Sunday Extra - Separate stories podcast: Recent Episodes
ABC Radio
Sunday Extra presents a lively mix of national and international affairs, analysis and investigation, as well as a lighter touch.
Microfluidics is an exciting field of science that has the potential to change the way we do drug trials. Today's speaker Susi Seibt is keen to explore the future applications of this teeny tiny science.
In the early 1970s (in the final flagging years of US involvement in the Vietnam War) a race was underway throughout the Indonesian archipelago of young Western surfers seeking to discover new surf breaks.
Woke is a concept that, whether used as a badge of honour or a slur, feels in some ways like it defines the times while also being itself hard to define.Philosopher Susan Neiman has braved the ideological minefield by tackling the subject in her new book, ‘Left is Not Woke’.Guest: Susan Neiman, philosopher, author, and Director of the Einstein Forum in Potsdam.
Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of micro credit banking for the poorest people, Muhammad Yunus is facing a criminal trial in Bangladesh
The veteran ABC investigative journalist talks about his year, 1987, and his most influential reports for 4 Corners including The Moonlight State.
How Kafka, Covid and bushfires inspired the Ghanaian-Australian artist's highly anticipated second album
What do you love about that first sip of beer? Maybe it's the bitterness, the fizz or the fruitiness?
The 2023 Intergenerational Report identifies “population ageing” as one of the major forces shaping Australia’s future. In several Asian nations, the same demographic changes are more advanced and forcing a rethink, and there may be lessons for Australia.
The Belarus opposition in exile has given evidence the the ICC of Ukrainian children being taken from their families and sent to Belarus, with the approval of Belarus dictator, Alexander Lukashenko.
The British museum theft scandal has raised the question: just how many museum collections might be at risk from the very people charged with taking care of them?
Mathematical or scientific modelling is used widely, from manufacturing design, to economic and weather forecasting, and in recent years it has become more critical and controversial, with modelling being used to drive government policy on climate change and the COVID 19 pandemic. That puts the modellers in a powerful position and unfortunately, many of the models built to predict the pandemic were wrong. How should the way models are designed change?
Beneath the cold ice sheets of Antarctica lies the dynamic deep earth. So what happens when the two interact?
Today's speaker Niam is eager to find out.
India’s successful landing on the south pole of the Moon, days after Russia crashed on one of its own attempts, has put India firmly in the top tier of the space race.
It’s the first time a country has landed on the Moon’s south pole, and India is one of only four countries to manage a landing feat at all. So what does this indicate about India’s space aspirations, and how do their space achievements fit in with in the geopolitics back on earth?
Guest: Dr Rajeswari (Raji) Pillai, Director of the Centre for Security, Strategy and Technology (CSST) at the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi
Imran Khan’s elevation to prime minister was the culmination of a long political campaign with the help of advantages conferred upon him as the favoured candidate of the military establishment. As Pakistan’s traditional political parties join the generals in cornering Khan, there is no major force calling for full democracy.
Guest: Ayesha Jalal, Mary Richardson Professor, History, Arts and Sciences at Tufts University
Whistleblowers play an important role in holding power to account, by speaking up about human rights abuses, government wrongdoing and corporate misfeasance, but all too often it is the whistleblower who faces reprisal. The Human Rights Law Centre’s Whistleblower Project is Australia’s first dedicated legal service to protect and empower whistleblowers who want to speak up about wrongdoing.
In what's been heralded as a watershed climate change lawsuit, earlier this week an American district court judge ruled in favour of a group of young environmental activists who had sued their home state of Montana.
In what was the first constitutional climate trial in US history, the Held vs Montana lawsuit was filed in 2020 by 16 young Montana residents who argued that state agencies were violating their constitutional right to a "clean and healthful environment" by permitting fossil fuel development without considering its effect on the climate.
The Montana attorney general's office said it will appeal what it called an "absurd" ruling.
But just what might this win mean for future climate litigation brewing elsewhere around the world?
Guest:
Zoe Bush, Senior Solicitor in the Environmental Defenders Office
In one of the most remarkable stories of art theft in history, a Frenchman named Stephane Breitwieser stole hundreds of artworks and valuable objects from around 170 European museums between 1995 and 2001.
But unlike other notorious art thieves, he didn’t steal the works to sell them or make a profit, despite their value being estimated at more than a billion US dollars. Instead, he kept them, carefully looked after, in the bedroom and attic of the house he shared with his girlfriend and mother.
Guest: Mike Finkel, author of The Art Thief
Let's go on a space adventure!
Gomeroi woman and astrophysics honours student Krystal explores the scale of our universe.
That’s the question that Antarctic ecologist Dr Dana Bergstrom tackled when she gave the 2023 Allan Sefton Memorial Lecture at the University of Wollongong.
Dr Bergstrom works for the Australian Antarctic Division, studying and identifying risks to Antarctic ecosystems … and she’s been pondering the extent to which one of the risks to Antarctic ecosystems is scientists like her.
Guest: Dr Dana Bergstrom, Senior Researcher, Australian Antarctic Division and Honorary Senior Fellow at the University of Wollongong
Record crowds and viewing numbers have made the 2023 Women's World Cup the biggest women's sporting event ever.
If we had a time machine, we could go back and fix the mistakes we've made. But that probably isn't the best way to prevent mistakes before they happen...
Trish Kerin believes everyone has a right to be safe at work and has a creative way to encourage us to spot warning signs early, saving us from mistakes ahead of time.
Two years ago, Meagan complained to the ABC that our coverage of sexual assault cases was too negative, and it didn't reflect her personal experience.
We're getting pretty familiar with hearing people talk about AI and what it could mean for our future.
Luckily we humans still have the power to shape how that will look.
Rashina Hoda is one of those humans and she's hoping to make sure AI is used in an ethical way.
The US congress last week heard remarkable testimonies by former military officers on the existence of UFOs, or what are now referred to as UAP’s, ‘unidentified anomalous phenomena’.
The Move Forward Party won the most votes in the Thailand elections but will be excluded from a governing coalition
Researchers have a lot of unanswered questions about female reproductive health.
Today's speaker has a story of a discovery that will hopefully advance this area of science, but found in a very unlikely place.
We have some live shows coming up, and we'd love to see you there! Get your tickets here.
Is it time for Aung San Suu Kyi to make way for a new generation of leaders of the democracy movement in Myanmar.
Despite 30 weeks of ongoing protests against the proposal, Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline government this week passed the first part of a plan for judicial reform, which would curb the influence of the country’s top court over government decisions.
Detractors say this will erode democracy and lead to more corruption, but the government says the judiciary has been using its powers politically.
Guest: Eliad Shraga, chair of Movement for Quality Government, Israel
‘Locked down for hours and hours’: Jaxon explains what life is like inside a juvenile detention centre.
Lindy Morrison is back on the drums full time, more than 30 years after the Go-Betweens
As climate change and habitat loss increasingly pushes human and non-human animals up against each other, how might humans and apex predators learn to co-exist?
It’s sometimes called the ‘forgotten war’ because it has been overshadowed by the Vietnam War and the previous World Wars. But despite lasting just three years, the Korean War is also called the longest war, because no peace deal was ever signed, just an armistice agreement 70 years ago, on July 27, 1953. That truce might have ended the fighting on the Korean Peninsula, but it didn’t end the hostilities between the two Koreas.
Guest: Jongwoo Han, founder and president of the Korean War Legacy Foundation
With the eyes of the world on the war in Ukraine, less attention is being paid to the atrocities carried out by the military regime in Myanmar against its people. More than 2 years after the coup, the military is facing growing armed and civil resistance and the exiled Minister of Foreign Affairs in the National Unity Government says there is a revolution underway for a new Myanmar.
Jaxon stole a car at age ten. Six years later, the Mount Isa teen has a decision to make.
Taiwan’s political drama series ‘Wave Makers’ and its #MeToo plot line has triggered actual allegations about Taiwan’s political officials and others.
'The world’s leading expert on referendums' discusses the challenges the referendum for the Voice faces to be successful.
Ukraine's Prosecutor General of Ukraine is overseeing the investigation of tens of thousands of war crimes.
A growing number of AI industry insiders are guessing at the probability that Artificial Intelligence will lead to a catastrophic scenario for humanity, and calculating their ‘p(doom)’.
From golf, to tennis, to football – nation states are increasingly using sportswashing to improve their country's image and distract from dubious human rights records. But does this process of reputation laundering actually work? And why has it reached 'fever pitch' in 2023?
A stem cell conference in Boston attracted so many scientists to a talk on rejuvenation technology that police had to be called to clear the aisles.
A Vietnamese poet and author of novels in both Vietnamese and English, Nguyen Phan Que Mai has received critical acclaim for her stories that draw on recent Vietnamese history.
To protect our heads in a crash or collision, we wear a helmet.
But what about if we need to protect a building?
That's probably too big for a helmet…
Engineer Tatheer explores creative solutions to these big problems.
We have some upcoming live Ockham's Razor shows! We're heading to Melbourne, Huon Valley and Sydney. Check them out and join the audience here.
Medical science institutes that hosted rogue surgeon Paolo Macchiarini won't take responsibility for his work
UN Special Rapporteur, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin has called on the United States to apologise for the torture of Guantanamo Bay prison inmates
Kym Ellery, the founder of collapsed Australian fashion label Ellery Land, tells reporter Rachael Brown that business collapses are sometimes the price of working in the fashion industry.
When it comes to conservation, it's easy to get excited about protecting creatures that make you go "aww". Like, "aww, what a fluffy koala!", or "aww, what a cute lizard!"
With tens of thousands of Russian soldiers dying or being injured in the country’s war on Ukraine, Putin has offered immigrants money and citizenship if they enlist.
There are reports Cuban immigrants are now joining the army to fight with Russia in Ukraine.
But our guest believes that the Cubans enlisting may not be doing so voluntarily, and that the government in Havana will keep the majority of the money.
Guest: Javier Larrondo, President, Prisoners Defenders
As Australia seeks ways to address its housing crisis, and rapidly rising rents in particular, an inner-west Sydney council suggested a vacancy tax on the one in 10 empty homes in the area. We look at British Columbia to see how their ‘Speculation and Vacancy Tax’ has worked over there.
Guest: Professor Tsur Somerville, Sauder School of Business, Uni of British Columbia
Reporters Ty King and Mayeta Clark are granted a behind-the-scenes look at the dangerous game of cat and mouse played by cops and cartels.
One study shows how social media can help scientists analyse the effects of climate change on plant pollination.
Sri Lankan comedian Nathasha Edirisooriya has been arrested for comments about Buddhism in her stand-up routine
Reporter Heidi Davoren provides an extraordinary insight into a parenting dispute, where a mother and father come together after a Family Court psychologist harmed their family.
Morrie Hart turned 100 in May and on 19 June he’ll step out to carry the Legacy torch for the torch relay marking 100 years of Legacy,
America’s top court recently found that the Warhol Foundation breached copyright of photographer Lynn Goldsmith when it licensed Warhol’s portrait of rock star Prince to Vanity Fair for the cover of a commemorative edition in 2016, after Prince died. Warhol’s portrait was made in 1984 and was based on a Lynn Goldsmith photo of Prince from 1981. A majority of the Supreme Court found in favour of Lynn Goldsmith, saying her original work is “entitled to copyright protection, even against famous artists.” Guest: Dr Richard Meyer, Professor of Art History, Stanford University
No one likes having their ideas taken for granted, without recognition or pay.
For First Nations Australians, their expansive knowledge is often used without proper consultation or respectful communication.
So how do we tackle the problem?
Tahlia, a Ballardong Whadjuk and Wajarri Yamaji engineering student, shares her thoughts.
The Greens want a rent freeze and rent caps in order to support the federal government's housing future fund
A Hong Kong journalist is released from prison following a surprise appeal from the territory's highest court.
Kathleen Folbigg's diary entries were used to convict her. It took medical science to quash her conviction
In part two of the investigation into the deaths of Ray and Jennie Kehlet, reporters Rebecca Trigger and Ash Davis examine the story of the last man to see the couple alive.
And they speak to a police insider who raised concerns about the direction of the investigation back in 2015.
Last week in Finland, electricity supply was so abundant that the country’s average electricity price fell into negative territory for a number of hours. It’s not the first time it’s happened, but it’s being described as ‘historic’. So what does this mean for Finland’s energy market and consumers?Guest: Jukka Ruusunen, CEO of Fingrid
Here on Ockham's Razor, our soapbox for science, we try to bring you science that's deeply applicable to your daily life.
A new book tells the story of Ukraine’s nuclear power scientists and workers as they confronted Russia's invasion
For years, we have been told that recycling plastic will help reduce pollution, but recent studies show that plastic recycling could actually make things worse.
Immigration lawyer by day and rockstar by night, Daniel Estrin's journey to the Eurovision stage.
When it comes to mental health, we're so much better as a society at talking about it than we used to be.
Alexandra Petri has written a satirical textbook of 500 years of important American documents
The treatment of Indigenous journalist Stan Grant shows the need for a national approach to tackling racism
In South Africa, people are spending many of their evenings in darkness - with no lights, TVs or computers. Street lights are off, businesses have to close.
Last year, the country, which is one of the richest on the African continent, experienced 200 days of long blackouts.
It's a jaw-dropping story of crime and corruption, and the state-owned energy giant Eskom, which supplies more than 90% of the country’s electricity.
Guest: Jeevan Vasagar, Climate Editor, Tortoise Media.
Australia's migrant workers can wait for years to find out whether they can stay here, and while they do they can become targets for opportunistic operators offering a short cut.
Renowned Australian didgeridoo player, composer and Kalkadunga man, William Barton mixes the worlds of Indigenous and western music.
His inspired compositions and collaborations with composers bring together the didgeridoo and orchestras in ways never done before.
As William himself describes it: “I want to take the oldest culture in the world and blend it with Europe’s rich musical legacy.”
Guest: William Barton, Qld's Australian of the Year 2023
Thai scholar Pavin Chachavalpongpun was forced into exile after criticising the Thai monarchy
Corey decided to be a scientist, no matter what anyone else said. It ended up taking him on some life changing adventures.
Now, he's using his love of science to make sure all kids, even in the most remote parts of Australia, have the chance to achieve their dreams.
Find out how one 13 year old set up her own publication to write about women's sports and has now become a household name in Australia.
PWC are one of the big four firms that are the focus of The Big Con: How the Consulting Industry Weakens our Businesses, Infantilizes our Governments and Warps our Economies
In 1995 teacher Sarah George met ‘Kakadu Man’, Big Bill Neidjie in Arnhem land, and he suggested she should record him telling his people’s dreamtime stories for a children’s book and posterity. Over several years he sent her more tapes and she gradually compiled the stories into a book, as he’d requested. Now, 28 years later and 21 years after Big Bill’s death, the book, ’Gamu: the Dreamtime Stories, Life and Feelings of Big Bill Neidjie’ has been published.
Did you know the Romans celebrated Mothers Day? It was held on 1 March, the start of Spring and the first day of the year in the archaic calendar. But never mind breakfast in bed and a bouquet, on Roman Mother’s Day, women served their own slaves and offered up flowers to a goddess.
This week's episode is one for the true crime podcast fans.
Paola is a forensic entomologist meaning she uses bugs to help solve murders.
So, what can the bugs tell us?
Just a heads up, this episode includes descriptions that get a bit gruesome. Listen with care.
Hundreds of First Nations women gathered this week in Canberra for a landmark Wiyi Yani U Thangani or the Women’s Voices national summit, the first national event of its kind. It builds on the Women’s Voices project, led by Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, June Oscar, and comes at a pivotal time.
Guest: Dr Hannah McGlade - human rights lawyer and expert member of the UN Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues
After four weeks of fighting between Sudan’s rival military groups, residents in the capital Khartoum are running out of food, fuel and cash. Shops, banks and most of the city’s hospitals are closed, and people are desperately hoping a ceasefire can be agreed to and enacted on the ground.
We often think of sharks as villains -- but as far as humans vs sharks go… we're the bad guys.
A baseball Little League in the U.S. has come up with an innovative approach to dealing with spectator abuse of referees
More than 11,000 television and film writers are on strike as their union seeks a deal for better wages and job security.
King Charles III takes to the throne in the first coronation the United Kingdom has seen in over 70 years.
People who want to be a scientist, should have the opportunity to pursue a career in science - right?Well, there are barriers that make it much harder for some people to become the scientists they dream of being.Today, Linda Agnew explores how we can create equitable opportunities in STEM for people with disabilities.
40 years ago, respected German current affairs magazine Stern thought it had a sensational scoop with documents believed to be Hitler’s diaries. Not long after they were published, the magazine admitted it’d been fooled. Now, copies of the diaries have been digitised and published in full online, with historical annotations giving context that show the diaries were an attempt to rewrite history and deny the Holocaust.Guest: Professor Hajo Funke, political scientist and right-wing extremism expert, Free University of Berlin
Members of the West Papua National Liberation Army are fighting an insurgency against the Indonesian military
Our guest for The Year That Made Me is a young army veteran who, since leaving the military, has devoted his time to helping others transition to the private sector. Tom Larter is CEO of an organisation called WithYouWithMe. It was set up to help Australian veterans find work after leaving the army, but it’s grown to have global reach and now helps other groups in the community become job ready. It’s all based on the idea that your past experience shouldn’t be a barrier to finding work.Guest: Tom Larter, CEO, WithYouWithMe
Pressure is starting to mount on the Murdoch empire following the 787.5 million dollar settlement and one more pending in the state of New York.
Judge Mirman Dil'Aram Abid was one of the few female judges in Afghanistan’s judicial system, starting on the bench in 1978. She jailed men for horrific crimes against women, and when the Taliban regained power in 2021 those men were released, putting her in great danger. Judge Dil'Aram had to flee Afghanistan with the help of the International Association of Women Judges.
It's the perennial question when it comes to considering the universe – could there be life on other planets?
The Lowy Institute’s latest Being Chinese in Australia survey shows an increased sense of belonging among Chinese-Australians, and lower incidences of racism. Chinese-Australians also consider Australia the most trusted country to deal responsibly in the world. But there is a markedly different perception of China as a threat: Chinese-Australians are much less likely to see China as the military threat that the broader population does.To unpack the research we talk to the lead author, Dr Jennifer Hsu, Project Director of the Multiculturalism, Identity and Influence Project at the Lowy Institute.
It’s been called the birth strike. South Korean women are having fewer and fewer children and the country has the lowest fertility rate in the world. But in a country where women’s safety concerns range from violent crime to digital exploitation via a wave of spy cameras in public bathrooms… even the term ‘gender equality’ is now taboo.
The Reserve Bank board will be stripped of its power to set interest rates and replaced by a board of monetary policy experts as part of a major shake-up, with the review released on Thursday making over 50 recommendations, to improve decision making, transparency and accountability.
They're the unwanted hiking companion that is trying to suck your blood. Today, Charlotte tells us about why ticks want to follow us home.
This Sunday the RAW Comedy National Grand Final take place at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Raw is a national search for emerging voices in the comedy industry.
Rice is a staple of a large portion of the world’s diet, but while rice demand is soaring, cultivation is not -- with yields being affected by land and labour scarcity as well as climate change. As a result, there’s now talk of a ‘global rice crisis’.Guest: Jean Balié, Director General of the International Rice Research Institute
In the U.S. the decision on the right to access a commonly used abortion drug is headed for the country’s Supreme Court. After a federal judge in Texas ruled the Food and Drug Administration was wrong, 23 years ago, to approve the drug mifepristone, a U.S. Appeals Court decision on Thursday temporarily preserved access to the abortion pill, with tighter rules. The Biden Administration will now appeal to the Supreme Court to restore full access to mifepristone.
This year marks the 25th anniversay of the Good Friday Agreement, so how has peace been mainitained over the last two decades? And how does it compare to those growing up in Northern Ireland post the Troubles.
The war in Ukraine has brought into question whether or not Swiss neutrality is tenable.
Callum is thinking about the future of freshwater systems in Australia. They're full of life, within and around the water.But how do we protect these waterways when humans also rely on them? Callum Donohue explores this careful balance.
Natural history museums create a global inventory of their collections to help with urgent issues such as climate change
To plan conservation efforts, scientists need to know what species are in an area, how big the populations are, how they interact... The list goes on. But what happens when the creatures that need conserving are so small you can barely see them?Today, Lisa Kirkendale explores the importance of taxonomy in conservation, and why even the tiniest of creatures need attention.
When we define ‘value’ in medical innovation, for business it means profit, for people it means health benefit
Wales' latest Commissioner for Future Generations has just started in the job, and it's the first position of its kind anywhere in the world. Tasked by the government to ensure Wales leaves a better country for its children, the commissioner advises on sustainable development and monitors the longer term impacts of government decisions.Guest: Derek Walker, Future Generations Commissioner, Wales.
Donald Trump has been indicted on criminal charges, the first time in US history that this has happened to a former president. A Manhattan grand jury voted to indict him over a probe into hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels.The charges remain unclear because they're under seal. The former president is scheduled to appear in court for his arraignment on Tuesday. Guest: Nick Akerman, New York attorney, former Watergate prosecutor
Pashtana Dorani is leading her education foundation for girls in Afghanistan from afar after being forced to leave the country
Reporters Geoff Thompson and Annika Blau investigate how Australia became the first country to give scripts for trips.
Bias is usually regarded as something to avoid in scientific research, but that doesn't always have to be the case.James Hill explores the role his lived experience as a queer Ngarrindjeri man plays in his research, and what can be gained by inviting bias into science.Next live show:Ockham's Razor is coming to the World Science Festival in Brisbane and we'd love to see you there. You can find tickets here.
Filipino poet José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda is a national hero whose statute can be found in town plazas across the Philippines.
Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is turning to podcasting to address what he calls 'one of the most vexed and consequential questions of our time.'
To tackle welfare fraud, European countries are using algorithmic formulas to determine which recipients might be cheating the system. But investigative journalists with access to the algorithm’s inputs discovered systemic bias on ethnicity and gender grounds, with potentially drastic consequences for those affected.Guest: Gabriel Geiger, lead reporter on the Lighthouse Reports and WIRED investigation
In the second and final episode of Dead Man's Secrets, reporter Josh Robertson investigates the grisly murder of the powerful Papuan executive who negotiated one of Australia’s biggest foreign assistance packages.
The camera lens of William Yang captured one of the most pivotal cultural moments in Australian history while also breaking photography norms - the gay liberation movement in Sydney during the 1970s and 80s.
Fifty thousand people will be marching across the Sydney Harbour Bridge calling for more equality in Asia-Pacific countries where homosexuality is still banned and rights are restricted.
Ben Lott completed one of the world's toughest races four years after a brain injury from a fall meant he had to learn to walk and talk again.
When you think of Australia's most famous coral, the Great Barrier Reef likely comes to mind. But there's a coral reef ecosystem in the north of WA that also deserves attention.Today, Zoe takes us on a journey to the corals of the Kimberley region, to tell us why they give her hope for the future of coral populations globally.
Belarusian resistance group BYPOL claims to have disabled a Russian surveillance plane, critical to the coordination of missile strikes in Ukraine, and is vowing to step up its disruption of the Russian war effort in Belarus.
What can stories tell us about science? And what science can we explore through stories?This week, science writer Lauren Fuge asks us all to imagine the future of science.
US President Joe Biden made a historic visit to Kyiv by train, in an operation dubbed 'Rail Force One'.
When two infants die after being left inside a hot car, their family seek answers to how this could have happened.
What is a task for AI and when does a human need to intervene? And when is a compassionate response better than an accurate one?These are the big questions explored by today's speaker, Carolyn. Next live show:The next Ockham's Razor live show is in Perth on the 22nd of February. Find all the details and tickets here.
In a significant move the office of Special Counsel Jack Smith has issued a subpoena to former Vice President Mike Pence.
The war in Ukraine is being fought with heavy weaponry. Subsequent conflicts may be more dependent on the use of big data
The Turkiye earthquake had a magnitude of 7.8 and a magnitude 6.7 aftershock 11 minutes later. It's left over 40,000 dead. Those studying disaster risk say Türkiye was meant to be implementing monitoring systems over the last three decades and had money from the EU to do this.
Queensland authorities failed to heed multiple serious warnings that a young pair of sisters were in danger, before it was too late.
He's received a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Australian Book Council, and kids across the country have voted him Australia’s Favourite Children’s Author 40 times.
Massoud was heading to a protest outside Tehran's embassy in Canberra when a phone call confirmed his worst fears had come true.
Amir Adbi fled Iran and made the journey to Australia by boat, despite being blind. Today he is captain of the Australian Blind Football team.
Perth Fringe World is West Australia's biggest annual arts festival, brining together musicians, comedians, circus performers and everything in between.
How do you organise a community health program when no one speaks the same language? When researcher Renly was faced with this question, she worked on a creative solution. This week, Renly Lim explores using theatre to communicate science. The next Ockham's Razor live podcast event is coming up soon! We'll be in Perth in February. You can find details and tickets here.
New Zealand’s ultra adventure and endurance race challenges runners to negotiate 200kms of rugged high country in the South Island, in just 60 hours. It was established 5 years ago and since then only 4 people have been able to complete the course in the required time. No competitor was able to complete the 2023 edition, run last week.
Australia likes to think of itself as "the land of the long weekend". But are the days we have off each year reflective of who we are in 2023?
Protesters say they're being ordered to read false confessions and their activities are under surveillance.
Charles Batham has been in hiding for years, and after two narrow escapes the trail goes cold. Then, reporter Erin Parke gets a tip-off that that brings the global investigation back from the brink – but will the truth ever come out about Batham’s dark past?
When Jordan wanted to treat his insomnia, he turned to an experimental therapy: medicinal cannabis.
A leading astrophysicist talks about what the universe can teach humanity; a theologian on what it means (and, in antiquity, meant) to be a god; and issues of climate justice, gender equality and self-determination for Pacific communities.
A Christmas visit to the village of Ein Kerem in Jerusalem; Stan Grant talks about love; and a philosopher explores the vestiges of religion in secular society.
Why younger people are turning to social media for spiritual exploration; a philosopher explores what it means to observe holidays in a multicultural society; and a former South Sudanese refugee talks about Christmas, community and his personal experience of coming to Australia.
Susan Woods wants you to put her out of a job.And she's not even asking that much of you – in fact you may have already done your bit.Susan is a gut cancer researcher. If everyone who was eligible did their bowel screening test, she'd probably be unemployed.But just in case, she's looking into solutions for the worst prognosis bowel cancers and conscripting certain microbes to help her do it.Speaker:Dr Susan WoodsSenior research fellow, Gut Cancer Group, SAHMRIHost: Tegan TaylorProducer:Tegan Taylor, Rose Kerr
Precious artefacts looted from Cambodia and Thailand made their way into prominent collections here in Australia, and around the world.In the second and final episode of his investigation, Mario Christodoulou investigates why it’s taking so long for these precious works to be returned to their rightful home.
Sometimes science requires getting a little messy. Researcher Tahlia has been working with citizen scientists through a slightly strange request... Sending her echidna poo. Today, Tahlia explains the challenges in conserving echidnas and what we can do to help. Speaker:Dr Tahlia PerryPostdoctoral ResearcherUniversity of AdelaideHost:Tegan TaylorProducer: Tegan Taylor, Rose Kerr
Many ancient Cambodian artifacts arrived in Australia during the 1960s and 1970s, when the south east Asian country was in turmoil. Mario Christodoulou investigates how some had come from looted historic sites or passed through the hands of suspected smugglers, and now feature in major galleries around the world.
Did you know that some of Australia’s largest public hospitals are run according to a religious code of ethics?
'The Lullaby Project' brings parents and professional musicians together to personalise your child's lullaby
The Revenge of Power: How autocrats are reinventing politics for the 21st Century is listed as a best book of 2022
Kirsten Han is suing the Singaporean government after it issued her with a contempt of court for a post she made on Facebook.
When you're tired, are you grumpy? Maybe stressed? Feel like you can't socialise?
We know we need to get good sleep for our own health, but it's also really important in our social lives.
Today, Joel Raymond explores what happens in our relationships when we don't get enough sleep.
Speaker: Joel Raymond PhD candidate, School of Psychology and Brain and Mind Centre The University of Sydney
Host: Tegan Taylor
Producer: Tegan Taylor, Gemma Conroy
Next live show:
The next live Ockham's Razor event is coming up soon! If you're in Adelaide on the 24th of November and want to join the audience, you can find tickets here
Five years ago, a confronting video of a violent police encounter shocked the Byron Bay community.
Inspiring individuals talk about a pivotal moment in their personal histories. This week, how a visual artist journeyed from Tokyo to New York and became a drummer with no music lessons.
If you were to go to a job interview, would you rather be interviewed by a human or a robot?
Malaysians go to the polls on Saturday 19th November and for the first-time young people may hold the key to the election result.
How many times do you think you've heard the words "anti-vax" in the last 3 years? What about, "vaccine hesitant"?
It would probably be countless.
But are these terms actually helpful in communicating the need for vaccines?
Associate Professor Holly Seale explores how language and listening are essential in having meaningful conversations about vaccination.
Speaker: Associate Professor Holly Seale School of Population Health University of New South Wales
Host: Tegan Taylor
Producer: Tegan Taylor, Gemma Conroy
Next live show: We've got another live Ockham's Razor event coming up very soon! The show is coming to Adelaide on the 24th of November. Find tickets here
There’s growing concern the death toll from children drinking contaminated cough syrup is much higher than previously reported because official figures only relate to hospital and not home deaths.
Pakistan's Minister for Climate Change has told COP 27 urgent action is needed to prevent climate linked disasters in the western world.
Inspiring individuals talk about a pivotal moment in their personal histories. This week, Ronni Kahn.
In 2003, Russ Radcliffe began collecting political cartoons, particularly those of Peter Nicholson.
The town of Garner in Newfoundland, Canada was changed forever after the September 11 attacks. The citys Mayor tells us how.
Eating disorders are extremely complicated to treat, leaving people potentially struggling for decades. But there's a new contender in the treatment field: psychedelic drugs.
Sarah-Catherine Rodan talks us through how the active ingredient in magic mushrooms – used in a very particular way – could help people with anorexia.
The nature of this talk means we're going to be hearing about eating disorders, so if that's not going to be helpful for you, feel free to skip this episode.
Speaker: Sarah-Catherine Rodan, PhD Candidate InsideOut Institute and Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics University of Sydney
Host: Tegan Taylor
Producer: Tegan Taylor, Gemma Conroy
Next live show: Ockham's Razor is coming to Adelaide on the 24th of November so if you're in the neighbourhood, you can find tickets here
A century on, finding the tomb of Egyptian King Tutankhamen remains one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of the 20th century.
Protesters say they're being ordered to read false confessions and their activities are under surveillance.
This week's tweeter sings a sweet song high above grasslands and crops – the Horsfield's Bushlark, or Australasian Bushlark.
This week's tweeter sings a sweet song high above grasslands and crops – the Horsfield's Bushlark, or Australasian Bushlark.
Ned Kelly, Ben Hall and Captain Thunderbolt are remembered as iconic Australian bushrangers.
Ned Kelly, Ben Hall and Captain Thunderbolt are remembered as iconic Australian bushrangers.
Conserving native species and landscapes is one of the biggest challenges scientists face in our future.
But what does conservation actually mean?
Graheme Webb has been working with crocodile populations for decades.
He's been pondering the big conservation question and says part of the challenge we face is understanding what we mean by the word itself.
Speaker:
Professor Graheme Webb Managing director of Wildlife Management International
Host:
Tegan Taylor
Producer:
Tegan Taylor, James Bullen
Conserving native species and landscapes is one of the biggest challenges scientists face in our future.
But what does conservation actually mean?
Graheme Webb has been working with crocodile populations for decades.
He's been pondering the big conservation question and says part of the challenge we face is understanding what we mean by the word itself.
Speaker:
Professor Graheme Webb Managing director of Wildlife Management International
Host:
Tegan Taylor
Producer:
Tegan Taylor, James Bullen
Hearings have started in the Northern Territory's Federal Court in the large compensation case Dr Galarrwuy Yunupingu has brought against the government over a mine built on North East Arnhem Land.
Hearings have started in the Northern Territory's Federal Court in the large compensation case Dr Galarrwuy Yunupingu has brought against the government over a mine built on North East Arnhem Land.
The body of a well known Pakistani journalist who was reportedly shot and killed by Nairobi police while in hiding in Kenya, has been returned to Islamabad late this week.
The body of a well known Pakistani journalist who was reportedly shot and killed by Nairobi police while in hiding in Kenya, has been returned to Islamabad late this week.
Has home schooling has become more popular since COVID-19?
Who chooses the curriculum and what types of students and parents can this type of education work for?
Has home schooling has become more popular since COVID-19?
Who chooses the curriculum and what types of students and parents can this type of education work for?
David Jowsey has been described as one of Australia’s major film and television industry figures, credited with successfully bringing the work of Indigenous storytellers to our screens.
In 2011 two films he produced won international acclaim, Mad Bastards at the Sundance Film Festival and Toomelah at the Cannes Film Festival.
The Adelaide Film Festival this year awarded David Jowsey with the annual Don Dunstan award for his outstanding contribution to Australian screen culture.
David Jowsey has been described as one of Australia’s major film and television industry figures, credited with successfully bringing the work of Indigenous storytellers to our screens.
In 2011 two films he produced won international acclaim, Mad Bastards at the Sundance Film Festival and Toomelah at the Cannes Film Festival.
The Adelaide Film Festival this year awarded David Jowsey with the annual Don Dunstan award for his outstanding contribution to Australian screen culture.
Known as 'Huda the Goddess' on stage, Huda Fadlelmawla delivers powerful spoken word poetry about equality, her journey as a Sudanese refugee and women’s rights.
Known as 'Huda the Goddess' on stage, Huda Fadlelmawla delivers powerful spoken word poetry about equality, her journey as a Sudanese refugee and women’s rights.
During the first lockdown in 2020, literary researcher Melanie Walsh wanted to know what books people were turning to for comfort, hope and distraction.
While researching, she discovered that the culture industries are increasingly using our data to sell us their products.
During the first lockdown in 2020, literary researcher Melanie Walsh wanted to know what books people were turning to for comfort, hope and distraction.
While researching, she discovered that the culture industries are increasingly using our data to sell us their products.
Have you been unlucky in love?
Keep swiping right on the wrong ones?
Well just remember it could be worse. You could be a male spider.
Let's get empathetic for these arachnids who live in constant fear their partner's going to bite their head off – literally.
Guest:
Anastasia Shavrova PhD candidate, School of Biological, Earth, and Environmental Science, UNSW Sydney
Host:
Tegan Taylor
Producer:
Gemma Conroy, Tegan Taylor
Have you been unlucky in love?
Keep swiping right on the wrong ones?
Well just remember it could be worse. You could be a male spider.
Let's get empathetic for these arachnids who live in constant fear their partner's going to bite their head off – literally.
Guest:
Anastasia Shavrova PhD candidate, School of Biological, Earth, and Environmental Science, UNSW Sydney
Host:
Tegan Taylor
Producer:
Gemma Conroy, Tegan Taylor
The Hamlet Syndrome is a new documentary following five young Ukrainians as they rehearse a stage show.
The show combines the core themes of Hamlet with their experiences of war since the revolution of 2014, rehearsals started in the months leading up to the full-scale Russian invasion.
The Hamlet Syndrome is a new documentary following five young Ukrainians as they rehearse a stage show.
The show combines the core themes of Hamlet with their experiences of war since the revolution of 2014, rehearsals started in the months leading up to the full-scale Russian invasion.
Earlier this month, the Biden government announced tough sanctions barring US companies from exporting advanced chips to China.
Analysts say this has led to the mass resignation of US tech leaders and engineers within China, and brought China’s advanced chip manufacturing industry to its knees.
Earlier this month, the Biden government announced tough sanctions barring US companies from exporting advanced chips to China.
Analysts say this has led to the mass resignation of US tech leaders and engineers within China, and brought China’s advanced chip manufacturing industry to its knees.
NSW has blocked United Nations officials from entering Queanbeyan jail as part of their visit under Australia's commitment to the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture.
QLD has also blocked a visit to a mental health facility, but is arranging for UN inspectors to conduct interviews with patients.
NSW has blocked United Nations officials from entering Queanbeyan jail as part of their visit under Australia's commitment to the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture.
QLD has also blocked a visit to a mental health facility, but is arranging for UN inspectors to conduct interviews with patients.
Holden Sheppard says he's a ‘kind of bogan in a literary world’, having grown up in Geraldton in W.A., watching footy and labouring at his Dad’s earth moving business.
Holden Sheppard says he's a ‘kind of bogan in a literary world’, having grown up in Geraldton in W.A., watching footy and labouring at his Dad’s earth moving business.
Ants have long been acknowledged as master engineers of the ecosystem, but could the complex ways they network help us improve human technology and design?
Ants have long been acknowledged as master engineers of the ecosystem, but could the complex ways they network help us improve human technology and design?
Weeks after protests began in Iran following the death in custody of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, those demonstrating show no signs of slowing down.
Weeks after protests began in Iran following the death in custody of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, those demonstrating show no signs of slowing down.
When you're feeling down, are you someone who needs to hear a sad song to let your emotions out, or do you seek out an upbeat track to pump up your mood?
When you're feeling down, are you someone who needs to hear a sad song to let your emotions out, or do you seek out an upbeat track to pump up your mood?
The 2022 Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences was awarded to three U.S. economists whose research on banks and financial crises proved to be critical during the 2008 GFC
The 2022 Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences was awarded to three U.S. economists whose research on banks and financial crises proved to be critical during the 2008 GFC
Globally there's been a rise in shark attacks, but shark nets are a problem for marine life. Are there other ways to manage the risk?
Globally there's been a rise in shark attacks, but shark nets are a problem for marine life. Are there other ways to manage the risk?
Inspiring individuals talk about a pivotal moment in their personal histories. This week, Dr Dulce de Jesus Soares
Inspiring individuals talk about a pivotal moment in their personal histories. This week, Dr Dulce de Jesus Soares
A small but important part of Queensland’s history has been recovered by a couple of local history sleuths.
A small but important part of Queensland’s history has been recovered by a couple of local history sleuths.
When Jordan wanted to treat his insomnia, he turned to an experimental therapy: medicinal cannabis.
When Jordan wanted to treat his insomnia, he turned to an experimental therapy: medicinal cannabis.
Do you think we're alone in the universe? Could there be other life out there?
And, whether there is or isn't, how does life come to be, anyway?
(Is this sounding a little like your mate on a camping trip getting a bit too deep while looking up at all those stars?)
Well, this time we're hearing from someone who's trying to unpick the origins of life — here on Earth, and maybe other places too.
Do you think we're alone in the universe? Could there be other life out there?
And, whether there is or isn't, how does life come to be, anyway?
(Is this sounding a little like your mate on a camping trip getting a bit too deep while looking up at all those stars?)
Well, this time we're hearing from someone who's trying to unpick the origins of life — here on Earth, and maybe other places too.
Charlie Maher's life changed twelve years ago when Robert De Castella convinced him to run six famous marathons
Charlie Maher's life changed twelve years ago when Robert De Castella convinced him to run six famous marathons
Successive military coups in the neighbouring countries of Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso are winding back democratic gains in West Africa.
Successive military coups in the neighbouring countries of Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso are winding back democratic gains in West Africa.
The most bizarre cases of historical delusions include walking corpses, fabric fetishists and the fifteenth-century French king who believed he was made of glass. Author Victoria Shepherd talks to Julian Morrow about what delusions tell us about individual lives as well as collective trauma.
The most bizarre cases of historical delusions include walking corpses, fabric fetishists and the fifteenth-century French king who believed he was made of glass. Author Victoria Shepherd talks to Julian Morrow about what delusions tell us about individual lives as well as collective trauma.
An extended panel discussion that gets behind the headlines, bringing thoughtful analysis, fresh perspectives and new insights. This week: is it possible for companies to remake their image and recover from a PR disaster like the Optus data breach?
An extended panel discussion that gets behind the headlines, bringing thoughtful analysis, fresh perspectives and new insights. This week: is it possible for companies to remake their image and recover from a PR disaster like the Optus data breach?
Australia is home to some of the world’s most diverse and unique wildlife, but with that richness comes a market for wildlife trafficking. Smugglers are using increasingly complex techniques to traffic native fauna out of the country. But now Australian scientists are harnessing the power of 3D X-rays and AI algorithms in the fight against them.
Australia is home to some of the world’s most diverse and unique wildlife, but with that richness comes a market for wildlife trafficking. Smugglers are using increasingly complex techniques to traffic native fauna out of the country. But now Australian scientists are harnessing the power of 3D X-rays and AI algorithms in the fight against them.
Inspiring individuals talk about a pivotal moment in their personal histories. This week, Steven Boyce reflects on helping during the Black Saturday fires.
Inspiring individuals talk about a pivotal moment in their personal histories. This week, Steven Boyce reflects on helping during the Black Saturday fires.
The Dunce's Hat research project is examining the history and impact of the Victorian era approach to learning.
The Dunce's Hat research project is examining the history and impact of the Victorian era approach to learning.
Does your routine when planning any outdoor activity involve checking the weather radar for rain?
Sometimes you can see a clear radar and it's raining – and sometimes, that radar image shows heaps of activity but there's not a cloud in the sky… so what's happening?
Rebecca Rogers, who's a techno-ecologist, is big into using radar – but not for weather watching…
Does your routine when planning any outdoor activity involve checking the weather radar for rain?
Sometimes you can see a clear radar and it's raining – and sometimes, that radar image shows heaps of activity but there's not a cloud in the sky… so what's happening?
Rebecca Rogers, who's a techno-ecologist, is big into using radar – but not for weather watching…
In the three years since we last heard from Pierre, the maintenance issues at his old housing complex have continued to mount.
Inspiring individuals talk about a pivotal moment in their personal histories. This week, singer Katie Noonan
Zoologist and science writer Jules Howard says the role of dogs in scientific research has changed enormously over time.
Flexible. Innovative. Sensitive.
They're attributes of the next generation of electronics. They're also great attributes in the people who are designing them.
Madhu Bhaskaran is an engineer who embodies all the qualities we mentioned before – and she knows that coming up with new tech is only the first step in a long journey to market.
James Plunkett, former advisor to British prime minister Gordon Brown, is the author of 'End State: 9 ways society is broken - and how we can fix it.' He talks to Julian Morrow about how we can harness the power of digital technology to build a better society.
If the Brothers of Italy party are elected, they'll lead a bloc of conservative parties.
An estimated 45,000 children are in out-of-home care in Australia but of those, only 171 were adopted over the last year. Is open adoption the answer?
The death of UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld, 61 years ago, on 18 September 1961 remains one of the biggest mysteries of the twentieth century
To say that malaria elimination is close to home for Varunika Ruwanpura is an understatement.
Her mum literally gave birth to her while sick with malaria.
Varunika is now lending a hand in the fight for elimination.
She's chosen to focus on health policy – it might sound a little unsexy at first, but as she explains, it's a powerful tool many of us don't think about enough.
A new exhibit at the Art Gallery of Western Australia takes a new approach to the presentation of its famous colonial era artworks, by juxtaposing them with Indigenous artists works.
Putin promised to liberate Russian speakers in Ukraine but when they put up stiff resistance they became the targets of retribution.
The death of Queen Elizabeth II is being mourned across the world after Her Majesty died at her Balmoral estate in the Scottish HIghlands.
Chinese-Australian political cartoonist Badiucao revealed who he was in 2019 after years of hiding from what he says was harrassment from the CCP
Scat is a word usually associated with jazz but when it takes on a whole new meaning when used in the context of the bowel movements of animals.
W-W-F Australia has launched a citizen science project inviting all of us to get involved in looking for koala scat or poo.
What makes a pig-nosed turtle's flippers so special?
What's the most dangerous creature you'll encounter on a research trip to the Amazon jungle?
What's the optimum age for freaking your kids out with wildlife cosplay?
Carla Eisemberg has the answers to all these questions and more as she gives us a tour of what it's like to be an ecology researcher and teacher.
Live action Tattoo artist Scott Campbell will ink people's arms without talking or seeing them first
D +2 is perhaps the day with the biggest tone change in the official mourning period. It began with the proclamation of the new monarch, King Charles the Third with pageantry and a fair amount of literal fanfare across London.
How do we ensure the future of the Great Barrier Reef and the communities along the Reef under climate change.
Rosaleen is an award-winning short story science fiction writer, and a prominent writer in the sub-genre of ‘feminist science fiction’, that flourished in the 1980s and 90s.
These native bees are at risk during breeding season because they burrow in gravel roads and tracks.
Witold Szabłowski tracked down the personal chefs of five dictators known for the oppression and massacre of their own citizens
If a tree falls in a forest and there's no one around to hear it… you've heard this one before, haven't you?
What about if someone does a groundbreaking bit of science, but no one finds out about it?
Tom Carruthers makes the case for, not just good science, but good science communication.
Demos, behind the scenes footage, set lists and postcards from some of the most popular alternative bands from the 1990's will be on display in a new exhibition.
Ukraine Air Rescue makes missions into Ukraine with food and medical supplies for civilians and the army
The 'radical partisans' who took over the Republican Party in the 1990s paved the way for
Dr Sabina Dosani is on the BBC’s list of 2022 New Generation Thinkers for the UK’s most promising and exciting early career researchers.
The breed of dog we choose can reveal our deepest human aspirations. They can reflect who we are and who we want to be.
Andrew Leigh argues that sport can embody both achievement and egalitarianism, and this sporting ethos can be applied to strengthening Australia’s economy and creating a fairer society.
When we think about climate change, we're usually looking up – towards the sky, where greenhouse gases form a heat-trapping blanket over the planet.
But some people — including Freya Mulvey — say part of the global warming equation is found in the other direction… right beneath our feet.
The charity Mind Medicine Australia is establishing a new fund to support the development of observational trials into psychedelic-assisted therapies to treat mental illness.
Extreme flooding events are occurring on all continents and two other signatures of a warming planet – ice melt and wildfires – are adding to the potential for flash floods
We already have Generations X, Y and Z, but will we eventually see a ‘generation COVID’?
As adolescents struggle with the fallout of social isolation and interrupted learning, the latest research shows that children from primary school and younger have suffered more than any other age group from the pandemic.
So what are the setbacks our youngest children face? And can we claw back what they have lost?
Australian journalist Peter Greste started as a foreign correspondent, in Kabul in 1995.
It was a time of civil war between rival Mujahideen factions in the country, with the Taliban emerging.
Greste's twenty year career as a foreign correspondent was book-ended with imprisonment in Egypt, along with fellow Al Jazeera journalists.
There are a lot of fields that claim to fuse art and science.
But while it might not be the first one that springs to mind, the field this week's speaker specialises in is arguably most worthy of the fusion.
Jared Archibald has spent a large chunk of his career as a taxidermist. It's science for sure – a knowledge of anatomy and animal behaviour are essential – but there's an artistry to it too.
A mix of jubilation and anger has been seen in Kenya after the country’s election results were announced, which the leader of the Opposition, Raila Odinga rejected.
Mr Odinga says there were irregularities in the election, and four members of the electoral commission refused to endorse the result, but incoming president William Ruto promised an open and transparent government.
The market power of social media platforms will be scrutinised by the ACCC in a new wide-ranging inquiry for consumers and businesses.
It’s part of the ACCC’s five-year Digital Platform Services Inquiry, which in 2019 found major changes were needed in competition law and consumer protection, due to the expansion of social media use in Australia.
The only known pink manta ray in the world has been sighted for the first time in three years, in the waters off Lady Elliot Island.
Dubbed ‘Inspector Clouseau’ by Project Manta, in 2016 a small tissue sample was taken, so what more do researchers know about him?
As atmospheric warming melts high mountain ice fields, relics from as far back as the Iron Age and Early Medieval Period have been revealed.
A glacial archaeology program in Norway has recovered hunting tools, ancients skis, textiles, leather and clothing as old ice fields recede.
Federal education minister Jason Clare met with his state and territory counterparts on Friday to address chronic teacher shortages and overwhelming workloads. Will reforming the education system work this time?
When a lot of us first heard of drones a couple of decades ago, it was about their use in military operations.
Now people use them to take photos of their neighbours or maybe even get pizzas delivered.
But Vanya Bosiocic has a much more important – and constructive – use for drones.
Kinmen Island is less than 5kms off the coast of mainland China and has been at the frontline during the long cold war between Taiwan and China
When protesters disrupted one of Australia’s largest container facilities, the NSW Government responded with new broad-sweeping laws that carried 2 year jail terms.
The piece of paper we dig out for proof of identity carries a lot more meaning, in a personal, social, political, and legal sense
Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban is calling on political conservatives to reconquer what he’s described as liberal domination of public life.
What's your favourite animal? It doesn't matter really — because this talk is about to change your mind.
Carol Palmer, who's based in Darwin, studies marine megafauna. Yes, dolphins and whales live in the waters of northern Australia! And she's about to convince you that the most charming animal on the planet is the false killer whale.
The New Zealand Government has released a new $18 million dollar plan to stop transmission of HIV by 2032.
The mysterious discovery of the Alsehli sisters, who were found dead in a Sydney flat after more than a month, has shocked Australians.
But who are they? What were they doing here? And most chillingly - why are they dead?
Reporters Rachael Brown and Mahmood Fazal investigate.
A special investigation by Rachael Brown and Mahmood Fazal into the shocking deaths of two women in Sydney's inner west.
The expansion of authoritarian and populist governments has increased the threats to press freedom around the world.
Ben Portsmouth has been billed as “undoubtedly the best Elvis tribute artist in the world”
Anthony Albanese has unveiled the wording for a possible referendum question on enshrining an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
As smallpox ravaged Europe in the 18th century, Russia's monarch Catherine the Great put her life in the hands of British doctor Thomas Dimsdale.
Russia is pulling out of the International Space Station and China is on track to finish its new station by the end of the year. What impact will this have on future research and exploration in space?
We know climate change is bad for the health of the planet, and many of the species that live on it. That includes us humans.
Bushfires, heat waves, flooding — they all have human health impacts.
Sounds bleak, doesn't it? But today, we're hearing from someone who says if we're prepared to take a level look at this challenge, there are ways we can better meet it.
The WTO has secured an agreement from member states to phase out restrictions on humanitarian food supplies
When the pandemic pushed university assessments out of the exam room and into the bedroom, many Australian students turned to powerful new allies to help them get good grades.
Reporter Mario Christodoulou investigates.
Many General Practitioners say they're at breaking point and ready to leave practice, citing unmanageable pressures amid a new wave of COVID infections.
After her brother Jayden died, Kendall Whyte started the The Blue Tree Project to raise awareness of the struggles so many people have with their mental health
On 22 September 1988 Francis Bacon became the first living western artist to exhibit in the USSR since 1917. It was a remarkable feat that was pulled off by an upstart young London gallery owner called James Birch
Offshore wind energy is one of the fastest growing sectors of the renewable energy market, with Asia now leading the way and the U.S. seeking to put wind turbines alongside oil rigs
Do you know someone on the autism spectrum? Perhaps you are on it yourself. This episode, we're hearing from a speaker who says we need to be better at diagnosing autism as early as possible — not to medicalise people, but to ensure we're making a world that supports and includes them.
In ‘Whole Numbers and Half Truths: What Data Can and Can't Tell Us About Modern India', journalist Rukmini S. challenges some deeply-held beliefs about politics and society in India.
As the RBA predicts interest rate hikes, the Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the next economic update will be confronting for many Australians.
There's a big nature tourism project about to take off in New South Wales, but many locals aren't all that happy about it.
Reporter Mayeta Clark investigates why.
With very low vacancy rates and limited housing supply in some Australian regions, workers and people on low incomes are finding it tough to get affordable long-term accommodation. Some shire mayors have taken to writing to home owners to plead with them to rent out their properties, other shires are putting caps on short-term rentals. Just how bad is it and what are the range of solutions being proposed?
Richard Marcus went from professional casino cheat to security consultant to the casino industry
This year's Asia Pacific Model United Nations Conference is focused on rethinking diplomacy
Poet and artist Jalal Mahamede spent 9 years in immigration detention, where he wrote collaborated online with musician Keyna Wilkins. Jalal's book of poetry has just been released.
Victoria is marketed as an exciting culinary destination.
But organic farmers say they're facing draconian rules that prevent consumers from accessing the ethical food they want.
Reporter Mahmood Fazal investigates.
What does it take to bring an extinct species back from the dead? Well, sometimes — a Woman's Day magazine.
This week, we're hearing from Tyrone Lavery, a detective who hunts — in a good way — for lost Australian mammals. And he's on particular lookout for a sweet little native mouse.
Perth's Revelation International Film Festival is celebrating 25 years of bringing exciting and risky films to audiences in Western Australia.
The Victorian Government has agreed in-principle to restrict the use of non-disclosure agreements in relation to workplace sexual harassment cases.
Sylvia Pascoe is one of 167 women running for a seat in what is currently an all male parliament in PNG
Public broadcasting was once the dominant form of broadcasting in many countries, so how is it adapting to the media landscape of the 21st century?.
Stage performer Geraldine Turner opens up about overcoming some horrific personal experiences, as well as her career full of stellar performances.
Dr Suzy Sheehy introduces us to the people who staged ground-breaking experiments of the twentieth century.
Worried about racial inequities in the health system, First Nations women are fighting for culturally safe birth options.
But as Quandamooka woman Carly Williams finds out, not everyone in the mainstream healthcare service is on board.
How are your knees feeling? There's a pretty good chance one or both of them are sore — after all, knee osteoarthritis is a leading cause of disability globally, and Australia's no exception.
Trouble is, we don't really have any way of treating it. But never fear — this week we're hearing from someone who's bringing her engineering background to take a peek inside dodgy knees and see what it might take to fix them.
Huge amounts of copper will be needed for the transition to renewable-driven electricity.
Boris Johnson’s resignation has left the UK Tory party scrambling to find someone to replace him.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has solidified the resolve of NATO member states after the destabilising period of the Trump presidency.
Gareth Owen OBE is the Humanitarian Director of Save the Children UK. His first experience as a volunteer aid worker was in war torn Somalia in 1993, during the failed US lead Operation Restore Hope
As cryptocurrency values crash around the world, the NFT market is following suit and crashing as well. The two are tightly connected as NFTs are bought with cryptocurrency. The NFT market has skyrocketed since 2021, when $69m USD was paid for an NFT by hitherto-unknown artist, Beeple.
But freelance tech reporter Amy Castor says a lot of the NFT market is not real – it’s fake.
Making democracy work in diverse, multicultural societies is a huge but vital challenge all over the world
Being one of Australia’s cutest animals hasn’t prevented its slide towards extinction.
Reporter Rachael Brown investigates what is being done to try to curb the koala's declining population.
Solomon Islands journalist Dorothy Wickham joins us to discuss her opinion essay, published recently in the New York Times, that says in the absence of US or Australian investment, China has become a somewhat positive economic force in the poor country.
What does it take to survive on the driest inhabited continent on Earth? Indigenous people have tens of thousands of years of knowledge about this, but their place in the conversations about water planning and management are often tokenistic at best, or worse, completely absent.
Bradley Moggridge wants to change that. He's a Kamilaroi man and hydrogeologist, and he knows Indigenous knowledge needs to be central to Australia's water future.
Each year the Reuters Journalism Studies Institute at Oxford University puts out a comprehensive global snapshot of how the world consumes news.
Health advocates are calling on the new Albanese Government to appoint a Minister of Loneliness.
Pat O’Shane was the first female Aboriginal teacher in Queensland, the first woman and Aboriginal person to be the head of a Government department and the first Aboriginal Magistrate in Australia
Flacco & The Sandman, the singular characters that were stars of the 1990s and early 2000s comedy scene, have reunited for a show in Bathurst.
As the war in Ukraine continues, so do war crimes trials. Already trials have been conducted - and concluded - by Ukraine and by the Russian-backed breakaway republic of Donetsk.
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Thousands of Australians are finding they still feel ill several months after contracting coronavirus.
They're experiencing a new and little understood condition called long COVID.
As Geoff Thompson discovered, the demand for medical treatment is now overwhelming.
Chile and Colombia have both elected leftist leaders recently after decades of right and centre-right governments. It's part of a political shift in a number of Latin American countries that's being dubbed the 'pink tide'.
So what's driving it?
Don't you love tipping your head back on a clear, dark night, and seeing those silvery stars twinkling above you? We know in our brains that they're giant balls of burning gas, even though they look like fairy dust scattered across the sky.
And the reason we know this is because of the science of astronomy.
This week we're hearing from an astronomer about the incredible discoveries her field has managed to uncover, and what the next generation of radio astronomy might achieve… right here in Australia.
Being solitary is a cause for celebration for the so-called Hermettes, a secret group of women who prefer to be left alone.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky will make a virtual address at this week's G7 and NATO summits.
The Roundtable this week looks at three different scenarios regarding refugees. Why have asylum seeker boats restarted to Australia? Where are the world’s most neglected displacement crises? And why Tik Tok has become a source of reliable information for people fleeing their countries.
Abbas Nazari was 7 years old when his family boarded a crowded fishing boat in 2001, bound for Australia, that became the focal point of the Tampa Affair.
Nostalgia, niche whatever you want to call it vinyl records are making more of a comeback.
John Anderson wants to raise the standard of public debate in Australia and says there needs to be an honest discussion about climate science and the transition from fossil fuels.
Precious artefacts looted from Cambodia and Thailand made their way into prominent collections here in Australia, and around the world.
In the second and final episode of his investigation, Mario Christodoulou investigates why it’s taking so long for these precious works to be returned to their rightful home.
PaykanArtCar has won the Human Rights Foundation's 2022 Václav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent
You probably have a favourite colour, flower, or song. But do you have a favourite parasite?
Shokoofeh Shamsi does - although she studies parasites for a living, so maybe that makes a bit more sense.
The bad news for the rest of us who don't spend a lot of time thinking about this stuff? Her favourite parasites live in many Australians' favourite food.
A small beetle may be the solution to an invasive aquatic weed threatening the future of a lake in Cameroon and the communities that live from it.
With overfishing at critical levels, the World Trade Organisation is targeting the billions of dollars’ worth of subsidies that China and EU countries pay to enhance their fishing fleets
The Albanese government has committed to having new legislation for a national anti-corruption body tabled in parliament by the end of this year. What will it look like and what powers should it have?
Inspiring individuals talk about a pivotal moment in their personal histories. This week, newly elected federal Labor MP for the WA seat of Tangney Sam Lim chooses 2006 as the year that made him.
It was the year he was accepted into the Western Australian Police Force but also the year his daughter was diagnosed with cancer.
African Moot is the continent's largest mock court competition, where the next generation of African lawyers gather to debate international law.
A short war in 2020 saw Azerbaijan retake territory from Armenia in the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, forcing many people to give up their family homes
Many ancient Cambodian artifacts arrived in Australia during the 1960s and 1970s, when the south east Asian country was in turmoil.
Mario Christodoulou investigates how some had come from looted historic sites or passed through the hands of suspected smugglers, and now feature in major galleries around the world.
We know that exercise is good for us — good for our muscles and bones and mental health. But what if it's good for other parts of us as well? Research is showing that exercise releases molecular signals that can protect our eyes from diseases like age-related macular degeneration. The next step is to figure out how to harness these benefits, which is exactly what Dr Joshua Chu-Tan is on a mission to do.
Australians spend $26 billion a year gambling. What does the gambling industry spend on the community to make up for its monumental profits?
Heart surgeon Dr Nikki Stamp describes reaching the top of her profession despite the systemic barriers in her way.
Personality characteristics like being an extrovert, conscientious or neurotic, could affect the process of cognitive decline.
Indigenous filmmaker Tiriki Onus discovering part of his grandfather's history through ASIO surveillance files.
The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged schools across the country like never before, but it's also shone a light on existing issues within the profession such as a chronic shortage of specialised teachers and growing workload stress.
Reporter Mayeta Clark follows teachers in public schools in NSW as they struggle to cover classes and keep their students engaged.
What does a natural landscape look like to you? Maybe you think of a dense forest, or a sparkling body of water. Somewhere untouched by humans, right? Maybe the word “wilderness” comes to mind.
Today we’re hearing from someone who wants you to think twice about this idea of wilderness.
Michael-Shawn Fletcher is a geographer and a descendant of the Wiradjuri – and he wants to challenge the idea that country that's untouched by humans is a good thing.
Climate anxiety was expressed at the ballot box in the federal election, especially by young voters who see climate change as a defining issue for their generation.
Increasingly governments around the world are turning to AI facial recognition apps as cost saving surveillance measures.
This week marks the 5th anniversary of the Uluru Statement From The Heart which calls for an Indigenous voice to Parliament, a Makarrata Commission overseeing treaty agreements, and a national process for truth-telling.
The new Federal Government has promised to implement the Uluru Statement with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese committing to a referendum in the government’s first term.
But before any referendum can occur, the government needs to introduce a bill outlining its proposed changes to the Constitution and that bill needs to be passed by both Houses of Parliament
Victoria’s Local Hero for 2022 Leo Op Den Brouw is the controller of the Mallacoota SES, who has helped lead the community recovery from the 2019 bushfires
Urban forests in New Zealand’s cities are attracting native birds back to areas where some of them hadn’t been seen for years.
Professor of law and philosophy, Scott Hershovitz says children can help us answer some fundamental philosophical questions
Many states have repealed tough laws that put sex workers at risk of prosecution.
But so far, Queensland hasn't followed suit.
Now, the state government is looking at introducing new safeguards to protect those in the industry.
Reporter Mahmood Fazal investigates.
Do you have a favourite place that’s been affected by the extreme weather that’s hit Australia over these past couple of years?
This week on Ockham's Razor we’re hearing from Barbara Norman, who has her own special place that’s been hit hard by climate change.
But luckily, Barbara is an expert in urban and regional planning, and she has ideas on how we can plan better to adapt to climate change.
The Calendar Girls are a group of Florida volunteer dancers aged over 60 who put on no less than 150 shows a year.
Scientists mapping the after effects of Tonga’s underwater volcanic eruption that occurred in January, say there are signs the volcano is still active.
Despite the most recent mass shootings, carried out by teenage gunmen, the US Supreme Court is set to further relax gun laws.
Anthony Albanese has led the Labor Party to defeat the LNP after the coalitions' near decade in office.
And while it remains unclear whether Labor will form a majority government, the Liberal Party has suffered major losses to "teal" independents in 'safe' Liberal seats.
The founder of the charity Short Back & Sidewalks is Western Australia's Local Hero for 2022
More than one million school students in Australia and the Pacific will sit down at the same time on Wednesday to read Family Trees, a book that celebrates diversity
Pacific island nation Tuvalu is working on a survival plan in case of a worst case sea level rise
The decision to get cosmetic enhancement is complicated. It could be triggered by childhood bullying, influenced by social media, or stem from a belief that you’re not good enough. The beauty industry encourages you to tie your self-identity to your appearance. It promises to empower you. In the final episode of Face Value, we delve further into why so many people are driven to change the way they look. Who are they doing it for? And do cosmetic procedures make people happier or more confident?
The humble but culturally significant woven bag known as a bilum has become the unlikely source of economic prosperity for thousands of women in Papua New Guinea
There are some moments you can look back on and go 'yep – that’s when I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up.' The moment your ambition really crystallised.
This week, we’re hearing from Emily Finch about when that moment happened for her – on a family field trip to what she calls the “science donut”.
For more than 2 years North Korea has claimed to be free of COVID-19. Now it si reporting hundreds of thousands of new cases of ‘fever’ daily
Cosmetic enhancement comes with plenty of risks. Botched surgeries, safety breaches, and in the worst-case scenario, fatal results. They've been reported for decades. Horror stories aside, chasing your aesthetic ideal is no easy task. Beneath every Insta-perfect photograph is a tonne of time, energy and money that's often glossed over. And that's not to mention the pain and prolonged recovery that can come with invasive procedures.
Why are so many people willingly submitting themselves to putting this much effort into how they look?
Priyanka Pillai combines computer science skills and a background in biomedical sciences to take on complex challenges in health data, particularly for pandemic preparedness research.
You know, just in case we ever need that sort of thing …
Puzzles are not only great for keeping the brain sharp, they can also make us better thinkers and better people.
Economic mismanagement, magnified by the COVID pandemic has taken Sri Lanka to the brink of economic and political collapse.
While in Immigration Detention Mostafa “Moz” Azimitabar taught himself to play guitar and paint using a toothbrush.
In this election, all eyes are on the so-called ‘teal’ independents running in urban, inner-city seats, and threatening to unseat at least one senior Cabinet minister.
Afghan Australian media mogul Saad Mohseni was 12 years old in 1978 when the first president of Afghanistan was assassinated with his family by communist rebels, which led the way for the Soviet invasion.
Notorious currents, freezing waters and sharks, but groups of swimmers regularly brave the waters and swim out to Alcatraz prison island.
A Māori radio station is using A.I. to help build a digital language archive to revitalize and increase Maori language speaking.
For the longest time, Western beauty has been celebrated. The desire and pressure to look more 'Western' has led to skin whitening products, nose jobs and double eyelid surgery. But the tide is turning. Celebrities like the Kardashians are leaning into an ethnically ambiguous aesthetic. Is this cultural appropriation or cultural appreciation? What do people of colour, who've often been racially vilified for their appearance, have to say about others cherry-picking their features?
Sexual selection is a potent evolutionary force responsible for much of the weird and wonderful diversity of life on our planet. So what happens when it's disturbed by human-induced environmental change?
Forestry officials in India were shocked to find three adult kangaroos in the wild in West Bengal
The Irish government will pay 2-thousand randomly selected struggling artists a basic wage of more than $400 a week for three years.
Russia says ‘unfriendly’ European countries will have to pay for its gas in roubles, which the EU says would breach the sanctions it has imposed.
With inflation at its highest level in more than two decades, and a rise in the cost of living, it seems a good time to ask how equality is faring in Australia. Is inequality growing?
Valmai Dempsey was named Senior Australian of the Year for 2022 in recognition of her 60 year dedication to voluntary first-aid work
CrushedButOkay is a new youth-led online campaign will offer practical tips for young men to deal with rejection online.
Burkina Faso architect Francis Kéré is the first African winner of the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize
COVID-19 has changed the way we do things and seeing our faces on-screen everyday has triggered more people to seek cosmetic enhancement than ever before.
What’s Australia best known for? Venomous creatures? Football with weird rules? What about… space exploration?
They say timing is everything so when the Taliban announced early April, they were implementing a ban on opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, it left observers wondering who the message was aimed at, given it’s the major harvesting season now.
Sviatoslav Vakarchuk is the lead singer of one of Ukraine's most popular rock bands, Okean Elzy.
Since the Russian invasion, he's been visiting troops and singing in crowded subways where thousands of civilians have sought shelter, to boost morale and keep alive, hopes of freedom and survival.
Personality vs policies, gaffes and gotcha moments – just how is this campaign shaping up, and could political journalists do better?
Entrepreneur and performer Tania De Jong talks about undergoing psychedelic therapy to deal with intergenerational trauma, and the focus it gave her
A new online project draws on 330,000 detailed war records to offer a digital ANZAC memorial for descendants of those who served in WW1.
Independent news outlets seeking to counter disinformation in contested regions are being taken down by Facebook, with little or no explanation,
IVF has grown into a huge industry, with companies competing to provide fertility services.
But in the quest to innovate and gain an edge, one Australian company may have taken things too far.
Now hundreds of those who used a controversial new genetic test are taking legal action
Reporter Rachael Brown investigates.
The lockdowns and forced isolation measures of the pandemic have had a lasting effect on the lives of many young people.
Who’s the strongest person in the world? And how would you measure it? Today’s guest has a metric in mind.
Two thousand Indonesia garment workers are in a 7-year legal fight with two big global fashion brands over 5 million dollars in entitlements.
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its third month, military analysts are talking about how smart phones are playing a profound role in the conflict.
As we head towards an election, we ask where Australia’s foreign aid priorities sit within a region facing development challenges, climate change upheaval and security instability.
Professor Helen Marshall is South Australia’s Australian of the Year and one of our most recognised vaccination researchers.
An educational kit is being offered to schools to teach children about drone safety and flying rules.
When Eric Turquin and his team were presented with a rare Old Masters painting, they had an instinct it was a lost Caravaggio. They were right - but it would take five years for them to definitively prove it.
Art expert Eric Turquin joins us to tell the tale, and how it put him and his team of specialists on the map.
Reporter Geoff Thompson followed several residents of Lismore as they tried to recover from February's monster flood in Northern NSW.
But before they'd finished the clean-up, the waters started to rise again.
Somewhere between the very, very big physics and the very, very little physics is ... condensed matter physics.
You might not have heard of it before, but it’s just as mindblowing – as today’s guest Elise Kenny will demonstrate.
Writer Younguang Mro has produced the first grammar book for the 'severely endangered' Mro language.
The images of dead Ukrainian civilians, killed by Russian forces, is reminiscent of scenes in the 1930s when Soviet leader Joseph Stalin imposed a genocidal famine on Ukraine
Ahead of this election, we ask some big picture thinkers what ideas aren’t being talked about - but should be.
The Northern Territory’s Australian of the Year for 2022 has been the driving force behind the NT’s Aboriginal Justice Agreement.
Scientists have been asking for many decades how planets form and a new Jupiter-like gas giant spotted outside our solar system could provide the answers.
An almost unimaginable crime: two women accused of poisoning their own children at the same Sydney hospital.
Both were charged and spent years separated from their families, but both say they were falsely accused.
Reporter Hannah Ryan investigates whether the system has failed these families.
If you’re not something straightforward like a lawyer or a teacher or an electrician, there’s a question you hate getting at dinner parties – what do you do?
And this week on Ockham’s Razor we're hearing from someone who particularly dreads this question.
But Johanna Nalau's job – and what it means for our future – is an important one to get your head around.
We have all heard of long-COVID or the intense brain fog that is often a side effect of being struck down with the virus, but new research has found that even those who haven't tested positive may still be prone to 'pandemic brain'.
‘Our Natural Legacy’ is a program that aims to more than double the amount of private land protected for nature conservation and climate mitigation.
As the war continues in Ukraine, experts fear the psychological trauma could be a burden children carry for life.
As the tragic loss of life continues in Ukraine there is also the loss of cultural heritage, destroyed or damaged by Russia’s bombing campaign
Did you guess this week's mystery caller? It's setting off on its annual migration from northern Australia to our island neighbours... it's the Torresian Imperial-Pigeon.
As voters get ready to head to the polls, we speak to the former Official Secretary to the Governor-General, who was once responsible for announcing that the federal election was on.
A new nationwide 24-hour culturally safe support service, 13YARN, has been launched to help First Nations people in crisis.
Jim works in the control room at Eraring Power Station, where one quarter of NSW's power is produced.
But Jim and his 450 colleagues have recently found out that his workplace will be closing down, 7 years ahead of schedule.
Reporter Mayeta Clark investigates what plans are in place to transition communities away from coal jobs.
It’s no secret that Australia is home to many a venomous snake but this week’s guest wants to convince you that we should look at this as a blessing, not a curse.
Prolonged Grief Disorder is now recognised as a psychiatric illness in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
Prominent Indian journalist and critic of the BJP government, Raya Ayyub, said she was prevented from leaving the country to speak at a conference in Europe about press freedoms.
Russian journalist Yevgenia Albats, editor-in-chief of the now-banned New Times has stayed in Moscow in defiance of the Kremlin's media crackdown.
Writer Younguang Mro has produced the first grammar book for the 'severely endangered' Mro language.
In the wake of Ash Barty stepping away from the world of tennis, two former athletes tell us how they found success after their sporting careers.
The founder of Surf Online Safe dot com dot au, is Western Australia’s 2022 Australian of the Year.
As poverty and instability rises in Lebanon, an organisation is promoting social cohesion and peacebuilding through art and theatre.
Hundreds of Ukrainian refugees have now arrived in Australia, and the federal government is now offering humanitarian visas with Medicare, work and education rights.
But Australia’s one of the most expensive countries in the world – how are the new arrivals adapting?
Guests: Andrew Mencinsky of the Ukrainian Council of NSW and Inna Ilyensky.
Prison authorities know that drugs are constantly finding their way into our prisons.
But the most commonly detected drug is one you might never have heard of.
And health experts are warning there’s a disaster looming for addicted inmates when they get out.
Mahmood Fazal reports.
This episode contains explicit language.
Look, don’t put your mobile phone in a blender. Just… trust me on this one.
But if you did, you’d find more of the periodic table of elements in that pulverised phone dust than you might expect.
What’s that, you want more context? Allison Britt from Geoscience Australia can explain.
First broadcast 11 July 2021.
The invasion of Ukraine has devastated the country’s wheat production and exports. The effect’s already being felt in Middle Eastern and North African countries, which are trying to prevent the civil unrest that comes with the rising price of food staples such as bread.
Guest: Dina Saleh from the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
Russia's invasion put Volodymyr Zelensky’s lookalike in danger, so his fellow impersonators came to his rescue
From pages filled with diverse stories of life in the bush, to unique imagery that transports you to the heart of inland Australia, three women's magazines are redefining the face of regional media.
Over 20 years ago author Gabrielle Wang had a vivid dream which set her on a path to becoming a successful author and being named the Australian Children's Laureate.
The idyllic life of this Englishman in Russia changed overnight when Russia invaded Ukraine.
She was convicted of killing her four children nearly two decades ago.
But new scientific evidence has come to light, leading some of Australia’s most respected scientists to argue that Kathleen Folbigg was actually the victim of a terrible miscarriage of justice.
Some of those scientists now say Australia needs to establish a whole new body to review potentially wrongful convictions.
Rachael Brown reports.
Special thanks to Flinders University Adjunct Associate Professor Robert Moles for his research assistance.
It's the last thing you want to hear in 2022, cases of the Japanese encephalitis virus have been found in more than 40 piggeries across Australia and moved further south than ever before.
If you could take your brain and zoom in a couple of times – and then a bit more – you’d see structures that look like towers and tentacles, and behave like pieces of automatic Lego.
It’s a crazy miniature world, and one we’re going to get a tour of today.
Our tour guide is Dr Kiara Bruggeman, who’s hijacking and hacking these nano-sized structures, in the hopes of helping stroke-affected brains heal.
[First aired July 25, 2021]
This week an Indian court in the southern state of Karnataka ruled to uphold a ban on wearing the hijab in classrooms.
The economic sanctions on Russia are unprecedented but has the intention of the sanctions, and the circumstances in which they’d be lifted, been made clear?
Dr Michelle Telfer is a paediatrician who is renowned for her work treating gender diverse and transgender children and teenagers.
As many communities begin their long road to recovery after floods wreaked havoc along the east coast, discover what's behind the damaging downpours.
The work and scope of the national competition and consumer watchdog, the ACCC, has grown dramatically in the past 10 years
This wave of coronavirus caused more Australians to die in aged care homes than any variant before it.
This time we had vaccines and we had time to prepare.
Reporter Geoff Thompson investigates how it went so wrong during Omicron.
They will have played a critical role in many of your favourite albums, but what exactly does an audio mastering engineer do?
And how is artificial intelligence shaking up what's traditionally been an exacting audio science?
Wednesday the 9th of March marked the seventh National Day of Women Living with HIV, which raises awareness about the stigma, discrimination and lack of representation women with the virus face.
Two Harvard university students have developed a website to connect Ukrainian refugees with hosts and housing all around the world.
Crimean Tatar language teacher and producer Zakhida Adylova made the difficult decision to flee her home in Kyiv.
More than a million people have managed to escape Ukraine by train, despite Russian forces bombing parts of Ukraine's railway network.
As the devastation from unprecedented floods grows in NSW and Queensland, communities are facing a long road to mental and physical recovery.
Medical doctor and activist Ana Cristina González Vélez is a pioneer of the 'Causa Justa' women's rights movement, which led to a radical change in Colombia's abortion law last week.
When the Apollo 14 mission took off to the moon, one astronaut took along a bag of seeds, which were later planted on earth.
The invasion of Ukraine is part of Vladimir Putin's determination to reframe the historical narrative
Charles Batham has been in hiding for years, and after two narrow escapes the trail goes cold.
Then, reporter Erin Parke gets a tip-off that that brings the global investigation back from the brink – but will the truth ever come out about Batham’s dark past?
What makes someone who cruises through life relatively happily different to someone who struggles with mental health issues?
At least part of it lies in our genes – and there’s not much we can do about that. But there are other factors that we can control. Mary McMillan is trying to figuring out the divide between the two through a highly scientific process involving ... spit in a cup.
First broadcast 28 March 2021.
A group of 45 Fijian abattoir workers who recently arrived in northern NSW have become local heroes of Lismore’s worst flooding in history this week.
With Australia's borders now reopened there is hope for the recovery of our international education sector, which took a heavy hit during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the federal government's most recent strategy for international education hasn't focused on the global increase in female student enrolments.
After past experiences of having to flee her home, Crimean Tatar language teacher and media producer Zakhida Adylova is now determined to remain in Kyiv and fight for her country with her words- by sharing the situation in Ukraine with the world.
She speaks to Sunday Extra from her Kyiv apartment where she is currently sheltering with her 11-year-old daughter and 75-year-old mother.
This week's mystery caller can gather in great numbers to devour brine shrimp – the Red-necked Avocet.
Growing up as an Arab-Australian Muslim during an era of the Cronulla riots and 9/11, Michael Mohammed Ahmad was determined to challenge negative perceptions of Arab-Australians through his love for literature.
The HMAS Perth was torpedoed by Japan during World War II, now almost 80 years on it has become the subject of contention with a joint Australian-Indonesian plan to open the wreck to marine tourism and diving.
After the de-platforming of controversial speakers on campus, philosophy professor Arif Ahmed forced changes to Cambridge’s free speech policy.
A tall, eccentric Englishman with a secret double life flees Australia.
For nine years he remains on the run.
What he doesn't know is that two Australian women are tracking his movements from afar.
Reporter Erin Parke was one of them.
Virginia Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas was active in attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election result.
What does it take to peel a banana? It’s something most of us can do without thinking, but imagine making a machine that could operate with that much dexterity.
This week, we’re hearing from Geoff Spinks, a materials engineer whose focus is on creating teeny, tiny machines that could fit inside your body.
Colombia has become the latest country in Latin America to expand abortion access, adding to a string of legal victories for reproductive rights in the region.
Ethiopia has begun generating electricity for the first time from its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the River Nile. The massive hydropower plant is set to transform the country, but it's also been the subject of a decade-long dispute with Sudan and Egypt.
In recent weeks protests against vaccine mandates have brought parts of Canada to a standstill and sparked similar uprisings across the globe but the ‘Freedom Convoy’ protests go to the heart of something bigger than vaccine mandates, with experts concerned about the rise of far-right extremism and right-wing populism.
For the past decade, Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa's work has provoked important conversations about identity, racism and feminism and led to a nomination for this year's WA Young Australian of the Year.
In 1796, Dr Edward Jenner delivered the world's first inoculation to his gardener's eight-year-old son who was suffering from the deadly smallpox virus, but his scientific breakthrough also sprouted the first seeds of an anti-vaccination movement.
The experience of three women who fell victim to romance scammer Shimon Hayut has gained the world's attention this week in the new Netflix documentary 'The Tinder Swindler', but the story behind the popular show was broken by Norwegian publication VG in 2019.
Why a part of our workforce is afraid to speak up, even if their lodgings have bedbugs, it's hard to get a shower, or their pay is getting docked by random amounts.
Reporter Mario Christodoulou investigates.
The story of Australia’s early computer hacking scene is told in a new seven-part podcast series, called Motherlode.
What does it take to raise a generation of healthier kids?
Well it depends a bit on what’s around them – and what’s further away. What’s cheaper, or at least feels like better value for money. And what options they have in their downtime.
The Belarusian Cyber Partisans launched a cyber attack on the country’s railway system to disrupt the movement of Russian troops inside Belarus
Overnight President Volodymyr Zelenskyy travelled to Munich to address the European Security Conference and call for immediate sanctions as the Ukraine crisis continues to escalate.
As the world continues to face the ongoing challenge of climate change and the pandemic, the involvement of women in STEM has never been more crucial.
This truckie's photos of remote Australia have a global audience and he's using their success to help people who are homeless, as he was in his teens.
The Winter Olympics are a global showcase of winter sports but many athletes are concerned that the future of winter sports is in jeopardy as global warming intensifies.
A hundred years after the first full edition of James Joyce's Ulysses was published, a new book suggests the Irish have not always warmly embraced Joyce and his works.
For months the NSW government assured the public that its hospitals were coping through the pandemic.
But frontline staff are now speaking out about the barely controlled chaos behind the scenes.
Reporter Mayeta Clark investigates what really happened during Omicron's peak.
The iconic Bollywood playback singer, Lata Mangeshkar, known as the India’s Nightingale, has died at the age of 92 a month after contracting COVID-19
Each year, in hundreds of Australian towns, the annual highlight is the country show.
For Kathryn Bowden, showtime isn’t just about checking out the stock and produce. It’s a reminder of the generations of farming knowledge that have been passed down through her family, and the ability of Australian farmers to adapt to the changing world around them.
Sherrill Roland is an American artist whose projects are inspired by the 10 months he spent in prison for a crime he was later exonerated for.
This week Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen mistakenly reported that jailed Australian economist Sean Turnell had been freed but a year on he awaits trial in Myanmar for allegedly violating the official secrets law.
As Aotearoa/New Zealand celebrates Waitangi Day, 182 years since the signing of the Waitangi Treaty on 6 February 1840, what are the prospects for treaties with Indigenous Australians?
Child psychiatrist Dr Essam Daod co-founded an organisation devoted to making mental health support a fundamental component in humanitarian crisis responses.
A new book that reveals who might have led the Nazis to Anne Frank and her family has been widely criticised by experts as 'full of errors'.
What children experienced inside Tasmania's youth detention centre for a long time remained out of sight, out of mind.
But as Mahmood Fazal discovered, the centre's secrets are coming out now, as more former detainees come forward to tell their stories for the first time.
What’s the most important human invention from history? The wheel? Fire? How about… language and culture?
This week, archaeologist Sam Lin takes us on a tour of very early human history, featuring an item that crops up too regularly to be an accident: an almond-shaped piece of sharpened stone.
Streaming giant Spotify has become a battleground for artists over its exclusive podcaster Joe Rogan.
Thousands of people in Washington DC rely on the state's tunnels on a daily basis but the full extent of the underground network remains undocumented.
One researcher has set out to complete that picture through an online website, which took a surprising turn last year in the lead up to the January 6 US Capitol insurrection.
The future of the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to supply natural gas from Russia to Europe, is directly linked to the Ukraine crisis.
Is India today true to constitution that framed the newly Independent nation 75 years ago?
This week's caller picks insects and nectars from gardens in the West and North – the Brown Honeyeater.
Dr Ahmad Sarmast created the Afghanistan National Institute of Music in Kabul and then managed to move it to Portugal when the Taliban returned.
Ash Barty is the first Australian woman to win the Australian Open since 1978, defeating American Danielle Collins in straight sets
Hundreds of scientists across the world are taking part in the Earth Biogenome Project, an ambitious plan to sequence the DNA of all complex life on the planet.
She died in tragic circumstances, but it seems that the public, her family, even the court may not have been given the full story.
Elise Kinsella investigates why.
This is a repeat of a program that aired in July 2021.
What can gobies – those teeny bottom-dwelling fish – teach us about how we cope with lockdowns?
In 1991 she accused U.S. Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment and she was accused of lying. Anita Hill has spent the subsequent 30 years speaking out on a culture of harassment and gender violence in the United States.
This year’s Australia Day honours saw the highest proportion of women ever appointed in the general division of the Order of Australia
Three journalists have been murdered in Mexico in the past 2 weeks, adding to the more than 100 killed since 2000
A young Australian far-right troll was known to his online fans as 'Catboy Kami'. Thousands followed his 'edgy' videos where he targeted children online with a mix of racial stereotypes and hardcore shock tactics.
With that fame and notoriety, he's become a useful recruitment tool in the expansion of one of the globe's most extreme social movements.
Alex Mann reveals Catboy Kami's true identity and how this young live streamer from south east Queensland ended up in the United States mixing with the top ranks of the white power movement.
This is a repeat of a program that aired in July 2021.
It’s one of the last affordable caravan parks near Sydney's CBD where people can actually make a home.
Many of the residents were driven here in one of life's desperate moments, but as Mridula Amin discovers, not everyone wants to leave.
This is a repeat of a program that aired in April 2021.
An awkward Christmas lunch conversation sends reporter Sam Carmody on a search for answers about his family history. The stories he finds out about are so disturbing, they have implications not just for his family but for the entire region, where his ancestors have a statue in their honour, a highway and even a town named after them.
This is a repeat of a program that aired in September 2021.
Relatives of a dead food delivery rider say he was at work when a truck hit him.
Uber Eats says he wasn’t.
Patrick Begley investigates.
This is a repeat of a program that aired in June 2021.
From the prolific rise of streaming platforms, to the trends that took over the internet and the TV series that had us all hooked, we're looking back on the biggest cultural moments of the year.
This week's tweeter is one of the world's greatest long-distance flyers – the Bar-tailed Godwit.
Inspiring individuals talk about a pivotal moment in their personal histories. This week, Eualeyai and Kamilaroi woman Larissa Behrendt talks about events in 1992 that shaped her life.
A large number of Australian birds remain under threat, with many endangered further by climate change, according to the latest Action Plan for Australian Birds.
Long before sea shanties went viral on TikTok, the Redfern Shanty Club was meeting every week to sing all the classic shanty hits. The club was forced to stop meeting due to the Covid-19 pandemic and limits on gatherings and singing.
Warren Meyer was a keen bushwalker who always came prepared for a hike.
When he vanished in the wild terrain of the Yarra Ranges, police were baffled.
Ashlynne McGhee investigates whether his disappearance could be linked to the other unsolved mysteries of Victoria's high country.
This is a repeat of a program that aired in March 2021.
Police could soon make predictions about potential suspects by using DNA samples collected at crime scenes, but it raises big ethical questions around privacy and racial profiling.
What do your undies have to do with the health of Australian soils?
Dr Oliver Knox is a researcher in cotton farming and soil health -- and he wants you to give you a challenge.
First broadcast 18 April 2021.
Iceland tourism's promotion poking fun at Mark Zuckerberg and the Metaverse has gone viral.
Overstone Kondowe recently became the first person in Africa with albinism to be elected as a member of parliament.
Past generations have grown up in the shadow of the nuclear war threat and young people today are living in a world gripped by a pandemic and facing a future imperiled by climate change.
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Climate scientist Professor Lesley Hughes was a lead author for the IPCCs' 4th and 5th Assessment Reports
Elite alpine climbing is not only a passion for the very few but also a risk that few will take. But does that risk increase when their is a prestigious award in the taking? A question over the Piolets d'Or awards.
One theory for gender pay gap is that women may be less competitive than men, and as a result they lose out to men in the jobs and pay stakes.
There’s growing community backlash over the locations chosen for a number of massive new windfarm projects in Northern Queensland.
And as Mayeta Clark discovered, its coming from unlikely quarters.
Are you a fan of pop music? What about rap? Or maybe you like edgy, experimental, electronic stuff?
Well – that’s what you think. But if we covered your head with sensors and played you some music, we might discover differently.
First broadcast 28 August 2021.
The Fair Work Commission is looking into a request by online food delivery platform Menulog to establish a new award as it brings delivery drivers across as employees.
On December 19 the elections for Hong Kong’s Parliament will be held under new ‘Patriots only’ rules that will ensure there is no political opposition to the system imposed by Beijing
The huge and powerful James Webb Space Telescope will seek to see the light coming from the very first stars to shine in the Universe, over 13 billion years ago
Sexist culture in the halls of power, the pandemic response, climate policy and questions of honesty and integrity have dominated politics in 2021.
This week's caller soars above woodlands, open country and especially wetlands in search of prey – the Whistling Kite
Australia's first astronomer-at-large, is a prolific public speaker, author and broadcaster on all things celestial. He also has an asteroid named after him.
A nationwide report surveys the damage done by recent drought, bushfires, floods, mouse plagues and COVID and how community organisations and volunteers are suffering.
In the final months of the Trump administration, the US saw a surge in death penalty cases after a 17 year hiatus, with the government executing 13 inmates.
A young Melbourne man got ten years' jail after attempting to buy a gun in preparation for a possible terrorist attack.
Now his family is speaking publicly for the first time, raising questions about who escalated the plot.
Mahmood Fazal investigates.
Throughout history pandemics have changed societies, determined outcomes of wars, wiped out entire populations, and led to advances in science, economics and political systems. What will be the legacy of COVID-19?
We know that giving students choice and ownership over their own learning is best, but has it been lost from the education system?
An increase in shark bites over the last few years has scientists researching more about the environmental factors, the sharks eye view and cases of mistaken identity that could be linked to attacks.
Australia has become the 34th country to adopt the Magnitsky Act, enabling the government to apply sanctions and travel bans on foreign perpetrators of human rights abuses.
This week's callers are among Australia's flightless birds – the Emu, the Little Penguin, and the Tasmanian Native-Hen.
After decades of acting, directing and managing a theatre, John Bell reveals why 1990 was the year that made him.
As parts of the east coast cop triple the average November rainfall, farmers in NSW's Central West are bracing for more wet weather and could be facing weeks of isolation.
The Royal Commission opening in Brisbane is seeking to address the high suicide rates among those who’ve served in the Australian Defence Forces
It's been celebrated as Australia's "millionaires' factory".
But Macquarie Bank is now caught up in the mother of all tax investigations.
Reporter Mario Christodoulou has seen internal company files that show which executives knew what and when.
This is a joint investigation made together with German investigative journalism outlet Correctiv.
The UK parliament will debate a bill that would see invertebrates like Octopus, crabs, lobster, deemed as sentient animals, capable of feeling pain and distress.
Think about the stem cells in an embryo – they’re a bit like a teenager on the brink of adulthood, with the potential to be almost anything they want to be.
As the retail sector celebrate another year of successful Black Friday sales, we ask another question, how eco-friendly is our fashion?
With a cold winter looming in the northern hemisphere, Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking to exploit political weakness in Europe, through a number of pressure points
Last week singer, songwriter, poet and mentor Kev Carmody was inducted into the NIMA Hall of Fame.
Tonga's new government is being urged to make combatting drug use in the Pacific island nation a priority.
The Productivity Commission has just released their report, Australia's Prison Dilemma and there is a lot to explore.
Graziers are discovering there's millions to be made from their flat red earth.
Taxpayers are funding billions to reduce the nation's carbon footprint.
Reporter Geoff Thompson investigates whether carbon farming will really undo the damage we're doing from burning fossil fuels.
The ABC and VicHealth have announced the winners of the 2021 Takeover Melbourne storytelling competition, showcasing the brightest young storytellers from across the city
There are those places in nature that we come back to, again and again. The reason we come is because they’re so beautiful, or peaceful… but it’s the act of returning regularly that helps us notice when things are different. The landscape is telling us in those subtle changes what’s happening to it.
Journalist Jason Rezaian spent 544 days an Iranian prison, charged with espionage, a pawn in the high-stakes geopolitical game over the future of Iran's nuclear program.
This week's caller forages in the leaf litter of eastern Australia's wet forests – the Russet-tailed Thrush.
Kath Koschel is a former professional cricketer and elite athlete, who in the aftermath of extraordinary personal injury and trauma made it her life's commitment to spread kindness around the world.
A huge range of First Nations artists and their music will be recognised at the National Indigenous Music Awards
With no evidence, the government of Turkish President Erdoğan charged and prosecuted Turkish-American academic Henri Barkey for inciting a failed coup in 2016.
Reporter Tracey Shelton spent years as a correspondent giving a voice to people in war zones who'd experienced trauma.
When she returned to Australia, she was surprised to find people here suffering similar symptoms, so she set out to investigate the cause.
What do boiled bandicoot, smuggled salami and an invisibility cloak have in common?
Dr Deb Bower can tell you. She's a conservation biologist working on reptiles and amphibians ... with no shortage of fieldwork adventures to share.
And the key to understanding the relationship between those seemingly very different items lies among the rough forest tracks of Papua New Guinea.
Originally broadcast 7 March 2021.
The Nobel Peace Prize can turn recipients into international celebrities overnight. It can also bring unwanted scrutiny, trolling and in some cases, persecution.
The First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria believe truth is fundamental in the process of treaty negotiation, with the Yoo-rrook Justice Commission set to assemble an official record of the systemic injustice experienced by Indigenous people in Victoria since colonisation.
The European Commission accuses Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko of using migrants as weapons to destabilise Europe, in retaliation for sanctions against his regime
Dr Catherine Crock is a paediatrician and music and theatre producer, who aims to put kindness at the forefront of the healthcare system.
A significant rise in anti-semitism in the US in 2021 led video games developer Luc Bernard to finish work on a game he'd been working on for years. The Light in the Darkness aims to raise awareness of the Jewish experience of the Holocaust among young gamers.
The post Cold War human rights advances are forgotten in an era of disinformation and impunity
These people were supposed to be near the front of the queue for Covid vaccines.
But in Yarrabah, an Aboriginal community near Cairns, local doctors are still scrambling to get the vaccination rate above 50%
With only six weeks until the Queensland borders open, reporter Mayeta Clark went to find out why.
520 million years ago, the oceans teemed with some of the most bizarre animals ever to have lived.
Commuters on subway, trams and ferries in the Turkish city have become used to sharing their travel time with a street dog named Boji
Amid growing allegations of Facebook’s struggle with user safety and misinformation, Mark Zuckerberg has rebranded his parent company to Meta, with the metaverse set to revolutionise social connection.
Young people are seeking to hold governments and companies to account for climate inaction
Study estimate children born in 2020 will experience a two-to sevenfold increase in extreme climate events, particularly heat waves, compared with people born in 1960.
At the Roundtable, we hear about the experiences of people who grew up with a parent who was famous or in the public eye and what are the challenges with following in their footsteps?
Dorinda Cox joined the W.A. Police as a 17 year old cadet and she is now the first Indigenous woman to serve as a Senator from Western Australia
The Commonwealth Bank is ending the Dollarmites school savings program, which has been running for 90 years.
For more than five decades Bert Newton reached huge audiences across radio, television, stage and the screen, winning 15 logies, including 4 gold.
He was sentenced for a crime that shocked Australia: the terrorist plot to attack Sydney's Holsworthy barracks.
But Nayef el Sayed's family are still confused about why he's doing so much jail time, and they're not the only ones with questions about the law used to convict him.
Mahmood Fazal investigates.
Every day we make hundreds of choices, big and small, that build to become the story of our lives – the friends we make, the careers we choose, our partners and our purpose.
The Saltwater Academy trains Aboriginal students in rodeo skills, horsemanship, equine therapy, agribusiness, and event management.
Once jailed for her ethnicity, Rohingya activist Wei Wei Nu is fighting for an inclusive democracy in Myanmar
With 70% of Earth’s freshwater stored in glaciers the rapid loss of glacial ice could create a drinking water crisis in some developing nations.
The international tourism industry has been one of the hardest hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. There's hope tourism travel will resume soon but is it time the industry reconsidered its business model altogether?
American-Canadian-author and radio producer has produced several popular audio projects, including podcasts such as Heavyweight, This American Life, and Wire Tap
The Men’s Shed movement has spread from Australia, the UK and Ireland to several other countries, and there are now women’s sheds too.
American artist Alfredo Martinez forged huge numbers of works by famed neo-impressionist Jean-Michel Basquiat
What if our entire universe, including you and I, could be boiled down to one object: a vibrating string?
Beatlemania is now a serious academic pursuit with the University of Liverpool offering a Masters degree on the Fab Four
Much of the war in Afghanistan played out in rural areas, where the endless killing of civilians turned women against the U.S.-led coalition and its Afghan allies.
Eighteen months ago the UN backed a global collaboration to vaccinate the world but the ambitious project has failed to deliver anywhere near what it promised.
:Myanmar's government in exile is urging the international community to do more to put pressure on the military generals.
Shaun Burgoyne is an AFL legend. The winner of four premierships and the record for the most AFL games played by an Indigenous player.
194 years after the composer's death, the symphony has been finished by artificial intelligence and recently performed at BeethovenFest in his home town Bonn, Germany.
The extraordinary story of Mr X, an American man who for almost a decade in the 1930s had no idea who he was.
They breathe air but live underwater, and like their land-dwelling counterparts their bites are venomous.
Australia’s Chief Scientist for the Antarctic has spent the past two decades studying coral reefs.
Former US national security adviser Fiona Hill warns declining opportunity in America is putting it on a path similar to authoritarian Russia
Scientists in France used an X-ray technique to decipher the redacted text of letters written by Marie Antoinette in 1791
The names of the 9/11 victims are read out solemnly each year but we don’t know the names and the stories of the civilian victims of America’s drone strikes.
Nathan Brooks-English usually studies the geological processes that make mountains but on one particular field trip, the thing he learned most about was human connection.
The internet and social media have dramatically increased the spread of disinformation and the potential for information warfare.
It's estimated that one in every 5 Australians lives with a mental illness, and up to 35% of female clients of mental health services are mothers of dependent children. How families manage when a parent has a mental illness.
Thea Calzoni has written a memoir about the challenges of raising a child with an intellectual disability and preparing him for adulthood
As government investigators close in, Asiaciti realises it hasn't been keeping a close watch on some of its risky clients.
In this series finale, Mario Christodoulou traverses from Swiss mountaintop chateaux to a Nigerian coup d'etat, to find out exactly what money was secretly flowing through Asiaciti's products.
Then, he takes everything he's found to the man who built up the Asiaciti empire from nothing: Graeme Briggs.
The ABC reached out to every person named in this story, we received no response from Du Shuanghua.
A rock concert ticket scalper and a controversial entrepreneur turn to Asiaciti for assistance.
Using products from Graeme Briggs' company, they lock away their riches on a small Pacific island nation, out of the reach of authorities.
But soon, Asiaciti learns it's got its own crisis to deal with: a global media scandal that threatens the company's very existence.
Mario Christodoulou reports.
Graeme Briggs enjoys rugby, collecting Japanese fountain pens, and looking after other people's money.
The problem for Graeme and his company Asiaciti is that among the many legitimate clients, some of them turn out to be corrupt politicians, fraudsters, and criminals.
If that isn't bad enough, nearly two million files from his company's server have been leaked to journalists.
So what's Graeme Briggs going to do now? Mario Christodoulou investigates.
Tech entrepreneur Charlette N'Guessan from the Ivory Coast is the first woman to win the Royal Academy of Engineering's Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, at the age of 26.
Games and interactive tech are helping build social networks for young people with autism
A film about the perpetrator of the Port Arthur massacre has raised the ire of survivors and their families and friends.
There's a landmark project underway in Melbourne to find out whether psilocybin - the hallucinogenic compound in magic mushrooms - can be used to improve end-of-life experiences.
But many Australians have already turned to the underground because they're convinced psychedelics improve their mental health.
Geoff Thompson investigates whether it's worth all the risks.
This is a repeat of a program that aired in February 2021.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has resigned, after the state's corruption watchdog revealed it was investigating her.
You’ve got one, I’ve got one, and even cows have them. I’m talking, of course, about a microbiome – that collection of trillions of microorganisms that live on and in us and that we literally couldn’t live without.
You know who else has a microbiome that’s a matter of life and death? One of our favourite insects: the honeybee.
This week, we’re hearing from Mengyong Lim, who’s been getting up close and personal with bees’ digestive tracts to make sure we humans aren’t wreaking too much havoc on them…
Joel Berger ventures to some of the most remote and frigid parts of the globe to observe how mammals are coping with climate change.
Joel Berger ventures to some of the most remote and frigid parts of the globe to observe how mammals are coping with climate change.
While first world countries are giving third ‘booster’ jabs for some people, most of the people in developing countries are waiting for access to a first jab.
Fixers play a crucial and often dangerous role in international journalism, unseen and mostly unacknowledged. What responsibilities do correspondents and networks have towards local fixers?
Iraqi refugee Mohammad Al-Khafaji came to Australia when he was 13 years old. Today he is the CEO of the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Council of Australia or FECCA
Kakadu National Park is home to more than a third of Australia’s bird species and this time of year is ideal for birdwatching
The Children In The Pictures is a new film documenting the work of Queensland’s child exploitation investigators, Task Force Argos.
Geoff Thompson follows the dangerous journeys of three Afghan journalists as they attempt to flee the Taliban. Two of them succeed with the help of an Australian man who engineers an escape route for them from his house in Sydney.
The year is 1911, and a young man by the name of Thomas Midgely Jr. is graduating university with a degree in engineering.
Thomas doesn’t know it yet, but he will have a greater impact on the Earth’s atmosphere than any other single organism.
He will help create two world-changing chemical inventions that will improve the lives of many, and negatively change two parts of our ecosystem in the process with decades-long consequences.
Travelling US officials in Vietnam and India have recently reported mysterious symptoms and believe they're victims of 'Havana Syndrome'
Australia’s cancellation of the submarine project with France has undermined France's 'resident power' status in the region.
Barry Manners was one of Saddam's 'human shield' hostages, Mr Roel was his reluctant captor.
World renowned astrophysicist Hakeem Oluseyi grew up in poverty and survived years of discrimination and addiction on the way to becoming a leader in his scientific field.
Snake oil has long had a bad reputation as an expression for a sham or fraud, but for centuries it was a common and uncontroversial treatment for a range of ailments.
An awkward Christmas lunch conversation sends reporter Sam Carmody on a search for answers about his family history. The stories he finds out about are so disturbing, they have implications not just for his family but for the entire region, where his ancestors have a statue in their honour, a highway and even a town named after them.
If there’s one thing Australians know how to be smug about, it’s that our country is home to some of the most incredible ecosystems in the world.
But today, we’re visiting one that is massive in size, massively economically important … and massively underappreciated, to the point that that you may never have even heard of it.
Justin Trudeau's early lead has all but vanished as voters express their frustration at going to the polls two years ahead of time.
How bush search and rescue operations work: who’s involved and how do lost hikers survive?
Law Professor Kim Rubenstein is an expert what it means to be an Australian citizen, your rights and responsibilities. Now she plans to run for the Senate
A new film charts the life lawyer and activist Pauli Murray who laid the groundwork for the civil rights and women’s rights movements.
By some estimates, 15 per cent of Americans believe in QAnon, the conspiracy movement connected to the storming of the US Capitol in January this year.
Mention the term “startup” and your mind probably goes to Silicon Valley and high-tech computer science.
But startups exist in regional Australia as well – and what’s more, they’re crucial to our future.
This week, we’re hearing from Elena Kelareva on startups in Gippsland, in regional Victoria – and how getting away from preconceptions is one of the first steps to startup success.
She was once the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire and a Silicon Valley rising star. Now, she’s the defendant in America’s trial of the year.
The southern half of Madagascar is in severe drought and is facing what the UN has described as a climate change induced famine
Fifteen years ago Kathy Kaplan and a group of friends put together some Mother’s Day gift packs for women in refuges, a gesture that has now morphed into a charity committed to helping thousands of women and children fleeing violence.
Could you help a blind or visually impaired person pick a tie for a job interview, check the milk is still in date or identify a lost dog?
How a secret British operation in 1990 led to 400 civilians being delivered into the hands of Saddam Hussein, where they were used as ‘human shields’
Where does cancer come from? Well there are a few answers to that question – genetic changes, maybe it’s triggered by a virus.
But for two species of cute, fuzzy animals, they can be transmitted directly.
This week, we’re hearing from Ruth Pye about this surprising thing that two species in very different parts of the world have in common.
An expedition of Danish scientists has accidently discovered what could be the world's most northerly island.
The Grattan Institute is calling on the Federal Government to introduce changes to the current paid parental leave scheme.
Will the gains in education and research achieved over the past 20 years be lost following the Taliban takeover?
Alex's bible classes started taking over his life — then he discovered who was really running them. Emma's mum went from crystals to a clique that believes in aliens and past lives. And Tim and his dad fell into QAnon together, but what happened when one wanted to leave? We find out how cults and conspiracy theories can isolate you from your family, friends, even flatmates. And we hear what it's like to lose a loved one to a dangerous belief system.
Since the beginning of the pandemic there have been calls from leaders for the public to report people not complying with the health orders. Have we turned into a nation of dobbers?
Yalda Hakim escaped Afghanistan as a baby. Today her coverage of the Taliban and current events in Afghanistan for the BBC has attracted international attention.
Wrongly convicted in Italy of a murder she didn't commit, Amanda Knox is trying to reclaim her name and narrative.
Why do people spread information that isn't true on social media? Especially when they know that's what they're doing?
Are you a fan of pop music? What about rap? Or maybe you like edgy, experimental, electronic stuff?
Well – that’s what you think. But if we covered your head with sensors and played you some music, we might discover differently.
A coalition of Belarussian hackers have mounted an audacious series of cyber attacks on the regime of Alexander Lukashenko,
Award-winning New Zealand novelist, poet, scriptwriter and short story author Fiona Kidman talks about the era in which her novel, This Mortal Boy, was set.
Ashjayeen Sharif has mounted a Greenpeace-backed campaign to get a seat on the AGL Energy board
Bexy Cameron grew up in the Children of God cult, escaping when she was fifteen. She's made a film and written a book about her experiences and her exploration of the hold of cults today.
Equality is for ugly losers. Feminism is cancer. #submissivehousewife. Welcome to the world of tradwives, a movement with two distinct subcultures: one wholesome, one harmful. For many, it's about cooking from scratch, caring for children, and getting back to nature. But there's also an insidious side.
Scrolling #tradwife on social media exposes a loose thread in an otherwise tightly knit image of happy family life. Pull the thread, and ugly things reveal themselves
Our own health and the health of our planet as two things that are intertwined.
Today, we hear from obstetrician Kristine Barnden about the gap between good health in theory, and the challenges to having it in practice.
It’s something Kristine sees not just in human health… but in the health of our climate as well.
Teacher in Afghanistan insists girls will still receive an education even if it means going 'underground'.
As the Delta strain of COVID-19 spreads into regional and remote communities the testing of sewage or wastewater for virus fragments is a critical tool for health authorities.
During COVID the fear of a fall in remittances is being felt in countries across the world
2019 Lego Masters Henry Pinto and Cade Franklin talk about the year they won the show and what that's meant for them.
In the 17th century, the European superpowers England and France proposed some unconventional pronatalist strategies to boost marriage and childbirths
This week a fake doctor was discovered to have been working for 8 months at a busy Sydney hospital. Why do people impersonate doctors and how do some get away with it for long?
Since the September 11 attacks, Australia has enacted a staggering number of laws to counter the threat of terrorism. Over one hundred people have been charged with terror-related offences here, but very few have spoken to the media.
One Australian man who was charged with offences that can carry up to 25 years in jail, shares his story with Mahmood Fazal for the first time.
Did you know that across the Tasman, in New Zealand, some kitchens have roller cupboard doors instead of, you know, normal cupboard doors?
It’s because of the earthquakes. Sometimes they’re so bad that your crockery can shake out of your cupboards and smash, and the roller ones prevent this.
Lucky for us, earthquakes don’t really happen in Australia, so it’s not something we need to worry about. Right?
Well… it’s time you met seismologist Dr Trevor Allen.
Tunnel 29 tells the extraordinary story of an underground mass escape from East Berlin, a year after the Berlin Wall was built.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya is anything but the 'ordinary woman' she describes her self as, while she strives to keep up the pressure on dictator Alexander Lukashenko
Data analysis and machine learning can help predict the size and behaviour of future bushfires.
Brushes with death are often sudden and unexpected but can leave a lasting impact, from a change in priorities to losing the fear of death.
Keith Richburg is former foreign correspondent and now director of the Journalism and Media Studies Centre of the University of Hong Kong.
As COVID-19 cases surged in Sydney's south-west City of Fairfield, the government enforced tougher restrictions on residents there.
But as Geoff Thompson discovers, these constraints have had some devastating repercussions on one of Sydney's poorest areas and where more than half its workers are in industries which can't work from home.
If you had to pit endangered species next to each other in a contest of who was most good-looking, tigers would have to be pretty close to the top of the list. They’re gorgeous – and getting people on board with the idea of protecting them isn’t too hard.
But what about the people who live on the edges of their habitat?
This week, we discover that conservation is a noble goal… but it’s got to be done in partnership with local communities.
Our narrator: Professor Wendy Wright from Federation University. And the story starts early one morning in rural Nepal.
New Orleans teenager Yutico Briley was arrested, charged and convicted of a robbery he didn’t commit. Emily Bazelon helped unravel his conviction and set him free.
A new study has found the Australian bushfires of 2019 and 2020 had a strong and abrupt climate cooling effect.
What is the wider impact of the disparity between ‘essential workers’, those who can work from home, and those who can’t ?
Since the age of 4, Dr. Kudzai Kanhutu knew she wanted to be a doctor with her healthcare journey starting at a vaccination clinic in the outskirts of Zimbabwe
Biologists are being inundated by hundreds of emails from the public about dead or dying frogs found in their backyard or local area. Can you help figure out the cause?
In Day of the Assassins, historian Michael Burleigh explores political assassinations, from Julius Caesar to JFK, and most recently the Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi.
Reality shows are a central pillar of the television industry, but for the people who appear on them, the productions can be a gateway to years of mental anguish.
As Naomi Selvaratnam found out, for some reality TV stars their moment in the spotlight nearly cost them their life.
Living as we do in a country that’s prone to drought, it’s no surprise that the subject of irrigation for farming can become a contentious one in Australia.
Stepping up to the mic today is Rose Roche, who wants to bring some much-needed nuance to the water debate… and she’s enlisting the help of fairy tales and Disney princesses.
Will COVID 19 change the way our cities and towns are designed? Parallels can be found from over a century ago when tuberculosis influenced Adelaide's city planners.
More than 1 million children lost one or both parents, or care-givers from March 2020 to April 2021.
Taiwan’s digital democracy, coupling technology with citizen participation, has enhanced political transparency and provided an effective weapon against disinformation.
During COVID, risk, has become an increasingly important concept and the appetite for it and how we manage it has dictated policies and how we live our lives
Joe Williams has had a successful professional sports career in NRL and boxing. His stuggle with mental heath has been life long.
A new documentary series on the ABC follows a group of women vying to be crowned Australia's Strongest Woman. The documentary is part of a social impact campaign led by the Australian Sports Foundation, Strong Body, Strong Mind.
Oliver Stone's interview with Nursultan Nazarbayev is the basis for hagiographic 8-hour film about the autocratic former President of Kazakhstan
A young Australian far-right troll was known to his online fans as 'Catboy Kami'. Thousands followed his 'edgy' videos where he targeted children online with a mix of racial stereotypes and hardcore shock tactics.
With that fame and notoriety, he's become a useful recruitment tool in the expansion of one of the globe's most extreme social movements.
Alex Mann reveals Catboy Kami's true identity and how this young live streamer from south east Queensland ended up in the United States mixing with the top ranks of the white power movement.
If you could take your brain and zoom in a couple of times – and then a bit more – you’d see structures that look like towers and tentacles, and behave like pieces of automatic Lego.
It’s a crazy miniature world, and one we’re going to get a tour of today.
Our tour guide is Dr Kiara Bruggeman, who’s hijacking and hacking these nano-sized structures, in the hopes of helping stroke-affected brains heal.
On July 20, 1944 a senior German Army officer, Claus von Stauffenberg tried to assassinate Adolf Hitler with a bomb
Security guards who protected the recently closed Australian Embassy in Kabul are in fear and pleading with the federal government to give them a safe haven
Oil and gas giant Chevron may be forced to pay tens of millions of dollars in carbon credits due to the ongoing failures and delays of its carbon capture and storage project in WA.
Is Stoicism, an ancient Greek philosophy with a focus on emotional regulation, acceptance and self-awareness, the key to greater resilience during lockdown?
Entrepreneur and philanthropist Cathie Reid, is set to be one of the first people to travel on the Virgin Galactic civilian space flight.
Football-crazy Barcelona will get a dedicated cricket ground following a popular vote among the city's residents
Author Jonathan Rauch has written a book for Americans who want 'to defend the truth from today’s war on facts'
In Myanmar, after a military coup in February this year, mass protests were met with brutal force. Borders were shut, the internet was blocked and it is estimated that around 900 people have been killed by the military. But some brave, young activists have filmed their acts of resistance. As their options close, what hope do they have to win back democracy?
Due to copyright restrictions there will be no Background Briefing podcast or transcript for this program.
You can listen to the full episode here: BBC Radio 4 - Crossing Continents, Myanmar: The Spring Revolution
You know in movies, where it turns out the scrappy young hero had the power to succeed inside themselves all along – they just had to learn how to harness it?
It turns out this is more than just a storytelling trope – it can also be true for communities, recovering from disaster.
Cubans have been taking to the streets in the biggest anti-government protests in decades
The World Bank says Lebanon’s economic crisis could be one of the most severe cases that the world has seen in over 100 years.
The Pacific Island nation currently has the highest number of infections per capita in the world but the Fiji government refuses to implement a lockdown, saying ‘it would kill jobs and it could kill the country's future’.