Joshua Black will be in conversation with Andrew Leigh on his new book Performance Politics: Australian politicians and the stories they tell, which provides an eye-opening account of how Australian politicians have become experts at fashioning and refashioning stories about themselves, their lives, personal ambitions and political entanglements.

Delving into memoirs, autobiographies, documentaries, media coverage, personal papers and original interviews, the book reveals how much of our recent political history has been delivered through the prism of the publishing house, the book launch, the documentary, and the lounge rooms where political retrospectives were broadcast. From a time when ‘telling tales out of school’ (as Billy Hughes once put it) was not the done thing, to one where the 2024 Nemesis documentary showcased backstabbing, character assassinations and high emotions.

Performance Politics shows how political life writing and documentary making has played an outsized role in creating the story-driven political culture of our times. Settling scores, shaping legacies and dramatising the democratic process, sometimes in shocking ways.

Dr. Joshua Black is a political historian and researcher who joined the Vice-Chancellor's Centre of Public Ideas at the University of Canberra in July 2026. After completing his PhD at the ANU, he worked as a ministerial speechwriter and as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The Australia Institute. Joshua has also published in a range of academic and public forums and taught at multiple Australian universities..

Andrew Leigh FASSA is the Assistant Minister for Productivity, Competition, Charities and Treasury and Federal Member for Fenner in the ACT He holds a PhD from Harvard University, and before elected in 2010, he was a professor of economics at the Australian National University. His numerous books include The Shortest History of Innovation, TheLuck of Politics, Battlers and Billionaires and Randomistas.

The vote of thanks will be given by Professor Mark Kenny Director of the Australian Studies Institute at ANU.

Books will be available for signing from 5.30pm and again after the event.

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A podcast will be made available after the event.

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