Rafqa Touma

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178 appearances 4 recordings 1 series first heard Aug 2026 last heard 30 Aug

Rafqa Touma’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 4 in all, peaking in Aug 2026 with 4.

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Full Story · The American painting that sparked an Australian culture war · 30 Aug 2026 podcast

And zooming into the painting just on my laptop, the poles don't look blue.

They

they look black or a very, very dark blue.

Are they blue in real life?

And can you step us through how this American abstract expressionist painting ended up in Australia and why?

So what was the reception?

And kind of what you've been describing so far around this controversy almost sounds like an early culture war.

Would you say that?

After the break, Whitlam's return on his investment.

And were the CIA involved?

Okay, so Tom, I want to know about this theory surrounding blue poles.

Can you settle this once and for all?

Was Pollock part of a CIA psyop?

Looking across to what was going on in the US at the time, was anyone else competing or bidding for Blue Pulse?

The $1.4 million that Whitlam spent on Blue Poles, has it paid off?

And what happened to Jackson Pollock?

What's his legacy as an artist?

And for Whitlam, it almost became a symbol of his leadership, you were saying?

Just finally, Tom, how many times do you visit Blue Poles and how do you feel about it leaving?

Thank you so much, Tom.

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