A daily news show from the publisher of The Monthly and The Saturday Paper. Hear from the country’s best reporters, covering the news as it affects Australia. This is news with narrative, every weekday.
…
continue reading
1
Read This: Charlotte Wood Thinks Restraint Is Underrated
29:07
29:07
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
29:07
Charlotte Wood became a mainstay in Australia’s literary firmament in 2016 following the release of her award-winning novel, The Natural Way of Things. Her latest book, Stone Yard Devotional, is a meditation on grief, solitude, what it means to live a good life, and what we owe one another. It has been shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize. On this…
…
continue reading
1
Exclusive: States abandon federal terrorism ‘clusterf--k’
21:48
21:48
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
21:48
There’s a greater than 50 per cent chance that there will be a terrorist attack – or a planned attack – in Australia in the next year. That’s the reality behind the head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s recent decision to upgrade the nation’s terror threat level to “probable”. So the need for all states and territories to be w…
…
continue reading
1
Midwest and masculinity: The Vance-Walz debate
24:14
24:14
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
24:14
As much as they would hate to admit it, both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris fit the definition of “coastal elite”. The United States presidential candidates are a wealthy New York businessman and reality TV star running against a San Francisco liberal with a career in public office. That’s why they’re both hoping their vice-presidential candidates …
…
continue reading
1
Inside the Coles and Woolworths 'fake' discounts case
19:51
19:51
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
19:51
There are hundreds of angry posts on X, TikTok and Reddit from citizen journalists archiving Coles and Woolworths' published prices and noticing some strange patterns. The posters complain that the two supermarket giants have misled their customers with their “Down Down” and “Prices Dropped” promotions. Now, the Australian Competition and Consumer …
…
continue reading
1
A report from the border of Lebanon and Syria
18:25
18:25
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
18:25
When Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in Beirut over the weekend, Michelle Jasmin Dimasi felt the blast from her apartment. Michelle’s an Australian journalist and she’s been based in the city for a few months. Now, as Israeli airstrikes continue, she is preparing to leave, likely by plane. But for a million displaced people within …
…
continue reading
1
How the assassination of Hezbollah’s leader will reshape the Middle East
21:19
21:19
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
21:19
The leader of Hezbollah has been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut. Hassan Nasrallah led the group for more than 30 years, building it into a powerful political force within Lebanon and the most heavily armed non-state militia in the world. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly ordered the killing from his hotel room in New Yo…
…
continue reading
1
Read This: Michael Ondaatje Is Learning Everything Again
29:43
29:43
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
29:43
Sri Lankan-born Canadian essayist, poet, and Booker Prize-winning novelist Michael Ondaatje recently released a stunning collection of poems. Ondaatje is now 80 years old and it’s almost half a century since he published his first novel; even longer since he first published poetry. On this episode of Read This he joins Michael for a conversation ab…
…
continue reading
The Reserve Bank should lower interest rates, and if they don’t, the government should make them, according to the Greens. Their spokesperson for economic justice Nick McKim has said he won’t support the government's reforms to the RBA unless the treasurer intervenes in the bank’s decision-making processes and tells them to lower interest rates. It…
…
continue reading
1
What 'tough on crime' means in Queensland
21:53
21:53
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
21:53
The Liberal National Party has been in the political wilderness in Queensland for most of the past three decades. But in a month’s time that’s likely to change, after an election campaign fought on youth crime. Yesterday, David Crisafulli announced courts would be able to access young people’s full criminal histories, even after they have turned 18…
…
continue reading
1
‘Muzzling’ advocates: the Albanese government’s reliance on NDAs
20:31
20:31
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
20:31
In more than 30 years of lobbying for gambling reforms, Tim Costello says no government has tried to silence him through the use of a legally binding non-disclosure agreement. That’s until the Albanese government asked him to sign an NDA as part of lobbying the government on new gambling advertising laws. The chief advocate for the Alliance for Gam…
…
continue reading
1
Easey Street and ‘the boy with the knife’
23:02
23:02
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
23:02
If you ask a Melbourne local, almost all of them would have heard of the 1977 Easey Street murders. In one of Victoria’s most brutal unsolved killings, two women in their 20s were stabbed dozens of times in their home on Easey Street in Collingwood. Now, after 47 years and examining over 130 “persons of interest”, police have finally made an arrest…
…
continue reading
1
TikTok politics: Very demure, very Dutton
22:16
22:16
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
22:16
Peter Dutton is now on TikTok, and his first post was about as inspiring as you might imagine. It’s shot in an office, he’s wearing a suit, and he’s talking about housing. It’s easy to see this as a case of trying to appeal to the kids. But it’s also a sign of a broader trend among Australian politicians, with around a third of them now on TikTok a…
…
continue reading
1
Read This: Friends, Mary Beard Fans, Countrymen, Lend Me Your Ears
34:35
34:35
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
34:35
Even if you’re not an obsessive Ancient Rome aficionado, you may have heard of Mary Beard. With more than 20 books to her name, including the wildly successful SPQR, Mary might be most famous for her work as a BBC host for shows such as Pompeii: Life and Death in a Roman Town and Julius Caesar Revealed. On this episode of Read This, she sits down w…
…
continue reading
1
Fake artwork and discrimination: The MONA Ladies Lounge saga
23:04
23:04
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
23:04
In a court case earlier this year, an art installation at Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art that was designed to playfully poke at the historic and ongoing disadvantages faced by women was found to be discriminatory. MONA’s Ladies Lounge was a small, private room within the museum, bordered by silk green curtains and open only to those who identif…
…
continue reading
1
‘They don’t want us here’: an asylum seeker’s shattered education dreams
21:13
21:13
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
21:13
As a child refugee in India, Harini dreamt of making it to Australia to study medicine and become a doctor. She arrived in Australia in 2013 when she was 10 years old, leaving behind her two siblings and mother. Harini did not realise her visa status made her different to her classmates until she received a university offer for a biomedical science…
…
continue reading
1
University bosses and their million-dollar salaries
20:45
20:45
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
20:45
When Bill Shorten finally gave up his hopes of ever becoming prime minister, one door closed and another, much more lucrative, door opened. In his new role as vice-chancellor of the University of Canberra, he could earn up to three times as much as the PM. His appointment comes amid a fight about the exorbitant salaries Australian vice-chancellors …
…
continue reading
1
Jim Chalmers, Angus Taylor and the future of the Reserve Bank
21:52
21:52
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
21:52
When Jim Chalmers said that interest rate hikes were “smashing the economy” he was either stating the obvious or starting a war, depending on who you ask. For weeks – in question time and in the news – a picture has been forming of an aggrieved treasurer, angry at the governor of the Reserve Bank. At the same time, senior unnamed Labor insiders hav…
…
continue reading
1
Inside the secret world of an American militia
20:28
20:28
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
20:28
The militia movement in the United States has a long and bloody history. In the aftermath of January 6, it was buoyed by Donald Trump’s praise of those who attacked the Capitol, and the numbers of people wanting to join militia groups grew. With a resurgence in numbers, militia groups are now patrolling the US-Mexico border, forming bonds with acti…
…
continue reading
1
Read This: Louise Milligan Wears Her Heart on Her Sleeve
26:17
26:17
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
26:17
Star investigative journalist Louise Milligan has spent her career working on some of the most high-profile criminal cases in Australia. This incredible breadth of experience informs her first novel Pheasant’s Nest, which follows the abduction of a young journalist and provides a unique insight into the media, policing and politics that surround a …
…
continue reading
1
Australia’s first national newspaper – for prisoners, by prisoners
21:08
21:08
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
21:08
When former inmate Daniel Vansetten heard about the idea of a national newspaper, produced for prisoners and by prisoners, he jumped at the opportunity to be involved. He says the incarceration system in Australia can be an information black hole and About Time intends to rectify that. The free paper is available to approximately 21,000 prisoners i…
…
continue reading
The United States presidential campaign so far has largely been based on fashioning public perceptions: with the Democrats painting Donald Trump as a threat to democracy, and Republicans calling Kamala Harris a radical Marxist who will destroy America. And with the election just around the corner, their first and possibly only debate was a chance t…
…
continue reading
1
Why Labor wants to fight the election on nuclear power
21:10
21:10
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
21:10
Peter Dutton’s first major promise when he became opposition leader was to build nuclear power plants. It was a curious idea with no cost attached and and without much community support, according to polling. Now, the Labor government has signalled it wants the next election to be fought on the viability of these plants, with the release of a new a…
…
continue reading
1
Inside Labor’s courting of the teal independents
19:03
19:03
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
19:03
Politics was changed at the last election in a way the major parties are still grappling with. Now, the record crossbench it delivered looks set to grow even more, with a hung parliament looking ever more likely. In the lead up to the next election, Labor is courting the teals, knowing the relationship could be crucial to forming government and kee…
…
continue reading
The Albanese government’s long-promised National Anti-Corruption Commission was met with high hopes that it would weed out corruption within our institutions and restore faith in politics. But when it came to its first big test – investigating the robodebt scandal – it took the commission a year to decide it would do nothing. Now, there are concern…
…
continue reading
1
Read This: We Visited Gerald Murnane at the Goroke Golf Course
37:14
37:14
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
37:14
Gerald Murnane doesn’t have readers, he has acolytes. The New Yorker described him as “the reclusive giant of Australian letters”. He’s written 10 novels, several collections of short stories and essays, and a memoir about horse racing. Together these books represent one of the most formidable and singular bodies of work in literature. On this epis…
…
continue reading
Bill Shorten has wanted to be the prime minister since he was a teenager. Yesterday he finally gave up that ambition, announcing his resignation from politics. Shorten spent almost two decades in parliament – rising to be opposition leader and contesting two elections, but never winning. As an architect of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, …
…
continue reading
1
The scientific controversy over head injuries in sport
23:31
23:31
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
23:31
At a Senate committee last year, the NRL and Football Australia acknowledged the link between head injuries in contact sports and the neurodegenerative disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). But a core member of the NRL’s concussion research group is also one of the most outspoken critics of the link between repeated head injury and CTE, c…
…
continue reading
1
Thomas Mayo on continuing the fight for recognition
21:12
21:12
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
21:12
Although Australians voted resoundingly against an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, Thomas Mayo – one of the Voice’s key campaigners – has not given up hope. He says while the “Yes” campaign lost the referendum, what they gained was resilience and a new generation of Indigenous leaders ready to take up the fight. He’s also written a new book, Always…
…
continue reading
1
Why trans people need to be counted in the census
21:16
21:16
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
21:16
The census is meant to reflect the country back to us – to give vital data on who makes up Australia. But this week it’s become a political landmine for the federal government, who first cancelled questions on sexual orientation and gender identity, only to partially reverse that decision amid tense backlash. But the question of data isn’t just aca…
…
continue reading
1
Is this the end of the Jacqui Lambie Network?
22:19
22:19
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
22:19
It’s been almost a decade since Jacqui Lambie dramatically quit the Palmer United Party. Since then, she’s become a political force in Canberra and in her home state of Tasmania as the leader of the Jacqui Lambie Network. At the last federal election, Lambie’s longtime staffer Tammy Tyrrell won a senate spot – and at the last Tasmanian election, ju…
…
continue reading
1
Read This: Miranda July Wrote the Book She Couldn’t Find
33:22
33:22
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
33:22
Writer, artist, and filmmaker Miranda July has a devoted – even rabid – following, through her writing, her work on the screen, and her collaborative art projects. On this episode of Read This, she and Michael discuss her new novel, All Fours, which explores desire, intimacy, dance, and an often overlooked part of the ageing process.…
…
continue reading
1
Inside the ‘white hands on black art’ saga
25:35
25:35
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
25:35
The most damaging controversy the Indigenous art sector has experienced in years started with a video. The Ngura Pulka exhibition was set to open in June last year, featuring 28 new paintings by three generations of Aṉangu artists represented by the APY Art Centre Collective in South Australia. The footage shows white studio assistants working on c…
…
continue reading
1
Tanya Plibersek and the billion-dollar gold mine
23:36
23:36
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
23:36
It’s been a tough few weeks for Jim Beyer, the CEO of Australia’s third largest goldmining company, Regis Resources. The multi-billion dollar McPhillamy goldmine in NSW had been through all the approvals processes, but at the last minute, Beyer had to tell investors that it likely won’t go ahead. The announcement comes after an intervention from th…
…
continue reading
1
Jess Hill on how to stop domestic violence
20:02
20:02
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
20:02
Jess Hill hasn’t been sleeping much lately. For the past three months, she’s been working on a plan to try to end violence against women and children. Now, that plan is out. The rapid review looks beyond the education campaigns that we have come to understand as domestic violence prevention and calls for a complete overhaul to the way the governmen…
…
continue reading
1
Are Hezbollah and Israel gearing up for all out war?
20:50
20:50
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
20:50
It was the biggest escalation between Hezbollah and Israel since October 7. On Sunday, Hezbollah launched hundreds of rockets and drones at Israel while Israel said it hit more than 40 targets in Lebanon – and isn’t done yet. The attacks come as talks of a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel continue with no sign of an outcome. Today, world editor o…
…
continue reading
1
‘We’re always going to fight’: Victoria’s groundbreaking path to Treaty
20:11
20:11
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
20:11
After the resounding defeat of last year’s referendum on the Voice to Parliament, the path towards Truth and Treaty has appeared to be on shaky ground. But history has been made in Victoria, with the state’s Indigenous representative body formally confirming it is ready to negotiate with the government on a state-wide treaty. The process is being l…
…
continue reading
1
Read This: It’s Not Roxane Gay’s Job to Make People Happy
30:34
30:34
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
30:34
Roxane Gay is a prominent American author, professor, and cultural critic known for her unflinching honesty, quick wit, and razor-sharp intellect. She has gained acclaim for her essays, fiction, and memoirs that explore identity, gender, race, and body image. This week on Read This, Roxane joins Michael for a conversation about what it means to be …
…
continue reading
1
Jon Faine on why the ABC's boss just quit
18:58
18:58
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
18:58
The ABC’s Managing Director David Anderson announced his shock resignation yesterday afternoon, after being reappointed for his second term in the role late last year. Anderson said stepping down was “the right time for me and the right time for the ABC”. The decision comes just months after Kim Williams took up his new role as chair with big plans…
…
continue reading
1
Elon Musk’s secret plan to buy Trump the presidency
20:38
20:38
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
20:38
In 2022, Elon Musk said Donald Trump was “too old” to be president, and Donald Trump called Musk a “bullshit artist”. In the relatively short time since, Elon Musk has endorsed the former president and offered him some free publicity by interviewing Trump on his website X. It’s now been revealed that Elon Musk has also been working behind the scene…
…
continue reading
1
QANTAS crash: How Alan Joyce lost a $9 million bonus
20:01
20:01
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
20:01
Alan Joyce was once hailed as a saviour of perhaps Australia’s most iconic business. The former CEO of QANTAS was championed by his board and well known in the Australian business community for his support of social justice causes throughout his 15 years in the job. So, it’s been a dramatic fall from grace. Joyce has now left his successors with a …
…
continue reading
1
Peter Dutton's Palestinian ban is textbook Peter Dutton
22:11
22:11
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
22:11
The treatment or mistreatment of refugees fleeing to Australia has been the wellspring of Australian politics for almost a quarter of a century. This time, it's Peter Dutton with his call for Palestinians fleeing Gaza to be banned from coming to Australia. The language is designed to wedge the government by making them look soft on national securit…
…
continue reading
1
After the 'no' vote: Advance’s plan to destroy the Greens
23:17
23:17
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
23:17
The hard-right group behind the “No” campaign, Advance, is amassing a multi-million dollar war chest to take down its next opponent: the Australian Greens. Advance has called the Greens the “single biggest threat to freedom, security and prosperity in Australia” – and they have big plans to target their voters ahead of the next election. Today, spe…
…
continue reading
1
Read This: All Bruce Pascoe Needs Is a Biro
29:47
29:47
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
29:47
It was 2014 when Bruce Pascoe went from being a prolific, yet relatively unknown writer, to public enemy #1 in Australia’s culture wars. That was the year that Bruce published his now infamous book, Dark Emu, and its re-examination of accepted historical accounts of pre-invasion Australia. On this episode of Read This, he joins Michael for a discus…
…
continue reading
1
‘It’s not 1800-phone-a-friend’: the failed promise of therapy apps
23:17
23:17
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
23:17
“I didn’t have a boyfriend to text anymore so might as well text a therapist,” a millennial podcast host tells her audience while recommending they seek out counselling. Online therapy services like BetterHelp are some of podcasting’s biggest advertisers, promising to address the barriers that prevent people from accessing face-to-face therapy. Now…
…
continue reading
1
Linda Reynolds, Brittany Higgins and the rise of political defamation
23:04
23:04
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
23:04
Brittany Higgins has now been at the centre of three court cases. First, there was the criminal trial of Bruce Lehrmann - which was aborted with no findings made against him. Lehrmann later sued Network 10 and journalist Lisa Wilkinson, claiming that they defamed him by identifying him as a rapist. The court found that he did, to a civil standard, …
…
continue reading
1
Inside the illegal underground schools for Afghan girls
21:38
21:38
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
21:38
Three years ago the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan. From his new home in Adelaide, Australia, Hazara human rights activist and photographer Muzafar Ali watched warlords returning to the places he had loved but had been forced to leave. He saw Western journalists describing a place they didn’t know and didn’t really understand. So last mont…
…
continue reading
1
Labor’s plan to put young people into aged care
20:59
20:59
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
20:59
Neale Radley was in his early 40s when he dived off a houseboat and hit a sandbar, becoming a high-needs quadriplegic. With no family members able to look after him, he was faced with limited options and ended up in aged-care. Now, a clause in the government’s New Aged Care Act could mean that more younger people will end up in aged-care, potential…
…
continue reading
1
Imane Khelif and the scrutiny of female athletes’ bodies
22:07
22:07
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
22:07
This year’s Olympics has been phenomenal for women in sport. Paris 2024 also set a milestone as the first Olympics to achieve full gender parity on the field of play. But these achievements have been overshadowed by the abuse levelled at two female boxers who both clinched their first olympic medals over unfounded speculation about their sex. One o…
…
continue reading
1
Read This: Eric Beecher Is a Media Mongrel
31:22
31:22
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
31:22
In this episode of our sister podcast, Read This, host Michael Williams speaks with journalist, editor and media proprietor Eric Beecher about his new book The Men Who Killed the News. Eric has worked for some of the most well-respected newspapers in the world, including the Sydney Morning Herald and the Wall Street Journal. He’s currently the head…
…
continue reading
1
Is Australia failing to teach kids to read?
19:17
19:17
Play later
Play later
Lists
Like
Liked
19:17
It’s been called a forever war: the fight over how to teach children to read. For decades, an outdated method has lingered in Australian classrooms as states protect schools’ right to teach how they wish. Following a recent report from the Grattan Institute that found a third of Australian children couldn’t read well, state governments are finally …
…
continue reading