In 2020, the first series of From the Embers premiered, focusing on communities across Australia who had faced fire and smoke and homes destroyed in what was one of the most difficult summers has ever seen, the 2019-20 bushfire season.
In 2022, From the Embers 2: Phoenix returns to several places featured in the first series, including Mallacoota, Kangaroo Island, and the forests of the Far north of New South Wales to explore how communities are recovering from the fires and the issues that stem from trauma and isolation, coupled with the strength gained when so much is lost.
This series will also visit new communities who are recovering from floods and seemingly never ending COVID lockdowns.
Created in partnership with community radio stations, and the generous support of the Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas (https://jninstitute.org/), Paul Ramsay Foundation (https://paulramsayfoundation.org.au/), The Minderoo Foundation Fire and Flood Resilience Initiative (https://www.minderoo.org/fire-and-flood-resilience/), and the Monash University's Fire To Flourish program (https://www.monash.edu/msdi/initiatives/fire-to-flourish).
In 2019, major fires surged across Australia lasting until rains and floods extinguished them in 2020. Most remember this as the worst season Australia had experienced.
From the Embers season 2: Phoenix revisits towns explored in the first series, taking listeners to the east Coast of Australia, to Mallacoota and Moruya and across to South Australia’s Adelaide Hills and Kangaroo Island, to explore how communities are contending with trauma and isolation as they recover- and even as some rebuild, severe flooding has inundated communities across New South Wales and Queensland with record high levels and people left calling from rooftops.
Across the series, the impact of COVID-19 is evident as we visit the people left isolated and struggling to be able to re-engage with their communities and maintain a sense of normalcy and creativity as they went through wave after wave of lockdowns.
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20 Mar 2026
Records, Pets and Knickers
When a fast-moving fire started in Cudlee Creek in the Adelaide Hills, residents throughout the region had to stop, drop what they were doing and return to their homes to defend, evacuate, or take shelter.
If they chose to flee to safety, they faced another tough decision - what to take with them and what to leave behind.
Guests:
Matt and Bec Edwards
Caz
Meg Stephens
Credits:
Producer: Lisa Burns
Executive producer and sound design Sarah Mashman
Production management team Vicky Rouse and Abe Killian
Engineering Tegan Nichols
Script consultation Zoe Ferguson
Theme Oliver Beard
This podcast has been brought to you by the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia, and is supported by The Judith Neilson Institute for Journalism and Ideas and The Paul Ramsay Foundation.
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20 Mar 2026
From the Embers Season 1 Trailer
CBAA's documentary series From the Embers, takes listeners to the very heart of nine communities affected by the recent bushfire crisis. From the Embers is an important reminder to us all of the essential role that storytelling plays in ensuring we allow those affected to be honoured and heal without feeling overlooked.
Working alongside KIX FM, Radio Adelaide, 3HCR, 3MGB, 3REG, Braidwood FM, 2EAR, Edge FM and 2MNO, we sent three producers into the field to get the stories directly from communities, in their voices.
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