On a remote island in the Gulf of Carpentaria, there are two towns. One is home to a thriving economy. It has a golf course, cinema and tennis courts. It’s the richest postcode in the Northern Territory. Most of the people who live there are white. The other is home to the Anindilyakwa people - the Traditional Owners. The locals live just a few hundred metres from the world’s largest manganese mine. Here, life outcomes are worse than anywhere else in the country. This jarring contrast raises que...
Jul 23, 2024•15 min•Ep. 1300
With just over a hundred days to go until the US election, Joe Biden has announced he’s dropping out of the presidential race. In a letter posted to X, he said “I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term”. His decision comes after weeks of pressure from donors and colleagues to drop out. The question now is whether the Democrats will unite behind Vice President Kamala Har...
Jul 22, 2024•15 min•Ep. 1299
News stories about violence against women have been coming hard and fast these past few weeks. These stories of the women — and sometimes children — killed, usually by a man they knew and often in a terribly violent way, are hard to read. Yet years of education campaigns and talk of respect for women seem to have made no difference, and every few days, another woman dies. Today, Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner Dr Anna Cody on why men kill women, and why Australia’s domestic violence ...
Jul 21, 2024•15 min•Ep. 1298
For many Australians, facing the reality of this country is a task that has proved enduringly difficult, both at a public and a political level. For investigative journalist David Marr, finding the right way to tell the stories that allow us to see the truth of our history is a personal quest and one that has led to his latest book. In this episode of our sister podcast, Read This , Michael talks with David about shame – both personal and national – and why his family agreed that he had to write...
Jul 20, 2024•28 min•Ep. 1297
This week, allegations of corruption, criminal infiltration, standover tactics and other nefarious activities within the ranks of the CFMEU have been all over the media. The reports have shocked, but not surprised, many in the community. Stories of underworld figures trading their leather for high viz, motorcycle helmets for hardhats – all in order, it is alleged, to get a slice of taxpayer-funded projects. Now there are questions over who knew what, when, and what it means for some of Australia...
Jul 18, 2024•17 min•Ep. 1296
In the Pitjantjatjara communities of Anangu Country on the edge of the Nullarbor Plain, cancer rates are higher than elsewhere in Australia. This is the legacy of nuclear testing by the British government, which staged seven atomic explosions between 1956 and 1963, contaminating the land. Thanks to nuclear engineer and whistleblower Alan Parkinson, we know that the cleanup, in his words, was more of a “cover up”, with cost-cutting measures putting communities at further risk. As Australia stares...
Jul 17, 2024•16 min•Ep. 1295
Shenane Hogg spent nine months in a coma after suffering abuse at the hands of her partner. During her recovery, she discovered her abuser had amassed $56,000 of debt in her name. Shenane’s story is just one of many that was heard at a parliamentary inquiry into how the financial system can be used to abuse women. The inquiry has heard chilling evidence of a sharp rise in financial abuse that can manifest as offensive and threatening messages in streams of bank transfers, raiding of a partner’s ...
Jul 16, 2024•16 min•Ep. 1294
The attempted assassination of former US president Donald Trump shocked America. Prominent public figures from all sides of the political spectrum have spoken out and condemned the use of violence, with President Joe Biden saying “it’s not who we are as a nation”. But is that true? And does this response downplay just how pervasive political violence has been in US history? Today, journalist and author of The Forever War: America’s Unending Conflict with Itself Nick Bryant on America’s long and ...
Jul 15, 2024•16 min•Ep. 1293
In Queensland, one issue is already dominating the upcoming state election: youth crime. So when the Liberal National Party launched their campaign, Peter Dutton was the perfect man to help sell their pitch. The federal opposition leader and former Queensland cop has been stressing his closeness to his home state. Already Peter Dutton has promised to crack down on crime, slow immigration, break up supermarket monopolies, and shift the green energy focus to nuclear. So will the Queensland electio...
Jul 14, 2024•15 min•Ep. 1292
Long before she was hosting 7:30 on the ABC, Leigh Sales dreamed of becoming a novelist. In this episode of our sister podcast, Read This , she joins Michael to discuss her secret desire to write fiction, the art of crafting a good story, and how being a journalist allowed her to become a professional stickybeak. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jul 13, 2024•29 min•Ep. 1291
When Mostafa Azimitabar was imprisoned on Manus Island, he was overcome with a desire to paint. With no art supplies, he used a toothbrush – a technique he continues with to this day. Mostafa survived the brutality of Australia’s asylum seeker detention system for more than eight years. Freed in 2021, he now lives in Sydney. His art has been shortlisted for the Archibald prize twice. But he paints from the edges of a country whose systems remain hostile towards him, as he navigates temporary vis...
Jul 11, 2024•19 min•Ep. 1290
In 2018, then prime minister Scott Morrison announced a royal commission into aged care, shedding light on the astonishing prevalence of abuse in residential facilities. It’s been three years since its final report was handed down and advocates say very little has improved. The commission highlighted just how difficult accountability and justice can be to achieve after someone in care is harmed. Especially when the abuse is at the hands of those in charge of the nursing homes and home care servi...
Jul 10, 2024•18 min•Ep. 1289
There's a shadow world beneath Canberra, fed by the defence, foreign affairs and security communities, and it is hugely influential in how the government responds to our biggest geopolitical challenges. Margaret Simons has spent decades keeping a close eye on this world. Recently, the story of one think tank, China Matters, caught her attention. The group, dedicated to bettering Australia’s understanding of China, was defunded during a time of aggressive posturing towards the superpower and talk...
Jul 09, 2024•16 min•Ep. 1288
If you pick up a copy of The Age or The Sydney Morning Herald , you’ll see the tagline ‘Independent. Always.’ under the masthead. Now, as journalists at those papers reel from an announcement that Nine Entertainment is slashing 200 jobs across the company, some are wondering if they’re being targeted for the papers’ recent coverage of Nine’s troubled culture. Are the cuts payback for certain papers being too independent? Today, National Correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe on why A...
Jul 08, 2024•15 min•Ep. 1287
Donald Trump’s lead in the polls for the 2024 presidential race has widened following a fumbling debate performance from Joe Biden, and concerns about the President’s age. With the increasing likelihood of a second Trump presidency, attention is now turning to his potential governing agenda. The blueprint, called Project 2025, is more than 900 pages long and includes calls to sack thousands of civil servants, expand presidential power, and dismantle federal agencies. Today, senior researcher at ...
Jul 07, 2024•19 min•Ep. 1286
George Saunders is one of literary fiction's most acclaimed living writers. Along with his many collections of short stories, he also published the Booker Prize-winning novel Lincoln in the Bardo . To celebrate Read This' first birthday, we're bringing you Michael Williams' interview with George Saunders. They talk about his life and career and the three words that made him a writer. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jul 06, 2024•31 min•Ep. 1285
Smut Clyde spends several hours every day, scouring online science journals for suspicious-looking research. He’s part of a growing team of online ‘science sleuths’, combating the rising number of fake research papers being published. These papers are typically generated, with the help of AI, by ‘paper mills’: a cottage industry relying on overworked and desperate researchers to fuel their profit. Today, 7am producer and journalist Cheyne Anderson on how this epidemic of fraudulent research is i...
Jul 04, 2024•19 min•Ep. 1284
When people think of the CFMEU, Australia’s powerful and fearsome construction union, they picture its top dog, John Setka. But as he prepares to step down from the union’s Victorian branch, Setka’s legacy is overshadowed by his brutality. Many current and former colleagues think his leadership was poisonous to the union, and that he may have even destroyed it. Today, associate editor of The Saturday Paper Martin Mckenzie-Murray on the power and legacy of CFMEU boss, John Setka, and what comes n...
Jul 03, 2024•18 min•Ep. 1283
Sebastien Lai woke up one morning in 2020 to find dozens of missed phone calls – his father, the Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, had just been arrested. Sebastien is in Australia now, trying to convince our political leaders to advocate for his dad’s release from a Hong Kong prison. Today on the show, Sebastien Lai tells the story of how his father Jimmy went from media mogul to political prisoner and what this means for journalistic freedom in Hong Kong. Socials: Stay in touch with us on Twit...
Jul 02, 2024•17 min•Ep. 1282
In high-security labs, from Silicon Valley to mainland China, researchers are racing to be the first to achieve what has been dubbed ‘Q-day’. On that day, all encryption and security could be laid bare – the deepest plans of militaries around the world, our medical records and private encrypted conversations could all be exposed. The internet could essentially break. Q-day, after all, is the day the most powerful machine yet comes online: the first fault-free quantum computer. Today, special cor...
Jul 01, 2024•16 min•Ep. 1281
By the end of this week, the United Kingdom will almost certainly have a new prime minister and closure on 14 years of Tory leadership. One man in particular is working very hard to prevent that, and it’s not the current Tory leader. Since it kicked off with a bizarre, rain-soaked announcement, Rishi Sunak’s election campaign has been marked by ineptitude, misstep and ignorance. Today, veteran UK correspondent and contributor to The Saturday Paper Paola Totaro on the stratospheric rise of the yo...
Jun 30, 2024•18 min•Ep. 1280
Over the past few months, there’s been a lot of focus on universities’ relationships with weapons manufacturers. Students set up encampments and occupied buildings, arguing that their unis are complicit in the assault on Gaza and demanding more transparency from their universities’ administrators. But, as writer and contributor to The Saturday Paper , Anna Krien started investigating the defence money flowing into education, she was shocked to find weapons companies are also tied to schools, sha...
Jun 27, 2024•18 min•Ep. 1279
Julian Assange has finally landed in Australia, a free man. Today, his brother Gabriel Shipton on how the deal to release the long-incarcerated WikiLeaks founder came together. National correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe explains what comes next. Socials: Stay in touch with us on Twitter and Instagram Guest: Julian Assange’s brother, Gabriel Shipton; national correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jun 26, 2024•19 min•Ep. 1278
Meredith Whittaker turned her back on Google after raising concerns about the mass surveillance fueling AI, but she didn’t leave tech entirely. The former AI whistleblower is now the President of Signal, a messaging app that keeps conversations encrypted – used by journalists, whistleblowers, drug dealers, militants and others who want to keep communications secure. So why did she blow the whistle on Google? Is privacy the answer to AI? Or does privacy cause just as much harm as surveillance? To...
Jun 25, 2024•18 min•Ep. 1277
Back in 2016, when Donald Trump was elected President, the Australian government was caught off guard. The then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull called golfing legend Greg Norman just to get Trump’s phone number. This time around, the government is taking the prospect of a second Trump presidency seriously and has begun making preparations for it. Today, special correspondent for The Saturday Paper Jason Koutsoukis on what the government thinks Trump 2.0 could mean for Australia and the safety me...
Jun 24, 2024•16 min•Ep. 1276
Once upon a time, Australians were told Pine Gap was a space base. Then we were told it was a weather station. But now, of course, we know the installation deep in the Northern Territory outback is a US spy base. Which isn’t to say it’s any less secretive – we still don’t know a huge amount about what goes on there. We do know it’s likely America’s biggest offshore spy base and that it gathers critical intelligence about current conflicts.Now, we also know that it’s undergone a rapid expansion. ...
Jun 23, 2024•18 min•Ep. 1275
For 31 years, there has been a rivalry – drawing on a divide so inherent and base – that it pits mate against mate. We’re not talking about State of Origin, we’re talking about the Reclink Community Cup. The football contest began in Melbourne, but is now held in cities across the country – with the Rockdogs, a team of not-so-athletic musicians, taking on the Megahertz, a band of various music media personalities. The winner claims the bragging rights. Today, 2024 co-captain of the Rockdogs Anna...
Jun 22, 2024•14 min•Ep. 1274
Nuclear power has been politically toxic in this country for decades. It’s been 55 years since a leader went to a federal election promising to build reactors and won. But Peter Dutton is hoping to do just that. And as unlikely as it sounds, he’s convincing people. A little over ten years ago, 62 per cent of Australians opposed nuclear power. Today, polls show the majority support it. So how is a policy so beset with challenges and criticism winning people over? Today, columnist for The Saturday...
Jun 20, 2024•17 min•Ep. 1273
There’s been another strike against whistleblowing. Richard Boyle was a tax office employee when he raised concerns internally about a scheme to garnish overdue taxes directly from people’s bank accounts. When that didn’t work, he told journalists. A court in Adelaide yesterday upheld a ruling that he’s not a whistleblower – which means he now has no defence for leaking that confidential information. Today, Macquarie University professor of journalism and whistleblower advocate Peter Greste on w...
Jun 19, 2024•17 min•Ep. 1272
There’s no nice way to put it: Australian childcare is broken, and not just for those with children. It’s prohibitively expensive, getting the days you’re after is like winning the lottery and if you do get some government subsidy, you have the pleasure of hours on the phone to Centrelink. We’re at a critical point though. The government has promised a huge overhaul of the system and the prime minister is considering reducing the cost to just $10 per kid, per day. Today, CEO of The Parenthood Ge...
Jun 18, 2024•15 min•Ep. 1271
