</a>
Website:&nbsp;<a href="https://open.acast.com/www.blackmagicwoman.com.au">www.blackmagicwoman.com.au</a>
Follow us on Instagram - @blackmagicwomanpodcast
If you enjoyed this episode, please &lsquo;Subscribe&rsquo; on Apple Podcasts or &lsquo;Follow&rsquo; on your Spotify app and tell your friends and family about us! If you&rsquo;d like to contact us, please email, <a href="mailto:info@blackmagicwoman.com.au">info@blackmagicwoman.com.au</a>
Black Magic Woman is produced by BlakCast.
&nbsp;

The Disappeared Project

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/fa326977-3de5-4283-9b8b-af3500c58607/clips/efe34087-4799-4563-8f66-b4980014e6b0/transcript

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