For more than 20 years Dr Melissa Kang helped Australian teenagers navigate puberty with her much-loved column Dolly Doctor. Kang speaks to Reged Ahmad about why it’s more important than ever to have that conversation You can support the Guardian at theguardian.com/fullstorysupport
Jan 07, 2025•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Do you find yourself replaying an important conversation in your head and thinking - ‘why did I say that?’ Journalist and Pulitzer prize-winning author Charles Duhigg found himself at a similar impasse when he had to manage a project and struggled to connect with members of his team. So he learned everything he could about communication. Duhigg tells Reged Ahmad about the simple things anyone can do to improve their communication skills and why being a good listener is key You can support the Gu...
Jan 06, 2025•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Whether we like it or not, some of us will have to host friends and family at home this holiday season. Karima Hazim, co-author of cookbook Sofra: Lebanese Recipes to Share, takes Reged Ahmad through her essential hacks for putting on a spread to impress – without the stress You can support the Guardian at theguardian.com/fullstorysupport
Jan 05, 2025•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Whether you’ve been passed over for promotion or dumped by the love of your life, moving on from ‘no’ can be tough. Actor and writer Miranda Tapsell tells Reged Ahmad how she’s dealt with rejection throughout her career and how setbacks have made her stronger You can support the Guardian at theguardian.com/fullstorysupport
Jan 02, 2025•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Fashion editor and consultant Zara Wong was attracted to the world of fashion from a young age. After successful stints at Harpers Bazaar, Vogue and Aje Collective she now works as a consultant and also produces her own fashion substack newsletter – Screenshot This. The fashion expert tells Matilda Boseley why you should ignore the rules and not try too hard You can support the Guardian at theguardian.com/fullstorysupport
Jan 01, 2025•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Thinking of breaking up with the booze? Addiction specialist and psychiatrist Xavier Mulenga tells Bridie Jabour the common reasons people think they can’t quit and the steps you can take to reduce your alcohol intake You can support the Guardian at theguardian.com/fullstorysupport
Dec 31, 2024•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast The yes campaigner and author has had a hard year. After a heartbreaking voice to parliament referendum result and sustained attacks from the media, Thomas Mayo had to pick up the pieces and find a way forward. He tells Reged Ahmad how he found light in a dark time You can support the Guardian at theguardian.com/fullstorysupport
Dec 30, 2024•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast How do you tell a story that makes people laugh and what do you do when the joke lands flat? James Colley, a comedian and writer on ABC’s Gruen, tells Reged Ahmad why comics love a whinge and how he turns his life into laughs You can support the Guardian at theguardian.com/fullstorysupport
Dec 29, 2024•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O Henderson have dominated the breakfast slot in Sydney for almost two decades. But their show’s recent expansion into the Melbourne market has tanked. And while they have a reputation for crude language and stunts, the conversations that are broadcast continue to raise questions about how the show skirts decency standards. Senior correspondent Sarah Martin and reporter Kate Lyons tell Nour Haydar how Australia’s highest-rating radio program gets around broadcast regul...
Dec 26, 2024•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Shincheonji church is an international Christian sect which started in South Korea. But the group is being accused of bizarre recruitment strategies at a number of Australian universities and former members have made allegations of ‘coercive control’ tactics that include love bombing and sleep deprivation. Medical editor Melissa Davey speaks to Reged Ahmad about the experiences of families of current members, as well as former members, about life on the inside You can support the Guardian at...
Dec 25, 2024•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Blue whales are the largest animals to have ever lived but they were once hunted to the brink of extinction. The international community only agreed to stop hunting them in 1965 when they numbered fewer than 200. Now scientists are using new methods to learn whether the number of blue whales in the wild is increasing – and they are seeing and hearing promising signs. Reporter Luca Ittimani speaks to marine mammal acoustician Brian Miller about the whale’s Antarctic resurgence You can support the...
Dec 24, 2024•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast What happens when the human body is treated like a machine – pushed to its limit – for the sake of a company’s efficiency standards? Former and current staff at Woolworths allege that the supermarket has been cracking down in a way they describe as ‘bullying’ and unsafe, something the company’s supply chain arm denies.Reged Ahmad asks investigations reporter Ariel Bogle if Woolworths’ warehouse tactics are putting employees’ health and safety at risk
Dec 23, 2024•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast For many years political leaders have condemned violence against women and expressed platitudes about the need for change. But government policies to reduce gender-based violence have failed and frontline services say they are severely underfunded. Journalist and coercive control educator Jess Hill speaks to Nour Haydar about the major paradigm shift that governments still need to make
Dec 22, 2024•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast This year the gap between the rich and the poor widened in Australia – as the housing crisis deepened and the cost of living hit hard. But while there were moments of despair, there were also times of joy that may give us reason to be hopeful for 2025. Bridie Jabour talks with editor in chief Lenore Taylor, head of newsroom Mike Ticher and national news editor Jo Tovey about the highs and lows of 2024 and and what to expect next year
Dec 19, 2024•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Prince Andrew is in trouble again, this time for meeting a businessman who has denied spying for China. In parliament, it has sparked fears about how far the British establishment has been infiltrated by spies. In Beijing, there has been outrage. For Prince Andrew, it has led to him missing Christmas dinner at Sandringham with the rest of the royal family. It is fair to say the accusation that the Chinese businessman Yang Tengbo has been spying for China has caused a serious stir. Dan Sabbagh an...
Dec 18, 2024•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast The opposition leader has finally released the Coalition’s costings for its proposal to build seven nuclear power stations in Australia. Peter Dutton says the plan will cost tens of billions of dollars less than Labor’s transition to renewables. But experts say the plan is not credible and fails to address the climate crisis. Climate and environment editor Adam Morton tells Nour Haydar why the plan doesn’t stack up.
Dec 17, 2024•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast This episode originally ran on Monday 19 June 2023. Theodore ‘Ted’ Kaczynski died at the federal prison in Butner, North Carolina, last year at the age of 81. Known as the Unabomber, Kaczynski waged a 17-year bombing campaign from an isolated shack in the Montana wilderness before finally being caught in 1996. One of those who helped apprehend Kaczynski was former FBI agent Jim Fitzgerald. He tells Michael Safi that the arrest was only possible after the publication of the bomber’s manifesto in ...
Dec 16, 2024•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast This summer Australian politicians are being encouraged to read more widely on the history of Palestine. Five books were sent to all 227 federal MPs and senators as part of a campaign backed and funded by dozens of Australia’s most prominent authors. And in the bundle is one work of fiction – a novella by a Sydney-based author.Nour Haydar speaks with author of The Sunbird Sara Haddad about the summer reading for MPs initiative, Palestine, and writing as activism
Dec 15, 2024•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Last Friday, a large blaze engulfed a synagogue in Melbourne — which authorities are treating as an act of terrorism. It prompted the federal government to set up a special taskforce to investigate antisemitism in Australia. But in the aftermath, Peter Dutton was accused of ‘disgusting’ political point-scoring by escalating the Coalition’s already growing criticism of the government’s response and by attacking Jewish Labor MP Josh Burns.Bridie Jabour talks to the head of newsroom, Mike Ticher, a...
Dec 12, 2024•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Last week South Korea’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, shocked the world when he declared martial law. Although the decision was reversed hours later, Yoon had taken the country into a new and unnerving chapter in its young democracy. Reged Ahmad speaks to Seoul-based journalist Raphael Rashid about why the streets have now exploded with anger and whether the country can come back from the brink
Dec 11, 2024•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Northern Territory coroner has handed down findings in an inquest into the horrific domestic violence deaths of four Aboriginal women. The landmark report exposed systemic failings and made 35 recommendations aimed at stemming what the coroner called an “epidemic of violence”.Nour Haydar speaks to Guardian Australia’s Indigenous affairs editor, Lorena Allam, and Indigenous affairs reporter, Sarah Collard, about the four women at the centre of the inquest and the coroner’s findings
Dec 10, 2024•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Foreign correspondent William Christou travels to Damascus, hours after Syria’s decades-long dictator Bashar al-Assad is ousted from power, and asks whether the country’s 13-year civil war has finally come to an end Read More: Who are the main actors in the fall of the regime in Syria? I wept and wept as I watched the Syrian regime fall. At last, I have a home again
Dec 10, 2024•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast As rents continue to increase at alarming rates and more Australians are priced out of the housing market, the Guardian put the call out to readers for their experiences from inside the housing crisis. The response was overwhelming. Reporter Daisy Dumas tells Reged Ahmad what 150 readers have to say about how the pressures of renting and buying have affected their income, relationships and health
Dec 09, 2024•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast What if you could take a pill or a shot that reduced your blood alcohol level and made you feel better in the morning? That’s the promise of a range of wellness products aiming to be the next big hangover antidote. But what exactly are hangovers, and which methods of preventing them are backed by science? Madeleine Finlay speaks to Dr Sally Adams, an alcohol researcher and associate professor of psychology at the University of Birmingham
Dec 08, 2024•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast A story splashed across the front of News Corp’s biggest-selling tabloid newspapers this week was all about gas. We need to ‘step on the gas’, the papers said, to avoid higher bills and blackouts. But the ‘special report’ was actually ‘proudly sponsored’ by the fossil fuel industry.Bridie Jabour talks to Guardian Australia’s editor, Lenore Taylor, and deputy editor Patrick Keneally about how the mining industry – and the media – are trying to shape the election agenda
Dec 05, 2024•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Despite saying multiple times that he would never do it, the US president, Joe Biden, has now pardoned his only surviving son. Hunter Biden was due to face sentencing later this month for his conviction on federal gun charges and a separate tax case. The decision, as America prepares for the return of the president-elect, Donald Trump, has left some Democratic lawmakers frustrated and disappointed. Reged Ahmad speaks to the Guardian’s Washington DC bureau chief David Smith about the ‘heartfelt h...
Dec 04, 2024•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Parliament has wrapped for 2024 and politicians are now back in their electorates for the summer. Labor ended the year on a high, striking deals to pass more than 30 pieces of legislation through the Senate in just one day. And while the sitting year is over, speculation is still running hot over when the prime minister will call the federal election. Nour Haydar speaks to chief political correspondent Paul Karp about what the government achieved – and compromised – in the final frenetic sitting...
Dec 03, 2024•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the early hours of 17 May 2023, Senior Constable Kristian White shot 95-year-old Clare Nowland with his Taser in a Cooma nursing home. Last week, after a high-profile trial in which he pleaded not guilty, a jury found White guilty of the manslaughter of the great-grandmother. He now awaits sentencing. Reged Ahmad speaks to reporter Jordyn Beazely about the unresolved questions surrounding how police officers interact with vulnerable people
Dec 02, 2024•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast The conversation about fluoride’s health benefits has exploded after a US federal toxicology report, court ruling and independent scientific review all called for updated risk-benefit analysis. Ian Sample hears from Catherine Carstairs, professor of history at the University of Guelph in Canada, about how attitudes to fluoridation have evolved, and Oliver Jones, professor of chemistry at RMIT University, Melbourne, about where the science stands today You can support the Guardian at theguardian....
Dec 01, 2024•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast A heatwave has hit eastern Australia. As Sydneysiders struggled through the heat, the premier, Chris Minns, asked residents to cut back on their power use to prevent parts of the city from plunging into a blackout. And while the grid strained to keep up with demand, an all-too-familiar debate erupted about the transition to renewable energy.Bridie Jabour talks to Guardian Australia’s head of newsroom, Mike Ticher, and deputy editor Patrick Keneally about the challenges the Labor government faces...
Nov 28, 2024•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast