In a time of grave uncertainty about the future of our planet, the radical potential of democracy is more important than ever.

From its beginnings in Syria-Mesopotamia – and not Athens – to its role in fomenting revolutionary fervor in France and America, democracy has subverted fixed ways of deciding who should enjoy power and privilege, and why. For democracy encourages people to do something radical: to come together as equals, to determine their own lives and futures.

In this vigorous, illuminating history, acclaimed political thinker John Keane traces its byzantine history, from the age of assembly democracy in Athens, to European-inspired electoral democracy and the birth of representative government, to our age of monitory democracy. He gives new reasons why democracy is a precious global ideal, and shows that as the world has come to be shaped by democracy, it has grown more worldly – American-style liberal democracy is giving way to regional varieties with a local character in places such as Taiwan, India, Senegal and South Africa.

In an age of cascading crises, we need the radical potential of democracy more than ever. Does it have a future, or will the demagogues and despots win? We are about to find out.

Join author Nicole Haddow for Books at the Brewery as she discusses The Ethical Investor.

Is the money in your bank account helping to fund the fossil fuel and tobacco industries? Do you know which companies your superannuation is invested in? Want to put your money where your ethics are but have no idea where to start? Journalist Nicole Haddow is passionate about financial freedom, but as an investment novice she wanted to find out – is it possible to grow wealth while also doing your bit for the planet and its population?

In The Ethical Investor, Nicole guides us through the steps she takes to ensure her hard-earned cash isn’t going straight into the pockets of toxic companies. She reassesses what her money currently contributes to and seeks ways to make her strategies greener, chatting with industry experts on everything from superannuation and shares to neo banks and apps to help you get started in micro-investing. Nicole shares the necessary changes she is making to have a superannuation account that’s investing in ethical organisations, a share portfolio on a limited budget with investments in a range of growing sustainable businesses and a strategy for making her home more sustainable. And now you can too!

Nicole Haddow is a journalist and author of Smashed Avocado: How I Cracked the Property Market and You Can Too, which is now also available as a highly successful podcast here. She was the executive property writer for the Australian Financial Review.

At thirty, journalist Nicole Haddow had an unstable income, no financial plan and only credit-card debt to her name. But less than two years later she was a homeowner, and decided to share her tips in Smashed Avocado. And now, she's going to show you how to grow wealth while also doing your bit for the planet and its population, with her new book, The Ethical Investor.

A Zoom invite will be emailed to registered participants at least one hour prior to the session. If you have not received the link at least one hour before the scheduled start please phone any branch during opening hours.

When writer and musician Eliza Hull was pregnant with her first child, like most parents-to-be she was excited and nervous. But as a person with a disability, societal stigma was an added complexity. We’ve Got This, a new major anthology by parents with disabilities, features twenty-five parents who identify as Deaf, disabled or chronically ill.

To celebrate this revelatory book, three mothers - Eliza Hull, Elly-May Barnes, and Debra Keenahan - gather to share the joy and triumph - and the difficulties - of their lived experience. Amongst the challenges of microaggression, judgements and discrimination, these brilliant women will honour the incredible, empowering journey of having kids.