War of the Words

John Safran is a writer and filmmaker. From his Australian Film Institute Award winning series John Safran vs God (2004) through to his Prime Minister's Literary Award shortlisted Puff Piece (2021) he often spots fringe cultural trends that blow up into far bigger things. Depends What You Mean By Extremists (2016) saw John hanging with extremists, preempting the rise of the new far-right. Never a fly on the wall, John has been baptised in West Africa (Race Around the World), exorcised in the USA (John Safran vs God) and crucified in the Philippines (Race Relations). His upcoming SBS documentary sees him building an ancient Jewish mud monster, a golem, the first known person to do this in modern times. His obsession with exploring religion, and getting his hands dirty doing it, has seen him labelled Australia’s gonzo theologian.

Scott Stephens is the ABC’s Religion & Ethics online editor and the co-host, with Waleed Aly, of The Minefield on ABC Radio National. He and Waleed Aly are also the authors of Uncivil Wars: How contempt is corroding democracy (Quarterly Essay 87) (2022). He is editor of Justice and Hope: Essays, lectures and other writings by Raimond Gaita (2023), and the co-editor and translator of two volumes of the selected writings of Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek, Interrogating the Real (2005) and The Universal Exception (2006).

Waleed Aly is a broadcaster, author and academic. His social and political commentary has produced an award-winning book and multiple literary short-listings, and appears in newspapers such as The Guardian, The Australian, The Sunday Times of India, The Australian Financial Review, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He is the author of What’s Right? The Future of Conservatism in Australia. His debut book, People Like Us: How Arrogance is Dividing Islam and The West (Picador, 2007), was shortlisted for several awards including the Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards and for Best Newcomer at the 2008 Australian Book Industry Awards.

Amber Gwynne is a researcher, writer and editor based in Meanjin/Brisbane. She is a senior officer in the public service, managing editor of the Journal of Australian Studies, and a lecturer in writing at The University of Queensland, where she completed a PhD exploring the ways in which readers with a history of depression choose and use self-help books. Her dissertation received a Dean’s Award for Outstanding Theses in 2018. Her essays and non-fiction have been published in Overland, Kill Your Darlings and Griffith Review, among others.