Join food historian Dr Lauren Samuelsson, comedian Jennifer Wong, nutrition expert Professor Clare Collins, and Laureate Professor Clare Collins AO for an entertaining, nostalgic, and insightful exploration of Australia’s culinary heritage, moderated by National Explainer editor Felicity Lewis.
Since 1933, The Australian Women’s Weekly has been instrumental in shaping Australia’s food culture through its popular recipes and cooking advice. This delicious discussion will reveal how these treasured cookbooks and magazine pages did more than just feed families—they defined our national palate, preserved cultural traditions, and reflected changing social dynamics. From Depression-era resourcefulness to the birthday cakes that marked countless celebrations, discover how modern Australia’s relationship with food tells a richer story about who we are and how we’ve evolved as a nation.
Dr Lauren Samuelsson holds a PhD in history from the University of Wollongong, Australia, where she is an Associate Lecturer. Lauren’s research interests include cultural history, the history of food and drink, the history of popular culture and gender history. Her first book, A Matter of Taste: The Australian Women’s Weekly and its Influence on Australian Food Culture was published with Monash University Publishing in 2024. Alongside her award-winning academic work, she has also published in The Conversation and is a regular guest on Australian radio, where she shares her love of food history with people nationwide.
Jennifer Wong is a writer and comedian. She is the co-author of Chopsticks or Fork? Recipes and Stories from Australia's Regional Chinese Restaurants, and a contributor to Admissions: Voices within Mental Health. Her humorous writing about food, culture, and mental health has appeared in The Guardian, SBS Food, ABC Everyday, Monocle, and The Big Issue. Jennifer is the presenter of Chopsticks or Fork? (ABC iView), and creator and host of FEAST: live community storytelling events for food and story enthusiasts. As a comedian, she has had sold- out shows around Australia, most recently Jennifer Wong Has No Peripheral Vision (2023) and The Sweet and Sour Hour of Power (2024).
Felicity Lewis is the editor of Why Do People Queue for Brunch: An Explainer Guide to Modern Mysteries (Allen & Unwin). The anthology is a collection of popular articles that Felicity commissioned from writers at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age where she is the national explainer editor.
Clare Collins AO is a Laureate Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Newcastle’s College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, and Co-Director of the Food and Nutrition Research Program at the Hunter Medical Research Institute. A global leader in her field, she ranks in the top 1% of the world’s most cited nutrition scientists. In 2023, she was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia for distinguished service to nutrition and dietetics, health research, and science communication, and was also made a Life Member of Dietitians Australia. A Fellow of four prestigious bodies—the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, Nutrition Society of Australia, the Royal Society of NSW, and Dietitians Australia—Laureate Professor Collins has pioneered research in precision and personalised nutrition, integrating genetics, life stage, and chronic disease risk to evaluate diet interventions and nutritional biomarkers such as metabolomics. She has developed widely used eHealth tools, including the Australian Eating Survey, Healthy Eating Quiz, and the No Money No Time website, supporting vulnerable communities in improving diet and wellbeing. In 2024, she received the UON Alumni Medal for outstanding professional excellence, having secured over $36 million in research funding, published more than 600 journal articles, and supervised over 50 Research Higher Degree candidates. Ranked the highest female Investigator Grant recipient in 2021, she received the NHMRC Elizabeth Blackburn Award for Leadership in Clinical Medicine and Science. A trusted media commentator, she has conducted over 3,000 interviews and reached more than 15.9 million readers through her 125 articles for The Conversation. Her public-facing contributions also include co-creating the No Money No Time platform, with over 2.2 million page views, and developing the EdX MOOC The Science of Weight Loss – Dispelling Diet Myths, completed by more than 67,000 participants across 180 countries.
