Late Night Live - Separate stories podcast: Recent Episodes
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LNL stories separated out for listening. From razor-sharp analysis of current events to the hottest debates in politics, science, philosophy and culture, Late Night Live puts you firmly in the big picture.
While the debate about how an indigenous Voice to parliament would operate here in Australia, on the other side of the world in Norway, the indigenous Sami population have had a Voice in place for over 30 years.
Guest Dateline presenter Karla Grant travelled to Norway to see how it works - and how it might compare to the Voice currently being considered here in Australia.
GUEST: Karla Grant, journalist and proud Western Arrernte woman
When the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary decided to crowdsource for the words to be included in the dictionary they probably did not expect murderers, lunatics and pornographers to respond or such a significant number of women. Over 3000 people contributed words and now their identities have been revealed.
Guest: Sarah Ogilvie, author of The Dictionary People: The unsung heroes who created the Oxford English Dictionary
While the national dish often associated with Australia is the humble meat pie, other countries have national fare dating back centuries, which has the symbolic power of an anthem or flag. But are the national dishes that we travel the world to taste as iconic as we're told?
Guest: Anya von Bremzen, award-winning food writer and author of NATIONAL DISH: Around the World in Search of Food, History, and the Meaning of Home published by Penguin Random House.
While the rest of the world hypes up China and US conflict over Taiwan, journalist Brian Hoie says, Taiwanese people have a more nuanced view, and want the reporting to ease off, to avoid provoking an attack.
Whether it's the JFK assassination or 9/11, Americans have a strange tendency to believe dark forces are at work in their country. According to Colin Dickey, the United States was a land born in paranoia, and the fear of secret societies and conspiracies has been a defining feature of American life ever since.
Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb talks about his recent expedition to recover the first meteor fragments from outside our solar system, and his belief that the future of humanity rests on our ability to become a truly ‘interstellar’ species.
The decline of local and regional news only accelerated during the pandemic, turning more and more communities into "news deserts". Journalism is an invaluable service in isolated and disadvantaged areas, particularly when times are tough. But is it possible to buck the trend and revive these vanishing outlets - both here in Australia and in North America?
Guests:
Professor Kristy Hess, Deakin University
Professor April Lindgren, Toronto Metropolitan University
Steven Waldman, President of Rebuild Local News, USA
115 years ago, a poem was published in The Spectator that would become an unofficial anthem of Australia. Dorothea Mackellar was the woman behind the iconic lines “I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains…” yet whilst we can almost all recite her lines, we know very little about the poet’s life. Until now…
Guest: Deborah Fitzgerald – journalist and author of Her Sunburnt Country: The Extraordinary Literary Life of Dorothea Mackellar published by Simon & Schuster.
Please note: The recording of Dorothea reading 'My Country' is the property of The Estate of Dorothea Mackellar.
Indonesia and Australia have key elements in common: they are big coal exporters needing to transition from that energy. And between them, they have the most important resources needed for electric vehicle batteries. Working together they could, it is argued, potentially supply most of Asia with EV batteries. Andrew Hudson and Ruddy Gobel from the Centre for Policy Development
When you look at the record of successful referendums both here in Australia and internationally - what is the likelihood that the referendum on 14th October will get over the line? What will be the likely political ramifications if the referendum succeeds or fails?Guests: George Megalogenis, journalist and author and Matt Qvortrup, visiting professor at the ANU and author of several books on referendums.
When the American explorer Frederick Cook sent a telegram to the ‘New York Herald’ in 1909, claiming to be the first person to have reached the North Pole, he became an international celebrity overnight. But one lowly Fleet Street reporter began to doubt the great adventurer’s story.
Historian Karina Urbach unravels the remarkable story of her grandmother, Alice Urbach, a renowned chef and cookery writer in the 1930s who was dubbed the ‘Julia Childs of Vienna.’
Described as an "organising genius" and an "extraordinary dynamo", South Australia's Doris Taylor (1901-1968) was a champion for the elderly and the isolated, establishing the volunteer-run Meals on Wheels in Adelaide in 1954. She was also a savvy political campaigner, helping future SA Premier Don Dunstan win his seat in Parliament in 1953.
Guest: Dr Carolyn Collins, historian and research fellow, University of Adelaide
Ocean journalist Laura Trethewey tells the story of the ocean mappers, marine biologists and millionaire adventurers involved in Seabed 2030, an epic project aiming to chart the entire ocean floor by 2030.
A self-described small ‘l’ liberal conservative thinks our strategic alliance with the US is misplaced, and could ultimately make us more vulnerable to attack. Sam Roggeveen from the Lowy Institute is the author of 'The Echidna Strategy'
Australia is staring down the barrel of a hot, dry summer. Fire experts Stephen Pyne and Greg Mullins discuss whether things could get as bad here as they've been in the Northern Hemisphere this year.
Donald J. Trump decided not to show up at the first televised Republican candidate debate, spruiking his mugshot merchandise instead.
Florida Governor (and Republican frontrunner) Ron DeSantis was booed as he attended a vigil in Jacksonville, after three people were killed in a racist attack.
And 60 years on from Martin Luther King's 'I have a dream' speech, is America any more unified?
GUEST: Bruce Shapiro, Contributing editor with The Nation magazine; and Executive Director of the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University
In the 1940s, Australian-born spy Charles Howard 'Dick' Ellis was one of MI6's elite secret agents, involved in espionage activities across half the world. But in the 1980s, he was posthumously accused of having operated as a 'triple agent' for both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Author and journalist Jesse Fink tries to uncover the truth.
Guest: Jesse Fink, author, The Eagle in the Mirror: In Search of Australian War Hero, Master Spy and Alleged Traitor Charles Howard 'Dick' Ellis
The modern personal virtues of authenticity, vulnerability and humility sound desirable enough in a politician or a business leader, but could these virtues actually be damaging democracy?
Lucinda Holdforth, author of "21st century virtues: How they are failing our democracy" (Monash University Publishing)
In forty years time, Australians on average will be older and more reliant on government services, according to the government's latest intergenerational report. Former Treasury secretary Ken Henry has warned of a looming "tragedy" for working Australians.
Plus, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce faces a Senate inquiry on cost-of-living pressures.
Guest: Sean Kelly, weekly columnist with Sydney Morning Herald & The Age
Is there something innately human about a thirst for knowledge? Could the rise of 'smart' technology undermine our own ability to think? These are just some of the questions that award-winning writer Simon Winchester and Phillip Adams tackle in this conversation about Simon's new book Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic.
Science historian James Hannam takes Phillip on a journey spanning millennia as he traces humanity’s quest to discover the shape of the world.
La Via Campesina is a global movement that is reclaiming the word peasant for those who live and work on small farms across the globe. They are campaigning for food sovereignty for all peasant farmers, ensuring they have control over what they grow and how they grow it. And there are countries like Colombia that are already working towards this goal.
Guest: Morgan Ody, General Co-ordinator, La Via Campesina
Tim Flannery was just a teenager when he came across a giant fossilised shark tooth in a creek in Western Victoria - it was the beginning of a lifelong fascination with the megalodon.
From overflowing churchyard plots, to sprawling suburban cemeteries - American approaches to the grave have shifted over time. Now, novel alternatives like "green burial" and human composting offer a new interpretation of the grave in the 21st Century.
Over a decade after it was first inked, it’s been announced that there is no way the Murray Darling Basin Plan can be implemented by the deadline of 30 June 2024. The ANU's Dr Jamie Pittock says it won't be easy to get the Plan back on track, but the environmental and social consequences will be dire if we don't.
I-newspaper columnist Ian Dunt thinks Rishi Sunak and Prince William would've moved mountains to cheer on a men's side in Sydney, but a women's World Cup is too much of a hassle.
In the 1980s, a 14 year old Andrew Sneddon finds solace in history books. It's his refuge from a violent stepfather and the criminal underworld on Australia's Gold Coast. Andrew is an archaeologist and heritage consultant, and author of the memoir ‘Prehistoric Joy’ (University of QLD Press)
Albania is suddenly a popular tourist destination, but at the same time, Albanian migrants in the UK are derided, and have been the focus of tougher immigration policies. With best-selling Albanian/British author and academic Lea Ypi
If we are wise, we embrace failure. Not because it leads to success, as the self-help industry would have us believe. But because failure teaches us humility, which leads to insight, and a radical idea for a better politics. With philosopher Costica Bradatan.
While the military coup in Niger may be about the personal ambition of a General under threat, the consequences for the region are serious. The progress that former President Bazoum was making against increasing jihadism will likely be stalled, and the new military leadership may also provide the Wagner group with another base and source of income in West Africa.
Guest: Kinley Salmon, Africa Correspondent for The Economist
Biologist Lixing Sun explores the evolution of cheating in the natural world, revealing how dishonesty has given rise to wondrous diversity.
Guest: Dr Lixing Sun - Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Central Washington University. Author of The Liars of Nature and the Nature of Liars: Cheating and Deception in the Living World published by Princeton University Press.
In the two years since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan again, women's rights have been consistently eroded. The right to attend university and high school has been taken away. Women are no longer able to work for government or aid organisations - even the UN can no longer employ women. How can the international community pressure the Taliban to reverse these policies?
Guest: Farkhondeh Akbari, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Gender Peace and Security Centre, Monash University
In the early 1970s, a group of 150 Japanese snow monkeys were transplanted from their cold mountain home near Kyoto, to a dusty, sun-drenched ranch in southern Texas. Why and how they were relocated is a weird and wonderful tale. Writer Sarah Bird embarks on a journey to find this fabled population of monkeys, 50 years on.
Guest: Sarah Bird, writer and novelist based in Austin, Texas
The world is facing unprecedented threats to food security, following the Kremlin’s decision to withdraw from the Black Sea Grain Initiative and the onset of El Niño.
Guest: Joseph Glauber - Senior Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
Can a nearly all-Labor Cabinet meeting of Premiers and Federal Ministers come up with a solution t the housing shortage? Plus tax and climate pressure on the PM from within Labor ranks. With Laura Tingle
In the year 68AD, the death of Emperor Nero precipitated a year of coups and civil war that saw four Caesars in succession rule the Roman Empire. But from the chaos emerged a 70-year era of unrivalled peace, power and prosperity known as the pax romana - when the Empire reached the heights of its predatory glory.
Guest: Tom Holland, historian and author of Pax: War and Peace in Rome's Golden Age. Co-host of The Rest is History podcast.
A new documentary 'Abebe-Butterfly Song' charts the musical legacy and enduring friendship between celebrated Papuan musician George Telek and Australian musician and producer David Bridie.
The documentary is premiering at the Melbourne International Film Festival on Sunday 13 August. Details can be found here.
George Telek and David Bridie will also be performing at the Memo Music Hall on Saturday 19 August. Details can be found here.
Three years ago, there was a huge explosion at the port in Beirut that killed more than 220 people, injured thousands and left 300,000 homeless. For many Lebanese women, this blast was the final straw and they have now left their home country, but others have stayed on to fight for justice for those they lost.
Guest: Dalal Mawad, author of All She Lost: The explosion in Lebanon, the Collapse of a Nation and the Women who Survive (Bloomsbury)
In South Africa, this female anti-poaching unit has had a major impact on wildlife conservation, as well as combating gender stereotypes. This year, they celebrate their 10th anniversary.
Guests:
Leitah Mkhabela - Black Mambas’ supervisor and Ops room Manager.
Felicia Mogakane – Black Mambas’ Ops room Manager and Sergeant.
Today, the online betting industry is worth an estimated $74 billion USD globally per year, and rising. Surprisingly, online betting in Australia got its start in the outback town of Alice Springs. Decades later, these multinational companies are spending millions on advertising during sports broadcasts, raising concerns about potential gambling harm.
Guest: Drew Rooke, freelance writer and journalists, author of One Last Spin: the power and peril of the pokies.
I-newspaper columnist Ian Dunt discusses the latest developments in Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's attempts to 'stop the boats', as well as a damning parliamentary report which reveals that the UK government has been asleep at the wheel for a decade when it comes to the Wagner Group. Plus, we compare notes on the privatisation of the Australian and UK public service, and what it means for our democracies.
Working alongside J. Robert Oppenheimer, on the Manhattan nuclear project, was British scientist William Penney. Penney then copied that bomb and exploded it off the coast of Western Australia, on the Montebello Islands. It was the first of many British nuclear tests in Australia. Author Paul Grace has been investigating.
On Tuesday, presidents of eight Amazon countries will meet to discuss the future of the rainforest and the region. Given that the Amazon is known as the 'lungs of the planet', the stakes could not be higher. Investigative journalist Bram Ebus says crime, as well as climate, needs to be top of the agenda.
Guest: Bram Ebus - journalist and photographer from the Netherlands based in Bogotá, Colombia; Rainforest Investigations Fellow at the Pulitzer Center; consultant for International Crisis Group.
Author Walter Marsh on the era that shaped young Rupert Murdoch - the radical who espoused socialism, kept a bust of Lenin in his uni accommodation and then went on to build his empire from 1950s Adelaide.
Guest: Walter Marsh, journalist and author of Young Rupert - the making of the Murdoch empire, published by Scribe.
The incredible true crime tale of the ‘Angel Makers of Nagyrév’ – a group of women living in rural Hungary who, in the 1910's and 1920's, poisoned to death over a hundred men.
Guest:
Patti McCracken - journalist and author of The Angel Makers: Arsenic, a Midwife, and Modern History's Most Astonishing Murder Ring published by HarperCollins
Male drug lords like Pablo Escobar and El Chapo Guzman are well known across the globe for their violence, power and wealth. But there are also many powerful, intriguing and largely unseen women who have also been at the centre of the drug cartels of Latin America.
Guest: Deborah Bonello, editorial director for VICE News Latin America and author of "Narcas - the secret rise of women in Latin America's cartels"
In this edition of our fortnightly Asia Update, we get an overview of the situation in Myanmar, where the military junta has extended the state of emergency for another six months, and granted a partial pardon to former leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Guest:
Thomas Kean - Director/editor-at-large at Frontier Myanmar and senior consultant with International Crisis Group.
When Trump won the Presidency in 2016 - many believed that it was the votes of the angry rural voter that got him over the line. But research shows that there is not that much difference between rural and urban voters when it comes to their beliefs about democracy, equality and race, and in fact rural Americans are doing just fine economically as well.
Guest: Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, Professor of Public Policy, University of Southern California and author of “The Overlooked Americans” published by Hachette.
Between high temperatures sapping the life out of Florida's coral reefs, a heat dome sitting over Texas and Donald Trump in further legal hot water over the alleged mishandling of classified documents, things are certainly getting steamy in the United States...
Guest:
Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor with The Nation magazine; Executive Director of the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University.
Flour mills as markers of a town's success, an important export to Asia with magnificent art on the flour bags, and mill photograhy, a genre you might not know existed. With Jess Jennings and Prof Paul Ashton
After 38 years in power, Hun Sen, the Prime Minister of Cambodia has announced that he will be passing the Prime Ministership to his son Hun Manet. Could this be an opportunity to reset relations with the West or is the pull of China too strong?
Guest: Sebastian Strangio, Southeast Asia Editor at The Diplomat
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese raises the prospect of a double-dissolution election as the government reintroduces its housing bill to the Parliament.
Guest: Laura Tingle, chief political correspondent, 7.30
As heat waves scorch Europe and America, the effects of global warming cannot be ignored. But unlike fires, floods and cyclones, heat it often a silent killer. Author Jeff Goodell explains how we have adapted to heat in the past and what a future living with heat might look like.
Guest: Jeff Goodell, author of Heat: Life and death on a scorched planet published by Black Inc
Myths of female monsters, demons and seductresses have endured for millennia. In ancient Mesopotamia, women feared a horrifying demon called Lamashdu, believed to be the source of miscarriages and child death. As centuries passed however, men co-opted these monsters from women's folklore for their own ends.
Guest: Sarah Clegg, historian and author Woman's Lore: 4000 years of Sirens, Serpents and Succubi
An escalation in gang violence in the Central American nation of Honduras has compelled President Xiomara Castro to proposed a drastic solution: the construction of a new prison, on a remote island in the Caribbean.
Today marks 20 years since Australian boots first stepped on the tarmac at Honiara's International Airport, to help restore peace amid ongoing ethnic and political tensions. Then prime minister John Howard said he expected Australia's presence to last "months". It lasted 14 years. What's changed since, and what lies ahead for this Pacific nation?
Guests:
Tess Newton-Cain, Pacific Hub, Griffith Asia Institute
Robert Iroga, editor and publisher, Solomon Business Magazine
Midway through this referendum year, a re-set on the debate, including exactly what the hopes and intentions are for the Voice amendment, and why the Constitution even matters!
Guests: Megan Davis and George Williams, co-authors of 'Everything you need to know about The Voice' (UNSW Press)
Last week, a trio of by-elections in the UK saw the Conservative party lose two seats, however the party held on to Boris Johnson's old seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip in suburban London. The results suggest Keir Starmer's Labour will comfortably win next year's general election.
Guest: Alex Andreou, writer and broadcaster, co-host of "Oh God, What Now?"
In the late 1970s in Norway a proposal to dam the mighty Alta river sparked a huge protest by the Sami people - the indigenous people of Norway, Sweden and Finland. The river was renowned for its salmon runs and was an important habitat for migratory birds, reindeer, and other wildlife.
Guests: Ole Giaever, Director, Let the River Flow plus Sarakka Gaup, actor and Sami activist.
Hollywood's film and TV sets have ground to halt, after the Screen Actors Guild joined the Writers Guild in strike action, demanding a fairer pay deal for workers in the era of digital streaming. The last "double strike" in Hollywood was in 1960, when future US President Ronald Reagan was at the helm of the Screen Actors Guild.
Guest: Dr Prudence Flowers, Senior Lecturer in US History, Flinders University
Kathryn Campbell resigns from her position on the AUKUS advisory panel - so what does this mean for investigations into whether she breached the APS Code of Conduct? Labor announces reforms for casual workers and a new Productivity Commission head as recession looms.
Guest: Laura Tingle, Chief Political Correspondent, 7.30
As Christopher Nolan's new epic Oppenheimer hits cinema screens, Professor of Philosophy and biographer Ray Monk recounts the true story of scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer - the reluctant father of the atomic bomb.
This interview originally aired in 2013.
Guest: Ray Monk, author of Inside the Centre: The Life of J. Robert Oppenheimer.
From Aztec symbols of the underworld to wizard couriers in the Harry Potter series, owls have captivated and intrigued us for millennia. New science is unravelling some of the mysteries of owls and it turns out we might be wise to listen to what owls have to tell us.
Guest:
Jennifer Ackerman - award-winning science writer and speaker, and the New York Times bestselling author of What an Owl Knows, The Bird Way, and The Genius of Birds.
Australia is contributing to Germany's rearmament, with a record defence deal. After decades of German pacifism, which followed the very hard lessons of WW2, a change is underway in that country. Guest: Stephen Milder, historian of German pacifism and Green democracy
A proposal to set up a NATO office in Japan has drawn much criticism for its potential destabilising effect on the region. But should we be worried?
Guest: Dr Michito Tsuruoka, Associate Professor at Keio University and currently a visiting fellow at the Australian National University
Termites have a bad rap. But for the Gurindji people, the termite mound is critical to cultural traditions when a child is born. A new children's book tells this story in Gurindji language and English offering both cultural and scientific information about the amazing termite.
Book: Tamarra: a story of termites on Gurindji country, published by Hardie Grant
Guests: Three contributors to the book; Leah Leaman, artist and co-author, Gregory Crocetti, science educator from the Free Scale Network and Felicity Meakins, linguist and translator
Supporters of Ugandan opposition leader, Bobi Wine, have taken allegations of abduction and torture to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Guest: Regina Weiss, human rights barrister at Derwent & Tamar Chambers in Hobart. Regina is a former prosecution trial lawyer at the International Criminal Court, specialising in East Africa.
President Joe Biden controversially sends cluster munitions to Ukraine while continuing to deny Ukraine entry to NATO. The Democrats are having to distance themselves from presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr and his bizarre conspiracy theories.
Guest: Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor with The Nation magazine; Executive Director of the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University.
The United States has been in a state of perpetual war for the last two decades, however many of these forays remain almost entirely invisible to the public. Journalist and activist Norman Solomon exposes the true cost of America’s military machine and how the truth has been obfuscated for so long.
The cost of outsourcing work from the public service to the so-called "Big Four" auditing and consulting firms is conservatively estimated at $10 billion over the last decade - that we know of. So isn't it cheaper to have the public service do the work? And what are the challenges facing incoming RBA Governor Michele Bullock?
Guest: Laura Tingle, Chief Political Correspondent, 7.30
As well earning him multiple Walkley and Logie awards, the work done by investigative journalist Chris Masters PSM has arguably changed Australia, for the better. He speaks to Phillip Adams about his distinguished career, which culminated in his latest book Flawed Hero: Truth, lies and war crimes.
Spain is set for general elections in two weeks' time, and there are new fears that the far-right could be about to make a leap forward, into government.
The latest opinion polls show that the conservative People's Party may need the help of the far-right Vox party to govern, in a multi-party coalition. Vox could become the first hard right party since the Franco era to enter Spain's national government.
Slightly buried in the Voice referendum debate, or at least the public debate, are views that are not conservative 'no', not progressive 'yes', and being unsure how to vote. Luke Pearson and Celeste Liddle explain why they're so torn.
Charlie Flannigan was a young Aboriginal stockman. In 1892, he shot a white man, ostensibly over a game of cards. On 15 July 1893 he was the first man in the NT to be hanged. Meanwhile in South Australia a white man who murdered his niece had his sentence commuted, sparking a huge public debate about treatment of Aboriginal people in the justice system. Charlie also left behind a remarkable collection of drawings.
Guest: Don Nawurlany Christophersen, Historical & Cultural Researcher and author of "A little Bit of Justice — The Story of Charlie Flannigan, The First Man to be Executed in the N.T."
After cautious approval from the United Nations, Japan is poised to release treated nuclear wastewater from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean. How worried should we be?
Guest: Dr. Ken Buesseler, marine radiochemist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
For more than half a century the Guinness World Records has catalogued humanity’s extraordinary feats and thrilled readers around the world. It’s still managing to survive in a world dominated by YouTube and TikTok, but at what cost?
Guest: Imogen West-Knights - London-based freelance writer, her Guardian long read is The strange survival of Guinness World Records
Russia's war on Ukraine has divided and decimated the revered Russian arts sector. Its personnel are often forced to choose between propaganda, jail, or leaving Russia.
Guest: Polina Ivanova, Russia and Ukraine correspondent for the Financial Times
Laura Tingle looks at Australia's announcement it will join Germany's "Climate Club" and sign a billion-dollar defence deal. Plus the fall-out from the Robodebt scandal continues with calls for Scott Morrison to resign from parliament.
Guest: Laura Tingle, Chief Political Correspondent, 7.30
Could the gaps in the law which leave Indigenous knowledge and culture open to exploitation be addressed by the True Tracks system?
Guest: Terri Janke, Wuthathi/Meriam Indigenous lawyer and author.
France's founding principles are liberty, equality and fraternity – but in the cities, towns and suburbs across France, many people increasingly feel that these ideals don’t apply to them.
It's a major part of the tension underlying recent protests about systemic racism in French society, which were sparked when police shot dead a 17-year-old in his car during a traffic stop. But what is the history of police brutality in France, and why do violent riots keep erupting?
Under the leadership of the current President of the Maldives, President Solih has adopted an India First policy reversing the previous governments policy of closer ties to China. With an election looming, how much will foreign policy play a role?
Guest: Dr Athaulla Rasheed, Department of Pacific Affairs, ANU
In 2018, Dr Richard "Harry" Harris played a central role in the rescue of the Wild Boars soccer team from a flooded cave in Thailand, sedating the trapped boys so that they could be pulled out, underwater, to safety.
Since then, Harry has interviewed countless fellow "risk-takers" - from deep-sea explorers to mountain climbers - to understand why we take risks.
Guest: Dr Richard "Harry" Harris, cave diver and anaesthetist. Author of The Art of Risk
In Indonesia, the resignation of President Suharto in 1998 heralded a new era of hope and democratic reform. But a generation later, why is corruption still so embedded in Indonesia's body politic?Are there any green shoots for transparency and accountability?
Guest: Todung Mulya Lubis, Indonesian lawyer and human rights activist, author of "War on Corruption"
Journalist and author Anjan Sundaram has been on a mission to cover forgotten African wars. His latest book is based on his time in the Central African Republic, a country which since throwing off the shackles of French colonialism in the 1960 has suffered coups, fighting and massacres. Anjan not only tells the untold story of the conflict but the personal cost being a war reporter had on his marriage.
Guest: Journalist Anjan Sundaram. Author of 'Breakup: A Marriage in Wartime'. Published by New South Publishing.
In less than a year, Mexicans will elect a new President, as Andrés Manuel López Obrador's six-year term comes to an end. Who will replace the populist left-wing leader? And how will the new President grapple with the challenges of cartel operations, and the US-Mexico border?
Guest: Sarah Birke, Bureau Chief, The Economist, Mexico City
Laura Tingle looks at who the inaugural Commissioner of the National Anti-corruption Commission, Paul Brereton, has in his sights, plus regional security on the agenda as Indonesian President Joko Widodo visits Australia, and how far will interest rates rise?
Guest: Laura Tingle, Chief Political Correspondent, 7.30
Figures like Oscar Wilde are remembered as heroes of gay history, who suffered great persecution for expressing their sexuality.
Whilst we remember Wilde and many other pioneers, what about the queer figures from history we choose to forget?
From Emperors, to fascists and troubled artists - what do their stories tell us about sexuality and identity through time?
Guests: Ben Miller and Huw Lemmey, co-authors of “Bad Gays: A Homosexual History” published by Verso.
Much of the debate around stopping the boats and even locking children up in detention centres has been around what is in the "best interests" of kids and their families. Dr Jordana Silverstein argues this approach has resonances with settler-colonial attitudes to Indigenous people and to any who come to our shores seeking succour from non-white countries.
Guest: Dr Jordana Silverstein, Senior Research Fellow at the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness at the University of Melbourne.
Leading Shakespeare scholar Emma Smith tells the story of the making of the First Folio, the iconic book without which we would have lost half of the Bard’s most famous works including ‘Macbeth’, ‘The Tempest’ and ‘Julius Caesar.’
US political analyst and author Bruce Wolpe argues Australia needs to plan for former US president Donald Trump winning a second term in office.
The government of our Pacific neighbour to the east, Fiji, is set to hand down its full budget on Friday.
New research shows Sierra Leone’s black leaders role played a key role in the abolition movement. The British navy had to rely on the support of African states and polities that had already turned against the slave trade. Dr Everill says Africans' role in ending the transatlantic slave trade has thus far been overlooked.
Guest: Bronwen Everill, Director, Centre for African Studies, University of Cambridge.
Kim Yo Jong might have been the youngest daughter and ‘sweet princess’ of North Korea’s Supreme Leader King Jong Il, but she’s more than just ‘the sister’. According to Korea scholar Sung-Yoon Lee she’s Kim Jong-Un’s chief propagandist, and also one of his most likely successors.
Guest: Sung-Yoon Lee - the Kim Koo-Korea Foundation Professor in Korean Studies and assistant professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University.
Author of The Sister: The extraordinary story of Kim Yo Jong, the most powerful woman in North Korea published by Pan Macmillan
Boris Johnson has resigned as a Member of Parliament. What lies ahead for the Conservative Party he leaves behind?
Guest: Alex Andreou, writer and broadcaster, co-host of "Oh God, What Now?"
From Van Gogh's The Starry Night to Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People - the colours that adorn history's greatest paintings have strange and at times disturbing origins.
Guest: Kelly Grovier, writer and historian, author of The Art of Colour: The History of Art in 39 Pigments.
Last month analyst Anatol Lieven predicted that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the private Russian militia group Wagner, was positioning himself for a struggle against Vladimir Putin. After Prigozhin's failed revolt over the weekend, how exposed is the Kremlin leader to further coup attempts? And what does all this mean for the war in Ukraine?
Guest: Anatol Lieven, Director of the Eurasia Program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
Laura Tingle reflects on the political career of former Labor leader Simon Crean, who passed away suddenly, aged 74. The Voice's Yes campaign is falling behind in QLD, WA, SA and Tasmania, and Australia is facing a looming recession.
Guest: Laura Tingle, Chief Political Correspondent, 7.30
Man Ray's muse was a left bank icon in her own right in 1920s Paris. A new biography by Mark Braude sheds light on the life of Alice Prin, a forgotten bohemian icon.
One of the most significant whistleblowers of our time, Daniel Ellsberg, has died at the age of 92.
Daniel Ellsberg spoke to Phillip Adams just last year, in defence of Julian Assange and free speech.
Friedrich Wilhelm Hymmen lived two lives. His grandchildren remember a caring, playful grandfather, with a career as a respected journalist. But in his younger years, Friedrich was an 'early adopter' of Nazism, who emerged as a literary star for the regime. Melbourne-based writer Andreas Pohl comes to terms with the truth of his grandfather's past.
Guest: Andreas Pohl, author, 'Opi - The Two Lives of My Grandfather'
The enduring lesson from centuries of boom and bust is that there will always be another financial crisis. Given the current uncertain state of the global economy, now is a good time to learn from history to prevent a full-scale financial meltdown.
Guest: Dr Linda Yueh CBE is Fellow in Economics at St Edmund Hall, Oxford University and Adjunct Professor of Economics at London Business School. The Great Crashes: Lessons from Global Meltdowns and How to Prevent Them is published by Penguin Random House
For the first time in five years a US Secretary of State has visited China. But now, President Joe Biden has potentially undone some of the gains made by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Guest: Stephen McDonell, BBC Beijing correspondent
Peter Kaestner has taken bird watching and expertise to the next level.
He is the current world record holder for having seen the most amount of bird species — a staggering 9, 856 species. He is aiming to see 10,000.
"In the company of men" tells the tale of the Ebola crisis in West Africa through many voices - even the infected bat and the virus itself have their say. This poetic tale about human disaster draws on African storytelling traditions and highlights the link between habitat destruction and viral pandemics.
Guest: Véronique Tadjo, poet, novelist, academic, artist and author of "In the company of men" published by Other Press / New York.
Carlos Saura was widely regarded as one of the most influential filmmakers in Spanish cinema history. His career began controversially, with neo-realist films depicting Spain's so-called "dirty laundry" attracting the attention of the censors. He later moved on to create expressive films and he is now remembered for his passionate portrayal of Spanish culture, history, and traditions.
A major retrospective of his work is showing at the Spanish Film Festival around Australia.
Guest: Antonio Saura, Director General, Latido films. Son of Carlos Saura.
The exploded Kakhovka dam in Ukraine has done obvious environmental damage, but more of that impact will become clearer with time.
More broadly, the environmental damage in the Ukraine/Russia war has become possibly the most observed, and monitored, of any war. Guests Sofia Sadogurska in Kyiv, and Doug Weir in the UK.
Laura Tingle discusses the implications of The Voice referendum bill passing the Senate, why the Greens and the Liberals teamed up to delay the Housing Australia Future Fund bill and the resignation of Liberal Senator David Vann.
Guest: Laura Tingle, Chief Political Correspondent, 7.30
Hulu's hit TV comedy "The Great" is loosely based on the historical figure of Catherine II, Empress of Russia. The true story of Catherine the Great is an even more gripping tale.
Guest: Professor Darius von Guttner, historian, Australian Catholic University
Scottish physicist and volcanologist Andrew McGonigle has spent the last twenty years and more developing low-cost hi-tech to try and predict when a volcano is about to blow.
As we move ever closer to a Voice referendum – the Senate will vote on it next week - a Close the Gap report has come in, finding that life outcomes for Indigenous Australians are continuing to worsen. Guest: Dana Morse, ABC political reporter
Professor Michael Scott shares stories of eight groundbreaking archaeological finds and explains why he has a love-hate relationship with Indiana Jones.
In no other Western country has ownership and control of the media been concentrated in the hands of as few people as it has in Australia. Sally Young tells the remarkable story of the media monsters that conglomerated their power and strengthened their influence in the mid-twentieth century.
Guest: Sally Young – professor of political science at the University of Melbourne. Media Monsters: The Transformation of Australia’s Newspaper Empires published by UNSW Press.
The best-selling author of The Professor and the Madman explores the rich and complex history of our relationship with the planet's 37 billion acres of habitable land: who mapped it, owned it, stole it, cared for it, fought for it, and gave it back.
First broadcast 4 February 2021. Phillip Adams will be speaking to Simon Winchester about his new book Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic at RN's Big Weekend of Books on Sunday June 18th.
Timepieces are one of humanity's most ingenious innovations. From ancient sundials to the mechanical wristwatch, these technologies have regulated our daily lives and shaped our cultures and societies in astonishing ways.
Guest: Rebecca Struthers, historian and heritage watchmaker, author of Hands of Time: A Watchmaker's History of Time
The ‘culture wars’ have generated heated debates around race, culture, whiteness and privilege. British Indian author Kenan Malik looks at the origins of race in Western thought, how contemporary ideas of culture came about and how cultural appropriation and ethnic nationalism have become forms of gatekeeping.
Kenan Malik, academic and author of Not So Black and White: A History of Race from White Supremacy to Identity Politics, published by New South Books.
We've all had a sulk from time to time or been the target of one. What is the point of this covert form of communication, which is filled with rules and paradoxes?
Guest: Rebecca Roache, senior lecturer in philosophy at Royal Holloway, University of London.
The last four decades have seen a rise in Islamist parties taking power—via the ballot box or through violence. How did they rule when they got there?
Guests:
Joana Cook - Assistant Professor of Terrorism and Political Violence, Leiden University
Shiraz Maher - Director of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) and a member of the War Studies Department at King's College London.
Taiwan has become a geopolitical hotspot, caught in a power tussle between the United States and China. Yet it's indispensability in semiconductor supply chains could be the key to global stability. Meanwhile, within Taiwan, political parties are gearing up for an election and grappling with their own #MeToo moment.
Guests:
Cheng Ting-Fang (Annie) - the chief tech correspondent with Nikkei Asia. You can find the visual storytelling project mentioned here.
Wen-Ti Sung - political scientist who teaches in the ANU Taiwan Studies Program.
More than 80% of Wikipedia’s volunteer editors are male, and this gender bias is reflected in its articles: less than 20% of published Wikipedia biographies are about women. We meet two Wikipedians trying to close this gender gap, one profile at a time. Guests:Dr Jess Wade – Physicist and Research Fellow at the Imperial College London. Annie Reynolds - Wikimedian, WomenInRed project member, family and local history researcher.
Recent elections in Kosovo's Serb-dominated north have seen historical tensions turn to violence and European mediators are scratching their heads as talks between the two country’s leaders ended in stalemate. Complicating the picture is the war in nearby Ukraine, Serbia’s strong-man politics and its historical closeness with Russia. Guest: Marko Prelec, Consulting Senior Analyst, Balkans, International Crisis Group
Typographer and designer Stephen Banham contends that a mere font can represent our lives and the times in which we live.
Laura Tingle looks at the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case, how Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is handling the delicate path between China and the United States, and still no deal on the Housing Australia Future Fund. Guest: Laura Tingle, Chief Political Correspondent, 7.30
British writer Martin Amis died on the 19th of May, 2023. In this interview with Phillip Adams from 2020 they discuss the last book Martin ever wrote: Inside Story, which takes the death of his closest friend, Christopher Hitchens, as it's starting point. Ultimately he covers the hardest questions, such as how to live, how to grieve and how to die.Interview first broadcast 8th of October 2020.
George Orwell dismissed them as ‘tripe’, T.S. Eliot found them arduous to write and Jeanette Winterson once burnt all her books because of one… Literary copywriter Louise Willder explores the haunting, luminous, unputdownable history of the book blurb.
The writers behind popular television shows like Saturday Night Live and Stranger Things have put their pens down and stepped away from their keyboards. It's not only a battle for better wages and working conditions, but against the threat of artificial intelligence taking their jobs. Guest:Kate Fortmueller - assistant professor of entertainment and media studies at the University of Georgia.
New players such as South Korea, India and the UK are joining China, the US and Australia in jostling for influence in the Pacific. Tess Newton Cain and Sean Jacobs discuss.
Haunted by his misguided support of the Iraq War, foreign correspondent Robert D. Kaplan turned to tragic literature to understand the delusions of the West and how they can be avoided in the future. Guest:Robert D. Kaplan - the Robert Strausz-Hupé Chair in Geopolitics at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. His latest book is The Tragic Mind: Fear, fate and the burden of power published by Yale University Press
We rarely hear how technology is impacting most of the world's population, in the global south. Anup Kaphle and Itika Sharma Punit, both from the online publication Rest of World, are now bringing us those stories.
Andre Dao's acclaimed book ‘Anam’ explores his Vietnamese background and the ways that war divided his family, and their country. Guest: Andre Dao, Melbourne-based legal academic and author of 'Anam' (Penguin/Hamish Hamilton)
Following Timor-Leste’s parliamentary election on the 21st of May, independence hero Xanana Gusmao and his National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT) have emerged victorious. The conduct of the elections has been described as a democratic triumph but the biggest challenges for Mr Gusmao, and the young country, could still be yet to come. Guest: Damien Kingsbury, Emeritus Professor of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Deakin University.
Peter Wohlleben opened our eyes to the hidden social lives of trees. Now he makes the case that trees could be our climate saviours, if we let them. Guest: Peter Wohlleben – German forester and bestselling author of The Hidden Life of Trees. His latest book is The Power of Trees: How Ancient Forests Can Save Us If We Let Them published in Australia by Black Inc Books.
Long before he became President of Russia, Vladimir Putin was a mid-level KGB officer stationed in Dresden, East Germany, towards the end of the Cold War. Author and investigative journalist Mark Hollingsworth tells Sarah Dingle how Putin's time in the Soviet Union’s all-powerful security agency played an instrumental role in shaping his mindset.
The Wager is not just about how humans behave under the most extreme conditions, it’s also a reflection on empire and colonialism; not just how we paint ourselves as heroes in our own stories, but how nations do that too. Guest: David Grann, author of The Wager – a tale of shipwreck mutiny and murder, published by Simone and Schuster
PFAS is found in everything from non-stick cookware to cosmetics and historically, firefighting foam. These so-called "forever chemicals" do not break down in the environment and can accumulate in our bodies, raising concerns about associated health risks. As class actions mount, will the world phase out PFAS? And can contaminated sites be cleaned up? Guests:Ravi Naidu, Laureate Professor at the University of Newcastle’s Global Centre for Environmental Remediation; CEO of CRC-CARE. Amy Rand, Associate Professor in Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology at Carleton University, in Canada.
For more than a year Pakistan has been plagued by an ongoing political crisis and it's bringing the country, and it's people, to the brink. Guest: Diaa Hadid – International correspondent covering Pakistan and Afghanistan for NPR News.
Electric flying taxis are being developed in four countries, right now. It's an example of an innovation wave - a phenomenon that happens when certain elements coincide. Guest: Tom Whipple, science correspondent with The Times
Stan Grant is taking a break from journalism after suffering ongoing racist attacks and experiencing a lack of institutional support from the ABC. Now other journalists from diverse backgrounds are speaking out about their own, similar, experiences. We hear from three diverse journalists about navigating an increasingly vitriolic media landscape, the lack of diversity that persists in Australian media and some of the possible paths forward. Guests:John Paul Janke – Co-host of NITV’s weekly current affairs show The Point, which returns to NITV next Tuesday (30 May) at 7:30pm. Andrea Ho - Discipline Lead, Radio and Podcasting, Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS).Osman Faruqi - culture news editor for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.
Understandings of how the alphabet came into being have been driven by ideology, religion, and geo-politics.
Both Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and opposition leader Peter Dutton have stated that they support dropping the extradition of Julian Assange to the United States. Former Foreign Minister and NSW Premier Bob Carr weighs in on the potential diplomatic arguments that can be made for freeing Assange and what this means, more broadly, for our alliance.
Labor will hand down its second budget on Tuesday, aiming to find a balance between being seen as good economic managers while meeting their promise to not leave anyone behind. Guest: Laura Tingle, Chief Political Correspondent, 7.30
For over 40 years author Andrey Kurkov has kept a personal journal. His entries from the period leading up to Russia’s invasion and over the first five months of the war provide a glimpse into a country and a culture fighting for survival, against the odds. Guest: Andrey Kurkov – Author and president of PEN Ukraine. His latest book is Diary of an Invasion published by Mountain Leopard Press.Andrey is appearing at Sydney Writers' Festival on the 27th of May. You can get tickets here.
Dr Matt Morgan is an intensive care doctor with a novel approach: he looks to the animal kingdom to solve humanity's trickiest medical problems. Guest:Dr Matt Morgan - intensive care doctor, researcher and author. His book is One medicine: How understanding animals can save your life published by Simon & Schuster
Deep sea mining for minerals presents significant challenges and opportunities for cash-strapped Pacific nations.
From colonial estates to leisure grounds for the masses, Australia’s botanic gardens have evolved over time. Now these gardens are on the frontline of climate change adaptation.Guest: Susan K Martin, Emeritus Professor in English, La Trobe University. Co-author of Reading the Garden
The hands of the Doomsday Clock are now at “90 seconds to midnight”, the closest they have ever been to the symbolic midnight hour of global catastrophe. What has brought us to this perilous moment? And can humanity wind back the clock? Guest: Rachel Bronson, President and CEO of the Bulletin of Atomic Sciences
Last week, Joe Biden confirmed he will run for a second term as US President. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is collecting endorsements from key Republicans. Guest: David Frum, author and political commentator, The Atlantic
For much of recorded history, humans have considered the heart the most important organ in the body – the location of our souls. New science is proving that there might be more to the heart-mind connection than Western medicine has typically believed and it could have ramifications for future heart treatments. Guest:Vincent M. Figueredo - practising cardiologist and physician-scientist and author of The Curious History of the Heart: A Cultural and Scientific Journey published by Colombia University Press.
On April 24th 2013, a multi-story garment factory complex in Bangladesh called Rana Plaza collapsed, killing more than 1,100 workers and injuring another 2,500. It sparked a global outcry and a wave of action to improve building safety, but how much have the lives of garment workers really improved, one decade on? Guests:Ayesha Barenblat – CEO of RemakeKalpona Akter - Former child worker, now the Executive Director of the Bangladesh Center for Worker Solidarity.You can check the signatories to the International Accord and Pakistan Accord here.
we're NOW looking at a couple of other times. Things are moving around our end, people sick, etc etc.First preference:12.00 Wednesday Second preference:8pm WednesdayI spoke to Patrick Kaiku today. Should be fine but terrible connection so we definitely need to pre-record it.And I've lined up Diva Amon, a Caribbean marine biologist who wrote this for the NYThttps://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/15/opinion/ocean-mining-climate.html Opinion | A Rush to Mine the Deep Sea Is Underway. It Must Be Stopped.A scramble to mine the deep sea could soon commence. And once it begins, there will be little hope of reining it in.www.nytimes.comShe is in Vancouver so can only do the middle of the day. So we're hoping we can put you all together there?I need to check with Patrick yet.If not, we'll talk to Diva separately then, and you and Patrick at 8pm hopefully.Thanks and regards,AnnAnn Arnold Producer, Late Night Live
A new documentary shows Germany’s first female Chancellor’s career was marked by a politics of truth and integrity. ‘Merkel’ reveals how the former political leader’s life behind the wall in East Germany shaped her powerful stance on keeping Germany’s borders open to refugees and helped her stand strong against the alpha males she was up against.Guests:Eva Weber – Director and Producer of ‘Merkel’ and Company Director at Odd Girl Out Productions.Lizzie Gillett – Producer of ‘Merkel’ and Director of Feature Doc Department at Passion Pictures Films. MERKEL is screening nationally at the German Film Festival from 2 - 24 May.
Opened by Mussolini in 1937, Cinecittà Studios in Rome has a dark and storied past. Originally built as part of the dictatorship's propaganda machine, Cinecittà was taken by the Germans during WWII, before being bombed by the Allies and set-up as an intelligence posting and refugee camp.Since the War, Cinecittà has produced iconic films like Fellini's La Dolce Vita and epics like Ben Hur. Guest: Noa Steimatsky, author and film scholar
A new documentary features the redoubtable Shirley Shackleton, widow of journalist Greg Shackleton, who spent most of her life campaigning for justice for the murders in East Timor of Greg, his colleagues, and for East Timor itself.Guests: Luigi Acquisto, co-director of documentary ‘Circle of Silence’; Australian film-maker, based in MelbourneLurdes Pires, co-director; Timorese-born translator and film-maker, based in DarwinSCREENINGS Bookings can be made here
It's been a week of high-profile meetings, with President Biden hosting South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meeting with Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. What do these meetings signal about growing trilateral ties? Plus, ahead of the G7 summit, Japan comes under pressure to act on LGBTQ rights. Guest:Michelle Ye Hee Lee - Tokyo bureau chief for The Washington Post, covering Japan and the Koreas.
In Australia's remote central and western deserts, you may spot a collection of mysterious sandy circles, uniformly spaced amongst the spinifex, like polka dots from the air. New cross-cultural researcher has greatly enriched our understanding of this phenomenon of desert ecology.Guests: Fiona Walsh, ethnoecologist, University of WAPurungu Desmond Taylor, Warnman - Manjilyjarra man from Karlamilyi National Park, interpreter and artist, Indigenous Knowledge
In 2019, the Dutch Farmer's Citizens Movement (BBB) emerged as a protest against the government's proposed caps to nitrogen emissions, which farmers claimed would cripple the industry. Now, the farmers party has won a shock victory in provincial elections, which will see it become the largest party in the Upper House. Guest: Rik Rutten, political journalist, NCR
Syria is a culturally rich and complicated country battling war, corruption, political interference and Islamic insurrection. Former Chief Middle East correspondent for the American ABC, Charles Glass, reflects on the lessons he has learned from his time there. Guest: Charles Glass, journalist, author and broadcaster who writes periodically about Syria for The New York Review of Books.
Plunge into the fascinating world of ‘mucomics’ as we investigate how sticky secretions from the natural world can help us develop new technologies.
A population the size of Australia is on the brink of starvation in the horn of Africa and there are calls for the UN to immediately call an emergency. The World Food Programme first warned of impending disaster in early 2022, so why is it talking so long for the UN to do it?Guests: Susan Otieno - Executive Director, ActionAid KenyaDave Husy - Deputy CEO, Impact, Plan International Australia
Peter Dutton's claims of 'rampant' child abuse in Alice Springs are rebuked; and water insecurity affecting First Nations people in Walgett. Guests:Carly Williams, Quandamooka, reporter with ABC Indigenous Affairs TeamCatherine Liddle, Arrente/Luritja, CEO of SNAICC - the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care
When the Empire State Building opened in New York in 1931, it was easily the tallest building in the world, towering 380 metres - or 102 storeys above the ground. 40 years later, another building finally breached the 100-storey mark, this time in Chicago, with the Hancock Centre. This tower was revolutionary, using design techniques pioneered by engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan, a Bengali migrant to America who's genius would help build the tallest buildings in the world.This story originally appeared in The Juggernaut. Guests: Sneha Mehta, independent writer and design strategist based in MumbaiSnigdha Sur, founder & CEO of The Juggernaut
In 2021, Australia, the UK and the US announced the formation of AUKUS - a new trilateral security arrangement, which will eventually deliver a fleet of nuclear powered submarines to Australia. New Zealand was not included in those initial AUKUS talks, and maintains a long-standing anti-nuclear position, however New Zealand's Defence Minister Andrew Little has signalled potential future engagement with "Pillar 2" of AUKUS, focusing on non-nuclear defence technologies. Guest: Nicholas Khoo, Associate Professor at University of Otago
Abortion has made its way back to the Supreme Court, this time to decide the fate of the abortion pill, mifepristone. Meanwhile Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is in hot water over some lavish gifts and Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein's long absence is causing more than a little frustration. Guest:Bruce Shapiro - Contributing editor with The Nation magazine; Executive Director of the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University.
Thousands of convict children and Aboriginal children were taken from their living parents in the nineteenth century and placed in "orphan" schools in Hobart, before being sent on to "apprenticeships" that were effectively slavery. Guest: Lucy Frost, author of "Convict Orphans: The heartbreaking stories of the colony's forgotten children, and those who succeeded against all odds," published by Allen & Unwin.
A new bill in Uganda represents one of the most extreme forms of anti-LGBTQ legislation in the world, targeting LGBT identity and even calling for the death penalty in some cases. It's part of a disturbing anti-LGBTQ trend that's growing everywhere from Ghana, to Hungary, to Russia. Guests:Graeme Reid - Director, LGBT Rights Program, Human Rights WatchCaleb Okereke - Nigerian journalist and Managing Editor at Minority Africa
The Whitlam era saw a great leap forward for women's rights in Australia, driven by Women’s Adviser Elizabeth Reid and a host of female activists, backed by a grass roots movement across the country. Their work is being recognised in a book released to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of Reid’s appointment.Guests:- Dr Elizabeth Reid, former Women's Adviser to Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, feminist development worker, academic and writer.- Michelle Arrow, Professor in Modern History at Macquarie University and editor of 'Women and Whitlam: Revisiting the Revolution,' published by New South Books.- Ranuka Tandan from the Whitlam Institute's Public Affairs Team.
India is set to surpass China as the world's most populous country this month. It's both an exciting and daunting prospect for India, and it's already having unusual repercussions for women. Guests:Avani Dias – ABC’s South Asia Correspondent Krishn Kaushik - politics and news reporter for Reuters
Phillip Adams celebrates former Australian diplomat Bruce Haigh, who died on the 7th of April 2023, and we play an excerpt from a chat they had back in 2013.
Phillip Adams pays tribute to one of his oldest friends, political cartoonist Bruce Petty, who died on the 6th of April 2023.
American crime writer Don Winslow, best known for his Cartel Trilogy, has abandoned his career to focus full-time on fighting Donald Trump. And Trump's recent indictment and subsequent surge in the polls has made him more determined than ever. Guest: Don Winslow, anti-Trump campaigner and author of City on Fire and City of Dreams, published by Harper Collins.
US President Joe Biden makes a historic visit to Belfast on the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. Guest: Ian Dunt, columnist with the "i" newspaper
World-leading manuscript expert Christopher de Hamel describes some of the extraordinary people who have spent their lives among illuminated manuscripts over the last thousand years including a Benedictine monk, a French aristocrat, a Greek forger and the woman who created the most spectacular library in America. Guest: Christopher de Hamel, Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and former Fellow Librarian of the Parker Library. ‘The Posthumous Papers of the Manuscripts Club’ is published by Penguin.
There is no one Silk Road. It is a concept. And it is one that various players have adopted – and adapted - for their own ends.Guest: Professor Tim Winter, Senior Research Fellow at the East Asia Institute, National University of Singapore Author of 'The Silk Road: Connecting histories and futures' (Oxford University Press)
Germany has a long and proud history of automobile production, but in recent years, the industry has been forced to adapt as the world shifts towards electric vehicles and a cleaner transport future. Last week, the EU parliament signed off on laws which will ban the sale of new fossil-fuel powered cars and vans from 2035. Germany however, negotiated a last-minute exemption, to allow cars running on “e-fuels” to be sold beyond 2035. The move has been condemned by European neighbours and environmental groups. Will this put a handbrake on the electric vehicle revolution? Guest: Alex Keynes, former European parliamentary advisor and the Clean Vehicles Policy Manager at Transport and Environment, based in Brussels
A group of Pacific Island law students were behind a UN resolution that should make it easier to polluting countries more accountable.Guests:Tess Newton-Cain, Project Lead for the Pacific Hub at the Griffith Asia Institute Siosiua Veikune, Final year law student from Tonga and Vice-president of Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change
What, exactly, is humanism? And how do you know if you are a humanist? Author Sarah Bakewell traces humanist thinking back to its roots, introducing us to some of history’s most influential humanists, and asks whether the values it champions are still sorely needed today.
In a whirlwind 48 hours, Finland’s progressive young Prime Minister Sanna Marin has been ousted in the country’s parliamentary elections, and Finland has become the 31st country to join NATO, amidst ongoing hostilities in Ukraine. Guest:Teivo Teivainen - Professor of World Politics, University of Helsinki.
Doing the laundry may be the most mundane of chores, but its also an activity steeped in the politics of class, race and gender.
The mass protests in Israel over plans to give the parliament more power over the judiciary didn't just target Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Protesters were also campaigning against the influence of a powerful lobby group called the Kohelet Policy Forum. So who is this group, how did they become so influential in Israeli politics and who are their super-rich financial backers? Guest: Isabel Kershner, Israel Correspondent, The New York Times Jerusalem Bureau, Author of “The Land of Hope And Fear: Israel's Battle for its Inner Soul” (Knopf).
In December 1943, five war correspondents join a British air raid on Berlin. Two Australians, two Americans, including the famous Ed Murrow, and one Norwegian journalist, poet and activist. Each is assigned to one of the 400 Lancaster bombers that fly into the hazardous skies over Germany on a single night. Of the five, only three return to file their stories.Guest: Anthony Cooper, author of “Dispatch from Berlin, 1943: The story of five journalists who risked everything”, published by New South Books.
From the hematite used in cave paintings to the lost Amber Room of Frederick of Prussia, stone has shaped human culture and minerals have allowed us to evolve and create. Guest: Hettie Judah, chief art critic for the i newspaperHettie’s latest book is 'Lapidarium: The Secret Lives of Stones' (Hachette)
Israel has been brought to its knees by mass protests over plans that would allow its parliament to override its supreme court, paving the way for further incursions into the West Bank.Guest: Richard Silverstein, Jewish freelance writer of the blog Tikun Olam.
The former Soviet republics of Central Asia are walking a diplomatic tightrope, between Russia, China and the West. Guest:Bruce Pannier - a long-time journalist and correspondent covering Central Asia. He writes the ‘Central Asia in Focus’ newsletter for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and hosts the Majlis podcast.
A small bronze Buddha statue found by metal detectorists in Shark Bay, Western Australia has been verified as an artefact of the Ming Dynasty, dating back to the 1400s. How did it get there and what does it say about the history of Chinese people on Australia's west coast?Guest: Dr Yu Tao, Senior Lecturer, Chinese Studies, University of Western Australia
This once prosperous nation was knocked for six, and has been trying to find its feet. Tourists are back, but there is malnutrition, and loss of work.
The Scottish National Party has elected 37 year-old Humza Yousaf to replace Nicola Sturgeon as leader - the first Muslim leader of a major party in Scottish history. Will Yousaf be able to achieve a second referendum for Scottish Independence? Meanwhile in Britain, Rishi Sunak confronts the political fallout of the government's new illegal migration bill. Guest: Naomi Smith, Chief Executive, Best for Britain
Barron Field's legal advice underpinned the later adoption of the concept of terra nullius - the idea that nobody 'occupied' the land before the British came. But Field's poetry amplifies what he was thinking: that Aboriginal people were not worthy of surviving.
International Crisis Group's Dina Esfandiary and Atlantic Council's Jonathan Fulton discuss China's surprise role in brokering a rapproachment between longstanding rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran and what China's growing influence in the Middle East might mean for us all.
Coffee is grown commercially on four continents and consumed enthusiastically on all seven. How did our obsession with the humble coffee bean begin?
In California’s famed Silicon Valley is a town called Palo Alto. Palo Alto is now one of the wealthiest postcodes on the planet. In recent decades, it has developed a mythical reputation as a promised land for innovators and tech entrepreneurs.But affluent Palo Alto conceals a long and dark history of exploitation, on its path to becoming a global economic powerhouse. Guest:Malcolm Harris, freelance journalist and author of Palo Alto: A history of California, Capitalism and the World
Rat sightings in New York have reached historic highs, prompting the Mayor to post a job ad seeking a "rat tsar" to lead the City's latest offensive on the prolific rodents. Can New York rid itself or rats, or is this an unwinnable war?Guest: Xochitl Gonzalez, staff writer for The Atlantic, author of Olga Dies Dreaming
Journalist Rania Abouzeid grew up in Australia hearing stories of her parents' beloved homeland, but it bears little resemblance to the Lebanon she lives in today. An economic collapse and failed politics have left people to fend for themselves; some have even held up banks to withdraw their own savings. Rania asks: when will Lebanon's nightmare end?
As agreement on the wording for the Voice referendum and amendment gets closer to being finalised, we look at the NZ Maori experience of having a political voice in Parliament.
India has gained a reputation as the rape capital of the world, prompting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to call for a "change in the mentality" towards women. The sexual violence is bringing back into focus the writings of philosopher Erode Venkatappa Ramasamy, famously called Periyar. A political contemporary of Gandhi, in 1942 he authored a book called “Why women were enslaved”, considered to be a 'Magna Carta' for women's liberation. But until recently his book was banned from publication in Hindi. Guest: Aishwarya AVraj, freelance journalist and UN-ladli media award winner for gender based reporting in India.
This week, thousands of delegates will assemble in New York to attend a UN Water Conference, as the world faces an escalating water crisis. Guest: Professor Mike Young, Research Chair in Water and Environmental Policy at the University of Adelaide
In 1973, the Australian Film and Television School (later, the Australian Film Television and Radio School) accepted its first intake of students, with a vision to create a new generation of skilled Australian storytellers.50 years on, the school boasts a long list of Oscar, BAFTA and AACTA award-winning graduates. In 2023, AFTRS continues to adapt to a rapidly changing Arts and media landscape. Guests:Dr Nell Greenwood, CEO of AFTRSGillian Armstrong, acclaimed Australian film director and inaugural AFTRS student
Satyajit Das says the recent collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank and the near-collapse of Credit Suisse point to a global reckoning, in which inflation and interest rates won't be the only problem.Guest: Satyajit Das, former banker and author of several books including 2021’s A Banquet of Consequences Reloaded and 2022 Fortunes Fool: Australia’s Choices.
Former Middle East diplomat Bob Bowker reflects on Australia’s role in the Arab world ahead of the twentieth anniversary of the Iraq war. He looks at how the impact of that war has played out in Middle East relations, the intractable problems between Israel and Palestine and how China is seeking to play a larger role in brokering issues between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Guest: Bob Bowker, retired diplomat, former Australian Ambassador to Jordan and Egypt and author of “Tomorrow there will be Apricots – an Australian diplomat in the Arab World,” published by Shawline.
Elected to federal parliament aged just 28, Tanya Plibersek has lived almost half her life in the public eye and is now the longest-serving woman in Australia's House of Representatives. But how much do we know about what drives her, what she values and what we can expect from her next? Guest: Margaret Simons, academic, journalist and author of Tanya Plibersek: On Her Own Terms
The AUKUS announcement could have major implications for Southeast Asia. Many countries have strong ties with China, and walk a delicate balance in their relationships with the US at the same time – and with Australia.
The Government plans to protect a marine area the size of Germany around Macquarie Island. We reflect on the island’s torrid history, its remarkable recovery and its new threats. Guest:Dr Ben Arthur, marine ecologist, science communicator and Director of the Macquarie Island Conservation Foundation.
Recent protests in Georgia over the Government’s now-scrapped “foreign agents” bill, highlight the ongoing struggle for Georgia's future – a nation torn between Russia and Europe.Guest:Rayhan Demytrie, freelance journalist and documentary maker with the BBC, based in Tbilisi, Georgia.
The familiar refrain 'stop the boats' is echoing through the chambers of British parliament, as the Conservatives present their “Illegal Migration Bill”. Plus, what does AUKUS mean for the future of ties between our two nations?Guest: Ian Dunt, Ian Dunt, Columnist with the “I” newspaper and author of How to be a Liberal
Today, there are more borders in the world than ever before. In fact, the building of border walls, barriers and barricades has increased sixfold in the past two decades alone. James Crawford explores some of the earliest examples of our human desire to parcel up land and imagines how climate change and mass migration could dramatically reshape our existing boundaries. Guest: James Crawford, author, historian and broadcasterJames Crawford’s latest book is ‘The Edge of the Plain: How Borders Make and Break Our World’ (Canongate)
One of Scotland's best-known commentators and broadcasters Lesley Riddoch joins us to discuss who will step into Nicola Sturgeon's shoes following her shock resignation as leader of the Scottish National Party and First Minister of Scotland, and what it will mean for the prospect of Scottish independence.
Oxford historian and bestselling author of The Silk Roads Peter Frankopan joins Phillip Adams for a revelatory chat about how climate has contributed to the rise and fall of empires - and what this means for our future on a rapidly warming planet.
While her parents were immortalised in books, films and even a Shakespearen tragedy, Cleopatra and Mark Antony’s daughter is largely missing from the historical record. Yet, Cleopatra Selene lived a life every bit as dramatic as her mother’s. She was a princess who became a prisoner, an Egyptian who became a Roman and a woman who became a powerful ruler in her own right at a time when women were politically marginalised.
Professor and Nyikina Warrwa Indigenous woman Anne Poelina says we need a different way of seeing the world if we are to combat climate change and environmental destruction.Professor Anne Poelina, Co-Chair Indigenous Studies and Senior Researcher at the Nulungu Institute Research University of Notre Dame. She’s a Kimberley, Nyikina Warrwa Indigenous woman and Chair, Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council.
Two Category 4 cyclones hit Vanuatu last week. Women in the Pacific take leading roles in preparation for, and response to, natural disasters. We also catch up on other Pacific news.
Ada Lovelace was a 19th century mathematician who helped develop the ideas behind computer programming, decades before computers eventuated. It is probable that Lovelace brought many other skills to her thinking about programming. Guest: Corinna Schlombs, associate professor of history at Rochester Institute of Technology, in the US. Author of an article about Ada Lovelace’s multiple skills and interests, on the Conversation and Gizmodo websites. Author of "Machines: German Appropriations of American Technology from Mass Production to Computer Automation" (MIT Press, 2019)
The team at the Rock Art Heritage Unit at Griffith University have identified the Aboriginal man behind significant rock art and bark paintings held in museums in Melbourne and Paris. They used ethnographic records from early Australian anthropologist Baldwin Spencer and his research partner Paddy Cahill to match the art collections to the work of a warrior from West Arnhem Land named Mjumunbu. He was known to white settlers as "Old Harry". Guest: Paul Taçon, Distinguished Professor, Chair in Rock Art Research and Director of the Place, Evolution and Rock Art Heritage Unit (PERAHU), Griffith University.
After Jacinda Ardern's resignation, New Zealand's new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins faces a challenging year ahead. The country is grappling with the devastating impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle, while cost-of-living pressures continue to rise.The Government's responses will be closely scrutinised in the lead up to October's election. Guests:Dr Oliver Hartwich, economist and Executive Director of the New Zealand InitiativeDr Lara Greaves, Associate Professor in New Zealand Politics at Victoria University Wellington
When writer Robert Douglas-Fairhurst was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2017, the first book that came to mind was Franz Kafka’s novella Metamorphosis, about a salesman who wakes up one morning to discover that he has become a giant insect. Six years on, he reflects on the way his own life has transformed and the books he’s turned to for solace and guidance along the way.
Unions have vowed to bring France to a standstill next week, as the President Emmanuel Macron attempts to lift the retirement age from 62 to 64. Guest: Sophie Pedder, Paris Bureau Chief, The Economist
James Fallows was the chief White House speechwriter for former president Jimmy Carter. He reflects on the life and legacy of this ‘disciplined, funny, enormously intelligent and deeply spiritual man’.
We look at what's behind the escalating tensions between North Korea and South Korea, whether Kim Jong-Un is priming his 10-year-old daughter to be his successor and South Korea's first legal recognition of same-sex couples.Guest:Jeongmin Kim - the Lead Correspondent at NK News and Editorial Director at KOREA PRO, based in Seoul.
Author Lynne Olson tells the incredible true story of French archaeologist Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt and her crusade to save some of Egypt’s most priceless antiquities from destruction.
Asia produces 70% of the world’s fish for consumption. But that globally valuable industry faces several climate-related threats, including ocean acidification.Guest: Professor Steven Widdicombe, a world leader in ocean acidification. Director of Science and Deputy Chief Executive, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, UK. Guest: Professor Quentin Hanich leads the Fisheries Governance Research Program at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security, at the University of Wollongong.
PM Rishi Sunak has achieved a "decisive breakthrough" in negotiations with the EU on the Irish border, but will the new plan satisfy his own Conservative colleagues?Guest: Naomi Smith, CEO at Best for Britain and co-host of the podcast "Oh God, What Now?"
A new exhibition at ACMI in Melbourne celebrates Australia's long tradition of anti-smoking ads. Those ads are some of the reasons that Australia now has one of the lowest smoking rates in the world.Guest: Thomas Kehoe, historian and manager of the heritage program at Cancer Council Victoria and one of the content organisers for the ‘Anti-tobacco advertising’ exhibition which has just opened at ACMI, in Melbourne.
In October 2022, Italians shook up their political establishment, voting in Giorgia Meloni as Italy’s first female prime minister and the country’s first far-right leader since World War II. Rachel Donadio offers an insightful analysis of PM Meloni’s first four months in office.Guest: Rachel Donadio, contributing writer at The Atlantic
The story of the Forrest River massacre, in 1926, reminds us why Australia still needs a truth-telling process to address the cover-ups of the past.Guest: Kate AutyLawyer, author of ‘O’Leary of the Underworld: The untold story of the Forrest River Massacre’ (LaTrobe University Press/Black Inc) Chair of Victoria’s Environment Protection Authority
Dr Ashley Ward taps into the sensory world of animals to help us gain a better understanding of our own smorgasbord of sensations.
Africa's most populous nation Nigeria will head to the polls this weekend to elect a new leader, as incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari reaches the end of his second term. The vote comes against a backdrop of insecurity and unrest, but young Nigerians are rallying behind a candidate promising change. Guest: Ayisha Osori, Nigerian lawyer and journalist, author of "Love Does Not Win Elections"
As the 'From the Heart' campaign for the Voice launches in Adelaide, South Australia has passed its own legislation to bring about formal representation of an Indigenous Voice to parliament. The First Nations Voice bill would allow a 12-person body of elected Indigenous leaders to speak on the floor of the SA parliament during legislative debates, lobby the heads of government departments and advocate to the cabinet of state ministers. Guest: Dana Morse, ABC political reporter for Indigenous affairs.
How is a handmade fabric helping save an ancient forest? Why is sackcloth associated with penance and how does urine give tweed its famous ‘Home Counties’ smell?Best-selling author Victoria Finlay spins Phillip round the globe, weaving stories of our relationship with cloth. She explores why people through the ages have made it, worn it and created symbols out of it.
After being told by former Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton he would never set foot on Australian soil, journalist, author and refugee advocate Behrouz Boochani just spent two months here, speaking at parliament house in Canberra and promoting his second book, Freedom, only Freedom. While in Australia he called for a Royal Commission into our treatment of asylum seekers.Guest: Behrouz Boochani, journalist, author, refugee advocate and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences at UNSW, Sydney.His latest book Freedom, Only Freedom: The Prison Writings of Behrouz Boochani is published by Bloomsbury 2022.
Eminent Indian historian and biographer of Gandhi Ramachandra Guha says that, 75 years after his assassination, the ‘father of the nation’ has become a problem for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Yet his ideas remain as relevant as ever not just for India, but the world.
In 1995, the Northern Territory became the first jurisdiction in the world to allow terminally ill patients to voluntarily access a medically-assisted death - legislation which was quickly vetoed by the federal parliament. Nearly 30 years on, every state in Australia now has their own voluntary assisted dying legislation. But two centuries ago, understandings of what constituted a "good death" in the West were radically different.Guest: Dr Caitlin Mahar, historian at Swinburne University, author of The Good Death Through Time, MUP
In 1868, British troops charged into Ethiopia, stormed the citadel of Tewodros II, freed his prisoners and looted his treasures and sacred manuscripts. They also took his son – six-year-old Prince Alamayu – and brought him back to England where he charmed Queen Victoria, chatted with Lord Tennyson and travelled with his guardian Captain Speedy. But the orphan prince was never allowed to return home.Guest: Andrew Heavens, author of “The Prince and the Plunder – how Britain took one small boy and hundreds of treasures from Ethiopia”, published by The History Press.
The ancient continent of Sahul was comprised of Australia and PNG, when sea levels were much lower. New technology and modelling suggest the forebears of Australian Aboriginal people came here in an organised, mass migration. And they fanned out across the continent relatively quickly.
In this Asia Update we travel to Hong Kong to find out what’s happening with the landmark trial of pro-democracy activists, and then to Taiwan and China to see how the surveillance balloon saga is playing out in Beijing and Taipei…Guest:Emily Feng, NPR's Beijing correspondent.
Perhaps the most provocative of punctuation marks, ! has long elicited the love and hate of writers. It's now under threat from the more expressive emoji and teachers who strive to stamp out social media speak in the classroom. Can ! be resuscitated and redeemed? Guest:Dr Florence Hazrat, researcher, wordsmith, podcaster. Author of An Admirable Point: A Brief History of the Exclamation Mark! Published in Australia by Allen & Unwin
Economist Yanis Varoufakis discusses his visits to Cuba and Mexico, neo-imperialism and the need for a new democracy movement to "end the legalised robbery of people and Earth". He also discusses the campaign to free Julian Assange, the war in Ukraine and growing tensions between the US and China.Guest: Yanis Varoufakis, leader of the Democracy in Europe Movement in Greece's parliament, former Greek Finance Minister and Professor of Economics at the University of Athens.
Australia has a long and complicated relationship with alcohol and its regulation - from the 19th Century Temperance era right through to the present day. Guest: Dr Elizabeth Taylor, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning & Design at Monash University
More than 33,000 people have died since a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck a week ago, in the early hours of Monday February 6th. The UN warns the death toll could double. Guest: Mustafa Akyol, Turkish writer and journalist, Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington DC
In 2011 political historian and journalist Chris Wallace walked away from a biography she was writing on then Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. Wallace felt that amidst the toxic atmosphere of attacks on Gillard releasing the biography risked it being unfairly used against her and she didn't want any part of it. In her new book Political Lives, Wallace investigates how political biographies throughout Australia's history have impacted on our leaders — for good and ill.Guest: Dr Chris Wallace, author and political historian, Professor at the Faculty of Business, Government and Law, University of Canberra.Book: Political lives: Australian prime ministers and their biographers, published by UNSW press.
Awaye! presenters Daniel Browning and Rudi Bremmer discuss the power of languages, how attitudes and trends in the arts sector have changed, and the importance of listening.
We all rely on cobalt - it powers our smartphones, laptops and electric vehicles. But according to Siddharth Kara, there's 'no such thing as a clean supply chain of cobalt'. He reveals the shocking details of how it's being mined, often by children, in slavery-like conditions.
In our first Pacific update for 2023, there's breaking news on a NZ pilot held hostage in West Papua; a prominent Solomons politician ousted from power; and sorrow in the Pacific at the loss of Jacinda Ardern as NZ PM.Text max 200 characters
Australia’s oldest university press, Melbourne University Publishing, has had some noteworthy – and newsworthy – figures at its helm, including Peter Ryan and Louise Adler. Its publications include the Australian Dictionary of Biography, Manning Clark’s History of Australia, and Mark Latham’s diaries.Perhaps more than any other university press, MUP has wrestled with the question of what is a university press for, and who is it for. Guest: Stuart Kells, author and historian Author of ‘MUP: a centenary history’ (The Miegunyah Press, for MUP)
In an award winning essay, journalist Amy McQuire says we don't know how many Aboriginal women have gone 'missing' in Australia and that the very word 'missing' denies the violence black women have been subject to. McQuire says there is a comfort that comes with the word 'missing', because it implies that perhaps they have left on their own accord.Guest: Amy McQuire, journalist and post-doctoral fellow at QUT school of Communications. Amy McQuire is a Darumbal woman and South Sea Islander.
Nobel Prize Laureate Maria Ressa has recently been cleared of tax evasion charges, but still faces life behind bars for standing up to the Durterte government and holding big tech to account. She talks about her life, what she thinks of the new Marcos government in the Philippines and how we can all hold the line against the erosion of democracy. Guest:Maria Ressa - CEO, co-founder and President of Rappler, the Philippines's top digital news site.Her latest book is How to Stand Up to a Dictator published by Penguin Random House
Australia was once a hub of innovation and ingenuity, yet over time we’ve lost our competitive edge as a manufacturer. Through two case studies former diplomat Richard Broinowski AO traces how this happened and confronts what it might take for Australia to make things once again.
A new history of Australia's East Timor military intervention has been seemingly ignored by the Australian Government and the Australian War Memorial.
In May 1853, thousands of visitors flocked to London Zoo to enter the world's first aquarium or "Fish House". The aquarium was a complete novelty - an opportunity to observe the lives of fish up close. The development of the aquarium would forever change our relationship with the marine world. Guest: John Simons, historian and academic, author of "Goldfish in the Parlour: The Victorian Craze for Marine Life"
Uganda and Tanzania will soon be home to the world's longest heated crude oil pipeline, with construction of the "East African Crude Oil Pipeline" (EACOP) set to commence this year. The project is already displacing rural Ugandans, some of who continue to fight for fair compensation. Guest: Independent journalist Sophie Neiman, author of "Fear and Oil in Uganda", New York Review of Books
Senior Fellow for Southeast Asian Politics and Foreign Policy at the IISS Aaron Connelly joins us for an overview of what's been happening across Southeast Asia, with a focus on Myanmar.
'Incurable cartophile' Edward Brooke-Hitching is back to take us on a tour through The Madman's Gallery - the weirdest works of art ever made.
Thinking of heading to Machu Picchu in 2023? Think again... The tourist hotspot has been closed as Peru enters its eighth week of deadly protests following the attempted 'self-coup' of former president Pedro Castillo.
'Lady' Maud Williams, whose Lady Williams apple led to the popular Pink Lady, and Maria 'Granny' Smith, are among the many women in agriculture whose stories are under-appreciated, and under-documented.
Labor's has released its arts policy which places First Nations artists at the centre, overhauls the function of the Australia Council, establishes new bodies to promote Australian music and literature and sets Australian content quotas for streaming services. It also promises to examine workplace conditions for people working in the creative sector. But is it enough to see our artists thrive? Guests: Wesley Enoch— playwright and artistic director, and Indigenous Chair in the Creative Industries with QUT.Esther Anatolitis - Editor of Meanjin
Professor Frank Bongiorno takes us on a colourful ride through our political evolution, including archival audio excerpts from the 1930s onwards.
Indian-born art dealer Subhash Kapoor operated a New York commercial gallery specialising in Indian art, and sold or donated works to many international museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Australia and more. He was highly successful and feted by the art world. But it turned out he was one of the world's most prolific antiquities traffickers.Guest: Sushmita Pathak, independent radio and print journalist
DANA MORSE ABC Federal Reporter for Indigenous Affairs She is from the plangermarieener (plahn-ger-mah-ree-ner) palawa (pal-ah-wah) mob in Tasmania CONTACT DETAILS: RN Tie-line Phone: 0428 177 529 TWITTER: @DanaMorse HANNAH MCGLADE From the Kurin Minang people, is an associate professor at Curtin law school and a member of the UN Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues.
Shinichi Suzuki pioneered an innovative but often-misunderstood philosophy of early childhood education, now known as the Suzuki Method. But Suzuki's aim was never to turn out prodigies. He wanted to create a world where all children have the chance to develop, musically and otherwise in order to produce a better society. These days his broad education philosophy has been largely forgotten. Guest: Eri Hotta, academic and author of 'Suzuki: The Man and His Dream to Teach the Children of the World', published by Harvard University Press.
Americans are big defenders of their rights and civil liberties. How far back can this individualistic tendency be traced and has it made America more or less 'free'?Guest: Alex Zakaras - Associate professor of political science at the University of Vermont; author of The Roots of American Individualism: Political Myth in the Age of Jackson, published by Princeton University Press.
Cork appears to be making a comeback, as new uses are discovered for this versatile natural material - beyond the humble wine stopper. Harvested for life, cork oak trees also have the potential to store large amounts of carbon. Guest: Alastair Leithead, freelance journalist living in Portugal.
As the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine looms, we take stock of the current state of the war, what might happen on the battlefield, shifting sentiments in Russia and how a protracted war might be avoided.Guest:Anatol Lieven - Director of the Eurasia Program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
A pirate attack turns out to be insurance fraud, and the man who has suspicions is murdered. A case that illustrates broader exploitation and unaccountability in the shipping industry.Guest: Matthew Campbell, reporter and editor of international features for Bloomberg Business Week Co-author, with Kit Chellel of Dead in the Water: Murder and Fraud in the World’s Most Secretive Industry (Allen & Unwin)This story originally aired on 25 August 2022.
The glamorous Dr Ruja Ignatova pledged a financial revolution with One Coin, a new cryptocurrency. But after fleecing billions from investors across 175 countries, she went into hiding in 2017 and has not been seen since. Guest: Investigative journalist Jamie Bartlett, author of "The Missing Cryptoqueen"This story originally aired on 25 August 2022.
Everywhere in the world that boatloads of asylum seekers land, or where they are detained, there are local people who will inevitably be affected by what they see, and possibly by ongoing involvements. But we don’t hear much about those people. They are the host communities, effectively, even though they usually didn't choose to be. This story looks at Christmas Island, with reference also to the Italian island of Lampedusa.Guest: Dr Michelle Dimasi, human rights advocate and activist Author of ‘Hope, Solidarity & Death At The Australian Border: Asylum Seekers & Christmas Island’ (Cambridge Scholars Publishing) This story originally aired on 26 May 2022.
Join our panel of astute observers as they take us on an tour of the highs and lows of 2022. Guests:James Schloeffel - founder and head writer at satirical news website The Shovel and one of the stars of the live show War on 2022.Amy Remeikis - Guardian Australia's political reporter and the author of the bestselling book, On Reckoning. Dana Morse – Federal political reporter, ABC.Rick Morton - The Saturday Paper’s senior reporter. Award-winning author of three non-fiction books- 100 Years of Dirt, On Money and My Year of Living Vulnerably.
Dean Ashenden explores the history of the great Australian silence on the frontier wars between black and white Australia and what we can understand about the reasons for the silence through the lens of Tennant Creek.Guest: Dean Ashenden, author of Telling Tennant's story: The Strange Career of the Great Australian Silence published by Black Inc
Fiji will elect a new Prime Minister on December 14. Current Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama and former coup leader Sitiveni Rabuka are both campaigning for the top job, and there are already fears that the election outcome could be contested. As Chinese influence in the Pacific grows, these election results will be watched closely around the Pacific and beyond.
The United Kingdom has had an "annus horribilis", with three Prime Ministers, inflation at a 40 year high and energy prices out of control. The Labour Party looks sure to win the 2024 election, while younger Tory MPs are quitting in droves. Guest: Helen Lewis, staff writer at The Atlantic
A defining new biography of FBI director J Edgar Hoover may change your mind about the man, who has been described as the most universally reviled American political figure of the Twentieth Century. The book also points out a less palatable truth - that he was admired by many Americans for a long time.Guest: Beverly Gage, Professor of Twentieth Century American History at Yale, and author of 'G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century'
Against the hazardous backdrop of the biggest Russian attack on Ukraine since the conflict began, a convoy of trucks defied Russian missiles to carry rare Modernist Ukrainian art across Europe to Madrid, where it is now on show as 'In the Eye of the Storm: Modernism in Ukraine, 1900 - 1930s'.Guest: Konstantin Akinsha, a Ukrainian-American art historian and collector, who was the prime instigator and co-curator of the exhibition.
China is facing its most widespread unrest since the pro-democracy movement in 1989. Where will it lead? Guest: Jennifer Hsu, Project Director, Multiculturalism, Identity and Influence Project, Lowy Institute
The ABC's Laura Tingle and Fairfax's Niki Savva look back on the political highs and lows of 2022. Guests:- Laura Tingle, Chief Political Correspondent, 7.30- Niki Savva, Fairfax columnist and author of 'Bulldozed — Scott Morrison's fall and Anthony Albanese's rise', published by Scribe.
Two friends from Adelaide, between them had ‘developed the device that was critical to winning the war... conceived the powerful weapon that ended it... and produced the miracle treatment that enabled countless casualties to survive it”. Guest: Brett Mason, author of ‘Wizards of Oz: how Oliphant and Florey helped win the war and shape the modern world’ (NewSouth)
In his new book Nomads: The wanderers who shaped our world journalist Anthony Sattin chronicles the contributions that nomads have made to human progress and development and celebrates a way of life that has long been overlooked or, worse, vilified. Guest:Anthony Sattin - British journalist, broadcaster and author. His latest book is Nomads: The wanderers who shaped our world published in Australia by Hachette.
In an LNL special, historian Simon Sebag Montefiore discusses the world’s greatest dynasties, from the Romanovs to the Rothschilds, the Khans to the Kennedys… even the Kardashians.
Guest:
Simon Sebag Montefiore – British historian and author of The World: A Family History published in Australia by Hachette.
You can find Simon's Spotify playlist Soundtrack to The World here.
The impact of the Holocaust on second and third generation survivors is explored in two documentaries by Jewish filmmakers, screening in December in Sydney. The films explore the makers' complicated relationships with Germany, their pursuit of their families' histories, and what it's like being Jewish in modern day Germany.
Guests:
Ella Dreyfus, Sydney artist, filmmaker and academic at the National Art School in Darlinghurst
Sharon Ryba-Kahn, a Berlin-based international filmmaker
Press and academic freedom organisations like PEN International say the Modi government in India has been using its anti-terror laws against academics, journalists and public intellectuals who have been critical of the government.
Guest: Paranjoy Guha Thakurta — journalist, author, publisher, educator and documentary film-maker.
Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor with The Nation magazine; Executive Director of the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University.
Harry Vatiliotis has been one of Australia's greatest violin makers for almost seventy years. One of his most loyal customers has been violinist, composer and friend Romano Crivici. Romano, together with filmmaker Carla Thackrah document the making of the last violin he will make for Romano in the home he shares with his wife of 65 years Maria.
Guest: Violinist, composer and filmmaker Romano Crivici. He and Carla Thackrah have produced the documentary The Last Violin which will be showing at the Chauvel in Sydney on 30th November. For more details click here.
Harry Vatiliotis has been one of Australia's greatest violin makers for almost seventy years. One of his most loyal customers has been violinist, composer and friend Romano Crivici. Romano, together with filmmaker Carla Thackrah document the making of the last violin he will make for Romano in the home he shares with his wife of 65 years Maria.
Guest: Violinist, composer and filmmaker Romano Crivici. He and Carla Thackrah have produced the documentary The Last Violin which will be showing at the Chauvel in Sydney on 30th November. For more details click here.
Former banker and author Satyajit Das explains the Galbraith concept of a 'bezzle' in a warning that the effects of the loss of wealth from the markets, high interest rates and continuing global unrest will continue to be felt by the markets well into 2023.
Guest: Satyajit Das, former banker and author of several books including 2021’s A Banquet of Consequences Reloaded and 2022 Fortunes Fool: Australia’s Choices.
Former banker and author Satyajit Das explains the Galbraith concept of a 'bezzle' in a warning that the effects of the loss of wealth from the markets, high interest rates and continuing global unrest will continue to be felt by the markets well into 2023.
Guest: Satyajit Das, former banker and author of several books including 2021’s A Banquet of Consequences Reloaded and 2022 Fortunes Fool: Australia’s Choices.
A new book goes deeply into the lives and times of two colonial figures who, historian Alan Atkinson argues, are more important, and more complex, than is often acknowledged.
Guest: ALAN ATKINSON, author of ‘Elizabeth & John: The Macarthurs of Elizabeth Farm’ (NewSouth)
A new book 'Agents of Subversion: The Fate of John T. Downey and the CIA's Covert War in China' tells the little known story of a CIA agent captured by China in the early years of Mao’s PRC, shedding light on a critical time in American foreign policy, and the subversion and repression techniques used by both countries.
Guest: John Delury, author and Professor of Chinese Studies at Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea.
Priyanka Kumar says that birds are like an almanac for the seasons and can help us tune into ourselves and the world around us, helping to create balance in our digitally distracted lives.
Guest: Priyanka Kumar, author of Conversations with Birds published by Milkweek editions.
Ever since Fifa made the controversial decision to award the World Cup hosting rights to Qatar in 2010, the smallest nation to have hosted football's biggest competition has faced intensifying criticism.
Football historian David Goldblatt points out some interesting parallels between Qatar 2022 and Uruguay 1930 and explores the troubled history of sportswashing.
Guest: David Goldblatt, journalist, broadcaster and Visiting Professor at Pitzer College, Los Angeles
The Biden administration has unilaterally severed China’s access to high-end computer chips, or semiconductors. Given that chips are now strategically more important than oil, the move has been described as nothing less than a declaration of economic war. Historian Chris Miller explains how chips came to be at the crux of geopolitical competition, and where things might head next.
Mandy Martin was a feminist artist from Adelaide who brought together her political and ecological sensibilities in a powerful series of environmental projects and landscape paintings. She dedicated her life work to raising awareness of climate change, the havoc wreaked on the environment by industry and the importance of caring for country. Her work is being exhibited in at the Geelong Gallery from 5 November 2022 to 5 February 2023.
Guests: Jason Smith, Geelong Gallery Director and CEO, and Tom Griffiths, Emeritus Professor of History at the Australian National University.
After years of consultations, Fiji's government has come up with a national plan to relocate at least 42 coastal villages under threat from climate change. What are the complications and considerations in getting people to pick up and move, and what lessons do Fiji's efforts hold for other frontline countries?
Guests:
Kate Lyons, Guardian Australia's Pacific editor
Makereta Waqavonovono, coordinator of Climate Tok
Netani Rika, Development and Communications Manager, Pacific Conference of Churches
After eight years in government including nearly three years of living with COVID, Victorian voters should be up for a change of government. But the Victorian coalition have not gained the traction they should have. George Megalogenis explains why.
Guest: Author and columnist for The Age, George Megalogenis
Most Americans credit Thomas Edison as the father of film, owing to his invention of the Kinetograph (a motion picture camera) and the Kinetoscope (a peep-hole picture viewer). The French dispute this, claiming the Lumière brothers as the inventors of the movies as they hosted the first screening of a commercial motion picture in Paris in December 1895.
Dominique Roques has explored the most remote parts of the world over the past thirty years, travelling from his native France to Peru, Egypt and Somaliland by way of El Salvador, Madagascar and Iran.
Farah Nayeri, author of Takedown: Art and Power in the Digital Age, tells Phillip there is a long history of vandalising art for a cause. From Velazquez’s Rokeby Venus to the Mona Lisa, vandalised masterpieces have so far survived. But it may only be a matter of time before permanent damage is caused.
Farah Nayeri, author of Takedown: Art and Power in the Digital Age, tells Phillip there is a long history of vandalising art for a cause. From Velazquez’s Rokeby Venus to the Mona Lisa, vandalised masterpieces have so far survived. But it may only be a matter of time before permanent damage is caused.
Fida Jiryis' parents left what was once Palestine, where they had been born and grew up, in voluntary exile in 1970. In 1994, after the first Oslo Accord, Fida and her family returned - to a very different country. Fida's book 'Stranger in My Own Land' tells the story of her family from 1948, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled the country, which had just been declared the 'State of Israel.
Guest: Fida Jiryis, author of 'Stranger in My Own Land'
Fida Jiryis' parents left what was once Palestine, where they had been born and grew up, in voluntary exile in 1970. In 1994, after the first Oslo Accord, Fida and her family returned - to a very different country. Fida's book 'Stranger in My Own Land' tells the story of her family from 1948, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled the country, which had just been declared the 'State of Israel.
Guest: Fida Jiryis, author of 'Stranger in My Own Land'
As new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak rubs shoulders with world leaders in Bali, the UK is spiralling into recession. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is gearing up to announce new austerity measures while nurses plan strikes for the first time in history.
Guest:
Ian Dunt - columnist with the 'i' newspaper.
As new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak rubs shoulders with world leaders in Bali, the UK is spiralling into recession. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is gearing up to announce new austerity measures while nurses plan strikes for the first time in history.
Guest:
Ian Dunt - columnist with the 'i' newspaper.
In her ongoing lecture series on the cultural history of disease, Joanna Bourke explores the polio epidemics of the early 20th century. She tells Phillip how the period's germ theories resulted in the demonisation of immigrants and poor households. She also discusses the Great Cat Massacre sparked by the polio outbreak in New York in 1916 and the role that movies and memoirs have played in documenting the disease.
In her ongoing lecture series on the cultural history of disease, Joanna Bourke explores the polio epidemics of the early 20th century. She tells Phillip how the period's germ theories resulted in the demonisation of immigrants and poor households. She also discusses the Great Cat Massacre sparked by the polio outbreak in New York in 1916 and the role that movies and memoirs have played in documenting the disease.
As the fallout continues from the red wave that wasn’t, our regular US commentator Bruce Shapiro is joined by The Atlantic’s David A. Graham and The Guardian’s Lauren Gambino to discuss the ramifications of the midterm results, so far.
As the fallout continues from the red wave that wasn’t, our regular US commentator Bruce Shapiro is joined by The Atlantic’s David A. Graham and The Guardian’s Lauren Gambino to discuss the ramifications of the midterm results, so far.
In Part 2 of our special focus on Australian war decision-making, we review past decisions and approaches. This interview was first broadcast on 18 August, 2022
Guest: David Horner, military historian, emeritus professor in Strategic and Defence Studies at ANU.
Author of 'The War Game: Australian War Leadership from Gallipoli to Iraq'
In Part 2 of our special focus on Australian war decision-making, we review past decisions and approaches. This interview was first broadcast on 18 August, 2022
Guest: David Horner, military historian, emeritus professor in Strategic and Defence Studies at ANU.
Author of 'The War Game: Australian War Leadership from Gallipoli to Iraq'
The Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade is looking at how, and primarily who, makes the decision to send our service personnel to wars in other countries.
Part 1 of an LNL special focus on war decision making.
The Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade is looking at how, and primarily who, makes the decision to send our service personnel to wars in other countries.
Part 1 of an LNL special focus on war decision making.
We get up to speed with the latest on what's happening with the federal government's IR reforms. Plus, what can we expect when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Bali?
We get up to speed with the latest on what's happening with the federal government's IR reforms. Plus, what can we expect when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Bali?
In a new documentary series The Australian Wars award-winning Arrernte and Kalkadoon filmmaker Rachel Perkins explores the wars fought on, and for, Australian soil for more than 100 years and questions why it's taken so long for us to confront, acknowledge and commemorate this history.
Guest:
Rachel Perkins, award-winning filmmaker and director of The Australian Wars, available on SBS on Demand.
In a new documentary series The Australian Wars award-winning Arrernte and Kalkadoon filmmaker Rachel Perkins explores the wars fought on, and for, Australian soil for more than 100 years and questions why it's taken so long for us to confront, acknowledge and commemorate this history.
Guest:
Rachel Perkins, award-winning filmmaker and director of The Australian Wars, available on SBS on Demand.
There's a new government in Vanuatu. The Solomons Islands police force is receiving donations, of weaponry and vehicles, from both China and Australia. And the sudden death of Filep Karma, once hailed as the Nelson Mandela of West Papua.
Guest: Tess Newton Cain, Project Lead for the Pacific Hub at the Griffith Asia Institute, Brisbane
There's a new government in Vanuatu. The Solomons Islands police force is receiving donations, of weaponry and vehicles, from both China and Australia. And the sudden death of Filep Karma, once hailed as the Nelson Mandela of West Papua.
Guest: Tess Newton Cain, Project Lead for the Pacific Hub at the Griffith Asia Institute, Brisbane
Kazakhstan has been an independent state for more than 30 years now but the war in Ukraine is testing the young nation and the leadership of only the second President in its history. There are pressures building on the economy, energy supplies, immigration and its foreign policy - in particular its long and complex relationship with Russia.
Guest: Joanna Lillis, journalist and author of Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan published by Bloomsbury
Kazakhstan has been an independent state for more than 30 years now but the war in Ukraine is testing the young nation and the leadership of only the second President in its history. There are pressures building on the economy, energy supplies, immigration and its foreign policy - in particular its long and complex relationship with Russia.
Guest: Joanna Lillis, journalist and author of Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan published by Bloomsbury
Votes are still being counted in the 2022 US midterm elections. It looks as though Republicans will gain control of the House of Representatives but the pollster's prediction of a complete wipe-out on Democrats has not eventuated, with some Senate races still to be decided on postal votes.
Guest: Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor with The Nation magazine; Executive Director of the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University.
Votes are still being counted in the 2022 US midterm elections. It looks as though Republicans will gain control of the House of Representatives but the pollster's prediction of a complete wipe-out on Democrats has not eventuated, with some Senate races still to be decided on postal votes.
Guest: Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor with The Nation magazine; Executive Director of the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University.
Longtermism has become one of the hottest, and most controversial, thought experiments of 2022, with the likes of Elon Musk taking it to extremes. Oxford philosopher William MacAskill lays out what longtermism really is, and why he thinks it's important.
Longtermism has become one of the hottest, and most controversial, thought experiments of 2022, with the likes of Elon Musk taking it to extremes. Oxford philosopher William MacAskill lays out what longtermism really is, and why he thinks it's important.
It's the first UN Conference of the Parties to take place on the African continent in six years. Dubbed the 'African Cop', will Cop27 live up to it's promises of climate justice?
It's the first UN Conference of the Parties to take place on the African continent in six years. Dubbed the 'African Cop', will Cop27 live up to it's promises of climate justice?
A new book by historian Frank Bongiorno captures many of the side currents that have been part of our democratic system and political history.
Guest: Professor Frank Bongiorno, historian at the ANU and President of the Australian Historical Association
Author of: Dreamers and Schemers: a political history of Australia (La Trobe University Press)
A new book by historian Frank Bongiorno captures many of the side currents that have been part of our democratic system and political history.
Guest: Professor Frank Bongiorno, historian at the ANU and President of the Australian Historical Association
Author of: Dreamers and Schemers: a political history of Australia (La Trobe University Press)
The New Theatre is this year celebrating 90 years of performing radical and experimental plays with purpose. Despite being censored and spied upon, the theatre has produced more than 400 plays in theatres across the country as well as on the streets and in workplaces - even down a coal mine.
Guest: Activist and historian, Lisa Milner. Editor of the book The New Theatre: the people, the plays and politics behind Australia's radical theatre, published by Interventions
The New Theatre is this year celebrating 90 years of performing radical and experimental plays with purpose. Despite being censored and spied upon, the theatre has produced more than 400 plays in theatres across the country as well as on the streets and in workplaces - even down a coal mine.
Guest: Activist and historian, Lisa Milner. Editor of the book The New Theatre: the people, the plays and politics behind Australia's radical theatre, published by Interventions
The New Theatre is this year celebrating 90 years of performing radical and experimental plays with purpose. Despite being censored and spied upon, the theatre has produced more than 400 plays in theatres across the country as well as on the streets and in workplaces - even down a coal mine.
Guest: Activist and historian, Lisa Milner. Editor of the book The New Theatre: the people, the plays and politics behind Australia's radical theatre, published by Interventions
It’s been called ‘the single greatest legitimiser of mass layoffs … in modern history’.
McKinsey & Company is probably the most prestigious consulting firm in the world, but since 2018, media led by the New York Times has revealed the firm’s involvement in a number of scandals.
Guest: New York Times investigative journalist Michael Forsythe, is co-author of When McKinsey Comes to Town - The Hidden Influence of the World's Most Powerful Consulting Firm
It’s been called ‘the single greatest legitimiser of mass layoffs … in modern history’.
McKinsey & Company is probably the most prestigious consulting firm in the world, but since 2018, media led by the New York Times has revealed the firm’s involvement in a number of scandals.
Guest: New York Times investigative journalist Michael Forsythe, is co-author of When McKinsey Comes to Town - The Hidden Influence of the World's Most Powerful Consulting Firm
It’s been called ‘the single greatest legitimiser of mass layoffs … in modern history’.
McKinsey & Company is probably the most prestigious consulting firm in the world, but since 2018, media led by the New York Times has revealed the firm’s involvement in a number of scandals.
Guest: New York Times investigative journalist Michael Forsythe, is co-author of When McKinsey Comes to Town - The Hidden Influence of the World's Most Powerful Consulting Firm
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries leprosy was still a highly stigmatised disease. Tainted by stories of lepers in the bible, people were forcibly removed from their families, isolated and their homes and possessions burned. The Coast is a novel which details the lives and loves of the people who ended up in the lazarets at the Coast Hospital at Sydney's Little Bay.
Guest: Eleanor Limprecht, author of "The Coast", published by Allen and Unwin.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries leprosy was still a highly stigmatised disease. Tainted by stories of lepers in the bible, people were forcibly removed from their families, isolated and their homes and possessions burned. The Coast is a novel which details the lives and loves of the people who ended up in the lazarets at the Coast Hospital at Sydney's Little Bay.
Guest: Eleanor Limprecht, author of "The Coast", published by Allen and Unwin.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries leprosy was still a highly stigmatised disease. Tainted by stories of lepers in the bible, people were forcibly removed from their families, isolated and their homes and possessions burned. The Coast is a novel which details the lives and loves of the people who ended up in the lazarets at the Coast Hospital at Sydney's Little Bay.
Guest: Eleanor Limprecht, author of "The Coast", published by Allen and Unwin.
There’s a lot of hype about the metaverse – but what can it really do, and what is its potential for good and for harm?
GUEST: Catriona Wallace, founder of the Responsible Metaverse Alliance
There’s a lot of hype about the metaverse – but what can it really do, and what is its potential for good and for harm?
GUEST: Catriona Wallace, founder of the Responsible Metaverse Alliance
There’s a lot of hype about the metaverse – but what can it really do, and what is its potential for good and for harm?
GUEST: Catriona Wallace, founder of the Responsible Metaverse Alliance
The issue of who will succeed Rupert Murdoch has long been a topic for speculation. After Trump drove a wedge between Lachlan and his brother James, Lachlan is now the most likely successor. But could Lachlan's siblings push him out after their father Rupert dies?
Guest: Paddy Manning, author of The Successor: The high-stakes life of Lachlan Murdoch, published by Black Inc
The issue of who will succeed Rupert Murdoch has long been a topic for speculation. After Trump drove a wedge between Lachlan and his brother James, Lachlan is now the most likely successor. But could Lachlan's siblings push him out after their father Rupert dies?
Guest: Paddy Manning, author of The Successor: The high-stakes life of Lachlan Murdoch, published by Black Inc
The issue of who will succeed Rupert Murdoch has long been a topic for speculation. After Trump drove a wedge between Lachlan and his brother James, Lachlan is now the most likely successor. But could Lachlan's siblings push him out after their father Rupert dies?
Guest: Paddy Manning, author of The Successor: The high-stakes life of Lachlan Murdoch, published by Black Inc
Despite its current association with conservative, white country music culture, the banjo is rooted in the rebellion, ritual and religion of enslaved Africans in the Americas.
Guest: Kristina R. Gaddy, an award-winning writer and the author of Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo's Hidden History (W.W. Norton 2022)
Music courtesy of the Musical Passage website, a collaborative endeavour by Mary Caton Lingold, Laurent Dubois and David Garner.
Despite its current association with conservative, white country music culture, the banjo is rooted in the rebellion, ritual and religion of enslaved Africans in the Americas.
Guest: Kristina R. Gaddy, an award-winning writer and the author of Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo's Hidden History (W.W. Norton 2022)
Music courtesy of the Musical Passage website, a collaborative endeavour by Mary Caton Lingold, Laurent Dubois and David Garner.
Despite its current association with conservative, white country music culture, the banjo is rooted in the rebellion, ritual and religion of enslaved Africans in the Americas.
Guest: Kristina R. Gaddy, an award-winning writer and the author of Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo's Hidden History (W.W. Norton 2022)
Music courtesy of the Musical Passage website, a collaborative endeavour by Mary Caton Lingold, Laurent Dubois and David Garner.
Steve Jobs, Salvador Dali and Sigmund Freud all suffered from phobias. Many of us do, although research shows only one in eight of us seek medical help.
Phillip delves into the history of fear, discovering when we started naming our obsessions and compulsions, who drew up the original list of phobias and why some psychological disorders coincided with the advent of the machine age.
Guest: Kate Summerscale, author of 'The Book of Phobias and Manias: A History of the World in 99 Obsessions' (published by the Wellcome Collection.)
Steve Jobs, Salvador Dali and Sigmund Freud all suffered from phobias. Many of us do, although research shows only one in eight of us seek medical help.
Phillip delves into the history of fear, discovering when we started naming our obsessions and compulsions, who drew up the original list of phobias and why some psychological disorders coincided with the advent of the machine age.
Guest: Kate Summerscale, author of 'The Book of Phobias and Manias: A History of the World in 99 Obsessions' (published by the Wellcome Collection.)
Steve Jobs, Salvador Dali and Sigmund Freud all suffered from phobias. Many of us do, although research shows only one in eight of us seek medical help.
Phillip delves into the history of fear, discovering when we started naming our obsessions and compulsions, who drew up the original list of phobias and why some psychological disorders coincided with the advent of the machine age.
Guest: Kate Summerscale, author of 'The Book of Phobias and Manias: A History of the World in 99 Obsessions' (published by the Wellcome Collection.)
In September 2015, Tom Mustill and a friend were paddling a kayak in Monterey Bay, California, when a 30-ton humpback breached and almost landed on them. Footage of the incident went viral and launched Tom, a nature film-maker and biologist, on a deep dive into the world of whales.
In his new book, How to Speak Whale: A Voyage into the Future of Animal Communication Tom explores how AI and other advances, in technology mean we might, in the near future, be able to decode whale song and have direct conversations with cetaceans.
Guest: Tom Mustill, nature film-maker and author
In September 2015, Tom Mustill and a friend were paddling a kayak in Monterey Bay, California, when a 30-ton humpback breached and almost landed on them. Footage of the incident went viral and launched Tom, a nature film-maker and biologist, on a deep dive into the world of whales.
In his new book, How to Speak Whale: A Voyage into the Future of Animal Communication Tom explores how AI and other advances, in technology mean we might, in the near future, be able to decode whale song and have direct conversations with cetaceans.
Guest: Tom Mustill, nature film-maker and author
In September 2015, Tom Mustill and a friend were paddling a kayak in Monterey Bay, California, when a 30-ton humpback breached and almost landed on them. Footage of the incident went viral and launched Tom, a nature film-maker and biologist, on a deep dive into the world of whales.
In his new book, How to Speak Whale: A Voyage into the Future of Animal Communication Tom explores how AI and other advances, in technology mean we might, in the near future, be able to decode whale song and have direct conversations with cetaceans.
Guest: Tom Mustill, nature film-maker and author
Could Russia’s war in Ukraine end like the Vietnam War? Gideon Rose from the Council of Foreign Relations says that Putin's nuclear threats are hollow, and his tactics resemble Nixon's at the end of the Vietnam war.
Guest: Gideon Rose, Mary and David Boies distinguished fellow in U.S. foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations
Could Russia’s war in Ukraine end like the Vietnam War? Gideon Rose from the Council of Foreign Relations says that Putin's nuclear threats are hollow, and his tactics resemble Nixon's at the end of the Vietnam war.
Guest: Gideon Rose, Mary and David Boies distinguished fellow in U.S. foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations
Could Russia’s war in Ukraine end like the Vietnam War? Gideon Rose from the Council of Foreign Relations says that Putin's nuclear threats are hollow, and his tactics resemble Nixon's at the end of the Vietnam war.
Guest: Gideon Rose, Mary and David Boies distinguished fellow in U.S. foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations
ABC Political Reporter Dana Morse reports on the latest news from Indigenous Australia - including the Indigenous response to the budget.
Guest: Dana Morse, ABC political reporter specialising in Indigenous issues
ABC Political Reporter Dana Morse reports on the latest news from Indigenous Australia - including the Indigenous response to the budget.
Guest: Dana Morse, ABC political reporter specialising in Indigenous issues
ABC Political Reporter Dana Morse reports on the latest news from Indigenous Australia - including the Indigenous response to the budget.
Guest: Dana Morse, ABC political reporter specialising in Indigenous issues
Find out what prompted the transitions from oral story telling to writing the stories down, the transitions from stone tablet to the papyrus scroll and the establishment of libraries, including that most famous one the Great Library of Alexandria.
Guest: Irene Vallejo, author of Papyrus; The invention of books in the ancient world published in Australia by Hachette
Find out what prompted the transitions from oral story telling to writing the stories down, the transitions from stone tablet to the papyrus scroll and the establishment of libraries, including that most famous one the Great Library of Alexandria.
Guest: Irene Vallejo, author of Papyrus; The invention of books in the ancient world published in Australia by Hachette
Find out what prompted the transitions from oral story telling to writing the stories down, the transitions from stone tablet to the papyrus scroll and the establishment of libraries, including that most famous one the Great Library of Alexandria.
Guest: Irene Vallejo, author of Papyrus; The invention of books in the ancient world published in Australia by Hachette
In September the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) issued its final verdict. With just 3 convictions in 16 years, has the Khmer Rouge Tribunal achieved justice? And what will that lasting impact of these trials be?
Guests:
Youk Chhang - executive director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia.
Dr Christoph Sperfeldt - senior lecturer at Macquarie Law School and an Adjunct Professor at the Center for the Study of Humanitarian Law at the Royal University of Law and Economics, Cambodia.
In September the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) issued its final verdict. With just 3 convictions in 16 years, has the Khmer Rouge Tribunal achieved justice? And what will that lasting impact of these trials be?
Guests:
Youk Chhang - executive director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia.
Dr Christoph Sperfeldt - senior lecturer at Macquarie Law School and an Adjunct Professor at the Center for the Study of Humanitarian Law at the Royal University of Law and Economics, Cambodia.
In September the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) issued its final verdict. With just 3 convictions in 16 years, has the Khmer Rouge Tribunal achieved justice? And what will that lasting impact of these trials be?
Guests:
Youk Chhang - executive director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia.
Dr Christoph Sperfeldt - senior lecturer at Macquarie Law School and an Adjunct Professor at the Center for the Study of Humanitarian Law at the Royal University of Law and Economics, Cambodia.
Known as the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie is said to be the best-selling novelist of all time, outsold only by Shakespeare and the Bible. A new biography goes beyond our image of the matronly Edwardian lady to discover a woman that was, in many ways, an extraordinary pioneer.
Guest:
Lucy Worsley OBE - British historian, author, curator, and television presenter. She is Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces and also presents history documentaries for the BBC.
Her book is Agatha Christie: A Very Elusive Woman published in Australia by Hachette.
Known as the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie is said to be the best-selling novelist of all time, outsold only by Shakespeare and the Bible. A new biography goes beyond our image of the matronly Edwardian lady to discover a woman that was, in many ways, an extraordinary pioneer.
Guest:
Lucy Worsley OBE - British historian, author, curator, and television presenter. She is Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces and also presents history documentaries for the BBC.
Her book is Agatha Christie: A Very Elusive Woman published in Australia by Hachette.
Known as the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie is said to be the best-selling novelist of all time, outsold only by Shakespeare and the Bible. A new biography goes beyond our image of the matronly Edwardian lady to discover a woman that was, in many ways, an extraordinary pioneer.
Guest:
Lucy Worsley OBE - British historian, author, curator, and television presenter. She is Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces and also presents history documentaries for the BBC.
Her book is Agatha Christie: A Very Elusive Woman published in Australia by Hachette.
The race for the leadership of the Tory party has narrowed to Rishi Sunak and Penny Mourdant after former PM Boris Johnson pulled out. But there are still questions over whether the party can see out a full term regardless of who wins.
Guests:
Ian Dunt, Columnist with the “I” newspaper.
Naomi Smith, Chief Executive, Best for Britain, co-host ‘Oh God What Now” podcast.
The race for the leadership of the Tory party has narrowed to Rishi Sunak and Penny Mourdant after former PM Boris Johnson pulled out. But there are still questions over whether the party can see out a full term regardless of who wins.
Guests:
Ian Dunt, Columnist with the “I” newspaper.
Naomi Smith, Chief Executive, Best for Britain, co-host ‘Oh God What Now” podcast.
The race for the leadership of the Tory party has narrowed to Rishi Sunak and Penny Mourdant after former PM Boris Johnson pulled out. But there are still questions over whether the party can see out a full term regardless of who wins.
Guests:
Ian Dunt, Columnist with the “I” newspaper.
Naomi Smith, Chief Executive, Best for Britain, co-host ‘Oh God What Now” podcast.
The Treasurer Jim Chalmers is promising a 'responsible' budget. Laura Tingle believes the government will take the opportunity to set the tone for the next four years - and not scare the markets.
Guest: Laura Tingle, Chief Political Correspondent, 7.30
The Treasurer Jim Chalmers is promising a 'responsible' budget. Laura Tingle believes the government will take the opportunity to set the tone for the next four years - and not scare the markets.
Guest: Laura Tingle, Chief Political Correspondent, 7.30
The Treasurer Jim Chalmers is promising a 'responsible' budget. Laura Tingle believes the government will take the opportunity to set the tone for the next four years - and not scare the markets.
Guest: Laura Tingle, Chief Political Correspondent, 7.30
One of Australia's leading advocates for arts and culture, Esther Anatolitis has just taken up the mantle as Editor of Meanjin and has also been appointed to the council of the National Gallery of Australia by Federal Arts Minister Tony Burke.
One of Australia's leading advocates for arts and culture, Esther Anatolitis has just taken up the mantle as Editor of Meanjin and has also been appointed to the council of the National Gallery of Australia by Federal Arts Minister Tony Burke.
One of Australia's leading advocates for arts and culture, Esther Anatolitis has just taken up the mantle as Editor of Meanjin and has also been appointed to the council of the National Gallery of Australia by Federal Arts Minister Tony Burke.
Many literary journals have come and gone over the years, but two that have stood the test of time have been Meanjin and Overland. The founding editors, Clem Christesen and Stephen Murray-Smith were very different characters, but both were passionate about encouraging a new Australian cultural and literary tradition.
Guest: Jim Davidson, author of Emperors in Lilliput, published by Melbourne University Press
Many literary journals have come and gone over the years, but two that have stood the test of time have been Meanjin and Overland. The founding editors, Clem Christesen and Stephen Murray-Smith were very different characters, but both were passionate about encouraging a new Australian cultural and literary tradition.
Guest: Jim Davidson, author of Emperors in Lilliput, published by Melbourne University Press
Many literary journals have come and gone over the years, but two that have stood the test of time have been Meanjin and Overland. The founding editors, Clem Christesen and Stephen Murray-Smith were very different characters, but both were passionate about encouraging a new Australian cultural and literary tradition.
Guest: Jim Davidson, author of Emperors in Lilliput, published by Melbourne University Press
Phillip speaks to ABC legend Margaret Throsby about her incredible 55 years behind the microphone.
Guest:
Margaret Throsby, Australian radio and television broadcaster. Listen to the wonderful tributes to Margaret here.
Phillip speaks to ABC legend Margaret Throsby about her incredible 55 years behind the microphone.
Guest:
Margaret Throsby, Australian radio and television broadcaster. Listen to the wonderful tributes to Margaret here.
Phillip speaks to ABC legend Margaret Throsby about her incredible 55 years behind the microphone.
Guest:
Margaret Throsby, Australian radio and television broadcaster. Listen to the wonderful tributes to Margaret here.
UK Prime Minister Liz Truss may not last the week after her disastrous mini-budget crashed the British pound and she subsequently sacked her Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng. But do the Tories have a replacement?
Guest: Ian Dunt, Ian Dunt, Columnist with the “I” newspaper and author of How to be a Liberal
UK Prime Minister Liz Truss may not last the week after her disastrous mini-budget crashed the British pound and she subsequently sacked her Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng. But do the Tories have a replacement?
Guest: Ian Dunt, Ian Dunt, Columnist with the “I” newspaper and author of How to be a Liberal
UK Prime Minister Liz Truss may not last the week after her disastrous mini-budget crashed the British pound and she subsequently sacked her Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng. But do the Tories have a replacement?
Guest: Ian Dunt, Ian Dunt, Columnist with the “I” newspaper and author of How to be a Liberal
The 2022 federal election saw a wave of grass-roots community groups and volunteers coalesce behind a new group of independent candidates who came to be known as the 'Teals' for being not quite blue and not quite green. Turbo-charging their campaigns was the group called Climate 200, run by tech-turned political entrepreneur, Simon Holmes à Court.
Guest: Simon Holmes à Court, author, The Big Teal and Convenor of Climate 200.The Big Teal is published by Monash University Publishing.
The 2022 federal election saw a wave of grass-roots community groups and volunteers coalesce behind a new group of independent candidates who came to be known as the 'Teals' for being not quite blue and not quite green. Turbo-charging their campaigns was the group called Climate 200, run by tech-turned political entrepreneur, Simon Holmes à Court.
Guest: Simon Holmes à Court, author, The Big Teal and Convenor of Climate 200.The Big Teal is published by Monash University Publishing.
The 2022 federal election saw a wave of grass-roots community groups and volunteers coalesce behind a new group of independent candidates who came to be known as the 'Teals' for being not quite blue and not quite green. Turbo-charging their campaigns was the group called Climate 200, run by tech-turned political entrepreneur, Simon Holmes à Court.
Guest: Simon Holmes à Court, author, The Big Teal and Convenor of Climate 200.The Big Teal is published by Monash University Publishing.
Join theoretical physicist Dr Antonio Padilla as he takes on a journey through the most fascinating numbers in the universe.
Guest:
Dr Antonio Padilla - leading theoretical physicist and cosmologist at the University of Nottingham. Author of Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them: A cosmic quest from zero to infinity published by Penguin Random House.
Join theoretical physicist Dr Antonio Padilla as he takes on a journey through the most fascinating numbers in the universe.
Guest:
Dr Antonio Padilla - leading theoretical physicist and cosmologist at the University of Nottingham. Author of Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them: A cosmic quest from zero to infinity published by Penguin Random House.
Join theoretical physicist Dr Antonio Padilla as he takes on a journey through the most fascinating numbers in the universe.
Guest:
Dr Antonio Padilla - leading theoretical physicist and cosmologist at the University of Nottingham. Author of Fantastic Numbers and Where to Find Them: A cosmic quest from zero to infinity published by Penguin Random House.
A huge shift has occurred in Australia in the last few decades, away from union power and blue collar jobs, to exploitation of workers on a large scale.
Many businesses have in fact structured themselves to avoid paying the minimum wage.
Guest: Ben Schneiders, investigative journalist with The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald
Author of ‘Hard Labour: wage theft in the age of inequality’ (Scribe)
A huge shift has occurred in Australia in the last few decades, away from union power and blue collar jobs, to exploitation of workers on a large scale.
Many businesses have in fact structured themselves to avoid paying the minimum wage.
Guest: Ben Schneiders, investigative journalist with The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald
Author of ‘Hard Labour: wage theft in the age of inequality’ (Scribe)
A huge shift has occurred in Australia in the last few decades, away from union power and blue collar jobs, to exploitation of workers on a large scale.
Many businesses have in fact structured themselves to avoid paying the minimum wage.
Guest: Ben Schneiders, investigative journalist with The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald
Author of ‘Hard Labour: wage theft in the age of inequality’ (Scribe)
African American singer and actor Paul Robeson's rendition of the song Chee Lai - March of the Volunteers helped cement the song as the Chinese National Anthem and his position as a superstar in China. Sadly, his connections to the Communist Party meant he was banned from going to China by the American government.
Guest: Dr Gao Yunxiang, author of Arise Africa, Roar China: Black and Chinese Citizens of the World in the Twentieth Century published by the University of North Carolina Press
African American singer and actor Paul Robeson's rendition of the song Chee Lai - March of the Volunteers helped cement the song as the Chinese National Anthem and his position as a superstar in China. Sadly, his connections to the Communist Party meant he was banned from going to China by the American government.
Guest: Dr Gao Yunxiang, author of Arise Africa, Roar China: Black and Chinese Citizens of the World in the Twentieth Century published by the University of North Carolina Press
African American singer and actor Paul Robeson's rendition of the song Chee Lai - March of the Volunteers helped cement the song as the Chinese National Anthem and his position as a superstar in China. Sadly, his connections to the Communist Party meant he was banned from going to China by the American government.
Guest: Dr Gao Yunxiang, author of Arise Africa, Roar China: Black and Chinese Citizens of the World in the Twentieth Century published by the University of North Carolina Press
Coral Browne began her life in Footscray in Melbourne in the 1930's, and went on to be a leading lady in the West End during WWII in London and star in many Hollywood films. She was also known for her outrageous private life and for simply being fabulous. Now an Australian film is being developed to showcase her life and work.
Guests:
- Maureen Sherlock – playwright: ‘Coral Browne this f-ing lady’
- Genevieve Mooy – actor who played Coral
- Charlotte George, Director, ‘Coral Browne this f-ing lady’ (film in development)
Coral Browne began her life in Footscray in Melbourne in the 1930's, and went on to be a leading lady in the West End during WWII in London and star in many Hollywood films. She was also known for her outrageous private life and for simply being fabulous. Now an Australian film is being developed to showcase her life and work.
Guests:
- Maureen Sherlock – playwright: ‘Coral Browne this f-ing lady’
- Genevieve Mooy – actor who played Coral
- Charlotte George, Director, ‘Coral Browne this f-ing lady’ (film in development)
Coral Browne began her life in Footscray in Melbourne in the 1930's, and went on to be a leading lady in the West End during WWII in London and star in many Hollywood films. She was also known for her outrageous private life and for simply being fabulous. Now an Australian film is being developed to showcase her life and work.
Guests:
- Maureen Sherlock – playwright: ‘Coral Browne this f-ing lady’
- Genevieve Mooy – actor who played Coral
- Charlotte George, Director, ‘Coral Browne this f-ing lady’ (film in development)
With so little of the world left unexplored, travellers are now turning to time travel - not in Dr Who’s tardis, but through the exploration of abandoned places that take you back in history. Places abandoned due to war, changing ideologies and depleted resources hold a bleak fascination for travellers.
Guest: Travel writer Oliver Smith, author of Atlas of Abandoned Places: A journey through the world’s forgotten wonders” published by Hachette.
With so little of the world left unexplored, travellers are now turning to time travel - not in Dr Who’s tardis, but through the exploration of abandoned places that take you back in history. Places abandoned due to war, changing ideologies and depleted resources hold a bleak fascination for travellers.
Guest: Travel writer Oliver Smith, author of Atlas of Abandoned Places: A journey through the world’s forgotten wonders” published by Hachette.
With so little of the world left unexplored, travellers are now turning to time travel - not in Dr Who’s tardis, but through the exploration of abandoned places that take you back in history. Places abandoned due to war, changing ideologies and depleted resources hold a bleak fascination for travellers.
Guest: Travel writer Oliver Smith, author of Atlas of Abandoned Places: A journey through the world’s forgotten wonders” published by Hachette.
On Sunday October 16, the Chinese Communist Party will hold its 20th Congress. It is already a foregone conclusion that President Xi Jinping will be selected to serve his third five-year term — as head of the party, of state and the military. But how stable is Xi’s grip on power?
GUEST:
Richard McGregor, Senior Fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute.
On Sunday October 16, the Chinese Communist Party will hold its 20th Congress. It is already a foregone conclusion that President Xi Jinping will be selected to serve his third five-year term — as head of the party, of state and the military. But how stable is Xi’s grip on power?
GUEST:
Richard McGregor, Senior Fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute.
On Sunday October 16, the Chinese Communist Party will hold its 20th Congress. It is already a foregone conclusion that President Xi Jinping will be selected to serve his third five-year term — as head of the party, of state and the military. But how stable is Xi’s grip on power?
GUEST:
Richard McGregor, Senior Fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute.
As Australia and the US continue to repair relations in the Pacific, issues around the legacy of nuclear testing and worker shortages are still causing tension.
Guest: Tess Newton-Cain, Project Leader at the Pacific Hub at Griffith University in Queensland
As Australia and the US continue to repair relations in the Pacific, issues around the legacy of nuclear testing and worker shortages are still causing tension.
Guest: Tess Newton-Cain, Project Leader at the Pacific Hub at Griffith University in Queensland
As Australia and the US continue to repair relations in the Pacific, issues around the legacy of nuclear testing and worker shortages are still causing tension.
Guest: Tess Newton-Cain, Project Leader at the Pacific Hub at Griffith University in Queensland
Namarali is a new documentary about Worrorra Elder D Woolagoodja, and his trip to a sacred cave to re-paint a wandjina, or creation spirit, in a ritual of spiritual renewal for himself and his people.
Namarali is a new documentary about Worrorra Elder D Woolagoodja, and his trip to a sacred cave to re-paint a wandjina, or creation spirit, in a ritual of spiritual renewal for himself and his people.
Namarali is a new documentary about Worrorra Elder D Woolagoodja, and his trip to a sacred cave to re-paint a wandjina, or creation spirit, in a ritual of spiritual renewal for himself and his people.
On the anniversary of the 2002 Bali bombings, we look at the legacy of the attacks on Indonesia and how it manages Islamic extremists.
On the anniversary of the 2002 Bali bombings, we look at the legacy of the attacks on Indonesia and how it manages Islamic extremists.
On the anniversary of the 2002 Bali bombings, we look at the legacy of the attacks on Indonesia and how it manages Islamic extremists.
Female artists have been excluded from the historical canon of great art for centuries. Art historian and curator Katy Hessel is on a mission to make them household names.
Female artists have been excluded from the historical canon of great art for centuries. Art historian and curator Katy Hessel is on a mission to make them household names.
Female artists have been excluded from the historical canon of great art for centuries. Art historian and curator Katy Hessel is on a mission to make them household names.
As protests in Iran enter their fourth week, are we witnessing a new revolution in Iran, with women at its front and centre?
As protests in Iran enter their fourth week, are we witnessing a new revolution in Iran, with women at its front and centre?
As protests in Iran enter their fourth week, are we witnessing a new revolution in Iran, with women at its front and centre?
When Al Clark moved to Australia in 1988, he quickly embraced the beauty of the outback to serve as a backdrop for his early films - like Priscilla Queen of the Desert.
An inside look at the complicated relationship between Barack Obama and Joe Biden; a relationship which has shaped Democratic politics over the past 16 years.
An inside look at the complicated relationship between Barack Obama and Joe Biden; a relationship which has shaped Democratic politics over the past 16 years.
When Al Clark moved to Australia in 1988, he quickly embraced the beauty of the outback to serve as a backdrop for his early films - like Priscilla Queen of the Desert.
An inside look at the complicated relationship between Barack Obama and Joe Biden; a relationship which has shaped Democratic politics over the past 16 years.
When Al Clark moved to Australia in 1988, he quickly embraced the beauty of the outback to serve as a backdrop for his early films - like Priscilla Queen of the Desert.
An increasing number of cities in the UK and Europe are campaigning to be free of billboard advertising and instead showcase art, nature and ad-free space as alternatives to corporate outdoor advertising.
An increasing number of cities in the UK and Europe are campaigning to be free of billboard advertising and instead showcase art, nature and ad-free space as alternatives to corporate outdoor advertising.
An increasing number of cities in the UK and Europe are campaigning to be free of billboard advertising and instead showcase art, nature and ad-free space as alternatives to corporate outdoor advertising.
A new book 'Subimperial Power - Australia in the International Arena' argues Australians ought to be told what our relationship with the United States is really about: a relationship where we eagerly and routinely act to help the US keep its imperial position at the apex of global power.
A new book 'Subimperial Power - Australia in the International Arena' argues Australians ought to be told what our relationship with the United States is really about: a relationship where we eagerly and routinely act to help the US keep its imperial position at the apex of global power.
A new book 'Subimperial Power - Australia in the International Arena' argues Australians ought to be told what our relationship with the United States is really about: a relationship where we eagerly and routinely act to help the US keep its imperial position at the apex of global power.
Following the Conservative Party Conference, there is talk of a coup less than a month into Liz Truss' premiership.
Following the Conservative Party Conference, there is talk of a coup less than a month into Liz Truss' premiership.
Following the Conservative Party Conference, there is talk of a coup less than a month into Liz Truss' premiership.
Demand for public services has never been higher but with the federal government facing a trillion dollars of debt, questions are being asked about how our welfare system will cope with challenges like providing better aged care, improving childcare and lifting people out of poverty.
Demand for public services has never been higher but with the federal government facing a trillion dollars of debt, questions are being asked about how our welfare system will cope with challenges like providing better aged care, improving childcare and lifting people out of poverty.
Demand for public services has never been higher but with the federal government facing a trillion dollars of debt, questions are being asked about how our welfare system will cope with challenges like providing better aged care, improving childcare and lifting people out of poverty.
America is reeling from the devastating effects of Hurricane Ian, and the Supreme Court resumes this week. Could their next term be as controversial as the last?
America is reeling from the devastating effects of Hurricane Ian, and the Supreme Court resumes this week. Could their next term be as controversial as the last?
America is reeling from the devastating effects of Hurricane Ian, and the Supreme Court resumes this week. Could their next term be as controversial as the last?
Harold Holt is best known as the Prime Minister who drowned. He contributed to the end of the White Australia policy, and went 'all the way with LBJ'. Yet surprisingly little has been written about him.
Harold Holt is best known as the Prime Minister who drowned. He contributed to the end of the White Australia policy, and went 'all the way with LBJ'. Yet surprisingly little has been written about him.
Harold Holt is best known as the Prime Minister who drowned. He contributed to the end of the White Australia policy, and went 'all the way with LBJ'. Yet surprisingly little has been written about him.
From Emperor Hirohito's post-war apology, to JFK's invasion of Cuba, one speechwriter has scoured the world for the speeches, written but never heard, which would have changed history.
From Emperor Hirohito's post-war apology, to JFK's invasion of Cuba, one speechwriter has scoured the world for the speeches, written but never heard, which would have changed history.
From Emperor Hirohito's post-war apology, to JFK's invasion of Cuba, one speechwriter has scoured the world for the speeches, written but never heard, which would have changed history.
Professor Clive Hamilton has spent his life as a cage-rattler, speaking uncomfortable truths that have challenged us to review the way we think about the big issues.
During WW2 there was Bletchley Park in the UK and in the US it was Arlington Hall where US code breakers were cracking codes from Japan - and 70% of the code breakers were women.
From the Manchurian Candidate to QAnon, brainwashing has a more nuanced and complicated history than you might expect.
Over her career spanning six decades, Tasmanian painter Patricia Giles helped change the way Tasmanians see their home as she showcased, and encouraged people to fight for, the Tasmanian wilderness.
A generation of young men have flocked to Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and other conflict zones to fight. What is it like when a jihadist goes home?
The eloquent and fascinating double Booker prize winning author Hilary Mantel, discusses her triumphant interpretation of the major characters and events of Tudor England. Originally broadcast on 11 May 2015.
The ‘Trump of the Tropics’, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro looks set to be toppled by left-wing former president Lula da Silva in the country’s upcoming election. But will it really spell the end of the Bolsonaro era?
Throughout his life, Al Clark has followed his passion for cinema as a young boy in Spain, through a career in the music industry, and back to cinema again as a producer of films including Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
The American futurist and disruptor Buckminster Fuller influenced a generation of thinking around architecture, technology, start ups and how to change the world.
Last week India's Prime Minister Modi publicly criticised Vladimir Putin over Russia’s war in Ukraine. How might he respond now that Putin has raised the stakes, declaring 'partial mobilisation'?
Four current and former foreign correspondents talk about cultural compatibility; falling foul of the government you're reporting on; how they manage covering trauma and suffering; and the pro's and cons of being female journalists in conservative countries.
Republican governors have taken the border crisis to a new dimension, by sending asylum seekers to Martha's Vineyard and VP Kamala Harris' house, without warning.
The annual Australian Fairy Tale Society conference is coming up in Brisbane, on 1 & 2 October. The origins, meanings and potential for re-interpretation - and rewriting - of fairytales will be discussed.
A recent offensive has seen Ukrainian forces regain huge swathes of territory in the north-eastern Kharkiv region, sparking a wave of criticism of Putin both at home and amongst international allies.
Almost fifty years after the event, there is still much to reveal about the downfall of US President Richard Nixon. After a landslide re-election in 1972, it took just 100 days for his presidency to unravel amidst lies, burglary, backstabbing, counter-claims and senate committee hearings. So was Nixon a classical tragic figure or not?
At the start of the Second World War, Josephine Baker was a household name; the highest paid female performer in Europe. Overnight she went from singer to Resistance spy, her stardom providing the perfect 'cloak and dagger'.
The history of a large pastoral station is quite different when it's told by members of the indigenous community who lived there over many decades.
Elaine Pearson tells the story of how she became a human rights activist and how she maintains her hope for the future.
With elections due on September 25 following the resignation of Prime Minister Mario Draghi, Italy looks set to follow in the steps of Sweden and elect a far-right coalition, led by The Brothers of Italy. Their leader is Giorgia Meloni, so who is she and how will she approach her role?
How is our sense of smell connected to emotion and memory and an early warning not just of COVID but many other medical conditions.
Is it possible to mourn the individual that was Queen Elizabeth II, while having frank conversations about the enduring legacy of the British Empire?
Does the death of Queen Elizabeth present an opportunity for a reformation of the monarchy to a more budget, European style monarchy.
First Nations Chef Nornie Bero invites us all to open our hearts - and our pantries - to native ingredients.
Wire-tapping in the US dates back to the 1860s and where it was once seen as a dirty business that crooks were into, it is now a begrudgingly accepted tool in fighting crime.
Oliver Mol was a successful, healthy twenty-five-year-old writer when he developed a migraine that would last for ten months. He wanted to die. Eventually he got a job on Sydney Trains and his new book "Train Lord" details the characters he met and his journey to healing.
As the humanitarian disaster in Pakistan worsens, extremist groups are becoming more active in the North and South of the country. Crops are ruined, and the economy is in tatters. And, ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan is leading a populist campaign against the government. Will these intersecting crises destabilise Pakistan?
The era of Boris Johnson is over and we’ve entered the era of Liz Truss. She has promised to 'deliver, deliver, deliver', but what exactly will that look like?
Alexis Bergantz has just won the Australian History Prize in the 2022 NSW Premier's History Awards, for his book 'French Connection'.
A story of digging for gold in Ghana which has ended in numerous deaths of local miners and accusations of theft and corruption.
President Biden has come out guns blazing with an ominous speech aimed at Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans.
Who are the women across the history of Melbourne that should be immortalised in a statue?
Germany has announced a €65 billion relief package as inflation heads towards ten percent. But will more government spending help? And how effective are Reserve Banks at controlling inflation anyway?
While climate scientist Joëlle Gergis remains hopeful for the future of the planet, that hope must lead to action, not complacency.
While climate scientist Joëlle Gergis remains hopeful for the future of the planet, that hope must lead to action, not complacency.
In 2006, Phillip spoke to Mikhail Gorbachev during a visit to Australia about his life, leadership and interest in environmental issues.
In 2006, Phillip spoke to Mikhail Gorbachev during a visit to Australia about his life, leadership and interest in environmental issues.
The last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, has died at the age of 91. Eminent historian Professor Sheila Fitzpatrick reflects on the life and legacy of this political heavyweight.
The last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, has died at the age of 91. Eminent historian Professor Sheila Fitzpatrick reflects on the life and legacy of this political heavyweight.
Soil is mostly thought about in terms of agriculture or gardens. But it has many other dimensions - cultural, historical and often macabre.
Soil is mostly thought about in terms of agriculture or gardens. But it has many other dimensions - cultural, historical and often macabre.
Mark Pesce says the technologies of war have re-clothed themselves as the technologies of entertainment.
Mark Pesce says the technologies of war have re-clothed themselves as the technologies of entertainment.
John Farrow: Hollywood's Man in the Shadows is the first documentary ever made about enigmatic, Australian born, Oscar-winning filmmaker John Farrow, who went to the very top in Hollywood, but obscured his past from all who knew him.
John Farrow: Hollywood's Man in the Shadows is the first documentary ever made about enigmatic, Australian born, Oscar-winning filmmaker John Farrow, who went to the very top in Hollywood, but obscured his past from all who knew him.
Liz Truss is likely to be the new UK PM on Sept 5th, so how is she seen by other world leaders and how will she deal with rolling strikes and a cost of living crisis?
Liz Truss is likely to be the new UK PM on Sept 5th, so how is she seen by other world leaders and how will she deal with rolling strikes and a cost of living crisis?
Since its foundations in ancient Greece, women have been misdiagnosed, misunderstood and mythologised by Western medicine. The impacts of this deep medical misogyny are still felt today.
Since its foundations in ancient Greece, women have been misdiagnosed, misunderstood and mythologised by Western medicine. The impacts of this deep medical misogyny are still felt today.
The Saudi Arabian megalopolis will apparently include two 100km long rows of skyscrapers, a ski resort and swimming lanes for commuters.
The Saudi Arabian megalopolis will apparently include two 100km long rows of skyscrapers, a ski resort and swimming lanes for commuters.
How did the trench coat come to be such a universal expression of danger, adventure and secrecy?
How did the trench coat come to be such a universal expression of danger, adventure and secrecy?
Michael Pascoe explores vulnerability and friendship in his book which is part memoir, part reflection on men and values and death.
Michael Pascoe explores vulnerability and friendship in his book which is part memoir, part reflection on men and values and death.
"Nothing about us, without us" is the refrain of advocates who say refugee policy should not be made without their involvement in the process.
"Nothing about us, without us" is the refrain of advocates who say refugee policy should not be made without their involvement in the process.
James Marape has been re-elected Prime Minister in PNG and two women will join him in the Parliament and the US Deputy Secretary of State has been in the Solomon Islands to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the battle of Guadalcanal.
James Marape has been re-elected Prime Minister in PNG and two women will join him in the Parliament and the US Deputy Secretary of State has been in the Solomon Islands to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the battle of Guadalcanal.
An interview with Salman Rushdie from 1995 discussing the importance of freedom of speech.
An interview with Salman Rushdie from 1995 discussing the importance of freedom of speech.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the 'war on terror' prison at Guantanamo Bay. What will it take for the Biden administration to close 'Gitmo' once and for all?
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the 'war on terror' prison at Guantanamo Bay. What will it take for the Biden administration to close 'Gitmo' once and for all?
What are the commercial, scientific, cultural and political connections that Australia has with its southern neighbour, Antarctica over the last 150 years?
What are the commercial, scientific, cultural and political connections that Australia has with its southern neighbour, Antarctica over the last 150 years?
Ever since Myanmar's military leaders took control in a 2021 coup, the country has deteriorated into civil war. But who are the men in charge and what do they really want?
Ever since Myanmar's military leaders took control in a 2021 coup, the country has deteriorated into civil war. But who are the men in charge and what do they really want?
Laura dissects the biggest political story of the day - the decision by former PM Morrison to appoint himself to multiple portfolios in 2021.
Laura dissects the biggest political story of the day - the decision by former PM Morrison to appoint himself to multiple portfolios in 2021.
In a special ABC Arts Week discussion, writer Maxine Beneba-Clarke, musician PilAto and art historian and curator Aindrea Emelife discuss how they use art to change how we see and think about the world.
In a special ABC Arts Week discussion, writer Maxine Beneba-Clarke, musician PilAto and art historian and curator Aindrea Emelife discuss how they use art to change how we see and think about the world.
The five old Australian destroyers that were known as the scrap iron flotilla played a key role in the naval battles in the Mediterranean in WW2.
The five old Australian destroyers that were known as the scrap iron flotilla played a key role in the naval battles in the Mediterranean in WW2.
BBC Reporter Stephen McDonell talks about the current issues facing the people of China - COVID, a residential property crisis and escalating tensions with Taiwan.
BBC Reporter Stephen McDonell talks about the current issues facing the people of China - COVID, a residential property crisis and escalating tensions with Taiwan.
Our obsession with fluency could be hindering, rather than helping, our creativity, authenticity and persuasiveness.
Our obsession with fluency could be hindering, rather than helping, our creativity, authenticity and persuasiveness.
Cameron Murray explains how the ordinary Australian is being ripped off by powerful networks of mates. And how to stop it from happening.
Cameron Murray explains how the ordinary Australian is being ripped off by powerful networks of mates. And how to stop it from happening.
What’s behind the FBI search of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home, and what did they find? Plus, the price Alex Jones is paying for misinformation and a stunning abortion victory in Kansas.
What’s behind the FBI search of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home, and what did they find? Plus, the price Alex Jones is paying for misinformation and a stunning abortion victory in Kansas.
When Sam Vincent agreed to help out his father on his hobby farm two days per week, he never thought that he would end up running the farm - and loving it.
Tim Hollo has written an ecological manifesto for how we can not only survive, but thrive under climate change
Tim Hollo has written an ecological manifesto for how we can not only survive, but thrive under climate change
When Sam Vincent agreed to help out his father on his hobby farm two days per week, he never thought that he would end up running the farm - and loving it.
What do Japanese people find funny and how has Japanese humour changed through history? J
A Fascist’s daughter, a German spy, and an American socialite risked their lives to ensure that diaries written by the Italian Foreign Minister reached the Allies. The diaries would later be used as evidence against the Nazis at Nuremberg.
You may think the tea towel is best left in the kitchen but not so in Queensland. We meet the man who has amassed a collection of souvenir textiles which tell a very different story about the sunshine state.
Andrew Quilty tells the story of the day the Taliban arrived at the gates of the city of Kabul where he had been living and working as a photographer and journalist for more than eight years.
Papua New Guinea has a vibrant democracy, but its elections have been marred by violence, corruption and mismanagement. Now, the final vote count is underway and results expected soon.
A new documentary recounts the campaign to save Tasmania’s World Heritage-listed Franklin River from being drowned by the construction of a hydroelectric project in the early 1980s. But Franklin is also the story of a son coming to terms with the death of his father.
A replay of a long, biographical conversation with the veteran and fiercely independent British scientist, James Lovelock, who died on 26 July 2022.
Traditional owners are disputing the approval of a proposed uranium mine at Mulga Rock, about 240km west of Kalgoorlie.
Jack Latimore explains the many bumps in the road to a referendum on the Voice to parliament, and talks about his friend, the brilliant musician Archie Roach who died at the weekend.
Greek gods, the Parthenon and Socrates may be as familiar as notions of early Greek democracy, but author James Heneage tells the tales of lesser known aspects of Greek history over three millennia.
Greek gods, the Parthenon and Socrates may be as familiar as notions of early Greek democracy, but author James Heneage tells the tales of lesser known aspects of Greek history over three millennia.
For tens of thousands of years, Indigenous people in Australia have prepared and used plants to treat ailments. But what happens if a community wants to take their medicine to the world?
For tens of thousands of years, Indigenous people in Australia have prepared and used plants to treat ailments. But what happens if a community wants to take their medicine to the world?
There is a long history of people coming up with their own bold new ideas about how to stay well.
In Australia, there are links to be found between language used by contemporary wellness influencers resisting public health advice, and ideas that rippled through progressive, health-focused networks of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries.
There is a long history of people coming up with their own bold new ideas about how to stay well.
In Australia, there are links to be found between language used by contemporary wellness influencers resisting public health advice, and ideas that rippled through progressive, health-focused networks of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries.
Next week Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will address the Conservative Political Action Conference in Texas. What might the embrace of 'Orbánism' by the American right mean for US democracy?
Next week Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will address the Conservative Political Action Conference in Texas. What might the embrace of 'Orbánism' by the American right mean for US democracy?
The leadership contest in the UK is down to two candidates, so who are Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss?
The leadership contest in the UK is down to two candidates, so who are Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss?
In an era where every day seems to bring a fresh crisis, a new book looks at the subtle importance of ‘cheerfulness’, and how it has been a crucial yet overlooked part of the Western canon, spanning from the plays of Shakespeare to the songs of Louis Armstrong.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is on an extended visit to Africa this week, so what are Russia’s strategic goals in Africa?
Restaurant KOKS is a two star Michelin restaurant, which is a remarkable feat for a restaurant operating out of a farm house on the remote Faroe Islands. The restaurant only uses local produce on menu mostly sourced from the North Atlantic including shellfish, sea urchins, seabirds and whales.
Over the last few years, a number of countries around the world have introduced a “feminist foreign policy”. But what does that mean in practice – and does Australia need a one?
Eloghosa Osunde tells stories of the queer community of Lagos - known as vagabonds - that struggle to live their true lives in the bustling vibrant city in Nigeria.
Reductionist stereotypes of Africa continue to pervade our news and popular culture. In his new book journalist and writer Dipo Faloyin challenges these simplistic narratives of one of the most culturally diverse regions on the planet.
The internet has created a revolution in available data. In his new book, former Google data scientist Seth Stephens-Davidowitz reveals the surprising lessons from the vanguard of the big data revolution.
Earlier this month, the UN reported that as many as 828 million people were suffering from chronic undernourishment last year, with the war in Ukraine likely to push this number higher. Is it possible to regenerate our food systems to alleviate the global food crisis, whilst slashing emissions and restoring ecosystems?
Ali Millar was born into the Jehovah's Witnesses and spends her early life waiting for Armageddon. As she gets older she begins to question the religion's control over her life. But she knows that any attempts to leave risk losing all contact with her family.
The war in Ukraine continues to evolve, and Anne Applebaum explains why the latest bombings should be seen as state sponsored terrorism.
Emmy-award winning filmmaker Robert B. Weide on the extraordinary life of the great American author and thinker Kurt Vonnegut, and their 25-year friendship.
Likely to be voted in as the new President of Sri Lanka, current PM Ranil Wickremesinghe will have a tough job convincing the people to trust him to get out of the economic crisis the country is in.
‘Inspiration’ and ‘identity’ are hackneyed terms, but also very real phenomena, and film-maker Ben Lewin has been thinking about both.
Partly because of his latest film, a romantic comedy called ‘Falling for Figaro’, which is just out in Australian cinemas.
But also because of a couple of other films he’s working on, which feature characters who have had polio, as Ben himself has.
Leading 'citizen-historians' argue that their profession has a lot to offer in tackling our most pernicious problems, like climate change, democratic upheaval and our strained relationship with China. But in order to tackle the problems of the future, we also need a reckoning with our understanding of what Australian history is.
In the roaring 1920s, local and international performers flocked to Cairo to sing and dance in nightclubs, hotels and music halls in front of bustling crowds quaffing champagne and zabib. Extraordinary and trailblazing women were centre stage at the time and went on to shape Egyptian culture.
As the world strives to decarbonise and become more self-reliant in terms of energy, the small town of Yackandandah in Victoria is getting on with the transition.
The Pacific Islands Forum has a large contingent of non-member states in attendance this year, as global geo-political tensions play out in the region. Usually the focus is on internal Pacific matters, but the USA has announced new embassies for the region and Australia is there in large numbers trying to re-establish relationships with the regional leaders. And of course China is there too.
Since the start of radio and television, the quiz show has always been popular, whether the contestants are playing for a CD, a car or a million dollars. Brydon Coverdale is a now a professional quizmaster on the television program called "The Chase" and has written a book about his experiences as well as those of other quiz champions who came before him - from shows like Pick a Box and Sale of the Century. How has the quiz changed over time?
Hawaii has achieved a goal of having zero young women incarcerated.
The focus instead is on programs that help heal and support often traumatised young women, many of whom are indigenous Hawaiian, and have come through the child welfare system.
The people of Japan have been shocked by the assassination of former Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe. Still an enormously influential figure in Japanese politics, he is also being mourned across the globe as a great international leader. Political violence is rare in Japan, but Japan expert Roger Pulvers puts this assassination in an historical context.
After surviving years of political scandals, Boris Johnson has finally succumbed to pressure to resign as British Prime Minister, after over 50 government ministers quit their posts in protest. Is this really bye-bye Boris? If so, what kind of Britain does he leave in his wake?
The beloved koala was originally called the New Holland sloth. To the first European colonists, Australian wildlife was bewildering at best. But over the past two centuries a host of scientists and enthusiasts have transformed our relationship with the continent's animals.
One of the most significant whistleblowers of our time, 91-year-old Daniel Ellsberg, whose leak of the Pentagon Papers exposed US government lies and helped end the Vietnam War, speaks out in defence of Julian Assange and free speech. He argues that the only way for Julian Assange to get out of Belmarsh Prison, even to live, is for the Australian government to advocate now on his behalf.
The first ever international prison radio conference has just been held in Norway, bringing together representatives of prison radio shows from 19 countries, including Australia, where Indigenous people continue to be grossly over-represented in prison populations.
What to watch on NITV this NAIDOC week. SBS Director of Indigenous Content outlines some of television you can catch on NITV and SBS on demand this week - from crime thriller True Colours to the documentary series Off Country and Big Mob Brekky.
The Lismore-based national newspaper, the Koori Mail, is Australia's only fully indigenous owned and managed paper. When Lismore was flooded in March, the Koori Mail staff went above and beyond. That's now been recognised with a NAIDOC award for Innovation.
As climate and environment protest action steps up in the wake of more floods on the East Coast of Australia, state governments are cracking down on protesters with new laws in NSW and Tasmania.
Gun rights, abortion, now the environment. The US Supreme Court has curtailed the Environmental Protection Agency's power to regulate carbon pollution, slowing America's ability to deal with the climate crisis.
The #MeToo movement revealed the very ugly side of Hollywood's misogyny with hundreds of claims of sexual harassment and assault made not just against Harvey Weinstein but many other men working in the industry. What is surprising is that the film industry started out with many women filmmakers. It was only once the industry really started to make money that were women pushed aside. Can they now muscle their way back into more positions of influence?
NSW authorities are racing to stop the deadly varroa mite from spreading across borders and wiping out the country’s European honey bees. Will the arrival of the varroa destructor on our shores prompt a deeper conversation, about strengthening the resilience of our bee populations and perhaps even finding ways to live with the mite?
The Prime Minister is heading back to Australia after his attendance at the NATO Summit in Madrid, and a visit to Ukraine at the invitation of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Albanese’s European tour has been widely touted as a success, but there are concerns Australia’s new closer relationship with NATO could present us with some difficulties to navigate.
In its 90 years, the ABC has collected the sounds and sights of Australia from the centre of power in Canberra to the most remote Indigenous communities, documenting both everyday life and the moments that changed Australia. Now the ABC has announced that 58 staff may lose their jobs. Two archivists explain the importance of the ABC archive and the skills archivists bring to their profession that cannot be replaced.
John Pickup started his career at the ABC in the mailroom in Sydney, but quickly moved on to the sound effects department. He worked in television on the first broadcast as well as on the Melbourne Olympic Games. But he returned to his first love radio and went to on to work across the country in places like Broken Hill, Darwin and Mackay. To mark the 90th birthday of the ABC, he shares just some of the many stories from his brilliant ABC career.
One of the lesser known Greek islands is Kalymnos, on the Turkish side of the Aegean.
Last weekend the island had a significant event – the launch of a Greek language edition of a book that was first published in English in 1955.
The local population has only recently learnt of the existence of 'Mermaid singing', an account of life on Kalymnos.
It was written by Australian author Charmian Clift, who spent time there with her husband George Johnston and their two children, before they relocated to the island of Hydra.
As Myanmar descends deeper into a violent and brutal civil war, the plans by the military junta to execute two pro democracy figures, and place former leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi in solitary confinement is likely to inflame popular uprising against its rule.
The Scots' news push for independence, the Tories cop a hiding in two byelections and the Northern Ireland protocol bill passes the House of Commons.
In the era of fervent settlement activity around the Pacific rim - Australia, New Zealand, California - landscape photographers were key to the colonial exercise, a new book argues.
They showed usually empty landscapes devoid of indigenous people.
They contributed to prospective settlers’ interest in new lands.
And they built an emotional attachment to places.
This all strengthened the settler sense of territorialism.
A record shareholder action is underway in Japan as major energy companies face climate-focussed resolutions demanding more transparency around how they will reduce their emissions.
Women have taken to the streets across the 'land of the free' after the Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision eliminating the constitutional right to protection that had existed for nearly 50 years. Bruce Shapiro discusses what the controversial ruling means not only for American women, but for American democracy.
Australian author and essayist Frank Moorhouse died on the weekend. He was author of 18 books over his long and illustrious career and won the Miles Franklin award for his book Dark Palace which was the second book in what was known as 'The Edith Trilogy'. The series followed the life of career diplomat Edith Campbell Berry from her work at the League of Nations in the 1920s to her later career in Canberra. In this interview Frank and Phillip discuss the final book in the trilogy, Cold Light.
Recent reports by Oxfam have revealed that the wealth of the world’s 10 richest men has doubled since the pandemic began. They also estimate that a new billionaire was created every 30 hours during the pandemic, while a million people could fall into extreme poverty at same rate in 2022. Tackling these unprecedented levels of inequality will require the courage to 'break free from the narrow straitjacket of extreme neoliberalism'.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in Madrid for the Nato summit, but how will he navigate the tension between the G7's push-back against China's influence in the world and Australia's economic relationship with the global powerhouse?
The modern conservation movement only really began in the late 19th century and since then, has gone through many shifts in its quest to protect animals. It's history is filled with equally passionate and flawed figures.
The eminent Harvard historian says we came inches from disaster when Russian forces shelled a nuclear power plant in Ukraine. In a timely new book he looks at the history of nuclear accidents and the near inevitability of another Chernobyl, and argues that we must remember this history when contemplating the future of the industry.
When is locally made and funded film and television ‘Australian’ enough? And who decides?
Australia is acquiring eight nuclear powered submarines from the United States under AUKUS. The agreement is still being worked out but what are the pros and cons of stepping across the nuclear threshold?
Foreign minister Penny Wong visits the Solomon Islands to hold talks with Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare while the US discusses their special military relationship with the Marshall Islands.
Fairy tales tell us the wolf is a bad guy who wants to eat you. But following the rewilding of the Grey Wolf into Yellowstone National Park and some US states, the canis lupus is back, but not everyone’s happy.
Australia needs to reset its whole engagement with the Pacific, and a set of papers released today steps out how that might be done.
The papers, from Australian think tank AP4D, cover climate change, economy, digital and security.
If you think Australia's economy is looking worse for wear, the picture in the United States looks even bleaker, and the 'r' word is being tossed around - recession. Meanwhile, Trump's vice president Mikle Pence has been painted a hero at the third round of the Watergate-style hearings into the January 6 Capitol riots.
Four thousand Australian soldiers in World War II who signed up for service never fired a weapon.
They were called ‘aliens’ or ‘enemy aliens' - non-British subjects who, despite being passionate about wanting to fight Hitler, had to battle for the right to fight for Australia against the Nazis.
Across the globe, migrant workers are more likely to get underpaid but various states and cities are introducing new laws and innovations to solve the problem.
The final Senate lineup is now known, with the last of the votes counted. The newest enators include a former Afghan refugee from Perth, for Labor; and a Victorian conspiracy theorist for the United Australia Party. The Energy Security Board has recommended a new capacity mechanism. And school chaplains are no longer compulsory.
How is it that most of us have not known the name of a man who broke out of Auschwitz as a 19 year old, and was able to tell the world about the terrible, terrible things that were happening there.
He was Rudolf Vrba, although he was born Walter Rosenberg.
A new book, instantly a bestseller, tells his story.
It's described by historian and author Antony Beevo as 'an immediate classic of Holocaust literature'.
Journalist and academic Margaret Simons reveals why she is more depressed about the state of Australian journalism now than at any other point during her 40-year career, and what an overhaul of our press might involve.
Inaugural Shackleton Medal winner Dr. Heïdi Sevestre ‘reads’ glaciers from one of the world’s global warming tipping points.
Since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, life for writers and journalists has become increasingly risky. PEN International has helped many escape the oppressive regime, but ultimately these writers want to be home.
Ian Dunt brings us up to date on the Northern Ireland Protocol saga that threatens to spark an EU/UK trade war, and the 11th-hour intervention that halted the UK's controversial plan to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda.
Dom Phillips, the Brazil-based British journalist who is missing in the Amazon, feared murdered, was a much appreciated guest on this program. He appeared twice.
Dom has disappeared with his Brazilian colleague, Bruno Pereira.
Some of their belongings have been found.
Dom was writing a book about saving the Amazon.
His Brazilian mother-in-law, Maria Lucia Faria, has implored the public to not let Dom’s death be in vain.
Keep the spotlight on the Amazon, she said.
In that spirit, we are replaying you Dom’s last interview with us, in October 2019, in which he explains the politics and vested interests in the Amazon.
From coconuts to call centres, and kava to clothing: is it greater trade with the Pacific that's needed, rather than aid?
Might more investment and trade be the key to strengthening Pacific island nations, and Australia's ties with the region?
We discuss what’s possible, and what’s stopping more trade commitments.
Devastating testimony from some of Trump's former top officials reveals what occurred on Election Day 2020, but it remains unclear whether Trump knew his election claims were false, or was convinced they were true. The point could be a lynchpin in any future prosecution.
It’s one of the world’s most important, and miraculous, lakes; the lifeblood of the ancient Kingdom of Angkor and the millions of people who still subsist on its floodplains. Yet Cambodia’s Tonle Sap Lake is dying and, with it, a way of life.
The federal election has been said to have plunged the Liberal Party into an 'existential crisis', after it lost a number of its heartland seats. In this discussion we go right back to 1944 to look at the party that Sir Robert Menzies founded, to discover where and how the Liberal Party has strayed from its roots, and what the future might hold for Australia's most successful political party.
This year marks the 200th anniversary of the Frenchman Jean-François Champollion’s decipherment of hieroglyphs and 100 years since the British archaeologist Howard Carter found King Tutankhamen’s tomb filled with all those bewitching treasures in the Valley of the Kings. To celebrate, three Ancient Egyptian scholars dust off their boots and down tools to discuss their incredible discoveries and what life is like as a contemporary archaeologist.
In a wonderful book, Emma Smith explores the many functionalities that books have held through the ages, as props, tools for propaganda, as construction materials and even as shields. She explores the idea that books do have their own "bookhood" beyond the words inside them.
A huge data leak, being called the ‘Xinjiang Police Files’, has revealed details of thousands of Uyghurs locked up in so-called re-education camps in Xinjiang.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised to hold a referendum on the Voice to Parliament in his first term. Where will this process start? And can the Federal Government learn anything from the reconciliation and treaty processes that have already begun in Victoria.
Throughout history the centre of gravity in Budapest and among Hungarians has shifted between East and West - culturally, politically, emotionally.
As Bougainville inches its way closer to independence from Papua New Guinea, mining companies from around the world are manoevering to get first dibs on the rich seams of gold and copper on the island.
A new report has found that some mining companies are making payments to local landholders, to strengthen their prospects.
And that two different companies recommended to the new Bougainvillean government that mining rights be issued to offshore companies in secret locations.
The report, titled Scramble for Resources: The International Race for Bougainville’s Mineral Wealth, is by the Jubilee Australia Research Centre.
The public hearings of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol begin this week, eight days before the 50th anniversary of the Watergate scandal that led to the hearings that revealed the 'Smoking Gun' tape and brought down Nixon. Could the Jan 6 hearings make as big of a splash?
So many historical accounts have missed extraordinary women, whose lives have not been celebrated in the way they should have been.
But a feisty Australian character has been unearthed. Rachel Kennedy belies many of the stereotypes of her time.
She was a 19th century brumby hunter, nurse, bushrangers’ ally, and 'troublemaker for good'.
The war in Ukraine has exposed the extent to which Russian money has infiltrated the UK. When did Britain start to become the world’s ‘butler’, servicing wealthy elites without asking questions? Oliver Bullough exposes how Britain’s lip service to fair play and the rule of law has long belied a more sinister reality.
Bernard Keane discusses the challenges facing the new Labor government including gas prices, industrial relations and mending relationships in the Pacific and now Indonesia
In a rather unusual move, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised to bring imperial units of measurement back into British shops as a gift for the Queen on her platinum jubilee. Behind this provocative proposal is a rich history of measurement and how it has been used for centuries as a means of making sense of our world.
Lech Blaine spent five weeks on the campaign trail and met some very interesting people on his journey through Queensland in particular. He introduces us to some of the swinging voters and why some people were changing from voting for One Nation to voting for the Greens. He has written a colourful cover piece for The Monthly which is called "Teal and Loathing".
They were erroneously referred to as the ‘drug grannies’. In 1978, two American women in their late 50s/early 60s, life companions and not a grandchild between them, were charged with importing into Australia a two-tonne load of cannabis resin, or hashish, in a campervan.
Vera Hays and Florice Bessire had unwittingly, according to former journalist Sandi Logan, who has stayed with their story for 40 years, become drug mules for Vera's charismatic nephew.
The pair from Oregon had never been overseas before, and found themselves on a hair-raising journey through Europe, Afghanistan and India, to Australia.
On WA's Burrup peninsula in the Pilbara a site of significant Indigenous rock art is at risk from Woodside petroleum's plan to massively expand its Pluto LNG project in Karratha by bringing in more gas from the Scarborough gas fields offshore.
Climate analysts say the project so big, it would blow our chances of ever reaching our carbon reduction targets.
There is no doubt Winston Churchill's legacy is complicated. Generally considered as one of the greatest leaders of the twentieth century - he was nonetheless a man with some challenging characteristics. Veteran journalist and author Geoffrey Wheatcroft brings an alternative analysis to the life of Winston Churchill.
At the National Press Club before the election, the now Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced that her government would implement a First Nations Foreign Policy and since the election she has referred to this new policy several times. James Blackwell explains what a First Nations Foreign Policy could look like.
Most of the objects found on shipwrecks on the maritime silk route have not been fully understood because they were salvaged without proper archaeological processes and often sold on the private market for huge sums of money.
Now Flinders University archaeologists will lead an international consortium to discover the origin of ancient ceramics from the route with the hope of returning them to their countries of origin.
Putin's invasion of Russia has breathed new life into the alliance Trump considered 'obsolete'. As Sweden and Finland are poised to become the latest members, it's worth considering what the purpose of NATO actually is and whether it has made, and will continue to make, the world a safer place.
Over the last few years there’s been growing momentum for green jobs, green manufacturing and Green New Deals to reverse climate change and provide for an equitable transition. But, for the most part, there has been little talk of the ‘blue’ – the importance of the world’s oceans to this effort. Chris Armstrong sets out to change this, by providing an urgent case for the need to save the oceans, and a radical roadmap to do so.
Everywhere in the world that boatloads of asylum seekers land, or where they are detained, there are local people who will inevitably be affected by what they see, and possibly by ongoing involvements.
But we don’t hear much about those people.
They are the host communities, effectively, even though they usually didn't choose to be.
This story looks at Christmas Island, with reference also to the Italian island of Lampedusa.
Bestselling author of Reading Lolita in Tehran Azar Nafisi argues that in order to resist the populist and polarising impulses of contemporary politics we must read dangerously; works by authors like Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, Elias Khoury and Ta-Nehisi Coates that challenge comforting clichés and attempt to change the world.
China were one of the first countries to offer support for the Taliban regime when they seized power in 2021. Where are relations now?
What is the Pacific response to the new Labor government and can new foreign minister Penny Wong build relationships and regain trust with both our Pacific neighbours and China? Meanwhile her Chinese foreign minister counterpart, Wang Yi, is doing a whistlestop tour of the Pacific.
Franziska Stünke's new film explores the life of Werner Teske, a Stasi agent who has the ignoble title of being the last person to be executed in East Germany in 1981.
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine drags on, it's clear the West is getting a very different version of the war to the people of Russia who are accessing their news on Russian State television. Vladimir Putin has been drawing on the language of WW2 to keep the population behind the war on Ukraine.
North Korea has taken advantage of the war in Ukraine to step up its military activity, but could a Covid wave present a diplomatic opportunity? Plus, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spends his first day on the job at a Quad meeting in Tokyo.
Roland Ennos believes that we take trees for granted, and that in fact wood and trees have played a significant role in human evolution. From when we lived in trees to using wood to create tools, fire, houses, boats and paper, wood has proved the most versatile of materials.
Laura Tingle and Niki Savva analyse the election outcome and what the new Parliament will look like. What will the results mean for the Labor Party, the Liberal Party, the Nationals and how will Anthony Albanese manage the huge number of independents in both the lower house and the Senate.
Two new books look at the lives of the remarkable Prichard/Throssell family.
20th century novelist Katharine Susannah Prichard was a founding member of the Communist Party in Australia.
In her last years in Perth, and after her death, she was referred to as The Red Witch, although the meaning of that depended on who was saying it..
Katharine’s son, Ric Throssell, was a diplomat who was accused of being a Russian spy, and that plagued him all his life.
James Zimring explains why our inability to fully understand and process fractions, percentages and numbers has profound ramifications not only for our lives and wellbeing but also in the way we think.
There are grave fears that a decaying oil tanker off the coast of Yemen could result in one of history's most disastrous oil spills, and exacerbate the world's worst humanitarian crisis. A small window of opportunity has opened for a U.N. mission to avert the crisis, but whether it can be pulled off will come down to global political will.
As the war drew to a close in Europe, American scientific intelligence officers were looking for weapons - rockets, biological and chemical weapons that they would take back to America. But they were also looking for the scientists and engineers that had overseen their design and construction, so they could offer them a new life in America where they would share their knowledge and secrets in return for wiping their record of atrocities clean. It was called Operation Paperclip. Author Kelly Rimmer has fictionalised the account of one German scientist and his family in a new book.
The politics being played out in the various coal electorates has received surprisingly little attention in this election campaign.
But investigative journalist Marian Wilkinson has been on the ground in the NSW Hunter region, listening to what voters are being told and promised.
She says it's a different story there and in some QLD seats, compared to the messaging for city voters.
Journalist and media diversity advocate Antoinette Lattouf thinks that Australia needs to find new ways to talk about racism - not only about the structural racism that works against immigrants of colour and the First Nations population of Australia, but also how to deal with casual and overt racism on a day to day basis.
Australia is facing an extinction crisis, yet the environment has been almost completely absent from debates during the election campaign. What pledges and policies have the major parties announced when it comes to biodiversity and conservation, and what do those working in the field want the next federal government to prioritise?
Laura Tingle and Niki Savva analyse the final weeks of the campaign including the new housing policy from the Coalition and the pitch from Prime Minister Morrison that he is no longer a bulldozer. And has Anthony Albanese has done enough to recover from his early campaign jitters to give voters a convincing alternative.
As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi navigates the country's delicate relationship with China, and defends India's position of neutrality on the Russia/Ukraine war, the country's position in the world is more important than ever.
Author John Zubrzycki has looked to the past to understand the politics of the present in India.
You might think surgery is a fairly modern phenomenon, but in the Stone Age cavemen performed neurosurgery and their patients lived to tell the tale! Ancients Egyptians, Greeks and Romans picked up the mantle of surgery before it was thrust into the hands of barbers. It's since come leaps and bounds, but the development of robotics has placed surgery at another crossroads.
Conservation technologist Topher White is re-purposing old mobile phones to defend the world’s rainforests from illegal logging and to monitor the sounds of important species of birds and animals.
Sarah Collard reports on her week on the campaign bus with Scott Morrison and the issues that Indigenous Australians would have liked to see on the front pages. She also profiles some of the Indigenous candidates that are running this election across the nation and the political divide.
Tania de Jong tells the incredible story of the renowned Austrian/Australian sculptor Karl Duldig, his artist/inventor wife, Slawa Horowitz-Duldig and their escape from the holocaust in a new musical called Driftwood.
Irish artists of every kind - performers, writers, sculptors, musicians, the lot - are nervously waiting to hear if they will be among the 2000 people to be allocated a Basic Income for three years.
The Irish Government has announced this pilot program for artists impacted by the pandemic – billed as a New Deal, and a once in a lifetime policy intervention.
Could we, and would we, do it in Australia? Or is Ireland, where culture is so embedded in identity, a unique case.
Chloe Maxmin and Canyon Woodward were mid-twenties climate activists when they turned their skill at organising social movements into a political campaign that led them to turn the heart of red rural America blue. Now they've written a tough-led letter to the Democratic Party and provided a roadmap for other progressive politicians to connect with rural voters.
Housing has entered the election debates, with each major party making different promises. But what do the experts say about how far these proposals might go to address the affordability crisis, in both house prices and rents, hitting hundreds of thousands of Australians? Two experts discuss the election pledges and float their own possible solutions.
In the third and final part of this series drawing on themes discussed in Satyajit Das' new book Fortune's Fool: Australia's Choices we discuss Australia's 'houses and holes' economy and the risks inherent in our dependence on our current housing system and mineral wealth.
Independents are challenging two key seats in SA: the state's most marginal seat of Boothby, and the surprise seat of Grey. Will the Senate race in SA see the return of Senator Rex Patrick, will Nick Xenophon make a come-back and could the Greens pick up a second seat?
Lynette Wallworth is a an Emmy Award winning film maker and artist. Earlier works include Collisions and Awavena that used virtual reality technology to demonstrate the clashes between Indigenous cultures and the modern world. In her latest work she comes out from behind the camera to tell her own story of the four years she spent in a cult.
Three years before the British atomic tests at Maralinga, in remote South Australia, there were two big tests at Emu Field, a red earth claypan about 200kms from Maralinga.
It was 1953, and it was an experiment that took little care to protect Aboriginal people in the wider area, or Air Force personnel who were instructed to fly into the cloud.
And yet we barely know anything about it.
Hanging was a significant part of life in the colony of NSW; reported on, speculated on, and gossiped about.
The hangmen themselves were the bogey men of popular culture, cast as evil or undesirables.
One though – the colony’s longest serving hangman – was a bit different to his predecessors, seen as more stable and thoughtful.
Over the last week temperatures breached 45 degrees Celsius in at least nine Indian cities, a potentially deadly heatwave for a country where less than 12 percent of people have access to air-conditioners.
Boris Johnson's leadership will again be tested as the local council elections take place this week across the UK. And in Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein looks set to have a historic first-time win to become the largest party in the Stormont.
The selection of novels reviewed by major newspapers can come down to topicality of theme, click bait potential, and whether or not a particular freelance reviewer is available at the time.
In a meta exercise, a recent article reviews a book about book reviewers, and analyses the changing culture of literary criticism.
The selection of novels reviewed by major newspapers can come down to topicality of theme, click bait potential, and whether or not a particular freelance reviewer is available at the time.
In a meta exercise, a recent article reviews a book about book reviewers, and analyses the changing culture of literary criticism.
Louisa Lim delves into the rebellious history of Hong Kong, and tells the extraordinary story of the eccentric self-titled "King of Kowloon", whose determination to cover the city in his message of territorial ownership came to reflect the spirit of a nation repressed by global super-powers.
Louisa Lim delves into the rebellious history of Hong Kong, and tells the extraordinary story of the eccentric self-titled "King of Kowloon", whose determination to cover the city in his message of territorial ownership came to reflect the spirit of a nation repressed by global super-powers.
A leaked draft reveals that the Supreme Court has voted to strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, how student debt is perpetuating the racial wealth gap and a new report reveals Harvard's ties to slavery.
A leaked draft reveals that the Supreme Court has voted to strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, how student debt is perpetuating the racial wealth gap and a new report reveals Harvard's ties to slavery.
With current Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte ineligible for re-election, son and namesake of the former dictator Ferdinand Marcos Jr is currently poised to win a landslide victory when the country heads to the polls on May 9. With its implications for democracy, the looming election has been described as the ‘most consequential in modern Philippine history’.
With current Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte ineligible for re-election, son and namesake of the former dictator Ferdinand Marcos Jr is currently poised to win a landslide victory when the country heads to the polls on May 9. With its implications for democracy, the looming election has been described as the ‘most consequential in modern Philippine history’.
After launching Labor's election campaign in WA, Anthony Albanese has been campaigning in Queensland, where Labor is hoping to pick up the seat of Brisbane, and hold on to other inner urban seats. But they face significant challenges from the Greens and from One Nation, whose leader Pauline Hanson is likely to gain a seat in the Senate.
After launching Labor's election campaign in WA, Anthony Albanese has been campaigning in Queensland, where Labor is hoping to pick up the seat of Brisbane, and hold on to other inner urban seats. But they face significant challenges from the Greens and from One Nation, whose leader Pauline Hanson is likely to gain a seat in the Senate.
Ukrainians and their supporters around the world are racing to save Ukraine’s cultural heritage.
Thousands of people are archiving, digitising, and rescuing digital resources before they are wiped.
Our Ukrainian/American/Canadian guest, Ksenya Kiebuzinski, adds that the Ukrainian diaspora has a long history of preserving and circulating cultural artefacts.
Ukrainians and their supporters around the world are racing to save Ukraine’s cultural heritage.
Thousands of people are archiving, digitising, and rescuing digital resources before they are wiped.
Our Ukrainian/American/Canadian guest, Ksenya Kiebuzinski, adds that the Ukrainian diaspora has a long history of preserving and circulating cultural artefacts.
Young people are growing up with the knowledge that they will bear the brunt of today's policies, yet they have no say in the political process. Increasingly, political scientists are making the case that not only are young people capable of voting, their doing so might go some way to cleaning up politics and reversing democratic decline.
Young people are growing up with the knowledge that they will bear the brunt of today's policies, yet they have no say in the political process. Increasingly, political scientists are making the case that not only are young people capable of voting, their doing so might go some way to cleaning up politics and reversing democratic decline.
The Persian empire was the world’s first superpower.
Its geographical spread was from Libya down to Ethiopia, and across the Middle East to Pakistan and India.
Its heart, and main seat of power, was in what is now Iran.
But much of what we know about it is skewed, because our understandings of the Persians have been shaped by the Greeks, who were not big fans
There have been violent clashes in multiple cities in Sweden over rallies by anti-Islam group Hard Line, led by the Danish-Swedish politician Rasmus Paludan. Meanwhile Sweden and Finland are pushing to join NATO in the wake of the Russia/Ukraine war, with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson saying Sweden had to be “prepared for all kinds of actions from Russia.”
The confirmation that the Solomon Islands have signed a security treaty with China has landed right in the middle of Australia's election campaign. But what does the treaty mean for the people of the Solomon Islands?
In 1851, the Great Exhibition was held in London in the spectacular Crystal Palace. One person watching how this event changed London was Charles Dickens. At the peak of his powers, Charles Dickens was initially doubtful about the event, despite being one of the exhibits. Did this event change Charles Dickens, London and the world?
The American culture wars are heating up, with self-proclaimed 'free speech fundamentalist' Elon Musk set to take over Twitter and Disney dished a punishment for speaking out against what critics call the 'Don't Say Gay' bill, signed by Florida governor and prominent Republican Ron DeSantis.
How the loss of high profile Liberals will impact on the election campaign in WA, is Labor's Pacific plan enough to counter Scott Morrison's claims they are weak on China and has the government abandoned its net zero by 2050 climate change policy?
Often overlooked in annual Anzac Day commemorations, has been the historical strength of anti-war sentiment among Australian ex-servicemen and women from WW1 to the Gulf War. During WW1 there were 23,000 courts martial of Australian soldiers for desertion or going AWOL. This program sheds light on the many who resisted war however they could, and reveals the determination of certain leaders to continue prosecuting WW1, despite repeated chances to settle for peace.
Originally broadcast on 22 April, 2021
Often overlooked in annual Anzac Day commemorations, has been the historical strength of anti-war sentiment among Australian ex-servicemen and women from WW1 to the Gulf War. During WW1 there were 23,000 courts martial of Australian soldiers for desertion or going AWOL. This program sheds light on the many who resisted war however they could, and reveals the determination of certain leaders to continue prosecuting WW1, despite repeated chances to settle for peace.
Originally broadcast on 22 April, 2021
Emerging First Nations astrophysicists Krystal de Napoli and Karlie Noon explore the connections between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander environmental and cultural practices and the behaviour of the stars, and what must be done to preserve this knowledge into the future.
Boris Johnson has been fined for breaking COVID regulations during lockdown. Could the proposal to send illegal migrants to Rwanda merely be a distraction or is it serious policy?
Rick Morton, Bridie Jabour and Farz Edraki all grew up in rural Australia and have ended up working as writers and journalists. While their experiences were all very different, they all felt like outsiders at different times in their own communities. They share some experiences from their childhood that have made them the observers and writers that they are today.
Confusion abounds after a Trump-appointed judge in Florida ruled that mask mandates on all transport should be lifted. Plus, what is President Biden doing to tackle gun violence in the wake of a spate of horrific mass shootings? And what has he done to infuriate climate activists?
Philippa Cullen was an Australian dancer, choreographer and teacher in the 1960s and early 70s who was at the forefront of the electronic music scene before she died in India, aged 25.
It has been frustrating for most of the world to watch on as international bodies such as the United Nations Security Council and NATO have not found ways to intervene in Ukraine, despite Ukrainian President Zelensky’s pleas for intervention to happen.
What is the UN Security Council, in particular, for? And why can't it be more effective?
Anthony Albanese's gaffes continue, the campaign gets nasty over the cashless debit card and a new party launches in Tasmania.
For the last three years John Shipton has campaigned tirelessly across the globe to secure the freedom of his son Julian Assange. Now as Julian enters his third year in maximum security at Belmarsh Prison, his fate is in the hands of the UK Home Secretary who still has the final say on whether Julian should be extradited to the USA to face espionage charges. The last few years of John Shipton and Stella Moris's campaign for Julian's release have been documented in a new film - Ithaka.
We speak to three impressive young women breaking down barriers and putting the voices of those most affected by the climate crisis at the front and centre of the conversation.
Have you ever wondered about the first living creature to deliberately make a noise? What can we learn from the shape of our own ears about how the first sea creatures evolved to hear. Biologist David George Haskell has though a lot about the sounds found in nature. He believes that the significance of the evolution of sound has long been underestimated and under-researched. Humans need to listen more and make less noise, because the louder humans get, the greater the loss of sound diversity which will also hasten species loss.
What were the places and periods of Deep Time actually like?
A bestselling new book by first time author Thomas Halliday has been billed by writer and environmentalist Bill McKibben as: ‘as close to time travel as you are likely to get.’
The late Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching's legacy was the enactment of Magnitsky laws. But what are these laws and how are they being used against Russian oligarchs during the war in Ukraine?
Sarah Collard reports on the low rates of Indigenous Australians on the electoral roll especially in remote communities, and how does the lack of progress on reconciliation and constitutional recognition play into Indigenous disengagement with the electoral process.
A tiny town in upstate New York has is heading for a showdown between bitcoin miners and a group of citizens looking to stop the industry in its tracks.
Sri Lanka is experiencing its worst ever economic crisis.
The entire cabinet resigned last week, and people can’t afford food or fuel.
Protestors are focused angrily on the strongman president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
There are fears of a national collapse.
Will possible war crimes in Ukraine cause the US to soften its stance on the International Criminal Court? Plus, some good news with the historic confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson as US Supreme Court Justice.
Unlike their earlier iterations, the digital nomad is now being welcomed across many countries as COVID has made working remotely much more acceptable and available. The digital nomad is seen as an economic asset. But what does it mean to our understanding of what home is. Is it wherever you lay your laptop?
In the second part of this series drawing on themes discussed in Satyajit Das' new book Fortune's Fool: Australia's Choices we discuss the challenges facing China’s economy, and where this leaves Australia, given our current economic dependence on China.
Anthony Albanese falls at the first hurdle, Scott Morrison has a Tudge problem and where the seats will be won and lost. Laura Tingle unpacks day one of Election 2022.
The Sassoon family was a dynasty of traders who had fled Baghdad as Jewish refugees, and carved out enormous wealth in India, China and the UK.
They were often, by the 19th century, referred to as the Rothschilds of the East.
Over the last few years instances of taxpayers’ money being spent to gain political advantage have continued to come to light. A new book makes a compelling case for the establishment of a strong national anti-corruption body and the enactment of other vital democratic reforms to restore accountability and trust.
The story of a brother and sister duo who lived extraordinary lives. He was a showman – the Mighty Apollo. She was an outback publican.
Jon Faine, best known as a broadcaster, became Apollo's lawyer in the early 1980s.
His book is part memoir, part extraordinary tale, and part reflection on Australia and indigenous rights and culture.
Investigative journalist Sally Hayden discovered acts of murder, enslavement, torture, imprisonment, rape, and persecution in Libyan refugee detention centres which the UN Human Rights Council found ‘may amount to crimes against humanity'.
Why is the UK Government planning to sell Channel Four and what has Keir Starmer achieved in his two years as the leader of the opposition.
Emmanuel Macron became President of France in 2017 in a shock victory that overturned political conventions in France. By claiming the centre, he has pushed other political parties further to the left and right. Has he done enough to retain the trust of the people and remain President of the Republic?
It's been a week of historic developments, with a group of New York City Amazon workers voting to form a union and anti-lynching legislation being passed after 200 attempts across 100 years.
After Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, members of the Communist Party of Australia could now support the war against Hitler and for a brief moment they too could be patriots. The legacy of this golden era can still be felt in Australia today, despite their loss of influence in modern politics. Historian Stuart Macintyre documented the rise and fall of the Communist Party of Australia in his last book before he died in November 2021.
Following Timor-Leste's presidential election on the 19th of March, Nobel laureate and former president Jose Ramos-Horta looks set to make a comeback. But with no candidate achieving 50% of the vote in the first round, a run-off election is due to be held on the 19th of April. In the meantime, the country's future hangs in the balance.
Will the budget's cost of living measures be enough to convince voters to re-elect the government? Or will Labor's aged care and wages promises cut through? And how damaging will the ongoing NSW pre-selection drama be for the Liberals in NSW?
For centuries, art censorship was a top-down phenomenon. Popes, kings and dictators got to decide which artworks were politically deviant, blasphemous or obscene. But today, thanks to art activists and social media campaigns, art censorship is beginning to happen from the bottom-up.
There are plenty of platforms and voices currently criticising the ABC, but as it begins its 90th year, where are the voices recognising what the ABC achieves not only as a media organisation but also as a cultural institution.
Barely five years into her public life, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has become a household name not just in the United States, but around the world. A new biography traces her phenomenal rise and the effect that her polarising presence in Washington has had on both the left and the right.
The Australian government is increasingly worried about China establishing a military presence in Solomon Islands. Meanwhile development agencies say Australia has dropped the ball on aid to the Pacific and meaningful action on climate change. So will additional measures announced in the federal budget be enough to re-secure our position in the region?
Whether it be Saint Peter standing at the Pearly gates, Dante’s raging Inferno or the Taoist netherworld of hungry ghosts, images of the afterlife are deeply ingrained in the human psyche. Phillip takes a tour through heavens, hells and phantasmagorical lands of the dead envisioned throughout history.
There are reports Russia has been engaging a private security organisation called The Wagner Group to beef up its forces in Ukraine. But Russia is not the only state to engage in such tactics, which can be used to lower official casualty rates and deflect responsibility for acts of war.
President Biden escalated his rhetoric concerning Russia during a visit to Europe over the weekend, while back in the U.S. revelations have continued to surface around the January 6th attack on the Capitol.
Historian Joan Beaumont recalls what it was like for Australians living through the dark and foreboding years of the Great Depression.
Pakistan’s prime minister and former cricket celebrity Imran Khan faces his biggest political challenge yet, with a no-confidence motion tabled today which could see Khan ousted from power before the end of his five-year term. What’s behind the political turmoil, and what are the odds that Imran Khan will survive this challenge?
Cost of living pressures, fuel excise cuts and big spending on infrastructure and defence will be key features of Treasurer Josh Frydenburg's fourth budget, but where is the money coming from, and will the government's spend be enough to win them an election?
Astronomer Avi Loeb discusses the Galileo Project he has set up to monitor for interstellar objects and unidentified aerial phenomena. He also explains his theories about Oamuamua which he believes is an interstellar object from a civilisation in another galaxy.
Many scandals have emerged about Australian soldiers' behaviours in recent international conflicts.
In the US, one of the most controversial military figures is Eddie Gallagher.
He was a Navy SEAL, and a Special Operations Chief, who was accused and acquitted of murdering a badly wounded young Islamic State prisoner in Mosul, in northern Iraq, in 2017.
A new book looks at that man, and the military culture he was operating in. It asks broader questions about what should be permissible in war, and who is setting the standards.
Next month is the 100th anniversary of the CWA – the Country Women’s Association - which was formed in NSW.
Its reputation for scones and handcrafts belies its many other activities, which were sometimes radical for their times, and often in support of the greater needs of the nation.
Professor Carl Rhodes argues corporations are appropriating progressive causes for their own benefit, creating a polity increasingly dominated by corporate interests, ultimately standing in the way of social progress, economic equality and sovereignty of the people.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces criticism after comparing the invasion of Ukraine to Brexit, and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is freed after being detained for six years in Iran, only to face attacks from online trolls following her first press conference.
Harmony Week was developed out of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on 21 March, but many people from diverse backgrounds think the reframing around "harmony" is taking the focus off their experience of racism. Sukhjit Khalsa is a slam poet, playwright and director who has developed work around growing up as a Sikh Australian. She is developing a new rap on this issue of reframing and the pigeonholing of people from diverse backgrounds.
There's a lithium boom, and the two biggest sources of lithium are Australia and Chile. We look at the very different industries in the two countries, and what's at stake for both.
The Supreme Court confirmation hearings are underway for Ketanji Brown Jackson, who is set to make history as the first black woman to be appointed to the US Supreme Court in 233 years. Plus, Ukrainian asylum seekers at the border with Mexico add pressure on the Biden administration to change restrictive Trump-era policies.
The leaders of the East German state encouraged all the population to write and set up writing groups in factories and government departments across the country. One of the most surprising was a poetry circle established within the Stasi - the secret police who were monitoring the population's every move. Their goal was to bring down capitalism through verse. Philip Oltermann has dug through the Stasi archives to find this incredible true story.
As indiscriminate bombings continue and the number of civilian casualties grows, there is hope that Ukraine and Russia might reach a negotiated peace agreement that brings the war to a halt. If that fails, how likely is it that President Putin will be removed from power by the Russian elites themselves?
Labor wins a landslide election in SA, with women leading the way, but One Nation is also on the rise.
Wendy McCarthy chats with Phillip about her life as an activist, a campaigner and a board member - starting from her days with the Women's Electoral Lobby in the 1970s to the recent decriminalisation of abortion in NSW.
As countries like Australia and America struggle with racism within their countries, Chandran Nair wants us to start recognising the global white privilege which manifests in geopolitics, climate change, education, culture and even sport.
The writer Alice Pung says that ‘literature is a good place for us to share our feelings, our language, our inner lives.
‘Literature is a refuge.’
And yet, she says, when marginalised people write books, the treatment of those books can miss much of the nuance that other authors might enjoy.
The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change outlines disruption and decline in agricultural production and increased stress in rural communities in Australia.
Sarah Collard reports on the trial of Zachary Rolfe for the murder of Kumanjayi Walker and what the not guilty verdict means for the family of Kumanjayi Walker and for the community of Yuendemu.
We think of ourselves as superior to the rest of the animal kingdom. But Dr Ashley Ward argues that in an increasingly polarised world, there is a lot we can learn from observing the behaviours of social creatures, from elephants to Antarctic krill.
We preface Ukrainian President Zelensky's address to Congress and the pressure it will put on the President Biden to provide more assistance to Ukraine. Plus, on the domestic front a troubling wave of anti-abortion legislation is cropping up in various states.
Language expert Simon Horobin muses on the changing meaning of words, phrases, and punctuation.
Over the next few months, we'll be discussing some of the economic choices and challenges facing Australia, drawing on themes discussed in Satyajit Das' new book Fortune's Fool: Australia's Choices. This month, we take a look at the social and economic faultlines that have been exposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, and some of the trends that we're seeing in the domestic economy as a result of several challenging headwinds.
Flood fury, petrol pain and defending Defence, Laura Tingle takes a look at the week in politics.
The role of Africa, and Africans, has been sidelined from the story of the making of the modern world, an acclaimed new book argues. The examples include the great expansion and exploration of Europeans to Asia and the Americas, from the 1400s through to the 1600s, that was only possible because of earlier involvements in Africa and the reality that the founders of America only had the time to write and reflect on how to build their new nation, because slaves were on hand to cook, clean and grow their wealth from their labors on the plantations.
In a new podcast series, National Geographic Explorer Tara Roberts joins a group of Black scuba divers as they traverse the globe in search of buried shipwrecks from the transatlantic slave trade and uncover the truth of their history.
Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Sudan have all been suspended from the African Union after recent military coups. Chad and Zimbabwe have also experienced military coups in recent years. So what's behind the unrest?
Ian Dunt discusses where the United Kingdom has been performing well, and where it hasn't, in responding to the war in Ukraine. Plus, how are perceptions of 'Europe' changing in response to this crisis?
History tried to hide the fact that explorer Louis de Freycinet's wife Rose stowed away on his ship and circumnavigated the world in 1818.
The war in Ukraine is already causing food shortages in Ukraine, but soon the food shortages will also be affecting the rest of the world. Grain prices are skyrocketing and the globally significant wheat harvest from Ukraine seems unlikely to make it to export to countries who rely on it like Yemen and Lebanon.
President Biden has some big choices to make about Ukraine. Will he ban Russian oil imports, and split from the European position? How much US aid can he, or will he, send to Ukraine?
A new global history of sport sweeps across countries and cultures, arguing that sport inevitably reflects the cultural time and place in which it operates.
We also talk about the legacy of Shane Warne, with one of the world's pre-eminent sports historians.
The risks of a nuclear incident are increasing in Ukraine as Russia captures both the Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactors. Meanwhile, here in Australia we are drawing loser to the USA with Pine Gap likely playing a critical role in the war in Ukraine.
PM Scott Morrison calls for increased defence spending and cops criticism for the government's slow response to the flood crisis, and women step up their demands for the federal government to act on gender issues.
For decades, writer and publisher Julianne Schultz has been thinking about the historical legacies and contradictions that have prevented Australia from finding a unified sense of purpose and identity.
Her new book is part memoir, part political analysis, with philosophical and insightful observations about this country and where it could be, or should be, headed.
For decades, writer and publisher Julianne Schultz has been thinking about the historical legacies and contradictions that have prevented Australia from finding a unified sense of purpose and identity.
Her new book is part memoir, part political analysis, with philosophical and insightful observations about this country and where it could be, or should be, headed.
Troy Bramston's biography of Bob Hawke sheds new light on the personal and professional struggles as well as the extraordinary achievements of Australia's 23rd Prime Minister.
Judith Wright is most famous for her poetry, but she also wrote hundreds of essays, speeches and letters which reveal her changing ideas on poetry, Indigenous Australians, the environment and what it means to be Australian.
Judith Wright is most famous for her poetry, but she also wrote hundreds of essays, speeches and letters which reveal her changing ideas on poetry, Indigenous Australians, the environment and what it means to be Australian.
Last month, five former Chagos Islands residents returned to their homeland without a British escort for the first time since they were forcibly removed fifty years ago. It was a symbolic moment in their attempts to challenge the United Kingdom's claim to the Chagos Archipelago. Author and international lawyer Philippe Sands advises the government of Mauritius government on the status of the Chagos Archipelago, and he joined the Chagossians on this emotional journey.
President Joe Biden vowed to fight Russian aggression in Ukraine and tackle inflation with American manufacturing, in his first State of the Union address. He reassured listeners around the world that the state of the union is strong, but it remains to be seen whether this historic address will be enough to reverse President Biden's falling approval ratings at home.
A direct descendant of Fletcher Christian separates myth from reality and tells the story of the mutiny on the Bounty, William Bligh, Fletcher Christian and Pitcairn Island.
Despite nearly 50% unemployment in Gaza, the highly educated, young and resourceful population are creating job opportunities in IT, agriculture and renewable energy. Janine di Giovanni introduces us to just a few of them.
Tonga continues the clean-up from the volcanic eruption, the Solomon Islands deals with a challenging COVID outbreak, and we get an update on the moves towards independence in Bougainville.
Tonga continues the clean-up from the volcanic eruption, the Solomon Islands deals with a challenging COVID outbreak, and we get an update on the moves towards independence in Bougainville.
Since the Green Revolution our diets have become increasingly homogenised, with a handful of companies in control of everything from seeds, to cheese cultures, to beer. The foods we're losing represent much more than sustenance, they are intimately connected to thousands of years of culture and could be the key to our survival as a species.
As Russian troops advance towards Ukraine's capital Kyiv and peace talks begin, journalist Nataliya Gumenyuk provides an update on the situation on the ground in Kyiv.
Australia steps up sanctions against Russia, how will this play into the upcoming election? And flood disasters in QLD and NSW, but the federal government hasn't spent any of its four billion dollar disaster fund.
Australia steps up sanctions against Russia, how will this play into the upcoming election? And flood disasters in QLD and NSW, but the federal government hasn't spent any of its four billion dollar disaster fund.
Mary Seacole is a British icon. In a 2004 poll she was voted the greatest ever black Briton
She was a Jamaican British nurse who tended soldiers during the 1850s Crimean War – and sold them food and drink. But fellow nurse Florence Nightingale was not a fan.
While the government has been looking to younger people, backpackers and overseas students to help fix our workplace skills shortages, older workers are penalised for staying in the workforce if they are on a pension.
While the government has been looking to younger people, backpackers and overseas students to help fix our workplace skills shortages, older workers are penalised for staying in the workforce if they are on a pension.
Nick Oliver inherited his grandfather’s substantial collection of letters of complaint.
Bruce Henningham wrote polite, formal and sometimes witty letters about tea bags, hand rails, biscuits, and television shows. No subject was too trivial.
So Nick has started a podcast, 'Stirring the possum', where he simply reads his grandfathers letters.
This week marks 50 years since President Richard Nixon's historic visit to China, which he described as 'the week that changed the world'. It followed then opposition leader Gough Whitlam's visit the year before, in 1971. Five decades on, America's and Australia's relationships with China have reached another low. Are there lessons for today's leaders in the events of 1971 and 1972?
Flowers are possibly the most ubiquitous symbols - or manifestation - of beauty that we humans enjoy. They have dazzled us in art, culture and mythology for millenia. But inherent in the appeal of cut flowers is a disconnection from nature. And it's a global industry that reinforces wealth divisions and harms the environment.
As Russian troops reportedly move into the Donbass region, we speak to Ukrainian journalist Nataliya Gumenyuk who has recently profiled some of the people living in this region. Weary from eight years of conflict, they say that war “is not an apocalypse but an ugly routine”.
Troop movement into the Donbass region of Ukraine puts President Biden under pressure, as do climbing crimes rates domestically. In good news, a historic settlement has been reached for the families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. Will it pave the way for other families to achieve similar justice?
Troop movement into the Donbass region of Ukraine puts President Biden under pressure, as do climbing crimes rates domestically. In good news, a historic settlement has been reached for the families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. Will it pave the way for other families to achieve similar justice?
For centuries diplomatic gifts had the power to make or break alliances, and in many cases that's exactly what happened. The Statue of Liberty and the Resolute Desk are icons of this peculiar element of statecraft, but over time the practice has extended to everything from wheels of cheese, to beavers, to a golden room panelled entirely with amber.
The first summit between Africa and the European Union in five years sees a support package aimed at mitigating reliance on China and Russia.
The PM creates sparks on the campaign trail, reds under the beds and Grace Tame hits back at the media.
The PM creates sparks on the campaign trail, reds under the beds and Grace Tame hits back at the media.
Writer Russell Shorto's grandfather was a mob boss in a small town in Pennsylvania.
He ran an extensive gambling-based enterprise.
This background was rarely talked about in Russell's family, so the decision to delve into the past was a difficult one.
The proportion of Christians that identify as Pentecostals has increased from 6% in 1980 to 25% in 2020. Journalist Elle Hardy has travelled the world visiting megachurches to try and find out why they have been so successful in bringing new believers into the fold.
The proportion of Christians that identify as Pentecostals has increased from 6% in 1980 to 25% in 2020. Journalist Elle Hardy has travelled the world visiting megachurches to try and find out why they have been so successful in bringing new believers into the fold.
Laurie Winkless introduces us to tribology and explains why the science of rubbing, sliding, friction, lubrication and surfaces is so integral to both the modern and natural world.
The Australia Democracy Network have put a stethoscope on the chest of Australia’s democracy and diagnosed it as seriously unwell.
The Australia Democracy Network have put a stethoscope on the chest of Australia’s democracy and diagnosed it as seriously unwell.
If you take a look at Australia’s history books they’re full of the tales of blokes and rather lacking in women. History buff, actor and comedian Eliza Reilly decided to rectify this oversight and tell the tale of some of the forgotten women of Australian history.
If you take a look at Australia’s history books they’re full of the tales of blokes and rather lacking in women. History buff, actor and comedian Eliza Reilly decided to rectify this oversight and tell the tale of some of the forgotten women of Australian history.
In the wake of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to Australia and the Pacific, we reflect on what the visits represented, how they were perceived, and the US view of Australia under the Biden Administration.
We remember prominent anti-war activist and social critic Todd Gitlin. Plus, as the showdown between Putin and Biden reaches a climactic stage, what cards do each have left in their hands to play?
Henry 'Chips' Channon penned his diaries from 1918 while working as an attache to the American Embassy in Paris until his final years as an MP in the House of Commons in 1958. He wrote down his observations of the people he met with wit, candour and humour from Hitler and members of the royal family to his many lovers of both genders as well as the gossip he gathered from dinners and parties he attended. Now the three volumes of his diaries are being published giving us a real time recollections of both the big and small issues of the day.
Six months on from the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan is facing an economic implosion and, according to the United Nations, more than half the population now face starvation. Foreign correspondent Christina Lamb has just returned from Afghanistan and says that in her 35 years as a reporter, she has never seen anything of this magnitude.
PM Scott Morrison fails to secure Religious Discrimination Act, sexual harassment of women firmly back on the agenda and NSW by-elections point to a party on the nose.
PM Scott Morrison fails to secure Religious Discrimination Act, sexual harassment of women firmly back on the agenda and NSW by-elections point to a party on the nose.
Between the 1920s and the 1990s over 500,000 prisoners underwent plastic surgery in US prisons. This was offered as part of their rehabilitation in the belief that improving a prisoner's appearance would improve their chances of getting a job once out of jail. But did it work? And what does it tell us about the harsh realities of appearance bias.
Dr Colin Manock’s job was to determine how people died, and all the consequences that follow – criminal prosecution, or grief over an unfortunate accident..
And yet various court cases and other reviews have found that the former Chief Forensic Pathologist of South Australia made some serious errors.
Dr Colin Manock’s job was to determine how people died, and all the consequences that follow – criminal prosecution, or grief over an unfortunate accident..
And yet various court cases and other reviews have found that the former Chief Forensic Pathologist of South Australia made some serious errors.
Simon Parkin tells the story of Hutchinson Camp, where the British government interned thousands of refugees from Nazi oppression during the Second World War, including a dazzling array of artists, academics, musicians, writers and actors.
The long history of terrorism in Australia reminds us that geographic borders cannot prevent the transmission of extreme ideologies that can lead to violent attacks. Terrorism in Australia has taken many forms and says a lot about the many different communities that have sought refuge here, as well as our capacity to grow our own extreme ideologies.
This week Prime Minister Boris Johnson has had several staff leave over the parties that were held during lockdown, and now also over his comments regarding opposition leader Keir Starmer's role in the failure to prosecute acknowledged paedophile Jimmy Savile. Could this be the final straw for the gaffe prone PM?
This week Prime Minister Boris Johnson has had several staff leave over the parties that were held during lockdown, and now also over his comments regarding opposition leader Keir Starmer's role in the failure to prosecute acknowledged paedophile Jimmy Savile. Could this be the final straw for the gaffe prone PM?
Journalist Gary Nunn is a sceptic but his sister Taren is a believer. After watching her go to psychics for years he wanted to look into the human impact of the psychic industry, so he put a number of our institutions to the test.
There has been a lot of hype about green hydrogen, but now there is talk about blue, grey and even pink hydrogen. What are the benefits and risks that come with hydrogen as an alternative form of energy?
Debates about free speech and censorship rage in the States as a wave of book bans sweep schools and Spotify declines to distance itself from controversial podcaster Joe Rogan. Meanwhile, the Republican Party makes clear what it considers 'legitimate political discourse' - the January 6 attacks on the Capitol.
Philosopher A.C. Grayling considers three major threats to humanity and how a universal ethics or set of values might help alleviate the problems.
Political scientist Dr Brian Klaas has interviewed over 500 people, from former presidents to war criminals, to uncover the nature of power: who it attracts, who gets it, how it changes us and how we can prevent its abuse.
Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce embroiled in text message scandal, the military called in to help the aged care crisis and debate over the Religious Discrimination Bill.
In 1922 the BBC was founded by three men with almost no broadcasting experience and a bold vision: to remake culture for the good of humanity. To mark its centenary, we look back at the triumphs and trials of the BBC's first 100 years and consider whether it's still an institution worth fighting for.
If we stopped using monoculture farming practices, most of would starve within a year. But it doesn't mean the practice isn't without significant problems.
A ‘generational change’ is underway in Chile.
A youthful new government has been elected, led by 35-year-old President-elect Gabriel Boric.
Boric recently announced a female-dominated Cabinet, which includes the grand-daughter of former Socialist leader Salvador Allende. She will be the Minister of Defence.
And there are moves to limit lithium mining, which the world will be watching anxiously.
It is now more than 2 weeks since a huge volcanic eruption generated a 15m tsunami which hit the islands of Tonga leaving hundreds homeless and the islands covered in ash. Now COVID has sadly made its way to the Pacific Island nation along with the aid arriving from around the world. And what is the current situation in the Solomon Islands where 100 Australian police and army arrived in November last year?
Ann Newmarch and Hossein Valamanesh are two world renowned Adelaide based artists who sadly died last month. Ann Newmarch was at the vanguard of progressive feminist art in the 1970s and continued to make provocative art throughout her highly successful career. Hossein Valamanesh brought his Iranian heritage and his love of poetry into his artworks creating pieces that inspired contemplation and a connection to nature. Both will be sadly missed by the art community.
History professor John Keane argues we need to harness the radical potential of democracy or the despots and demagogues will win.
Justice Stephen Breyer's decision to step down, at 83, gives President Biden the chance to nominate the first black woman to the Supreme Court.
The protracted war in Yemen has escalated in recent weeks, with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels launching two separate missile strikes on the United Arab Emirates, which forms part of the Saudi-led coalition. As the conflict spills over Yemen's borders, the United Nations predicts that January will likely mark the highest number of civilian casualties in the country in a single month since the war began in 2014. Meanwhile, roughly 16 million Yemenis face famine, with no prospects for peace in sight.
As we kick off an election year, a timely collection of Australian political essays has been released. They include analysis of Labor's loss of the 'unlosable' 2019 election.
The crisis in aged care, funding for the Great Barrier Reef, and how many political donations do we ever find out about?
Author Johann Hari argues our collective attention span is declining rapidly, and there are sinister reasons behind it.
Ian takes us through exactly how Westminster’s party-gate has played out – and is likely to play out.
And argues that the UK needs to respond much more effectively to the Ukraine/Russia crisis.
Indigenous lawyer Megan Davis is a republican, but she is foremost an advocate for changing the constitution to meet the requirements of the Uluru Statement. She believes that the unfinished business of a voice to parliament needs to be enshrined in the constitution before a republic can be considered. Unless you reconsider the whole constitution at once.
The Australian Republic Movement have released their constitutional model for Australia to become a republic. After the failure of the referendum in 1999, they have opted for a direct election model, which they believe will have a better chance of success at a referendum. But the proposal doesn't please everyone.
Fifty years ago, Gary Foley was among the protestors that established the Aboriginal Tent Embassy on the lawns of Parliament House. What started out as a media stunt turned into one of the most significant and enduring protests for Aboriginal land rights and sovereignty. This year it is celebrating fifty years of endurance.
Joe Biden faces a number of challenges as he heads into the second year of his presidency, from escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine to the defeat of his sweeping voting rights bill.
The Arctic Treeline circles the world in an almost unbroken ring, almost like a green halo. But as the climate warms the trees are marching towards the pole at an unprecedented speed, turning the white Arctic green. It's not the same story across the Arctic, but as writer Ben Rawlence discovered during his visits between 2018-2020, strange things are happening wherever you look in the boreal forest, and it's threatening ancient ways of life.
After weeks of diplomatic talks, 100,000 Russian troops remain stationed at the border with Ukraine. Moscow correspondent for the New Yorker Joshua Yaffa tells us why he thinks we're seeing these events unfold now, and what the situation looks like from Moscow. Joshua is also the author of Between Two Fires: Truth, Ambition and Compromise in Putin's Russia.
Laura Tingle looks back at PM Scott Morrison's summer of pain and points forward to the upcoming election.
Bernadette Brennan has written a biography of the award winning author Gillian Mears that reveals a woman her friends called 'skinless'. She was incredibly sensitive and vulnerable to the world around her, absorbing both the emotion and the physical details. She used the experiences of both her life and sometimes ruthlessly she also drew on the lives of those closest to her in her work.
Sicily lies at the crossroads of the Mediterranean and for over 2,000 years has served as a gateway between Europe, Africa and the East. The island survived a string of colonisations by the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Normans and the Spanish, each of whom left their indelible mark on Sicilian culture and politics. A new book traces the impact of the island’s deep cosmopolitan roots.
The mostly Muslim Ottomans at one point ruled over a quarter of Europe, but they have been often cast out of European history.
The reality, says historian Marc David Baer, is that Ottoman history is very much European history.
Especially as the Ottomans were a surprisingly mixed bunch, of various religions, and there was much cultural and religious exchange between them, and other Europeans.
The history of feminism is littered with so called difficult women. Women who defied the conventions of their time to make life better for their contemporaries and those that followed at work, at home, on the streets and in public life. Many of their battles are continuing today as we have seen in Australia. UK journalist Helen Lewis documents just a few of these women.
During WW2 Australia, NZ and Britain launched a secret military operation to infiltrate Borneo, under Japanese occupation. But first they needed to persuade the indigenous Dayaks, notorious head-hunters - to assist the Allies in defeating the Japanese
From fingerprints to firearms, bite marks and fibres - Brandon Garrett author of autopsy of a crime lab explains why the impression of forensic evidence as an all powerful infallible technology and science is far from the truth.
Kate and Maggie Fox were infamous in 19th century America for their ability to speak for the dead through some strange knocking sounds - and they weren't the only women who were making a living from talking to the dead. Other women like Emma Harding and Victoria Woodhull used their abilities as spiritual mediums to raise awareness of the progressive issues of the time like abolition of slavery and equal rights for women. Were the women charlatans or true believers, or simply riding the wave of the latest craze?
Strangers do it, friends do it, politicians do it and so do bonobos and chimpanzees.
But what is the biological purpose of the handshake and why has it outlasted other forms of greeting?
When Nadia Wassef, her sister Hind and friend Nihal started their bookshop, Diwan, back in 2002, they had no idea that ten years later they would be running ten bookshops across Egypt meeting a growing demand for books both in Arabic and English, French and German. There were many bumps in the road, and there was certainly a toll taken on their personal lives, but now looking back she can see what she learnt about her country and herself along the way.
In the midst of the 2012 siege of Daraya, a band of young Syrian revolutionaries embarked on an extraordinary project, rescuing all the books they could find in the bombed-out ruins.
They collected 15,000 and set up a secret underground library where books became their ‘weapons of mass instruction’ and reading their daily act of resistance.
Charles Masson was a red-haired Englishman with a Cockney accent, a self-taught archaeologist who, in the 19th century, became the first westerner to explore Afghanistan’s ancient past.
At the end of the First World War, the German doctor Hans Prinzhorn began collecting the paintings, drawings and sculpture of psychiatric patients. Their work inspired a generation of modernists including Max Ernst, Paul Klee and Salvador Dali, but when Hitler came to power the Prinzhorn artists were caught up in the Führer's war against 'degenerate' humans.
In the depths of the Holocaust, twenty-five young inmates of the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp were selected to make high-end fashion for the Nazi elite. The Upper Tailoring Studio, housed in an SS admin block, became a vital hub of resistance as the dressmakers of Auschwitz used their sewing skills to survive.
In 1939, Billie Holiday stood up on stage in a Manhattan hotel and performed Strange Fruit, a haunting protest song about the lynching of Black Americans.
That night, the young jazz singer received a warning from the Federal Bureau of Narcotics never to sing the song again. Holiday’s lifelong defiance of that warning led to her being relentlessly pursued by Harry Anslinger, the racist director of the FBN.
Author Johann Hari talks to Phillip about the new Billie Holiday biopic based on his book Chasing The Scream.
There has been a global boom in high-rise construction and people living vertically. But can we live in them happily and build them sustainably?
Over the centuries, people of all cultures have made and used clocks, from the city sundials of Ancient Rome through hourglasses and medieval water clocks to atomic time-keeping devices. But clocks are not just a way of measuring time. Throughout history they have also been deployed as instruments of faith, money and power, imposing social order and regulating behaviour.
Do nothing, say nothing only makes it worse. Philosopher Lee McIntyre explains why it's vital to push back against science denial and disinformation.
Scattered across the Murray Darling basin are numerous wetlands, 16 of them deemed important enough to be protected by the international RAMSAR Convention.
But environmental historian Emily O’Gorman says it is a mistake to set wetlands aside as areas not available for human interaction and use.
Because humans, especially Aboriginal people, have been intertwined with these places, always.
Herbert Vere Evatt had been on the High Court of Australia for almost ten years when he stood down to run for Federal Parliament in 1939. Much has been written about his political life but a new biography from Gideon Haigh looks at some of his legal arguments on the High Court to better understand his brilliant legal mind. He tells the story of the death of seven year old Max Chester and his mother's claim for compensation for the 'nervous shock' his death caused her and explains Justice Evatt's influential and yet dissenting judgement.
Buying and selling water is more complex, a new book argues, than the markets for many other tradeable commodities.
It is a ruthless market, and it pits institutional traders – banks and hedge funds – against farmers.
On 19th June 1953, Ethel Rosenberg was sent to the electric chair with her husband Julius. The young couple had been found guilty of conspiracy to commit espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union.
For those on the right, Ethel Rosenberg got what she deserved as a Communist spy. For those on the left, Ethel was an icon of flawed justice whose cause was championed by everyone from Einstein to the Pope.
A new biography offers a fresh take on Ethel's controversial story.
Quentin Beresford analyses the environmental history of the basin.
When he delved into the historical records, he found a recurrent theme of two strands of violence: against indigenous people, and against nature.
People across the world are constantly building replicas of Stonehenge. From permanent stone structures to small models made of cheese and laptops, the prehistoric monument continues to inspire. Nancy Wisser, the editor of Clonehenge, a blog dedicated to keeping track of the replicas, explains where they are and why they keep being built.
New research indicates that sperm whales were able to communicate to each other in order to avoid the whalers of the 19th century. Our guest is Hal Whitehead, professor and marine biologist at Dalhousie University in Canada.
Why are the fish dying? Why are the wetlands suffering? The strife in the Murray Darling Basin can be attributed to the 'maladministration', 'negligence' and 'illegality' of the instrument that is supposed to manage it, the Murray Darling Basin Plan. And also the authority responsible for it, the MBDA. That was the 2019 finding of the Murray Darling Basin Royal Commission. The counsel assisting in that commission, Richard Beasley, has now written a lively and provocative account of what has gone wrong.
What does Sir Peter Cosgrove think of the dismissal of Whitlam, the war crime accusations in Afghanistan and the future of the monarchy in Australia.
Art and science are not often bedfellows. Conservation scientist Dr Narayan Khandekar discusses a world-first preservation of a Mark Rothko, the scientific analysis of bark paintings and Tyrian purple, a rare pigment.
Adjunct Professor Wayne Quilliam’s camera has been his ticket around the world and has taught him a lot about Indigenous Australia and his own identity.
The koala is listed as one step below endangered so why aren’t we saving them? The Australian Koala Foundation's Deborah Tabart and specialist koala ecologist Dr Steve Phillips discuss all things koala: their personalities, their history and how a broken political system is pushing them to extinction.
So often the complex issue of justice is viewed through the legal prism of criminal, distributive or procedural justice. But Dr Rowan Williams and Mary Zournazi argue that justice needs to confront individuals' suffering as well as the deep patterns of violence and denial in society.
Tales of mythical lands thousands of leagues beneath the sea have long sparked the imagination of writers, artists and filmmakers. But not all watery legends are the stuff of fiction. A growing band of geomythologists are beginning to explore the possibility that some stories of drowned civilisations can shed light on actual geological events that happened multiple millennia ago.
A short history of fire on planet earth and humanity's complicated love-hate relationship with fire that has evolved over time. Our use of fire for cooking and heating has helped our evolution, but for those in the cities we have lost our direct connection to fire as we burn the fuel of the past at such a pace that we threaten our futures.
Author, historian and ecologist Jackie French AM discusses writing women into war history, her close friendship with the philosopher Val Plumwood, wombat culture and more.
The Italians have pasta, the Japanese have sushi, the Filipinos have adobo. What is Australia’s national dish and what do we eat? Chef and cookery writer Ross Dobson's discusses his new recipe book which explores indigenous bush foods, chicken parmigiana and avocado toast.
In November 1989, the Berlin Wall fell and the GDR collapsed. 91,000 Stasi employees, many of them experienced officers with access to highly personal information, found themselves unemployed overnight.
There is a myth that most of them were old men who disappeared quietly to live off their state pensions. But this was not the case.
Former FBI agent Ralph Hope tells Phillip about ex-Stasi officers working everywhere from the Russian energy sector to the police and even the government department tasked with prosecuting Stasi crimes.
Staff writer with the New Yorker Magazine, Jon Lee Anderson has been a foreign correspondent for over 40 years, starting with the Lima Times in Peru in 1979. He talks to Phillip about his early influences and the people and places that have left the deepest mark.
In his new book, Metazoa, Australia’s ‘scuba-diving philosopher’ Peter Godfrey-Smith explores the evolution of animal consciousness through the inner workings of a cast of marine characters - everything from soft coral and glass sponges to hermit crabs and banded shrimp.
Ashley Gray tells the untold story of the rebel West Indian cricketers who toured apartheid South Africa.
The best-selling author of The Professor and the Madman explores the rich and complex history of our relationship with the planet's 37 billion acres of habitable land: who mapped it, owned it, stole it, cared for it, fought for it, and gave it back.
The self portrait is an obvious subject for women artists through history who have had to fight for access to studios, resources, time and recognition. Their self-portraits tell us a lot about the world they lived in.
In her memoir The Soul of A Woman, the best-selling Chilean author Isabel Allende explores how feminism has shaped her life over the past seven decades.
Join our cheery panel as they find reasons to laugh about some of the darkest parts of the year that was, and reflect on what defined 2021, and which issues slipped under the radar.
David Williamson has retired from writing plays and screenplays and instead has written a memoir of his life. He talks honestly about how so many of the 56 plays he wrote over fifty years were based on conflicts and controversies from his own life and his friends and family around him. He decided that in his memoir, he would be as honest about his own failings as he had been about the flawed characters he had created for the stage.
In his final commentary for 2021 Ian Dunt discusses an event at Number 10 last Christmas that this week is front page news across the UK, and new laws to deter asylum seekers.
Most of us give little thought to the back of a book - it's just where you go to look things up. But a new book reveals that the index has a curious history which can be traced from thirteenth-century Europe to Silicon Valley in the twenty-first.
Every time we perform a Google search, we are using ‘technology’ invented by a medieval polymath in Oxford and a group of Parisian monks who were looking for ways to navigate their books more efficiently.
Covid-19 has torn through the world for the past two years, leaving a global death anywhere between 10 and 19 million people. How did we get the vaccines we are now using? Biologist and journalist Brendan Borrell tells the dramatic story of the scientists, public servants, business people and politicians racing to get a vaccine out in the United States during the height of the 2020 pandemic.
Bruce Shapiro looks back on 2021 that started with the January 6 insurrection and looks at where the country is now - still fragile and divided despite the change in President. The new year will present many more challenges for President Biden, and the Supreme Court will be ruling on cases addressing abortion rights which will generate even more division in the community.
Mazes have gone in and out of fashion over the centuries but in recent years, Adrian Fisher has played a major role in reinvigorating the art and business of creating them. He estimates he has built 700 mazes in 42 countries, ranging from traditional hedge mazes to ones made of water. His Blenheim Palace maze now features on the British five-pound note.
Yanis Varoufakis covers a difficult year in global politics from COP26, to geo-political instabilities. He also reflects on the death of his father.
Laura Tingle has the latest from Canberra, including election commitments from the ALP and a look back at the issues that took hold during a pandemic-ravaged 2021.
“Outside my work,” Orwell wrote in 1940, “the thing I care most about is gardening, especially vegetable gardening.”
The American author Rebecca Solnit went in search of the fruit trees Orwell planted in his cottage garden in Hertfordshire in 1936. But what she found was rose bushes - something she at first thought was incongruous with the “grim, grey” figure she supposed Orwell to be.
Between 1848 and 1899, thousands of Chinese labourers travelled the West in search of Gold. Friction between Chinese and white settlers on the goldfields of California, Australia, and South Africa catalysed a global battle over "the Chinese Question", that would shape economics and politics to today.
America is an immigrant nation, but it is also a country that doesn't hesitate to deport those deemed to be 'undesirable aliens'. Since 1892 America has deported more than 56 million people. Between 1914 and 1945 there was a train that traversed the country picking up people marked for deportation from prisons, asylums, hospital and workhouses to the ports of the west and east coasts. Historian Ethan Blue has researched the stories of just some of the deportees that boarded the Deportation Express.
Cleaning up has begun after riots and looting in the Solomon Islands capital of Honiara. Tess Newton Cain explains why it has happened and what comes next.
A legendary actor has died, there is an ongoing push for stronger heritage protection, and the far-right has been co-opting indigenous interests - 'blackfishing'.
Charles Strong had bold ambitions for his newly established Australian Church. There was to be no creeds but a commitment to social reform and service. The church supported women's suffrage movements, campaigns for a minimum wage and wanted to abolish war. And it wanted to become the national church of Australia. Despite its lofty ambitions and its demise in the 1950s, the church achieved much in its 70 years of existence.
Could the ABC have a platform on which any media outlets could share information, for free?
This is one idea for a 'digital public square'.
Bruce Shapiro looks at the recent and upcoming court cases that continue to shape the battlegrounds in US politics, guns, racism, abortion and battles over civil rights.
Up until the 1960s in the UK, trans support and rights were actually better in some ways than they have been in more recent years.
Author Zoe Playdon says trans people back then often self-identified, and received affirmative medical care.
Zoe has spent years investigating the life and significance of Ewan Forbes, a Scottish doctor who was born as ‘Elizabeth’ in 1912, but from a very early age, with his mother’s support, was able to live as male.
He would later have to prove his maleness when he was contesting an inheritance.
That legal case is significant, but until now the public has not known about it.
Barat Ali Batoor's family has been forced to leave Afghanistan twice as a refugee, and Batoor himself was born as a refugee in Quetta. He returned to Afghanistan to work as a translator for the UN and later as a photojournalist. One of his articles resulted in death threats against him and he was forced to return to Quetta. After a harrowing journey to Australia he is now working as a community organiser for the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and is featured in a new book of asylum seeker stories.
Laura Tingle has all the latest from Canberra, including the controversy around parliament's small number of sitting next in 2022 and Defence Minister Peter Dutton's latest attack on China.
The role of Africa, and Africans, has been sidelined from the story of the making of the modern world, an acclaimed new book argues. The examples include the great expansion and exploration of Europeans to Asia and the Americas, from the 1400s through to the 1600s, that was only possible because of earlier involvements in Africa and the reality that the founders of America only had the time to write and reflect on how to build their new nation, because slaves were on hand to cook, clean and grow their wealth from their labors on the plantations.
Measured by the yardstick of height, Australia’s mountains pale in comparison to mightier peaks in other continents. But they have a fascinating history, inspiring not just explorers but painters, poets and photographers over the years.
Protests against COVID vaccine mandates and restrictions on freedom of movement are on the rise around Australia. Who are the groups behind the protests and how much should we be concerned about the influences on these groups from American conspiracy theorists like Qanon and far right extremist organisations?
UK PM Boris Johnson has rolled all his ‘quirks’ into one speech this week, and copped criticism from colleagues and the business sector.
There is questioning of the UK's place in the AUKUS alliance.
Richard Ratcliffe's hunger strike has ended, but the case raises big questions about hostage diplomacy.
And the UK has joined worldwide criticism of the possible disappearance of Peng Shuai, the Chinese tennis star.
The early days of Australian television has long been focused on Bruce Gyngell and the Packer family. But behind the scenes, women worked as "scriptos", producers and directors. Media historian Jeannine Baker discusses their crucial but long-hidden role in making TV happen.
Harnessing the talents, expertise and contacts of highly skilled Australian expats seems obvious and uncontroversial. So why doesn't Australia have a formal policy that guides how we engage and connect with the diaspora.
Bruce Shapiro discusses what the verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict means for America's open carry gun laws and the possible rise of vigilantism in an increasingly polarised America.
We take the seven-day week for granted, rarely asking what anchors it or what it does to us. Yet weeks are not dictated by the natural order, and have been met with some fierce opposition over the centuries. Why does this recalcitrant unit of time endure?
An already vulnerable arts sector has been slammed by the pandemic. The editor of a new issue of an esteemed arts journal says the way forward is not about handing out a few arts grants.
It’s a fresh way of thinking that’s needed, especially in any economic analysis.
Laura Tingle has all the latest from Canberra politics, including a difficult day for the Government in both houses.
Ronald and Catherine Berndt went to Gurindji country back in the 1940s. Now almost eighty years later, why are their research notebooks from their time with the Gurindji and the artefacts gathered during their time there not accessible to the Gurindji people? The thirty year embargo on the Berndt Collection put in place by Catherine Berndt on her death raises questions about whether such an embargo should have been permitted in the first place. The Gurindji urgently want access to the materials while elders who can speak to the materials still can.
We think of transplant surgery as one of the wonders of modern medical science.
But the art of skin-grafting actually dates back millennia.
A new book chronicles the bizarre history of transplants from early blood transfusion and 'live' dental implants to contemporary experiments with stem cells.
Which symbols represent, or evoke, Australia?
Vegemite, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the lifesaver... Do they really tell a story of contemporary Australia?
A new book explores how symbols get created. Who decides what is 'us'?
Laundering the dirty cash of authoritarians rulers and kleptocrats into safe investments could not happen without the help of enablers like Western bankers, lawyers, accountants and real estate agents. Frank Vogl explains how the 'rotten system' works and what can be done to curtail it.
Lea Ypi was a committed young socialist, completely faithful to the Albanian state. When the system collapsed in 1990, Lea overnight learned some hard truths about her country, her family and what it meant to be free.
Thousands of migrants have flocked to Belarus’ border with Poland, hoping to get to Western Europe, and many of them are now stranded at the frontier. According to the EU, Belarussian dictator Alexander Lukashenko is deliberately weaponizing this refugee population to force Europe to drop sanctions imposed against his regime.
Bruce Shapiro takes us through some critical court cases that are currently taking place across America - from the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse over his shootings of demonstrators in Kenosha, the trial of the three men over the shooting of black man Ahmaud Arbery and Steve Bannon is indicted for contempt of court for refusing to appear at the January 6 inquiry.
David Hunt brings something quite different to the topic of Australian history and that's humour. His previous popular and irreverent books include Girt and True Girt and now he introduces Girt Nation - his third unauthorised volume of Australian history.
Five years ago the Moss Review of whistleblowing legislation recommended that reform was needed. Since then several whistleblowers have been subject to prosecution including Witness K and Bernard Collaery, David McBride and Richard Boyle. The Assistant Attorney General agrees that reform is needed but it wont happen until after the election. Kieran Pender explains why reform is so critical to our democracy and legal system.
Laura Tingle has the latest from Canberra politics, including former Prime Minister Paul Keating's take on China and the Coalition's declared ongoing commitment to coal after Glasgow.
Lynne Carpenter-Boggs had spent years researching how to compost livestock when she got a call asking if similar techniques could be applied to humans. She discusses her world-first study and how composting humans as an eco-friendly alternative to burial and cremation is slowly becoming legalised across the United States.
The recent killing of cinematographer Halya Hutchins highlights increasingly gruelling and dangerous conditions on film sets, which a major entertainment union is attempting to reform. But with so much demand for content, can the system change? Dr Kate Fortmueller and Dr Keith Sanson discuss the history of Tinseltown's Labor movement and how it influences conditions for "below the line" workers across the globe.
The career advice to 'follow your passion' increasingly drives major decisions around work, career and life. But Erin Cech's research reveals a significant downside to the popular mantra of 'love what you do.'
There’s a corruption scandal in the UK Government and Ian Dunt reckons Boris Johnson has been having his worst days since becoming PM.
Lovet Fort-Whiteman was convinced that communism was the way for African Americans to find equality - as he had in Moscow in the 1920s. He toured around America trying to convince his fellow African Americans to follow communism but eventually settled in Moscow. Eventually he fell out with the Soviet leadership and was sent to the gulags for his unwavering beliefs on race and class.
60 years after it was constructed, the Parkes radio telescope is still arguably the finest single-dish radio telescope in the world. Known for its work during the Apollo 11 moon landing, it has shaped our understanding of the universe.
As the COP26 talkfest draws to a close, we look at a region where transition away from coal is well underway.
Victoria’s Latrobe Valley has a unique model for managing transition – finding jobs, adapting the local economy, and helping people understand why change is necessary.
Bruce Shapiro on what happened in the gubernatorial race in Virginia and the importance of President Biden getting his infrastructure package through Congress thanks to the votes of some Republicans.
As globalisation continues languages are disappearing faster than ever, leaving our planet's linguistic diversity spiralling towards extinction. In a new book, Hong Kong-based journalist James Griffiths looks at how minority languages are extinguished by government repression as well as dying out because of neglect. He reports on what is happening to Cantonese in beleaguered Hong Kong and explores how the revival of his native language, Welsh, has gone hand in hand with political activism.
Last year, in the Love/Thoms case, the High Court of Australia ruled that Indigenous Australians could not be considered 'aliens' eligible for deportation. Under current legislation, other non-citizens who are sentenced to prison terms of more than twelve months can be deported to the country of their birth, even if they have lived almost their whole life in Australia. The current government was not happy with the High Court's decision and is now pushing to overturn the decision through a new case against Shayne Montgomery.
Laura Tingle has the latest from Canberra politics, including the ongoing fallout of Scott Morrison's recent overseas trip to the G20 and the UN climate conference in Glasgow.
William Cooper wrote a petition to the King of England requesting that there be Aboriginal representation in the Australian Federal Parliament almost 75 years ago. He believed that someone capable of 'thinking black' was required to implement equal rights for his people and better protection for those living on Aboriginal Reserves like the one he had lived in on the Murray, Cumeroongunga. Bain Attwood shares his insights into the long and productive life of William Cooper.
As a keen observer and respected writer Judith Brett has seen, over four decades, political fortunes rise and fall and witnessed major shifts in our intellectual and cultural institutions. In her latest publication, Judith brings together a collection of some of her most insightful essays and articles.
Children are largely missing from Roman history, even though they were one third of the population and everywhere in Roman life.
Archaeologist Tamara Lewit had to go digging in the archives to find information about children, at the behest of her novelist sister, who wanted to write a book for young readers about Roman times.
Political philosopher Professor Jeremy Moss from UNSW argues in his new book 'Carbon Justice' that Australia's major carbon exporters have a moral responsibility to share the burden of climate transition.
While world leaders congregate for a climate summit in Glasgow, two Torres Strait Islander men are preparing to sue the Australian government, arguing it has breached its duty of care by failing to prevent global warming.
Meanwhile, Indigenous leaders voice concerns about the government's proposed Voter ID, while vaccine rates amongst First Nations communities continue to lag behind the rest of Australia.
Robert Fisk, renowned foreign correspondent for 'The Times', then later for 'The Independent', and author of many significant books including 'The Great War for Civilisation' and 'Pity the Nation' was a regular guest on Late Night Live over the years.
Now, a year after his death, Robert Fisk’s former wife, Lara Marlowe, has published a memoir of the two decades the pair spent reporting together from the frontlines of countless war-torn countries including Lebanon, Algeria, the former Yugoslavia and Iraq.
Bruce Shapiro looks back at the environment battles to see where President Biden's battle with Senator Joe Manchin might settle, the latest testimony from Guantanamo and finally a preview of the Supreme Court's arguments over the Texas abortion legislation.
In the mid-20th century, film noir helped western cinema to lose its innocence. Decades later, the transformative legacy of noir has helped the genre to endure.
The US Government is appealing the decision by a UK Court to deny their request for extradition of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange - disputing the severity of Julian Assange's mental state and offering the court assurances that he would not be subject to "Special Administrative Measures". Can the court accept their claims to provide a safe environment for Assange given the reports that the CIA was plotting to kidnap or assassinate Julian Assange in 2019?
Laura Tingle has the latest from Canberra politics, including the public spat between French President Emmanuel Macron and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the G20 in Rome.
Sicily lies at the crossroads of the Mediterranean and for over 2,000 years has served as a gateway between Europe, Africa and the East. The island survived a string of colonisations by the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Normans and the Spanish, each of whom left their indelible mark on Sicilian culture and politics. A new book traces the impact of the island’s deep cosmopolitan roots.
The mostly Muslim Ottomans at one point ruled over a quarter of Europe, but they have been often cast out of European history.
The reality, says historian Marc David Baer, is that Ottoman history is very much European history.
Especially as the Ottomans were a surprisingly mixed bunch, of various religions, and there was much cultural and religious exchange between them, and other Europeans.
When Nadia Wassef, her sister Hind and friend Nihal started their bookshop, Diwan, back in 2002, they had no idea that ten years later they would be running ten bookshops across Egypt meeting a growing demand for books both in Arabic and English, French and German. There were many bumps in the road, and there was certainly a toll taken on their personal lives, but now looking back she can see what she learnt about her country and herself along the way.
The Indian diaspora in Australia is becoming larger, stronger and more prominent, just as a bolder India is set to play a larger role in Asia. A new essay argues that Australia's fastest growing migrant community could reshape the future of the nation.
The UK is all set to host COP26, which starts on Sunday. So how good is the host's record on emissions?
Covid rates have meanwhile been ratcheting up, as have death rates.
Many of Britain’s stately homes have unsavoury pasts – or at least their former owners do.
When the British National Trust last year tried to do some reconciliation, and reported that 93 of its estates had links to Britain’s colonial and slaveholding past, there was an outcry.
The staid old National Trust was described as ‘woke’.
The press called it a clash between the ‘trendies and the tweedies’.
A culture war has been percolating ever since.
It's been nearly two decades since the US invaded Iraq and the ensuing years have seen the country struggle with civil war, terrible corruption, sectarian fighting and dangerous extremism. The recent elections signify surprising shifts in the political landscape but are they enough to get the troubled nation back on track?
President Joe Biden is having to water down his climate action policies to meet the demands of Democrat Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia, a coal rich state. There are now questions over what climate policies the President will be able to take to Glasgow. The Democrat Senator from Arizona Kyrsten Sinema is also giving the President headaches over her reluctance to raise taxes.
In a new 'history from below', Martyn Lyons examines 20,000 letters from ordinary Australians to Prime Minister Robert Menzies and offers a revealing account of what Menzies’ "Forgotten people' actually thought and felt.
The seed bank built up over 40 years in Syria had to be abandoned in 2015 after three years of civil war - but not before they managed to ship samples of most of their seed stock to the seed vault in Svalbard in Norway. Now, for the first time, seeds are being withdrawn from the vault in Svalbard as the scientists from ICARDA try to create new seedstock to meet the needs of a warming planet.
Laura Tingle has the latest from Canberra, including the National Party's move to back Net Zero by 2050 and the government's decision to block an investigation into Christian Porter's blind trust which was used to to pay his legal fees.
The history of Australian food is complex and surprising. From the desert fig, in the Central Desert, to the Australian wines exported to Britain in the 1870s! From the 1950s wonder of cakes conjured up by European migrants, to the halal foods boycott campaign led by Pauline Hanson. Our food history tells us a lot about ourselves, and it’s all been painstakingly compiled in a book by food writer Paul van Reyk.
Nationalism in India has mostly not been a dirty word.
It was an understandable response for a nation that had had two centuries of British colonial rule.
Nationalism fitted a newly independent, diverse and tolerant country finally forging ahead.
But the sense that India is, potentially, for all its inhabitants, is threatened by the prevailing brand of Hindu nationalism of the Modi Government.
What happens when you suffer from symptoms for years with no firm diagnosis? The writer Alice Hattrick discusses her own mysterious illness and the lives of well-known women who have suffered from a condition science cannot explain.
There is a growing pipeline of business activity in the Northern Territory, including cotton and agricultural developments which are hungry for water. But does the territory have enough of it to go around?
Provincial regions in PNG are in crisis with a shortage of acute care facilities for Covid patients. The Solomons PM is threatening to not re-open the national border until 2023 if vaccination rates don't improve. And the Pacific leaders are preparing their messages for COP26.
A new bioscience company has raised $20 million to genetically resurrect the woolly mammoth which died out around 4,000 years ago.
Colossal claims its ‘de-extinction’ technology could help rebuild the eco-system in the Siberian tundra and even slow climate change.
But what are the ethical issues and potential risks of bringing back species from the dead?
Twenty years ago, a boat left Indonesia carrying more than 400 passengers. Within 24 hours, the ship had capsized and 353 people had drowned. Whether Australia knew about the boat and could have done more to save the passengers was a question asked by former diplomat Tony Kevin at the time. And he still wants answers.
Colin Powell rose to the highest ranks in the military and served as the Secretary of State to George W Bush. Bruce Shapiro looks back at the highs and lows of his career, including his speech at the UN convincing the world that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.
When Paddy Moriarty went missing before Christmas in 2017, there were only 12 people living in the town of Larrimah in the Northern Territory. His disappearance brought the many divisions in the Larrimah community to the surface and threatened the town's very existence. Now three years on - what has become of Larrimah?
Half of the students enrolled in agricultural degrees in Australia are women and they're employed in the rural sector in increasing numbers but when it comes to inheriting the family farm - why are the sons still favoured?
Laura Tingle has the latest from Canberra, including ongoing tensions within the Coalition over net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet taking the lead on opening international borders.
Ancient jungle cities conjure up images of vine-smothered ruins, but in their time Mayan and Amazonian urban centres maintained huge, thriving populations. These lost civilizations have a lot to teach us about how to live alongside nature.
The first Solvay Conference, held in Brussels in October 1911, was a meeting of brilliant scientific minds.
Future Nobel prize winners including Albert Einstein, Marie Curie and Max Planck came together to try and solve the mysteries of quantum physics.
The conference not only caused a seismic shift in understanding the workings of the universe; it also had a profound impact on many of the scientists' personal lives and careers.
In his Quarterly Essay, writer Lech Blaine argues that the elite in Australia have tendency to imitate a working-class culture they generally don’t belong to. The political advantages of this “class cross dressing” are far-reaching, but will they hold at the next election?
A severe report card has been delivered by two House of Commons committees, on the UK’s early handling of the pandemic. They found it was one of the worst public health failures in the UK’s history.
And a new proposal on the Northern Ireland trade protocol could lead to a trade war between the UK and the EU.
Leonard Francis is currently awaiting sentencing in the USA on bribery and conspiracy charges in relation to his work as a contractor to the US Navy. After pleading guilty he is now co-operating with the NCIS in their investigations into the wild parties he organised which included provision of sex-workers to navy officers. Tom Wright is the first journalist to interview the man known as "Fat Leonard" who has decided to tell all because he is so angry at his treatment by the US Navy. He says that he only supplied what they asked for.
It's been two months since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan and ended a 20-year war. Journalist and photographer Andrew Quilty discusses what daily life is like for him in Kabul while Nadene Ghouri gives an insight into the international volunteer effort to help at-risk Afghans escape the new regime.
Bruce Shapiro analyses the significance of the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to two journalists in the current era when investigative journalism globally is facing huge threats and challenges.
How Stalin's forced relocations of educated dissidents had long term consequences for prosperity and local economies.
Three weeks before the COP26 meeting in Glasgow, Resources Minister Keith Pitt has proposed a $250 billion fund to subsidise the fossil fuel industry. The Federal Government is being left behind by state governments, our trading partners, business and international capital in responding to the threats of climate change. Tim Buckley, Director Energy Finance Studies at IEEFA, explains the global and local implications of Australia's lack of action.
The latest from Canberra with Guardian Australia reporter Amy Remeikis, including the Coalition's radical shift on climate policy and Barnaby Joyce's attack on social media.
Amazon has a 40% share of the e-commerce market in the US. It is so dominant, and its tentacles so long, that this one company explains a lot about how American regional wealth disparities have evolved. Author Alec MacGillis argues that simply packaging and distributing things made by others, instead of making them themselves, deprives people of identity and fulfillment.
In 2013, American foreign reporter Evan Osnos relocated to Washington DC after a decade away from the US. He set out to investigate the state of the nation, not from the power base of Washington politics, but through the lens of three places close to his heart: Greenwich, Connecticut; Clarksburg, West Virginia and Chicago, Illinois.
More than half of all convicts transported to Tasmania as convicts would one day settle or spend time in Victoria. Many, fearful of being tainted by their convict past, and demonised as a 'vandemonian', changed their identities and faded into obscurity.
After 15 years studying a site in Jordan, a team of archaeologists and scientists believe a small asteroid wiped out the ancient city of Tall el-Hammam and may have inspired the biblical tale of Sodom.
Journalist and PhD candidate Amy McQuire on the NSW town of Wilcannia and how authorities had not prepared the town for Covid. She also discusses several recent deaths in custody, and her determination to keep the spotlight on cases of black injustice.
Artist Frederick McCubbin (1855- 1917) was one of the founders of the 'Heidelberg school' and leading figure in a group of Australian impressionists active around Melbourne in the 1880’s. His work became part of an emerging national narrative and is being showcased in an exhibition at the Geelong Gallery.
Even from imprisonment, Russian political activist Alexei Navalny is chipping away at Putin’s stronghold over Russia, a new book argues. But this divisive figure is far from the typically liberal type that pro-democracy constituents might prefer.
Many politicians and members of the public are angry about the resignation of the Premier of NSW, Gladys Berejiklian. Why did she resign and what will be the consequences for NSW and the nation as the state heads to the critical phase of opening up.
An intimate, program length interview with Gillian Mears, award-winning Australian novelist. She discusses life, death, her work, living with Multiple Sclerosis, and of course, horses - her great passion, and a theme in much of her writing. You can also read Gillian’s accompanying article on the RN website.
Bernadette Brennan has written a biography of the award winning author Gillian Mears that reveals a woman her friends called 'skinless'. She was incredibly sensitive and vulnerable to the world around her, absorbing both the emotion and the physical details. She used the experiences of both her life and sometimes ruthlessly she also drew on the lives of those closest to her in her work.
It's widely accepted, including by two inquiries, that climate change was a significant factor in the Black Summer fires of 2019/20.
But in the response to the fires, and in the opportunities for preparation in the years before, many human, political and systemic errors were made.
Journalist Bronwyn Adcock lived through the huge Currowan fire on the NSW South Coast, and in a new book has dissected it from every angle, including policy and politics.
PM Scott Morrison has been ticked off by a British diplomat, over Australia’s position on emission levels.
Meanwhile Britain is dealing with a fuel crisis so bad that the army is guarding service stations.
Farmers, scientists, NGOs, big food corporations and many others recently got together at the United Nations Food Systems Summit to look at how we "do" food. How will the world address long term problems of undernutrition and obesity in dire environmental and climate contexts?
Social media is a contemporary weapon used by most militaries, now that information is one of the key warfare domains, along with air, sea, land and space.
But most conventional militaries, with their hierarchical structures, are not very good at it.
Bruce Shapiro previews a challenging week for President Biden as his infrastructure and social welfare bill fight to get through Congress. And the Supreme Court returns after the summer break to deal with cases on guns and reproductive rights.
Standardising shipping containers in the 1950’s made global trade possible but what happens to supply chains when there’s a shortage of these big metal boxes
This week the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan will elect a new leader who will then also be the new Prime Minister of Japan. What are the big issues facing Japan that the new leader will have to deal with - the economy, the environment and energy and social issues are dominating the agenda as well as concerns about COVID and the increasing tensions with China.
Laura Tingle has the latest from Canberra politics, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison's Quad meeting in the United States and the ongoing fallout from cancelling a submarine contract with France.
Socially engaged and political art is seen as the most important artistic movement to emerge in the 21st century. But who are its key players and what are they up? Dr Gretchen Coombs has spent five years embedded in the scene and offers insights into their work, and some of the challenges the movement faces.
During the early Cold War, the US security establishment was desperate to contain the rise of communism in Indonesia. When President John F. Kennedy took a different tact, it triggered an ideological showdown with the CIA.
Good travel writers have always been a joy. But they have often been of a certain type.
The privileged westerner, traipsing through exotic foreign parts.
That is now changing.
More than ninety pieces of national security legislation have come before the Australian Parliament since 9/11, including the latest Identify and Disrupt Bill. What powers does the latest legislation give us and is it fit for purpose?
WHAT will our far-reaching new submarine deal - and alliance deal – mean for Pacific nations?
They are not big fans of nuclear.
And Pacific leaders will be urging global action on climate change at the United Nations General Assembly, currently underway in New York.
The James Webb space telescope is scheduled to launch in December 2021- what might the worlds most powerful telescope reveal ?
Lebanon has formed a fully-fledged government after a 13-month deadlock. But can multi-billionaire MP Najib Mikati, who has held the post twice before, turn round a country which is in the middle of socioeconomic collapse?
Interest in Stoicism was already on the rise across the globe before the COVID pandemic hit. But now interest is high, particularly for people without a religious faith who seek guidance on how to cope during the pandemic. Could stoicism provide an answer?
The AUKUS pact has taken Australia into the heart of US naval war strategy in Asia, but the full strategic implications are yet to be fully understood. Is this a landmark effort to secure Australia, or a contributor to nuclear escalation in our region?
Laura Tingle's analysis on the political fallout of Australia's new alliance with US and Britain, and the resignation of Christian Porter from Cabinet.
In the long years of British colonialism, women from Asia travelled all over the world, as maids, or child carers, or both, typically for well-off English families who had been living in Asia.
They were the first migrant domestic workers.
While there is more awareness of them in the UK, because more went there, an unknown number also came to Australia.
In the depths of the Holocaust, twenty-five young inmates of the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp were selected to make high-end fashion for the Nazi elite. The Upper Tailoring Studio, housed in an SS admin block, became a vital hub of resistance as the dressmakers of Auschwitz used their sewing skills to survive.
Over the centuries, people of all cultures have made and used clocks, from the city sundials of Ancient Rome through hourglasses and medieval water clocks to atomic time-keeping devices. But clocks are not just a way of measuring time. Throughout history they have also been deployed as instruments of faith, money and power, imposing social order and regulating behaviour.
Angela Merkel was Germany’s first female Chancellor and the first leader to grow up in the Communist east. A champion of financial austerity, and the European leader who opened the borders to migrants, it’s been a turbulent 16 years in office.
A cabinet reshuffle is expected hours after we go to air, with leaks abounding.
Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's First Minister, has made a strong case for independence in a speech to her Scottish National Party this week. But there remains a big constitutional barrier.
Meanwhile Brexit Britain is suffering a goods shortage due to a lack of truck drivers. Hasty training of new drivers is underway.
In his new book Illustrating the antipodes Philip Jones discusses the life, work and legacy of colonial artist George French Angas.
As the military junta tightens in grip on power in Myanmar, pro democracy activists continue to fight back. But who are they and how do they keep up the struggle after all these years, particularly when many have served long-term jail sentences? Dr Seinenu M. Thein-Lemelson studies the movement and finds they have a very specific ideology fuelling them.
Bruce Shapiro discusses the significance of the recall election in California as well as the ongoing stoush about vaccine mandates.
Diane Davis was working as a schoolteacher at Gander Academy on 11 September 2001 in Gander Newfoundland when news of the hijackings broke. By the end of the day 38 planes had been forced to land at Gander Airport with 7000 passengers needing food and accommodation. The story of the hospitality of the Newfoundland community has been turned into the musical, Come From Away.
After huge successes in business in China, entrepreneur Desmond Shum decided it was time to leave China as the risks of doing business were getting too high. His brilliant and successful wife Whitney Duan wanted to stay on. Then in 2017, she disappeared. That is until a couple of weeks ago when she rang Desmond from China, asking him not to publish his biography.
Laura Tingle has the latest from Canberra, including the retirement of outspoken Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon, the fallout of Senator Kristine Keneally parachuting into a safe seat and the sounds of national Covid policy coherence snapping.
Mahmood Fazal was a happy go-lucky young boy when the planes hit the World Trade Centre. Then all of a sudden his Afghan heritage became significant. As simmering racism towards the Muslim community boiled over, he looked for a sense of belonging and only found it among his Muslim friends and motorcycle gangs.
On 11 September 2001, Sharon Premoli was on the 80th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Centre when a hijacked plane flew into the building. She survived and is now a plaintiff activist, and part of a community of thousands of survivors and victims' families continuing to seek answers through the US court and political system as to who was behind the attacks.
A new five year research project will explore, in part, the historical and cultural links between desert and coastal Aboriginal people in northern WA, from the Western Desert to the coastal Pilbara.
It’s called ‘From the Desert to the Sea: Managing Rock Art, Country and Culture’
The multiple partners include academics, Aboriginal organisations, and mining companies.
Do nothing, say nothing only makes it worse. Philosopher Lee McIntyre explains why it's vital to push back against science denial and disinformation.
What works best with vaccination programs for indigenous communities, and the first ever indigenous member of The Wiggles.
When Maxine Bedat started researching fashion brands looking for sustainable and ethical brands she was shocked to find out how little most of them knew about the supply chain of their products. So she decided to find out whether it was possible to produce a pair of ethically and sustainably made pair of jeans.
The first of three volumes on the former Indonesian President General Soeharto has been released by Australian author, David Jenkins. The book explores what shaped Soeharto to become one of Asia’s most successful and brutal dictators.
Bruce Shapiro discusses the latest from the US, including the 20th anniversary of September 11 terrorist attacks and the implications of a radical new abortion law in Texas.
This month marks the 100th anniversary of PEN International, the organisation that advocates for writers in prison or in other ways persecuted.
PEN has a fascinating history, which is being told in a new two part series on Radio National’s History Listen program.
Arnold Zable is narrating the series.
Scattered across the Murray Darling basin are numerous wetlands, 16 of them deemed important enough to be protected by the international RAMSAR Convention.
But environmental historian Emily O’Gorman says it is a mistake to set wetlands aside as areas not available for human interaction and use.
Because humans, especially Aboriginal people, have been intertwined with these places, always.
Laura Tingle's analysis on the increasing lack of transparency in Canberra over vaccine distribution, National Cabinet, JobKeeper rorting, sexual harassment legislation,
and the Brittany Higgins investigations.
At the end of the First World War, the German doctor Hans Prinzhorn began collecting the paintings, drawings and sculpture of psychiatric patients. Their work inspired a generation of modernists including Max Ernst, Paul Klee and Salvador Dali, but when Hitler came to power the Prinzhorn artists were caught up in the Führer's war against 'degenerate' humans.
Inside the ‘brumby wars’ death threats – to humans – have been par for the course. In one camp are people worried about the ecological damage that the multiplying brumby numbers do to the magnificent Australian Alps country. In the other are people who feel their identity, and their freedom to live as they always have, are under attack.
When Yindjibarndi leader Michael Woodley said 'no' to Andrew Forrest's proposal for his company FMG to mine on Yindjibarndi land, it led to a legal tussle that went on for 12 years. FMG's tactics in the battle irrevocably split the community and led to the destruction of many heritages sites. The High Court's acknowledgement of their Native Title claim over the land opens up the door for them to sue FMG for compensation.
Covid-19 vaccination rates remain stubbornly low in regional Australia, partly due to the difficulty in sourcing the jabs. The Royal Australian College of GPs provides a snapshot of vaccination across rural Australia and why the race is on to protect people before the international borders re-open.
Pressure is mounting on the Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab over his handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan and questions are also being asked of just how warm the welcome to Afghan refugees will be.
How do wild rabbits arrange to meet?
The ways that animals and plants communicate – both among their own species and with other species, including from plant to animal - is an emerging field of knowledge.
Scientists are still making discoveries, especially about plants. And they are excited about what else they might learn.
One of the pre-eminent voices in environmental journalism, Elizabeth Kolbert, wants us to think radically about the ways we manage the natural world.
In her new book Under a White Sky, Kolbert investigates whether more intervention to fix previous - often well-meaning - mistakes is counterproductive.
Bruce Shapiro discusses America's awful and final week in Afghanistan as the Taliban takeover, hurricane havoc in Louisiana and anti-mask activists' attacks on schools.
When Kevin Coombs became a paraplegic after a tragic accident in 1953, he didn't even know there was such a thing as wheelchair basketball. Seven years later, he would be part of the first Australian Paralympic team heading to Rome. He was the first Indigenous Australian to represent Australia at an Olympic or Paralympic Games.
Buying and selling water is more complex, a new book argues, than the markets for many other tradeable commodities.
It is a ruthless market, and it pits institutional traders – banks and hedge funds – against farmers.
The nation is being split between the COVID haves and the COVID have-nots. Can the Prime Minister prevent the country splitting in two?
With the Taliban flag now fluttering in Kabul, the world is watching to see how this military movement will turn into a political one. Researcher and author Dr Ashley Jackson, international development and gender expert Sippi Azarbaijani-Moghaddam and analyst Ibraheem Bahiss provide rare insights into who the Taliban are and how they govern. We also hear from well-known Afghan journalist Bilal Sarwary on why he had to leave Afghanistan with his family.
When we look at public health in mediaeval times, everything old is new again.
There was awareness of hygiene; masks to prevent the spread of disease; social distancing; careful management of produce markets. And even health passports.
The societies of the Middle Ages should not be derided in the way they often are, Guy Geltner argues.
Exxon's ultra-deepwater drilling project off the coast of Guyana is expected to reap over 9 billion barrels of oil over the next 20 years. Antonia Juhasz has been investigating the project and has found that there are several areas for concern, the most important one being safety.
In the wake of the confronting IPCC report on climate change, Pacific nations aren’t buying the argument made by some countries – namely, Australia – that we are too small to make a real contribution to emissions reduction..
One of Australia's leading experts on crocodiles is investigating whether saltwater crocodiles from the Northern Territory are killing people in East Timor. There's been a baffling, more than 20-fold increase in lethal attacks in East Timor, with crocodiles killing people at an unprecedented rate of one a month.
Malaysia has sworn in a new Prime Minister who is charged with overseeing the Covid-19 vaccination program and rebooting a damaged local economy.
Bruce Shapiro discusses the latest in US politics, include President Joe Biden's damage control over his botched Afghanistan exit strategy and the fate of former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's dog.
When ancient skulls are found by paleo-anthropologists they bring new knowledge of human history. But how much of the interpretation of that is a reflection of the time and place that they were found and the person who found them?
Three new books look at different aspects of the Murray Darling Basin. Late Night Live will discuss all three, on 'Murray Darling Mondays'.
In this first one, author Quentin Beresford analyses the environmental history of the basin.
When he delved into the historical records, he found a recurrent theme of two strands of violence: against indigenous people, and against nature.
Laura Tingle on the geopolitical considerations of the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban and the unravelling of the national consensus on COVID.
Kate and Maggie Fox were infamous in 19th century America for their ability to speak for the dead through some strange knocking sounds - and they weren't the only women who were making a living from talking to the dead. Other women like Emma Harding and Victoria Woodhull used their abilities as spiritual mediums to raise awareness of the progressive issues of the time like abolition of slavery and equal rights for women. Were the women charlatans or true believers, or simply riding the wave of the latest craze?
San Marino is a mountainous microstate, landlocked within north-central Italy. It has just become an open registry for shipping. Many of these types of registrations become Flags of Convenience, where oversight is minimal, seafarers are exploited, and pollution and other crimes occur.
A newspaper copyboy’s wager on the outcome of the US presidential election in 1860 sparked a craze for competitive walking.
Pedestrianism evolved into a major spectator sport, involving eccentric personalities, epic rivalries and champagne-quaffing contestants who spent six days walking round a sawdust track.
Carrillo Gantner has delivered this year’s Kidman Lecture, where he argues that Australia’s current sour relationship with China is as much our fault as theirs. He labels China a bully, but says that Australia’s approach has been too provocative. Gantner has a decades-long association with China and believes Australia’s leaders should look to other sectors like the performing arts as a way to reset the relationship.
The Brits are taking the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan particularly hard, after playing a large role in the Western intervention in that country, and having long-held ties with Afghanistan.
Under proposed Federal Government changes to Australian film funding, most documentaries will lose a subsidy they previously relied upon.
Already the bridesmaid in the film industry, the documentary sector is feeling like it now won't even be invited to the wedding.
Film-maker Mitzi Goldman was due to appear before a Senate committee looking into this last Friday, but the hearing was cancelled because of the Canberra lockdown. Her Documentary Australia Foundation has meanwhile written an open letter to the government.
Jane Gleeson-White is an economist who has written extensively about women and the environment. Her essay 'Erasure' for Griffith Review explores how women's work was characterised as 'unproductive' by neoclassical economists in the 19th century and thus wiped from view.
Bruce Shapiro examines the awful spectacle of the fall of Afghanistan's government to the Taliban, President Joe Biden's speech and why America ultimately failed.
Ian Lowe started out his career as a scientist excited about the possibilities that nuclear energy could offer, but over time he has changed his mind when considering the risks that nuclear energy also poses. Over the 100 years since uranium was found in Australia, the issues of nuclear waste and resource stewardship have never been resolved but the possibility of including nuclear power in our energy mix keeps coming back to the table.
The President of Afghanistan has left the country and the speed at which the Taliban has regained control of the country has shocked many, despite the outcome seeming inevitable over the last few weeks. Afghan journalist Bilal Sarwary is still reporting from Afghanistan, despite the risks.
Laura Tingle analyses the latest government policy responses in relation to both Afghanistan and COVID.
As one of Hollywood's most successful screenwriters and directors, multiple Academy award winning director, Oliver Stone has just penned the first instalment of his autobiography. Chasing the Light details what drove him to write, enlist for Vietnam, and produce some of Hollywood's most exciting and penetrating films, from Platoon, and El Salvador to JFK, Born on the Fourth of July, Nixon, Wall Street, and his controversial interviews with Fidel Castro and President Vladimir Putin.
At a time when most working-class women were restricted to factory, or domestic work, and middle-class women were confined to home duties, Melbourne's 19th century brothels housed hundreds of sex workers in an industry that was in many ways, controlled by women. A series of archaeological projects has helped bring the colour and character of the Melbourne's Little Lon community to life.
Unprecedented anti-government protests in Cuba on 11 July were largely driven by a population fed up with food and medicine shortages and spiking Covid cases.
But the island-wide protests could also be a sign that the Communist party is losing its grip on the country.
Two NSW towns with significant Aboriginal populations have gone into lockdown, and vaccination rates are thought to be low.
There's been the Commonwealth Government announcement of significant new funding for the Closing the Gap agenda.
And some very proud basketballers made a powerful symbolic statement at the Olympics.
The 19th-century French aristocrat who invented the modern Olympics sought inspiration in the simple beauty of the ancient Greek Games.
But as the Olympics evolved through the 20th century the Games developed an uglier side, dabbling in dubious politics and propaganda.
There’s been a resurgence of street demonstrations and violent clashes in Thailand. Protestors are angry at the Thai Government’s handling of Covid.
In Thailand and elsewhere in the region, social media is both helping citizens and fuelling hate speech and disinformation. But there is little moderation of dangerous content.