Indigenous Innovation

Innovation in Australia has been happening for tens of thousands of years.

Professor Lynette Russell is the co-author of Innovation: Knowledge and Ingenuity, which is part of the First Knowledges series.

In conversation with comedian Luke Morris and host Rachel Rayner, we explore the rich history and innovations of Indigenous Australians, particularly in the areas of language, trade, land management, and technology. We discuss how Western historical narratives have often overlooked or dismissed the sophistication and ingenuity of Indigenous societies, and how recent research is finally bringing this all to light.

Lynette shares her story of becoming an anthropological historian rather than an archaeologist, and her current line of research into trade relations between Australia and Indonesia thousands of years ago, while Luke spends much of the episode aghast at how little he knew of all this.

Transcript

Links for more:

Get the book, or get the whole series

Find out more on Lynette

Follow Luke and Comedy Victoria

Credits

Producer: Rachel Rayner, Science Explainer

Guests: Professor Lynette Russell AM, Luke Morris

Music: Michelle Cashman

Editing: Graham Hunter

Made possible through Meta Australia Journalism Fund, administered by the Walkley Foundation, with support from Comedy Victoria.

---

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.