Teachers Talk Texts Clare Mackie

In this episode, Clare speaks with Sonia Murr about Trevor Noah's memoir, 'Born A Crime'. The text is a wild ride, careering from absolutely hilarious to gut-wrenchingly heart-breaking in the turn of a page, and it provides a unique vantage point to interrogate the impacts of apartheid in South Africa. Sonia's reflections and insights into the novel are thoughtful and considered, especially around political correctness and engaging with this text meaningfully in a classroom. If you are i...

In this episode, Clare speaks with Philip Thiel about Chinua Achebe's critically acclaimed novel, 'Things Fall Apart'. Together, they discuss the importance of understanding a post-colonial lens as a means of exploring this text, and how Achebe invites his reader into this narrative through his decision to write the novel in English. Further, this conversation centres on the significance of gender, and not just masculinity, but femininity too, and how Achebe interrogates these construct...

Kat from BEAR Learn returns in this episode, flipping the script and putting Clare in the hot seat to answer questions about Much Ado About Nothing. Having recently authored analysis of 50 key quotations from the play in collaboration with BEAR Learn, this conversation dips into some of the key ideas and concerns of Shakespeare, and how students can streamline their study by honing in on high utility quotations that can do heavy lifting in analysis. The conversation gives a little taste of wh...

Clare is joined by Melinda Keyte in this conversation, to discuss Toni Jordan's novel, 'Nine Days'. The discussion is rich and broad, as Melinda speaks knowledgeably and passionately about the text, including ideas of women's emancipation, the symbolism of the house on Rowena Parade, Jordan's rich characterisation and the importance of love in upholding social values in difficult times. The novel itself traverses a period of significant change in Australia, and so there is much to explore. Ev...

Teachers Talk Texts is BACK! After a brief hiatus, Clare is back in the recording chair, accompanied by new baby Scarlett, ready to talk texts. In this episode, she is joined by Ashleigh Cavalin to discuss one of the new films to the Year 12 text list - Billy Wilder's 'Sunset Boulevard'. The conversation delves into the symbolism of the film, and how Wilder used this film as a mechanism to criticise and condemn the Hollywood industry of the time. From fancy cars to rats in the pool, listen in...

...and Teachers Talk Texts is back for Season 3! Have you missed me? In this episode, Clare speaks with Punita Mistry about Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. If you are looking for a critically feminist reading of the text, this is your episode. If you are a bit unsure about critically feminist readings of texts, have a listen anyway, because Punita's arguments are so well evidenced and articulated that even Clare was swayed into questioning the absolute nature of Lizzy and Darcy's love (sho...