Full Story
Episodes
Will Trump and Putin decide the future of Ukraine
12 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will meet on Friday in Alaska for a high-stakes summit on the Ukraine war. But the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zele...
Australia’s plan to recognise Palestine
11 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has confirmed his government will join other allies to formally recognise Palestinian statehood. Guardian Austra...
Why doesn’t Adani pay any corporate tax?
10 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When Adani first sought government approval for its Carmichael coalmine in Queensland, a major selling point was the company’s pledge to deliver $22...
Back to Back Barries: is Trump the new Xi Jinping?
08 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tony Barry and George Megalogenis (filling in for Barrie Cassidy) discuss Donald Trump’s sacking of his chief statistician over unflattering job fig...
What the mushroom murders trial jury wasn’t told
08 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On Friday, an interim suppression order prohibiting Australian media from reporting on any evidentiary rulings made in pre-trial hearings and during E...
One doctor’s hopes to rebuild Gaza’s health system
08 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Palestinian paediatrician Abdalkarim Alharazin has seen more suffering and death than most over his time as a junior doctor on Gaza’s frontlines. Am...
Newsroom edition: the politics of the Sydney Harbour Bridge protest
07 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Hundreds of thousands of people marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on the weekend to protest against the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza....
Can Trump be shamed into supporting human rights?
06 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After three decades at the helm of Human Rights Watch, the former executive director Kenneth Roth has written a memoir about his time campaigning agai...
The Descendants: the search for Tom Wills
05 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For some years there have been suggestions that in the 1860s Tom Wills, Australia’s first sports hero and a founder of Australian rules football, ma...
Is Australia a conspiracy theory nation?
04 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Conspiracy theories and fringe ideas are now increasingly a visible part of Australian politics and public life. But what pushes people to abandon our...
The Descendants: decoding a massacre
03 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Colonial pastoralist Major Logue is a figure of note in the city of Geraldton, Western Australia. But his diaries, written partly in code, reveal a da...
Back to Back Barries: does Albanese care more about polls or Palestine?
01 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barry examine Labor and Liberal positions on recognising Palestine and ask: will the prime minister change Australia’s posit...
Newsroom edition: when will Australia recognise Palestine?
31 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On Wednesday, Australia joined 14 other countries to describe the recognition of Palestine as ‘an essential step towards the two-state solution’, ...
Could Murdoch bring down Trump?
30 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein is the story that won’t go away. Most recently, the Wall Street Journal reported about a letter they claim was wri...
Why do we age in dramatic bursts, and what can we do about it?
30 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists are beginning to understand that ageing is not a simply linear process. Instead, recent research appears to show that we age in three accel...
Why the Australian Greens expelled their cofounder
29 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Earlier this month the Greens officially terminated the membership of one of its founders. Drew Hutton, the expelled member, criticised the party as ‘...
Is this the tipping point in Gaza?
28 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After days of international pressure, Israel has agreed to increase the amount of aid going into Gaza. It follows last week’s pictures coming out of...
Is Trump building a political dynasty?
27 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Politics Weekly America, author Gwenda Blair and reporters Rosie Gray and Ashley Parker introduce us to the family members who help...
Back to Back Barries: is the Liberal-National Coalition a ‘sham marriage’?
25 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barry examine the return of federal parliament, the net zero debate and why Latham’s portrait is still on display in the Lab...
Newsroom edition: the real net zero questions do not involve the Coalition
24 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Evidence shows urgent action is needed to prevent the climate crisis from worsening but political will is waning. As the Coalition takes the debate ba...
The many controversies of Mark Latham
23 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mark Latham came close to becoming an Australian prime minister, but it’s very different headlines being made now. After a career of controversy, th...
What’s behind the cancelling of Stephen Colbert?
22 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Late Show on CBS will come to an end next year after a 33-year run. The news came just days after the TV host referred to a $16m settlement betwee...
A new parliament, but is it new politics?
21 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As Australia’s federal parliament resumes, Reged Ahmad speaks to chief political correspondent Tom McIlroy and political reporter Krishani Dhanji ab...
Why the Texas floods are fuelling far-right conspiracy theories
20 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The floods in Texas earlier this month swept away entire homes and holiday camps, claiming more than 130 lives. As authorities try to piece together h...
Back to Back Barries: Does Albanese need to choose China over Trump?
18 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barry examine the optics of the prime minister’s lengthy visit to China. They also return to the fallout from Jillian Segal’...
Trump goes to war with Maga over Epstein files
18 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump really wants people to stop talking about Jeffrey Epstein, but his Maga base, including some prominent commentators such as Laura Loomer,...
Newsroom edition: why is Jim Chalmers listening to Ezra Klein?
17 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In Canberra there’s one book you must at least pretend to have read by the time parliament returns: Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson. In r...
Will this weekend’s election end the political chaos in Tasmania?
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This Saturday, Tasmanians will go to the polls again. The state election is the fourth in just over seven years, and many are hoping it will finally p...
How the BBC got into a mess over Gaza
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After mounting criticism over its coverage of the war in Gaza, will the BBC change its approach?
When Albanese met Xi
15 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Anthony Albanese met Xi Jinping for the second time in Beijing on Tuesday. Prior to the meeting, in remarks open to the media, both leaders talked abo...
Jim Chalmers on uncertainty and ambition
15 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Treasurer Jim Chalmers tells Guardian Australia chief political correspondent Tom McIlroy one of his key measures of success in the future is making A...
The controversy over Jillian Segal’s antisemitism plan
14 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The federal government’s special envoy to combat antisemitism, Jillian Segal, has released a report that recommends 49 key actions to stamp out abus...
South Australia’s algae bloom crisis
13 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
South Australia’s coastline is battling a toxic algal bloom. Rising sea temperatures and a lack of action about the unfolding catastrophe have left ...
Back to Back Barries: could the antisemitism plan be used to silence dissent?
11 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barrie unpack the plan handed to the federal government this week to combat antisemitism. They also look at Trump’s threat t...
Newsroom edition: the mushroom trial media frenzy
10 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week the jury in Erin Patterson’s months-long triple-murder trial returned a verdict of guilty on all charges. But rather than draw a line unde...
Kumanjayi Walker inquest findings: racism, reform and reckoning
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Six years on from the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker and a murder trial that found former NT police officer Zachary Rolfe not guilty o...
What can be done to make childcare safer?
08 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A week after it was revealed that a Melbourne childcare worker had been charged with sexual abuse offences relating to multiple children, scrutiny of ...
Trump’s big beautiful betrayal
08 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ed Pilkington explains the US president’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ and what it will mean for millions of poorer Americans who voted for him last Nov...
Mushroom trial: Erin Patterson found guilty
07 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A jury has found Erin Patterson guilty of murdering three relatives and attempting to murder a fourth with a deadly beef wellington lunch almost two y...
Japan’s rice crisis
06 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Home-grown rice is a key part of Japanese culture, identity and politics, dating back thousands of years. So much so that any disruption can spark a w...
Back to Back Barries: do Labor voters have buyer’s remorse?
04 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barry take a look at Anthony Albanese’s support of Donald Trump’s bombing of Iran and ask: will the US - Australia relatio...
Guilty ... and not guilty: understanding the Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs verdict
04 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The rapper faced charges often levied at mafia bosses. Anna Betts explains what the jury heard, and Andrew Lawrence tells Nosheen Iqbal what the verdi...
Newsroom edition: the perils of covering extreme weather during the climate crisis
03 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week headlines warned of a ‘bomb cyclone’ forming on the Australian east coast. However, the Bureau of Meteorology has stopped short of using...
Bougainville’s rocky path to independence
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 2019, the people of Bougainville overwhelmingly voted in favour of independence. Once controlled by Britain, Germany, Japan, Australia and Papua Ne...
The Melbourne childcare sexual abuse charges: what we know so far
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The childcare sector has come under intense scrutiny in the wake of a Victorian worker being charged with dozens of child sexual abuse offences. While...
Does the Liberal party need to change its values to survive?
01 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, is in a battle to raise the Liberal party from the electoral ashes and remake it into something that can win again....
What does Zohran Mamdani’s triumph tell the Democrats?
30 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
He is now the Democratic candidate for the New York City mayoral race. After running a highly successful and viral campaign culminating in him defeati...
The thrift stores dividing Australian shoppers
29 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As the cost-of-living crisis takes hold, more people are turning to op shops for secondhand clothes. Among the thrift shops is Savers, a US for-profit...
Back to Back Barries: could Albanese be the next Hawke or Howard?
27 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
George Megalogenis joins Tony Barry in the studio this week to discuss why Donald Trump is unlikely to drag Australia into war, whether the prime mini...
Newsroom edition: the risks for Australia in backing US military action
26 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Anthony Albanese and the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, have endorsed the US bombings of three Iranian nuclear facilities, arguing the targeted...
Antoinette Lattouf wins against the ABC
25 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What started as five casual radio presenter shifts has turned into one of the most closely watched court battles in Australian media. In 2023, Antoine...
Can you trust your sunscreen?
24 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An investigation by consumer group Choice has found that several leading Australian sunscreens don’t provide the level of protection they say they d...
US strikes Iran: the breakdown of the rules-based order
23 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Just over a week ago, Iranian and American officials were set to meet for a fresh round of negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program. Now the regio...
Mushroom trial comes to a close
22 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The mushroom trial that intrigued the world is drawing to a close after weeks of evidence – including testimony from the accused Erin Patterson. Now...
Back to Back Barries: Albanese and the world waits on Trump
20 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As the US president deliberates on whether or not to launch strikes on Iran, Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barry discuss the global effort to de-escalate th...
Newsroom edition: the consequences of the Israel-Iran war
19 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The world is hanging on to Donald Trump’s every word, waiting to see if or how the US will intervene in the Israel-Iran conflict. While Australia’...
The Air India crash and the miracle of seat 11A
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Aviation journalist Jeff Wise on the crash of flight AI171, in which at least 270 people died, and how one passenger in seat 11A managed to survive
Trump cancels on Australia at the G7
17 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Anthony Albanese had hoped to meet Donald Trump in person for the first time at the G7 summit in Calgary, Canada. But now that meeting will no longer ...
Israel’s war with Iran: what does it want?
17 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It has been five days since Israel launched attacks on Iran and the war seems to be escalating. The civilian death toll is rising and Israeli forces h...
Arise, Sir David Beckham
16 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On Friday it was announced that David Beckham was to receive his knighthood – the fruits of a campaign for the honour that started more than a decad...
The politics of an all Māori album: Marlon Williams
15 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Aotearoa/New Zealand artist Marlon Williams spent five years on his latest album, Te Whare Tīwekaweka, which is entirely in the Māori language. The ...
Back to Back Barries: Albanese prepares to face ‘toxic’ Trump
13 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the lead-up to Anthony Albanese’s trip to the G7 summit in Canada, Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barry discuss the Pentagon’s Aukus review as well as...
Will the Aukus submarine deal go belly up?
12 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The US Department of Defense has announced a review of the Aukus submarine deal, just days before Australia’s prime minister is due to meet Donald T...
The shocking death toll from inaction in prisons
11 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A Guardian Australia investigation reveals the government inertia behind the suicide crisis in Australian jails. Dozens of inmates have killed themsel...
Palestinian journalist Plestia Alaqad “living in two different worlds” since fleeing Gaza
10 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Millions around the world watched Palestinian journalist Plestia Alaqad as she documented online her life under Israeli attack after 7 October 2023. N...
Trump takes on the LA protesters and Elon Musk
09 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump’s decision to deploy 2,000 national guard troops against demonstrators protesting against widespread immigration crackdowns in Los Ange...
Missing in the Amazon: the disappearance – episode 1
08 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Three years ago, British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian Indigenous defender Bruno Pereira vanished while on a reporting trip near Brazil’s re...
Back to Back Barries: shifting alliances abroad and at home
06 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barry take a look under the hood of the week in Australian politics. They examine the Albanese government’s response to US r...
Death cap mushrooms, foraging and a dehydrator: Erin Patterson takes the stand
06 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After nearly a month of hearing experts, witnesses and police officers testify, this week Erin Patterson herself took to the stand. Patterson is facin...
Newsroom edition: can Labor stare down its critics?
05 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Albanese government wants to increase the tax on super balances above $3m. The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says it is a modest change but there have ...
Five years since Black Lives Matter – has anything changed in Australia?
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 2020 tens of thousands of people took to the streets, demanding accountability and racial justice in solidarity with First Nations Australians. But...
Slut-shamed and bullied by students: why teachers are quitting
03 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An alarming cultural shift is happening in Australian classrooms, as teachers report an increase in bullying and misogynistic and violent behaviour fr...
Why the key to good sleep can’t be found on TikTok
02 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Social media is rife with hacks that claim to help you sleep better and deeper. From melatonin, feeding your baby butter and taping your mouth shut, t...
Greg Jericho says Labor’s super tax reveals a system built for the rich
01 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Albanese government wants to reduce the tax breaks for those with more than $3m in superannuation. And while sections of the media are highly crit...
The OpenAI empire
31 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 2019, before most of the world had heard of the company, the technology journalist Karen Hao spent three days embedded in the offices of OpenAI. Wh...
Back to Back Barries: Albanese’s pressure points
29 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As the Coalition puts itself back together again, Labor is facing the first tests of its resolve on tax, climate and Gaza. Barrie Cassidy and Tony Bar...
The Coalition is back together, what now?
28 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Liberals leader, Sussan Ley, and the Nationals leader, David Littleproud, have reached a new agreement, presenting a united front and announcing a...
‘White genocide’ and the consequences of Trump’s conspiracies
27 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Donald Trump is not new to conspiracy theories, and last week in the Oval Office he ambushed the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, with false ...
Will Labor take its chance to act on climate?
26 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s often said the 2020s will be a ‘defining decade’ for the planet and action on the climate crisis. Starting this week, the proposal to exten...
‘Hollowing out’: why are so many people leaving New Zealand?
25 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
New Zealand is known as a dream destination – with its verdant, rolling hills and picture-perfect scenery. But some locals are feeling that’s not ...
Newsroom edition: could Coalition chaos be good for country voters?
22 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As this episode was recorded, the Liberal and National parties were still locked in discussions over the Coalition agreement, after the parties dramat...
Back to Back Barries: can the Coalition kiss and make up?
22 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On Tuesday, Nationals leader David Littleproud announced it was over – his party could no longer support the Liberals and the Coalition was finished...
What will it take to stop Israel’s attacks on Gaza?
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As Israel intensifies its attacks, and prepares to indefinitely occupy the whole of Gaza, there has been a shift among some foreign leaders. Australia...
Bondi Junction stabbings inquest: what we have learned so far
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Just over a year ago, six people were killed and 10 more injured at a Westfield shopping centre in Bondi Junction. It was one of Sydney’s worst mass...
Is it really over? What does the Nationals' split from the Coalition mean for Australian politics?
20 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, has confirmed his party will not be entering a coalition agreement with the Liberal party. Chief political co...
Trad wives and Trump: the rise of the right wing ‘womanosphere’
19 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Analyses of the 2024 US election widely heralded the ‘manosphere’ – the coalition of bro podcasters and YouTubers popular with male audiences –...
Gina episode 7: What does she want? – Full Story podcast
18 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
At 13 years old, a young Gina Rinehart read a book that would help shape her worldview – Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, which is having a moment aroun...
Back to Back Barries Live: Does Anthony Albanese have the guts for big reform?
16 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Join Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barry at this special live recording of the podcast at Federation Square in Melbourne for the Wheeler Centre’s 15th bir...
Newsroom edition: three leadership contests and the future of Australian politics
15 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, the Liberal party elected its first female leader in Sussan Ley, but she’s already fighting to keep the factional sharks at bay. Same goe...
Richard Di Natale’s advice for the next Greens leader
14 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Greens were on a high – until they weren’t. This election left the minor party almost entirely wiped out in the House of Representatives and w...
India and Pakistan’s deadly flashpoint over Kashmir
13 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A fragile ceasefire between India and Pakistan appears to be holding after weeks of clashes and recriminations over the disputed territory of Kashmir....
How this week will shape politics for years to come
12 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The election campaign drama continues, with Labor today swearing in a new cabinet to lead the country and the Coalition also firming up its leaders fo...
Gina episode 6: Mythmaking
11 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Gina Rinehart’s father Lang Hancock is well known as a pioneer of the iron ore industry in Australia but few realise Hancock started his mining care...
Back to Back Barries: the brutal aftermath of a shock election result
09 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barry examine the messy fallout of the election and give their predictions on the two very different – and potentially nasty...
Newsroom edition: are we over-interpreting the election results?
08 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As the dust settles on the federal election, hard lessons for the losers have dominated the headlines. Did the Coalition run a bad campaign that faile...
Israel’s plan to ‘conquer’ Gaza
08 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Israel plans to expand military operations in Gaza and establish a “sustained presence” there. Jerusalem correspondent Bethan McKernan reports You...
Nagi v Brooki: does anyone really own a recipe?
07 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Australian cookbook author Nagi Maehashi promises her caramel slice recipe actually works. That the caramel won’t be runny and that it won’t crack...
The mushroom murders trial begins
06 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Erin Patterson is accused of murdering her estranged husband Simon’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, his aunt Heather Wilkinson and attempting to m...
The ‘bloodletting’ and crisis inside the Liberal party
05 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Liberal party is facing its worst crisis since it was formed in the 1940s. With Peter Dutton booted out of parliament, the question has quickly tu...
Gina: The DNA request
04 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the last episode, we covered historical claims made over the years that Lang Hancock, Gina’s father, had two unacknowledged daughters with separa...