VICDOC Summer 2023 - Magazine - Page 6
I N R E V I E W: RE A D | L I ST E N | WATC H
6
ULTRAWILD
THE FIRST INVENTORS
THE IMPERFECTS
Creative non-f iction
by Steven Mushin
Podcast by
The Resilience Project
(2023)
SBS OnDemand series,
directed by Larissa
Behrendt (2023)
Mind-bendingly original,
Ultrawild is the outcome
of seven years’ creative
tinkering by industrial
designer, artist and
‘maverick inventor’ Steve
Mushin, who embarks on
an audacious plan to rewild
every city on Earth with
whacky yet oddly plausible
super-high-tech ideas —
like designing extreme
mountain bikes for jumping
and flying between jungle
buildings, farming the air,
and transforming every
lamppost in the world into
armoured luxury hotels for
native animals. Marketed
for children and young
adults, Ultrawild is worthy
of a read by proper adults
too. With invention starter
ideas, an engaging tone of
voice that speaks directly to
the reader, and comic book
style graphics that break
up the text into bite-sized
pieces, it’s as inspirational
as it is aspirational. Crazy?
Yes. Brilliant? Yes. Just the
kind of outside-the-box
thinking we need? Yes.
One for the Christmas list.
In this stunning documentary
series, charismatic Tiwi Island
man Rob Collins and a team
of passionate First Nations
investigators delve into
65,000+ years of continuous
Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander invention and
innovation. Across four
45-minute-long episodes we
explore the likes of how the
first inventors transformed
landscapes, harnessed fire,
recorded events, created
and used navigation tools,
and organised socially.
From the ancient lines of
eel traps furrowed into
lava beds (most likely the
world’s first aquaculture
system) to the boomerang
technology that pre-dates
the Wright Brothers’ aerial
invention by millennia, The
First Inventors is a real eyeopener. The final episode,
Navigating the Future, looks
at the collaboration between
Indigenous knowledge and
advanced science and how
it’s driving the development
of life-saving medications.
Free on SBS OnDemand,
it’s well worth a watch.
We’re all imperfect. On this
Australian-made podcast,
founder of The Resilience
Project Hugh van Cuylenburg
and comedians Ryan Shelton
and Josh van Cuylenburg (yes,
Hugh’s brother), unpack how
perfectly imperfect we all
are. The podcast’s underlying
message is that constantly
comparing ourselves to
others can be exhausting and
extremely harmful, but when
we share our struggles, we
start to realise that everyone,
no matter how successful, has
something they are battling
with. The Imperfects has
three different formats: an
interview, the Vulnerabilitea
House and the Academy
of Perfection, in which the
hosts and their guests —
often well-known types like
Tim Minchin, Taryn Brumfitt
and Chrissie Swan — share
about their imperfections.
In-house psychologist Dr Emily
helps to navigate towards
valuable takeaways… the
feelgood outcome being
that everyone feels a little
bit less imperfect, and a lot
less alone.
AMA VI C TO RIA
(2023)
