HEART & SOUL with DAVID LESER

Ep 8 Benjamin Law: Distraction, I Welcome it and I’m Susceptible to it

Benjamin Law reflects on the influence of family, identity and belonging, speaking candidly about his queer identity and the contemporary Australian-Chinese experience he has drawn on throughout his work.

He shares affirming stories from family and professional life, alongside insights into his career as an author, journalist and screenwriter.

This episode contains talk of nudity and the human body.

About the guest
Benjamin Law is an Australian writer, broadcaster and one of the country’s most experienced interviewers. Through his long-running Good Weekend interview column, Benjamin has spoken at length with Jennifer Coolidge, Fran Lebowitz and Martha Stewart, as well as Bernie Sanders, Gloria Steinem, David Suzuki, Michelle Yeoh, Matthew McConaughey, Roxane Gay, David Sedaris and Brian Cox. He has written for more than 50 publications, including The Monthly, Guardian Australia, frankie, Monocle and the Australian Financial Review.

His broadcasting career includes hosting ABC TV’s two-part documentary Waltzing the Dragon, exploring Chinese-Australian history, as well presenting Conversations and Stop Everything for ABC Radio, which he co-hosted with Beverley Wang for five years.

Benjamin is also an award-winning writer and screenwriter, best known for The Family Law, Gaysia and the Quarterly Essay Moral Panic 101. He created and co-wrote The Family Law, was co-creator, co-writer and co-executive producer of Wellmania, and his recent work includes the plays Torch the Place and Dying: A Memoir.

Credits
Host: David Leser — Director: Ian Darling — Camera and lights: Harry Kielly, Tiernan Rennie — Sound: Mary Macrae — Front of House: Sarah Butler — Photography: Harry Kielly — Editors: Sally Fryer and Harry Kielly