The price of rice in Japan has doubled in the past year, and the nation's emergency stockpile is dwindling. A poor harvest in 2023 is partly to blame, but Japan is reckoning with much deeper structural problems in its domestic rice market. Decades of rigid protectionism have created an artificial scarcity, and consumers are feeling the pinch. Guest: Ethan Wu, Asia business and finance editor at The Economist Producer: Jack Schmidt
A new report by Amnesty International shows a startling surge in drug-related executions in Saudi Arabia since they abandoned their moratorium on capital punishment in 2022. And most of them are foreigners. GUEST: Kristine Beckerle, Amnesty's Deputy Regional Director for Amnesty International Middle-East and North Africa PRODUCER: Catherine Zengerer...
As parliament returns for the first time since the federal election, Annabel Crabb looks at how Labor will use its huge majority. Guest: Annabel Crabb, ABC writer and commentator
History Professor Chris Wallace is worried about the decline in both enrolments in, and the offering of, history and other humanities subjects at Australian universities, which she says has resulted in a loss of capacity for historical thinking and of decision-making. What happened to the idea of valuing a well-rounded education? GUEST: Chris Wallace, History Professor, University of Canberra PRODUCER: Catherine Zengerer
Throughout history, women have found ways to end unwanted and dangerous pregnancies, even in the midst of legal crackdowns and moral panics. From Ancient Greece through early Christendom to modern times, attitudes to abortion have ebbed and flowed. In the wake of the overturning of Roe v Wade in the US in 2022, historian Mary Fissel takes a long view of abortion and its history, concluding that these moments of repression never last. Guest: Mary Fissel, Professor of the history of medicine, John...
In July 1999, a 33-year old Alaskan tourist named Robert Bogucki dumped his bicycle on the side of a remote desert track in Western Australia, and walked barefoot into the Great Sandy Desert. 43 days later, he was found - emaciated but alive. The new ABC podcast Nowhere Man recounts the thrilling story, tracking down Robert Bogucki to understand why he deliberately walked into this deadly wilderness, triggering a massive search operation and a media circus. Guest: Erin Parke, journalist and prod...
The Torres Strait Islanders' case against the Federal Government has been lost, with the Australian Federal Court finding the Government does not owe a duty of care to them, to mitigate climate change harms. It's the latest in a string of attempts to use the law to steer the Government on environmental issues. The next significant case will be the decision of the International Court of Justice about whether States are responsible for each other's climate harm. Guest: Dr Chris McGrath, Brisbane-b...
New archaeological discoveries continue to be made at the site of the San Jose shipwreck, 600 metres under the sea off the coast of Colombia. Described as the 'world's richest shipwreck', the Spanish galleon was sunk by the British in 1708, with hundreds of souls aboard and a heavy cargo of gold, silver and jewels from the Americas. But the ship's loot remains contested - with various nations, tribes and even a private salvage company staking a claim. Guest: Ann Coats, Professor of Maritime Heri...
As Australia marks 40 years since the introduction of HIV/AIDS testing, global health leaders are sounding the alarm over sweeping HIV funding cuts announced by Donald Trump, warning of devastating setbacks in the fight against the epidemic. GUEST: Bill Bowtell, Adjunct Professor at UNSW and Chief of staff to the Australian health minister, Dr Neal Blewett from 1983-1987. PRODUCER: Ali Benton
A hundred years on from a landmark Supreme Court case about teaching evolution in American schools, the court paves the way for the Trump administration to dismantle the federal Department of Education. Guest: Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor with The Nation magazine; Executive Director of the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University Producer: Catherine Zengerer
Despite ambitious attempts, scientists have never been able to fully replicate the evolutionary wonder of the feather. However, avian inspired design has inspired new technologies such as anti-turbulence systems for aircraft, bio-inspired adhesives, and even quieter wind turbines. GUEST: Aerospace engineer and biologist Professor David Lentink, based at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. PRODUCER: Ali Benton
Given a lack of regional cooperation and some members of the IDF refusing to forcibly re-locate Palestinians, how would Trump and Netanyahu realise their plans for the so-called “Humanitarian city”? GUEST: Irris Makler, freelance journalist and analyst, specialising in the Middle East PRODUCER: Catherine Zengerer
The Prime MinisterAnthony Albanese is leading a trade delegation ahead of a meeting with President Xi Jinping. The focus will be on de-carbonising steel, but Annabel Crabb says lobsters will also be on the menu, and they can reveal a lot about the state of global tariff negotiations. GUEST: Annabel Crabb, ABC writer and presenter PRODUCER: Catherine Zengerer
This nation’s past can be understood a whole lot better if indigenous perspectives on history are listened to. It means considering rock art and other forms of storytelling, and the experiences that First Nations people have when they walk on country. Guests: Jackie Huggins and Ann McGrath, historians and co-editors of ‘Deep history: country and sovereignty’ (UNSW Press) Producer: Ann Arnold
Science in the United States is in crisis. The National Science Foundation, a key research funding agency, has suffered devastating funding cuts under the current administration. Critics say the cuts risk losing an entire generation of young scientists. GUEST: Naomi Oreskes, Henry Charles Lea Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University in the US. PRODUCER: Ali Benton
There are plenty of theories about how the universe began. But what about the question of how it will all end? Humanity's final moments could be due to what's called vacuum decay, the big rip or heat death. Astrophysicist, Dr. Katie Mack, is obsessed with our cosmic future and says there's a certain freedom in knowing how it could all end. GUEST: Dr. Katie Mack, Hawking Chair in Cosmology and Science Communication at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Canada. PRODUCER: Ali Benton...
The Baltic countries are stunningly successful, and also right on the frontline of any possible attack from Russia. In fact all Europeans are vulnerable, Oliver Moody argues, but most of them don't realise that. Guest: Oliver Moody, Berlin bureau chief for The Times. Author of ‘Baltic: the future of Europe’, published by John Murray Producer: Ann Arnold
Not long ago, bogong moths were abundant in the caves of the Australian alps during summer, and in towns and cities like Canberra during their Spring migration. But since 2019, their numbers have crashed by as much as 99.5%. A research project lead by the Taungurung people in collaboration with the University of Melbourne is working to gather much-needed data on these culturally-significant moths - known as deberra in the local language. Guest: Matt Shanks, Nira-balluk man from the Taungurung La...
Emboldened by US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr's libertarian "Make America Healthy Again" agenda, the pseudoscience of 'biohacking' is having a moment. Proponents spruik a range of expensive hi-tech health treatments that promise to increase human longevity: from cryo chambers, to sauna suits, filtered urine treatments and microdosing on snake venom. Journalist Will Bahr went to a conference in Texas to try a few treatments for himself. Guest: Will Bahr, freelance journalist for WIRED Mag...
UK Labour is facing an internal revolt after attempts to cut the welfare budget by more than £5 billion. And, a year on from Keir Starmer's resounding victory, Ian Dunt says he appears to have lost the two main qualities that got him elected: decency and competence. GUEST: Ian Dunt, columnist with i-news; co-host of the Origin Story podcast PRODUCER: Catherine Zengerer
American sociologist Musa al-Gharbi, argues that progressive elites perform their activism with symbolic gestures that don't make a real difference to the material reality of the causes they care about. GUEST: Musa al-Gharbi, Sociologist and Assistant Professor in the School of Communication and Journalism at Stony Brook University in the US PRODUCER: Ali Benton
ABC's Bridget Brennan has been following the work of Victoria's Yoorrook Justice Commission for several years. She surveys the processes that lead to last week's final truth-telling report, which found that the Indigenous people of Victoria were subject to a genocide. Guest: Bridget Brennan, co-host of ABC News Breakfast, previously ABC's Indigenous Affairs Editor
AI, we’re told, has the potential to free us from mundane tasks, revolutionise industries, and solve global problems. Linguistics Professor Emily Bender, warns that the big tech companies who promote AI, with an almost spiritual zeal, may be off the mark. The warning? Don’t believe the hype. GUEST: Dr Emily M. Bender, Professor of Linguistics, University of Washington and co-author of “The AI Con. How To Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want PRODUCER: Ali Benton...
In 2019 an Australian white supremacist lifestreamed his shooting rampage through Christchurch mosques. He killed 51 people and injured more than 80 during Friday prayers. He's been treated as a lone actor. Journalist Joey Watson argues that by unpicking the disguised interactions the terrorist had online leading up to the mosque attacks, and following his movements in Europe, that we should not be seeing this Australian terrorist as a lone actor. Guest: Joey Watson - Investigative journalist at...
Right now, the world is experiencing a profound break from the orthodoxy of globalisation. The US has gradually made moves to withdraw itself from the global trading system, China’s President Xi Jinping has been advocating self-reliance for his nation, and EU leaders are talking up the idea of strategic autonomy from the US. It might all seem like a modern surprise, but in fact, the temptation to face inward is an ancient need. GUEST: Ben Chu, Policy and Analysis Correspondent, BBC Verify PRODUC...
A toddler twin girl was stolen by Chinese officials. She was adopted by a family in Texas. Two decades later, a journalist who traced both girls would then reunite them. Guest: Barbara Demick, former China bureau chief for The Los Angeles Times. Author of ‘Daughters of the bamboo grove’ (Text Publishing - in Australia) Producer: Ann Arnold
The Dalai Lama turns 90 on Sunday. Machinations have been underway for some time to anoint the Dalai Lama who will replace him. The Chinese Government wants to choose one who will serve their geopolitical interests, and the Dalai Lama and his supporters will choose their own 'reincarnated' Dalai Lama. So there will probably be two Dalai Lamas. Guest: Ruth Gamble, La Trobe University historian specialising in Tibet and the Himalayas. Producers: Ann Arnold and Jack Schmidt
Nobody knows precisely where the game of cricket was born, but test cricket as we know it has been played for nearly 150 years. The so-called gentleman's game has not always been accessible to all - indeed the sport's development in the early years reflected prevailing attitudes to race, class and empire in the 19th Century. It's a sport full of marvels and contradictions, that continues to appeal to this day. Guest: Tim Wigmore, journalist and author of Test Cricket: A history...
Will Trump's 'big beautiful bill' pass by his preferred deadline of July 4th? And what will the Democratic party learn from the success of 33 year-old democratic socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani, in New York's mayoral candidacy race? Guest: Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor with The Nation magazine; Executive Director of the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University.
Samuel Flinders was the de facto astronomer on Matthew Flinders' circumnavigation of Australia. But a family feud meant Samuel was never given due credit, for anything he did Guest: Richard de Grijs, Professor of Astrophysics, Macquarie University. Visiting Fellow at the State Library of NSW, researching Samuel Flinders Producer: Ann Arnold
