Talking Freely

Greg Sheridan is an Australian foreign affairs journalist, author and commentator. He has written a number of books on politics, religion and international affairs and has been the foreign editor of The Australian newspaper since 1992. His latest book is 'Christians: the urgent case for Jesus in our World.'

Martyn Iles is the Managing Director of the Australian Christian Lobby. He is also the host of "The Truth of it", a successful program that examines various social issues through a Christian lens.

Dr Anne Aly is a Federal Member of Parliament in Western Australia for the Australian Labor Party. She worked as a professor, academic and practitioner in counter terrorism and countering violent extremism. She was a 2016 nominee for Australian of the Year and a 2016 recipient of the prestigious Australian Security Medal. In 2021, she was awarded the McKinnon Prize for Emerging Political Leader of the Year, in recognition of her Parliamentary work against both right-wing extremism and family & domestic violence.

Dr John Dickson started out as a singer-songwriter, now working as an author, academic, and media presenter. In 2007 he co-founded the Centre for Public Christianity, and has published 18 books and three TV documentaries. His latest book is entitled Bullies and Saints: an honest look at the good and evil of Christian history.

Alex Ryvchin is an Australian author, advocate, media commentator and lawyer. He is currently the co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, and is the author of several books including the recent work Zionism: The Concise History.

Dr Jonathan Cole is a scholar, speaker, translator, commentator, and lecturer specialising in Political Theology, which is the intersection between religion and politics. He is Assistant Director for the Centre for Public and Contextual Theology at Charles Sturt University in Canberra. He hosts the Political Animals Podcast: Honest conversations about the political and cultural ideas that shape who we are in the 21st century.

Alastair Roberts works for the Theopolis and Davenant Institutes. He is an author of Echoes of Exodus: Tracing Themes of Redemption Through Scripture, and the forthcoming Heirs Together: A Theology of the Sexes. He participates in the Mere Fidelity and Theopolis podcasts and blogs at Alastair's Adversaria.

Michael Jensen is an Australian clergyman, author, and lecturer. He has served as the rector in the Anglican parish of St Mark's Church, Darling Point since 2013 and was formerly a professor of theology at Moore College, Sydney.

Dr Rory Shiner is senior pastor of Providence City Church in Perth. His research is in Evangelical History and the History of Religious Thought. He is the author of One Forever: The Transforming Power Of Being In Christ.

Dr. Ryan T. Anderson is the President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington DC. He has authored several books, including Truth Overruled: The Future of Marriage and Religious Freedom, and is the founding editor of Public Discourse, the online journal of the Witherspoon institute.

Dr. Preston Sprinkle is President of the Center for Faith, Sexuality and Gender, and a New York Times best-selling author. His latest book is Embodied: Transgender Identities, The Church And What the Bible Has To Say.

Nathan Campbell is an ordained Minister in the Presbyterian Church. A journalism graduate, and Public Relations professional in his previous professional life, Nathan occasionally writes for a variety of publications including Soul Tread, Eternity News, Zadok Perspectives, and The Gospel Coalition, but more frequently publishes pieces about the intersection between Christianity and culture on his blog St. Eutychus.

Our guest on this episode is Deborah O'Neill, Senator for New South Wales since 2013. A member of the Australian Labor Party, she is passionate about ensuring all Australian men and women, regardless of their circumstances have access to secure work, income, and a world-class health and education system.

Andrew T. Walker is Associate Professor of Christian Ethics at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. An Associate Dean in the School of Theology, he is also the Executive Director of the Carl F. H. Henry Institute for Evangelical Engagement. His new book is entitled 'Liberty For All – Defending Everyone’s Religious Freedom In A Pluralistic Age'.

In this episode of Talking Freely, we interview Nicholas Aroney, Professor of Constitutional Law at The University of Queensland. Professor Aroney has held visiting positions at Oxford, Cambridge, Paris, Edinburgh, Durham, Sydney, Emory and Tilburg universities. He has published over 100 journal articles, book chapters and books in the fields of constitutional law, comparative constitutional law and legal theory. In 2017 he was appointed by the Australian Prime Minister to an Expert Panel to advise on whether Australian law adequately protects the human right to freedom of religion – this is now known as the Ruddock Review.

Our guest today is Rod Dreher, who is an author, blogger and senior editor at The American Conservative. He has written several books, including How Dante Can Save your life, The Benedict Option and the recently released Live Not By Lies.

On this episode we speak with Archbishop Glenn Davies, who has been the Archbishop of Sydney since his election in 2013. He has completed studies at Westminster Theological Seminary and Moore Theological College, receiving his PhD from Sheffield University in England. He was lecturer in both Old and New Testaments at Moore College, as well as a Rector before his appointment as Bishop of North Sydney. As Archbishop, he considers his main task to be a man of prayer, a preacher and a pastor, encouraging the ministers in his diocese to proclaim Jesus so that people might become his disciples and grow in the obedience that comes from faith.

In this episode of Talking Freely, we speak with Stephen McAlpine who is a blogger and ex-journalist writing on issues of theology, culture and the church. He works at City Bible Forum, developing evangelistic material for a project called Third Space. His new book is 'Being the Bad Guys: How to live for Jesus in a world that says you shouldn't'.

In this episode of Talking Freely we speak with Carl Trueman, Professor of Biblical and Religious studies at Grove City College. He is a church historian and previously served as the William E. Simon Fellow in Religion and Public Life at Princeton University. Professor Trueman has authored or edited more than a dozen books, and has just released a book entitled ‘The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to Sexual Revolution’.

In this episode of Talking Freely, we chat to Senator Amanda Stoker (QLD). Senator Stoker arrived in politics after a career in the legal profession, commencing her employment at Minter Ellison. Becoming a Barrister, she practiced commercial law, administrative law and corporate crime. She has been a member of the Liberal Party since the age of 19, and is motivated by the desire to see Australia return to a country of opportunity based on centre-right values.

In this episode of Talking Freely we chat to Dr Joel Harrison, Senior Lecturer of Law at the University of Sydney. Dr. Harrison specialises in constitutional law and public law. His research focuses on constitutionalism, religious liberty, and human rights norms, with a particular emphasis on the relationship of these to theological ideas, questions, and history. His new book is entitled Post-Liberal Religious Liberty – Forming Communities of Charity, which is the topic of this episode.

In this episode of Talking Freely we chat to Dr Joel Harrison, Senior Lecturer of Law at the University of Sydney. Dr. Harrison specialises in constitutional law and public law. His research focuses on constitutionalism, religious liberty, and human rights norms, with a particular emphasis on the relationship of these to theological ideas, questions, and history. His new book is entitled Post-Liberal Religious Liberty – Forming Communities of Charity, which is the topic of this episode. 

In our premiere episode, we interview CEO of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies Vic Alhadeff about Jewish history, the rise in anti-Semitism, legal protections, and freedom of expression.