This week on Read the Play, Chelsea and David reflect on what it means to insist on Indigenous humanity: a humanity that is not defined by proximity to whiteness or power, but rather grounded in sovereignty, spirit, and struggle.

First up, you’ll hear an interview with Darumbal and South Sea Islander scholar and writer, Dr. Amy McQuire, who reflects on the insights she has learned from working alongside the families of disappeared Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.

We then listen back to some beautiful presentations from the 2025 National Symposium Unifying Anti-Racist Theory and Practice, including a powerful address from diaspora Palestinian scholar and activist Dr. Jamal Nabulsi, a beautiful dialogue between Amy and Palestinian poet, writer and lawyer Sara Saleh, and a powerful call to arms from Waitaha, Kāti Mamoe and Kai Tahu Professor Donna McCormack.

Reading list

McQuire, Amy. “Disappearing Aboriginal Women: Speaking Back to Silences.” University of Queensland, School of Political Science, 2023.

McQuire, Amy. “The Act of Disappearing.” Meanjin, October 2022. https://meanjin.com.au/essays/the-act-of-disappearing/.

McQuire, Amy. Black Witness. University of Queensland Press, 2024.

Nabulsi, Jamal. “Affective Resistance: Feeling through Everyday Palestinian Struggle.” 2023.

Nabulsi, Jamal. “Reclaiming Palestinian Indigenous Sovereignty.” Journal of Palestine Studies 52, no. 2 (2023): 24–42. 

King (Te Aūpouri, Te Rarawa, and Kāti Māmoe) Cormack (Kāi Tahu. “Indigenous Peoples, Whiteness, and the Coloniality of Co-Design.” In Handbook of Critical Whiteness. Springer, Singapore, 2023.

Credits

Recordings and Production: Some of the podcast materials are drawn from Triple A Murri Country’s Let’s Talk Black Politics and Black Knowing, recorded in the studio between 2023-2024, hosted by Professor Chelsea Watego and Dr David Singh in addition to excerpts from QUT Carumba Institute’s National Symposium Unifying Anti-racism Research and Practice, all of which were produced by Anna Carlson.

Music: We wish to sincerely thank Matt Hsu’s Obscure Orchestra for granting permission for free use of ‘Live, Laugh, Decolonise’ and ‘Eat the World’  

Production & Sound Design: BlakCast Productions

Artwork: graphic by Rachel Apelt, Artbalm.

This podcast was supported (partially) by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council's Discovery Indigenous Projects funding scheme (project IN210100008). The views expressed herein are those of the presenters and are not necessarily those of the Australian Government or Australian Research Council.

 

This week on Read the Play, Chelsea and David reflect on what it means to insist on Indigenous humanity: a humanity that is not defined by proximity to whiteness or power, but rather grounded in sovereignty, spirit, and struggle.
First up, you&rsquo;ll hear an interview with Darumbal and South Sea Islander scholar and writer, Dr. Amy McQuire, who reflects on the insights she has learned from working alongside the families of disappeared Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.
We then listen back to some beautiful presentations from the 2025 National Symposium Unifying Anti-Racist Theory and Practice, including a powerful address from diaspora Palestinian scholar and activist Dr. Jamal Nabulsi, a beautiful dialogue between Amy and Palestinian poet, writer and lawyer Sara Saleh, and a powerful call to arms from Waitaha, Kāti Mamoe and Kai Tahu Professor Donna McCormack.
Reading list
McQuire, Amy. &ldquo;Disappearing Aboriginal Women: Speaking Back to Silences.&rdquo; University of Queensland, School of Political Science, 2023.
McQuire, Amy. &ldquo;The Act of Disappearing.&rdquo; Meanjin, October 2022. <a href="https://meanjin.com.au/essays/the-act-of-disappearing/">https://meanjin.com.au/essays/the-act-of-disappearing/</a>.
McQuire, Amy. Black Witness. University of Queensland Press, 2024.
Nabulsi, Jamal. &ldquo;Affective Resistance: Feeling through Everyday Palestinian Struggle.&rdquo; 2023.
Nabulsi, Jamal. &ldquo;Reclaiming Palestinian Indigenous Sovereignty.&rdquo; Journal of Palestine Studies 52, no. 2 (2023): 24&ndash;42.&nbsp;
King (Te Aūpouri, Te Rarawa, and Kāti Māmoe) Cormack (Kāi Tahu. &ldquo;Indigenous Peoples, Whiteness, and the Coloniality of Co-Design.&rdquo; In Handbook of Critical Whiteness. Springer, Singapore, 2023.
Credits
Recordings and Production: Some of the podcast materials are drawn from Triple A Murri Country&rsquo;s Let&rsquo;s Talk Black Politics and Black Knowing, recorded in the studio between 2023-2024, hosted by Professor Chelsea Watego and Dr David Singh in addition to excerpts from QUT Carumba Institute&rsquo;s National Symposium Unifying Anti-racism Research and Practice, all of which were produced by Anna Carlson.
Music: We wish to sincerely thank Matt Hsu&rsquo;s Obscure Orchestra for granting permission for free use of &lsquo;Live, Laugh, Decolonise&rsquo; and &lsquo;Eat the World&rsquo; &nbsp;
Production &amp; Sound Design: BlakCast Productions
Artwork: graphic by Rachel Apelt, Artbalm.
This podcast was supported&nbsp;(partially) by the Australian Government through the&nbsp;Australian Research Council's&nbsp;Discovery Indigenous Projects&nbsp;funding scheme (project IN210100008). The views expressed herein are those of the presenters and are not necessarily those of the&nbsp;Australian Government&nbsp;or Australian Research Council.
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Join your favourite “nerds on the frontline” Professor Chelsea Watego & Dr. David Singh as they embark on an ambitious new podcast to showcase the power and possibility of Indigenous critical race theory. 

Over 13 jam-packed episodes, Chelsea & David examine key concepts and ideas in Indigenous critical race theory to help listeners learn to “read the play” in the ongoing war on race. They dig into big questions about the ethics of anti-racist research and practice. They foreground the importance of working from Aboriginal terms of reference, and the power and joy of building intellectual collectives grounded in Indigenous Intellectual Sovereignty. 

Expect incisive interviews, gut-punch analysis, and the occasional belly laugh as Chelsea & David grapple with the life and death stakes of race in the colony and the work that mob across the continent are doing to fight back.

Join your favourite &ldquo;nerds on the frontline&rdquo; Professor Chelsea Watego &amp; Dr. David Singh as they embark on an ambitious new podcast to showcase the power and possibility of Indigenous critical race theory.&nbsp;
Over 13 jam-packed episodes, Chelsea &amp; David examine key concepts and ideas in Indigenous critical race theory to help listeners learn to &ldquo;read the play&rdquo; in the ongoing war on race. They dig into big questions about the ethics of anti-racist research and practice. They foreground the importance of working from Aboriginal terms of reference, and the power and joy of building intellectual collectives grounded in Indigenous Intellectual Sovereignty.&nbsp;
Expect incisive interviews, gut-punch analysis, and the occasional belly laugh as Chelsea &amp; David grapple with the life and death stakes of race in the colony and the work that mob across the continent are doing to fight back.

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