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Often it is difficult to know where to start when writing articles and book chapters, and sometimes even more so for blog posts summarising those articles and book chapters. Therefore, in keeping with a few examples such as here, here and here citing other bands, many thanks to Ultha for inspiration for this post’s title and section headings and for being happy with me invoking them so liberally.

Many of us are aghast at the unprecedented dismantlement of the US administrative state. Mass terminations. Website erasure. Removal of watchdogs. Unchecked access to the treasury. All around me, people are trying to connect what's happening to historical events. Is this fascism? A hostile corporate takeover? A coup? People want a frame both to understand what's happening and grapple with what's coming. Most of the people I know are also struggling to figure out where they can take action.

I've spent the bulk of my life tracking different dynamics in the tech industry. And, for the last decade, I've had the pleasure of working alongside federal civil servants and observing their commitment to American democracy. So as I watch this unfold, a few frames keep coming to mind. Frames that explain both the moment and how we got here. These are not frames that provide me with answers for the future, but perhaps they offer insights that others might be able to build on.

Jenga Politics.

Think about the wooden puzzle known as Jenga, where a tower is made out of criss-crossed wooden blocks. Players are asked to take out pieces of the wooden puzzle from the structure and then place their piece on top, increasing the pressure of gravity on the structure. The goal of the game is get your opponent to take the blame for making the entire system fall.

President Trump should thank former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The implosion of his Iran-backed regime handed Trump the perfect setting to make history. During his first 100 days, President Trump should deliver a speech outlining a fresh U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and announcing the withdrawal of American troops from Syria.

The highly visible nature of a troop withdrawal would mark a clean break from the shortcomings of his predecessors. It would also allow President Trump to fulfill campaign promises with clear, concrete action—correcting the complications from his earlier Syria policy and opening the door to a new golden age of American foreign policy. The neoconservatism of the George W. Bush era failed miserably. The liberal-oriented strategies of the Clinton, Obama, and Biden years did not fare much better. Recent attempts at progressive-oriented approaches have proven equally problematic.

Donghoon Lee and Joseph Tracy

On this episode of After America, Associate Professor Clare Corbould joins Dr Emma Shortis to discuss the relentlessness of the new Trump administration and the media coverage of his first two weeks in office.

This discussion was recorded on Friday 31 January 2025 and things may have changed since recording.

Order What’s the Big Idea? 32 Big Ideas for a Better Australia now, via the Australia Institute website.

Guest: Clare Corbould, Associate Head of School, Research, Faculty of Arts and Education, Deakin University // @clarecorbould

Host: Emma Shortis, Director, International & Security Affairs, the Australia Institute // @EmmaShortis

Show notes:

Presidency Pending hosted by Clare Corbould and Zim Nwokora, Deakin University

Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism by Yanis Varoufakis (September 2023)

To help make the upcoming submission process for the MSAC 1754 survey easier, AusPATH and LHA have put together this two part guide.

PART ONE: Overview of MSAC Application 1754, which proposes to include surgical procedures for gender affirmation on the medical benefits scheme (MBS).

PART TWO: How to write a powerful response to MSAC. The voice of lived experience is critical in helping assessors of MSAC 1754 understand why equitable access to gender affirming surgery is so important. Your say is important!

Living True, Living Better, a vital evidence-based resource pack countering harmful disinformation about gender-affirming healthcare for transgender young people, created by Transcend Australia, in partnership with AusPATH and supported by Equality Australia and LGBTIQ+ Health Australia. 

This comprehensive resource pack provides accurate information to guide decision-making for families, caregivers, and health providers. 

The AMA affirms that people who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and/or Gender Diverse, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, Sistergirl, and Brotherboy (LGBTQIASB+) in Australia thrive in healthcare environments where they feel safe, affirmed, respected and understood.

https://auspath.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/LGBTQIASB-Position-Statement-2023-1.pdf

Contact information: 

AusPATH (Australian Professional Association for Trans Health) 

Info@auspath.org.au 

Release Date: 

31 March 2023 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Over the past few weeks Australia has seen a series of increasingly distressing events and 

actions taken by individuals and groups against our trans community, in cities and towns around the nation. These events represent an elevation in violence against trans people, and the LGBTQI+ community at large. 

AusPATH would like to firmly state our position in support of the rights of all trans people—binary and non-binary—to safety, health, and autonomy. 

AusPATH rejects and condemns the transphobic statements and beliefs espoused by anti-trans activists and members of the far-right. We reject and condemn the violence demonstrated not just by members of the public, but also by members of the police, towards trans rights protesters.

We stand in support and solidarity with the broader LGBTIQ+ community, and with members of the Jewish community and other minority groups that have been under attack. 

In response to this escalation in anti-trans rhetoric and violence, AusPATH will continue to 

AusPath 2023 Conference

2 – 4 November 2023, Melbourne, Australia

The Australian Professional Association for Trans Health (AusPATH) is pleased to host the AusPATH 2023 Conference in collaboration with the Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa (PATHA).

This three-day face-to-face conference will be hosted at Pullman on the Park in East Melbourne on Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung country from 2-4 November 2023. Thursday 2 November will be dedicated to interactive workshops, and Friday 3 November to Saturday 4 November will be the main scientific program days.

Introduction

Commons Library Director Holly Hammond chats with activist Allison Rich and activist-scholar Dr Alicia Pawluczuk about their creative activism and the Endo Violence Collective. The collective works to amplify the voices of those affected by endometriosis and foster a rich, inclusive dialogue that transcends conventional boundaries.

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Introduction

Making Movements and Advocacy Accessible was a break out session run at the FWD+Organise 2024 conference hosted by Australian Progress in Naarm/Melbourne. 

In order to win on the biggest challenges facing society today, it’s critical we actively prioritise working in a way that’s inclusive and accessible for all people. 

As a sector, we run thousands of events each year and communicate with the public at a vast scale. Yet rather than embracing inclusion, too often we impose unnecessary and harmful barriers. 

The session was an honest discussion sharing best practice principles and takeaways to improve the accessibility and inclusivity of your next event or email-blast. The session was presented by:

Introduction

In this conversation Alex Kelly interviews Jackie Turner about the importance of building solidarity, community and knowledge of history while combating disinformation. Alex is an activist,filmmaker and the Economic Media Centre Communications Director. Jackie is the Director of the Trans Justice Project.

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This article is read by Eunice Wong, a Juilliard-trained actor, featured on Audible's list of Best Women Narrators. Her work is on the annual Best Audiobooks lists of the New York Times, Audible, AudioFile, & Library Journal. www.eunicewong.actor

Text originally published Feb. 01, 2025

I remember only one major fire growing up in San Diego: hundreds of thousands of acres were burning twenty miles inland, and the Santa Ana winds were blowing its ash down on us in La Jolla — us surfers and beach bums and rich kids — far away on the glittering coast. I was just about to turn fifteen and my newly greyscale, ashy beach town became a sort of delinquent teen paradise. All the cops and firefighters were busy inland managing the catastrophe, leaving us to our own devices on the boardwalk to drink and smoke and enjoy the week of cancelled school as our city burned. My asthmatic brother had to flee the region entirely in search of fresher air; I remained with friends to party in an apocalyptic landscape that, for the first time, reflected the naive cynicism only a teenager could possess.

The fire became known as the Cedar Fire, which in 2003 held the grim title of the largest California wildfire in over a century. Fires this big were rare, and historic, and you can ask anyone who was in San Diego at the time whether they remember “the fire” and they won’t have to ask you which one. We all remember the ash and the flames and the destroyed homes because we share the Cedar Fire as a rare focal point in our collective memory. The Santa Ana winds will always, for us, spell fire.