In The Good Books with Luke Bateman

How do you hold your ground when speaking the truth makes you a target?
For award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and author Antoinette Lattouf, at least one way is to draw upon the stories of all those who've done it before you.
In this episode, Antoinette unpacks the brutal reality of challenging power and the personal price of unflinching integrity - discussing her own battle against the ABC after speaking out on human rights in Gaza, and many other incredible examples from her book Women Who Win.
Antoinette reveals the books that shaped her, why a First Nations teacher changed the way she saw stories, how reading taught her to question authority and what effective communication really means to her today.
It's a conversation about institutional retaliation, mental health stigma, why women’s stories have so often been written out of history, and what “winning” means when the cost is high.

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Prepare for a peek inside the one-of-a-kind mind behind some of the most seriously kid-approved stories ever!
In this episode, record-breaking and internationally bestselling children’s author and Australian Children’s Laureate Andy Griffiths shares:
How telling neighborhood kids fibs about his bath time led to his love of storytelling
How his path to being an author first led to teaching and punk-rock
Why iconic children's stories like Hansel & Gretel have a special blend of horror and humour
The 5 Essential Elements of Children's Fiction
How Andy still listens closely to his inner ten year old
Andy's mission as Australian Children’s Laureate to defend endangered school libraries and rebuild long-form focus in a screen-obsessed world.
How all his books (including his latest You and Me and the Gigantic Knucklehead) are always true stories (even if nothing true happens in them)
How absurd, uninhibited play is the key to imagination and creativity for anyone
And much much more.
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Luke becomes acquainted with this regency romance classic, with it themes, characters and moments, and what they all have to show us about modern romance today.
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Thanks to Hachette - for the list of their expert readalikes for Pride and Prejudice and other Good Book Club picks, go to https://www.hachette.com.au/news/in-the-good-books
and for more, visit www.hachette.com.au
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Luke is joined by Shen Tao, the brilliant debut author behind The Poet Empress—a novel Luke proudly declares as his favorite book of the year so far!
But despite being a debut, it was far from Shen's first work. In fact, as she reveals, there were many unpublished books before it...
Shen details exactly what made The Poet Empress different, the breakthrough that allowed its first four chapters to "flow like water," how dark themes of forbidden female literacy and systemic corruption shaped the narrative, and how ancient Chinese philosophy and different views of masculinity helped humanise her complex antagonists.
Plus, she reveals the books that most influence her life, and why writing to her is a true form of magic.
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From relentless research, to battling book bans, to a career of 30 bestsellers and counting, Jodi Picoult is a literary force unlike any other.
In this conversation, Luke and Jodi trace her journey from reading at three years old and surviving over 100 agent rejections (and getting the ultimate petty revenge decades later) to the eerie 10-word postcard that inspired her new book, Hollow Bones, and a peek into what she's working on next. Jodi pulls back the curtain on her creative process—explaining the "tornado" moment when a book’s first line finally touches down, and the deeply personal reasons behind the big topics she chooses to explore.
Jodi also pulls zero punches on culture and society, exposing the infuriating inadequacies within women's healthcare, the true political motive behind censorship in schools, and her hot take on why she 'calls BS' on William Shakespeare. Complete with warm reflections on her legacy, this episode is a masterclass in craft, courage, and conviction.
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