What would make a great Australian sporting novel? Our guests discuss translating the love of the game, footy nicknames, and intense team culture in ex-AFL player Brandon Jack’s Pissants.And making sport of the Melbourne literary scene, Dominic Amarena’s debut novel I Want Everything is a clever, celebratory satire. Kate and Cassie also review the 2025 International Booker Prize winner Heart Lamp, a collection of short stories from southern India. Meanwhile, back home, The Miles Franklin shortlist has been announced.Miles Franklin Literary Award Shortlist:Brian Castro, Chinese Postman Michelle de Kretser, Theory & PracticeWinnie Dunn, Dirt Poor IslandersJulie Janson, CompassionSiang Lu, Ghost CitiesFiona McFarlane, Highway 13 BOOKS  Banu Mushtaq, Heart Lamp: selected stories (translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhashti), Scribe Brandon Jack, Pissants, Summit Books Australia  Dominic Amarena, I Want Everything, Summit Books Australia  GUESTS James Button, writer, editor and journalist, whose books include Comeback: The Fall and Rise of Geelong, and Speechless: A Year in my Father's Business, about his time working as a speechwriter for Kevin Rudd and what that taught him about his own father's life, John Button, Minister for Industry in the Hawke and Keating Governments. Beejay Silcox, writer, literary critic, and regular interviewer at writers’ festivals. -----------OTHER BOOKS MENTIONEDJames Button, Comeback: The Fall and Rise of GeelongJames Button, Speechless: A Year in my Father’s BusinessJane Austen, Sense and SensibilityRita Bullwinkel, HeadshotBrandon Jack, 28Leigh Matthews, Accept the ChallengeIrvine Welsh, TrainspottingChuck Palahniuk, Fight ClubHelen Garner, The SeasonDavid Williamson, The ClubJun'ichirō Tanizaki, The Makioka SistersHalldór Laxness, Independent PeopleGeorge Eliot (Mary Ann Evans), MiddlemarchR. F. Kuang, YellowfaceR. F. Kuang, KatabasisLucas Schaefer, The SlipDavid Remnick, King of the World: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero-----------CREDITSPresenter, Kate Evans & Cassie McCullaghProducer, Kate Evans & Salome Lines-MorisonSound Engineer, Roi Huberman & Dylan PrinsExecutive Producer, Rhiannon Brown