If You're Listening

Hello America: Watching Trump from the bleachers

04 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

With only days until the election both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are zigzagging across the United States holding rallies to shore up support. At...

Hello America: Trump or Treat

31 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s Halloween in America, and with the countdown on to election day, things are getting spooky. In downtown Detroit, Matt Bevan meets early voters...

America’s Last Election 3: Trump's plan to reject results

30 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the United States, presidential elections rely on thousands of actual people coming together to scrutinise and then certify the results. That’s ...

Hello America: Lost in Lansing

30 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

On the road in Michigan, Matt Bevan heads to the state's political capital of Lansing. There, he meets a swing voter named David who is all in on Tru...

Hello America: Motorcade in Michigan

29 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Matt Bevan is on the ground in Michigan, Detroit, a key swing state in next week’s US presidential election. There are some things you just don’t...

America’s Last Election 2: The fake elector plot

23 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

After the 2020 election, Donald Trump searched desperately for any theory that would allow him to retain control of the White House. On Christmas Eve...

America’s Last Election 1: The big lie

16 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump did not win the 2020 presidential election. But if you watched his speech on election night, you wouldn’t come away with that understa...

How close did President Trump get to nuclear war?

09 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Within months of becoming US president in 2017, Donald Trump threatened North Korea with “fire and fury”. Soon afterwards, he would tear up a nuc...

Is AI a threat to humans?

02 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The world's most famous artificial intelligence company, OpenAI — the creator of ChatGPT — was set up to create a superintelligent AI, while at t...

Can India and China bury the hatchet?

25 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

After years of tension, diplomatic cold shoulders, and mountain skirmishes, both India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinp...

How US YouTubers were paid to spread Putin’s propaganda

18 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This month, the US Justice Department unsealed an indictment of two Russian state media employees. It alleges that they were funnelling millions of d...

The sci-fi Saudi city that might be a scam

11 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The massive infrastructure project NEOM sits in the Saudi Arabian desert, and the jewel in its crown is The Line, a futuristic city which looks insan...

How Ukraine called Putin’s nuclear bluff

04 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Russia defends its enormous borders with the threat of nuclear war. It’s this threat that has long stopped Ukraine and its allies from attacking Ru...

Why Hezbollah is attacking Israel in the Golan Heights

28 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s a dangerous moment for the Middle East. Israel and Hezbollah exchanged heavy fire over the weekend, including attacks on a pretty unique pocke...

Could calling Trump 'weird' lead the Democrats to victory?

21 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A shift is on display at the Democratic National Convention—from fear of Donald Trump to mocking him. After years of arguing Trump is dangerous, th...

How Israel changed the way it assassinates enemies

14 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the early hours of July 31 this year, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran. It's presumed Israel was behind ...

The truth about Kamala Harris’s time as ‘border czar’

07 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Since Kamala Harris became his opponent in the race for US president, Donald Trump has argued that she is responsible for a migrant crisis. He says P...

How Kamala went from unelectable to unopposed

31 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kamala Harris is the Democratic party’s presumptive nominee for President of the United States. But four years ago, she didn’t even make it to th...

Will Biden leaving send the Democrats into chaos?

22 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

After weeks of speculation and acrimony, President Joe Biden has abandoned his bid for re-election, and endorsed his Vice President Kamala Harris to ...

How America was primed for Trump shooting conspiracies

17 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks shot at former-President Donald Trump on July 13, the American public was ready with conspiracy theories expla...

Who Broke Britain: What took Labour so long?

10 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Last week, the UK Labour Party won the general election in a landslide victory.In the past four episodes we've detailed the chaos, ineptitude and hub...

Who Broke Britain 4: Stop the boats

03 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The UK election is being held today and polls indicate the Conservative Party will lose in a landslide.One of the key policies the government is runn...

Who Broke Britain 3: The NHS in crisis

26 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Britain's National Health Service was in crisis when COVID arrived in the UK.After years of increasing demand and flatlining funding, the NHS was dee...

Who Broke Britain 2: The Brexit gamble

19 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

British Prime Minister David Cameron took a colossal gamble when he called for a referendum on whether Britain should leave the European Union.Instea...

Who Broke Britain 1 A promise to cut everything

12 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When the UK Conservative Party won the election in 2010, they took a butcher's knife to the budget.David Cameron's money-man George Osborne — the y...

Not Stupid: Trump's guilty. What does that mean?

05 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We're still on a break from our regularly scheduled programming but don't worry, we're hard at work.Next week we'll be launching a four-part series l...

Why is China so obsessed with Taiwan?

29 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The island of Taiwan, just off the coast of China, is shaping up as the most likely spark for the next global conflict.China's president Xi Jinping w...

The brutal and bloody career of Iranian President Raisi

22 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Earlier this week the President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash in bad weather.Raisi was a phenomenally important figure in Middle E...

Should we treat domestic violence like we treat terrorism?

15 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Australia's first domestic violence shelter Elsie opened in the 1970s, and researchers have been analysing the problem ever since.In the last three d...

The man who destroyed his life to try to put Trump in jail

08 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Cohen is the star witness in the Trump 'hush-money' trial.He was once Trump's personal attorney and said he would "take a bullet" for his bos...

Is Brisbane repeating the Olympic mistakes of the past

01 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Plans for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics are not going well.It's a political quagmire, with plans for billion-dollar stadium upgrades or massive new venu...

Could Benjamin Netanyahu go to jail?

24 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.He is doing everything he can to stay in office, be...

Looking for Modi 07 | One billion voters

22 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Narenda Modi loves to promote India's status as the largest democracy in the world, and experts agree that the country's elections are free and fair ...

Iran, Israel and the calculus of revenge

17 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Iran and Israel are caught in a cycle of revenge.On April Fools' Day, there was a huge escalation in the conflict when an Israeli air strike killed 1...

Looking for Modi 06 | Modi and the money

15 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Lifting Indians out of poverty lies at the core of Narendra Modi's wildly popular political strategy. And it's worked: during his Prime Ministership,...

Why do people hate wind farms? — Live

10 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

People don't like wind farms. They say they're bad for wildlife, they affect property values and they create pollution.But are any of these claims tr...

Looking for Modi 05 | The riots

08 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 2002, Narendra Modi's carefully crafted political story was rocked by a series of deadly attacks in his home state of Gujarat, where he was the hi...

Duterte vs Marcos: The feud that might tear the Philippines apart

03 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Duterte and Marcos families are the Montagues and Capulets of the Philippines.They are, depending on who you ask, the country's most famous state...

Looking for Modi 04 | When holy politics turn violent

01 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In January 2024, Narendra Modi travelled to the northern Indian town of Ayodhya to attend the consecration of a Hindu temple with a very contested hi...

How Japan opted out of a global housing crisis

27 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Australia’s housing market is, like many places in the Western world, in the midst of a crisis that feels like it will never be solved. Owning a pr...

Looking for Modi 03 | Modi and the Swami

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When Narendra Modi left home, it wasn't to begin a career in politics. He wanted to be a monk. Modi's teenaged pilgrimage would take him across India...

Kate Middleton and the 100-year history of fake photos

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Princess of Wales has barely been seen since Christmas and everyone is asking, where is Kate?The Royal Family released a photo meant to squash th...

Looking for Modi 02 | The abandoned wife

18 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For most politicians, the image of a stable marriage and a happy family is a crucial part of their pitch to voters. But in India, being single is a s...

Why does Putin bother holding elections?

13 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Russia is in the midst of an election, but we already know Vladimir Putin will win. He always wins.So why does Russia bother holding elections? What’...

Looking For Modi 01 | Humble beginnings

11 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Every Tuesday for the next seven weeks, we'll be dropping an extra episode from a new ABC podcast into the If You're Listening feed. Looking for Modi...

How China hires hackers

06 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The police arrested and interrogated Andrew after he was set up by hackers.Now we know how Chinese spies pull it off.An unprecedented leak of data fr...

Is Donald Trump running out of money?

28 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump was ordered to pay a $463.9 million fine for lying to banks about how rich he is.He's also facing at least five other cases that could c...

The Ayatollah who dreamed of an Iranian caliphate

21 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was a revolutionary leader with a revolutionary idea.In just 10 years as Supreme Leader, Iran became a global pariah; vir...

How the Shah's cancer led to Iran's rift with the US

14 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 1974, the Shah of Iran was diagnosed with cancer.It led to a Shakespearean tragedy that brought about the end of the Iranian monarchy and shaped t...

How Houthi rebels are embarrassing the world's biggest navy

07 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Red Sea is the most trafficked trade route in the world, and now the US Navy and a group of militant Houthi rebels are going to war over it.The H...

Can Zelenskyy get the world to care about Ukraine again?

13 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has a new problem. As well as fighting Russia, he also has to fight Israel and Hamas for the world's attentio...

What is China's "panda diplomacy"?

06 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

China's pandas are not just pandas. They're diplomats.You're friendly to China? You get a panda. You criticise China? You get no pandas.In recent yea...

Can OpenAI save us from a robot apocalypse?

29 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The world's most famous artificial intelligence company, OpenAI — the creator of ChatGPT — was set up to create a superintelligent AI, while at t...

China's play to win the heart of the Pacific

22 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

China is using cash to try and shore up support in the Pacific.In Honiara, the Solomon Islands capital, they just built most of the venues in the Pac...

How North Korea makes a fortune stealing crypto

15 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As international sanctions have cut into North Korea's ability to import and export things, they've become desperate for cash.They've been running cr...

Can Israel rescue the hostages?

08 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Israeli hostages Hamas took back on October 7th still have not been rescued.The 1976 Entebbe rescue mission is legendary and gave Israel a reput...

Who is Hezbollah, the group backing Hamas?

01 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

While Israel tries to defeat Hamas, they also have to worry about a much more dangerous paramilitary group on their northern border: Hezbollah.The ex...

How did Hamas catch Israel by surprise?

25 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Israeli Government has one of the most well-resourced intelligence communities in the world, specifically tasked with preventing attacks from Ha...

How a quadriplegic charity worker became the founder of Hamas

18 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Last week, Hamas burst out of the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, killing at least 1,400 people, the vast majority of them Israeli civilians.But Ham...

The ridiculous assassination plot that sent Haiti into chaos

11 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In 2021, a doctor from Florida met with a group of men to plan the overthrow of the Haitian President.The plot triggered a series of events which led...

Should Elon Musk have stopped Ukraine attacking Russia?

04 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In September last year, Elon Musk refused to let the Ukrainian military use his Starlink satellites to attack Russia.Musk jumped on Twitter and poste...

The assassination that broke the bond between Canada and India

27 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Hardeep Singh Nijjar was murdered in Vancouver in June.Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has just come out saying the Indian Government assass...

Why Modi picked a fight over India's true name

20 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

When world leaders received their invitations to the 2023 G20 summit in New Delhi, everyone got a bit of a surprise. It referred to Narendra Modi as ...

The race to build a petrol station on the moon

13 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The US, Russia, China and India are all sending missions to the moon — and all to its totally unexplored south pole.Why? Well, in order to make the...

Is the century-long search for a weight loss drug over?

06 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For a century society has bullied and shamed people into trying to lose weight, without much result.Now, a seemingly accidental discovery by Danish p...

China cooked its population data. Now its economy is in crisis

30 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

China's economy is struggling. Similar things are happening across Asia but in China it's happening extremely fast.And a big part of the reason why i...

Why is Russia meddling in West Africa?

23 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

While everyone has their eyes on the war in Ukraine, West Africa is threatening to break out into war.There's been a seemingly unstoppable wave of co...

How microchip-maker TSMC became the world's most important company

16 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Microchips are in your car, your microwave — there might even be one in your kettle. They run everything.And the best microchips are made by TSMC, ...

The decision that saved Australia from Argentina's 100 per cent inflation nightmare

09 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Inflation in Argentina is at 100 per cent. The government is printing money fast and locals are spending in US dollars because the peso is so unrelia...

How a bunch of boxes might land Trump in prison

02 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump has been charged with trying and failing to delete CCTV evidence of farcical, and allegedly criminal behaviour.It's just the latest char...

How "General Armageddon" and a bromance almost brought down Vladimir Putin

26 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A bromance is a powerful thing. Lennon and McCartney. Holmes and Watson. Gilbert and Sullivan. Han and Chewy. But occasionally a bromance can nearly ...

INTRODUCING | If You're Listening

19 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

If You're Listening is back, and better than ever. Same espionage, same corruptions, same scandals, but more often.Not only will we be in your feed e...

RUSSIA | S07 E6 - How will the war against Ukraine end?

13 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

After ten months of war, a few likely outcomes of the war in Ukraine are emerging.A win for Vladimir Putin. A win for Volodymyr Zelenskyy. A bitter f...

RUSSIA | S07 E5 - Has Putin finally pushed the Russian people too far?

06 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Protest is not allowed inside Russia.There was little resistance from the Russian people to the invasion of Ukraine, and those who didn’t like it s...

RUSSIA | S07 E4 - Undersea sabotage? The mysterious pipe blasts

29 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

On 26 September, a series of underwater explosions destroyed a cluster of natural gas pipelines on the bottom of the Baltic Sea.The pipes were design...

RUSSIA | S07 E3 - Why it’s hard to fight when you don’t know why

22 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What does war look like on the ground, for the soldiers who go off to fight? What’s it like to be sent into the muddy confusion of a battlefield, a...

RUSSIA S07 E2 | Zelensky's big call: run away or stay to fight

15 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Vladimir Putin's plan for a three day takeover of Ukraine relied on a quick strike to take out Volodymyr Zelenskyy - to kill him, to capture him, or ...

RUSSIA | S07 E1 - How war weakened strongman Putin

08 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

For 20 years the Russian President Vladimir Putin was happy to lurk in the shadows, trying and occasionally succeeding to manipulate the rest of the ...

RUSSIA | 07 INTRODUCING Russia, If You're Listening series seven

02 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In the seventh season of If You're Listening, we tell the story of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Will Putin fulfil his dream of expanding the Russ...

AUSTRALIA | S06 E8 - The 49-year-old energy prophecy that is finally coming true

12 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Australia is now in a race to build enough renewable energy to replace our coal fired power stations before they close. We’re in this situation be...

AUSTRALIA | S06 E7 - The countdown on coal fired power

05 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Over the last five years, politicians in Australia and around the world have regularly tried to blame renewable energy whenever something goes wrong ...

AUSTRALIA | S06 E6 - Can we keep digging for energy?

29 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Australia has always found energy underground - digging up coal, gas and uranium. As climate change begins to change the way we get our power, our l...

AUSTRALIA | S06 E5 - What we missed while we were knifing PMs

22 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

For more than a decade, Australian politicians have discovered - the hard way - that climate policy is a dangerous game. But as the Federal Parliame...

AUSTRALIA | S06 E4 - The decade when climate change became a culture war

15 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In 1997, the debate over climate change in Australia was relatively civil. The question was not whether climate change was happening, but what shoul...

AUSTRALIA | S06 E3 - How long will the world want our coal?

08 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Australia intends to keep exporting coal for as long as there are countries willing to buy it. Miners have grand dreams of establishing new coal reg...

AUSTRALIA | S06 E2 - How we became addicted to coal

01 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Australia’s second-oldest city, Newcastle, was built around a single resource - coal.Since then, Australia has come to rely on coal for its prosper...

AUSTRALIA | S06 E1 - The legacy of our first decisions on climate change

22 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In 1987, scientists gathered in Melbourne for a landmark conference where they discussed, for the first time, the effects climate change might have o...

INTRODUCING Season Six | Australia, If You're Listening

16 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The sixth season of If You’re Listening tells the story of Australia’s turbulent history with climate change, and what that means for the future....

CHINA | S05 06 - Are the 'drums of war' beating over Taiwan?

05 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For months commentators and politicians in Australia have been talking about one of the most frightening topics imaginable — a war between the Unit...

CHINA | S05 05 - Chinese students: Commodity or opportunity?

28 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When the COVID-19 pandemic caused the shutdown of travel from China, it shone a harsh light on the way Australia treats Chinese students who come her...

CHINA | S05 04 - Huawei and the new technology cold war

21 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From humble beginnings in a tiny town whose name means "deep drainage ditch", electrical engineer Ren Zhengfei grew his company Huawei into a global ...

CHINA | S05 03 - The iron chain between Australia and China

14 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When China rolled out their trade sanctions regime against Australia to try and punish us for a litany of perceived insults, the trade of one commodi...

CHINA | S05 Bonus episode - The story behind Bob Hawke’s mysterious Tiananmen Cable

10 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In 1989, five days after tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square in Beijing and brutally ended weeks of protests, the then prime minister Bob Hawke gave a...

CHINA | S05 02 - How Tiananmen is being repeated in Xinjiang

07 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For decades Australia has taken the approach that when it comes to China; we can criticise their human rights record without risking our trading rela...

CHINA | S05 01 - Xi Jinping: The 'Man of Destiny'

31 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

At first glance, Chinese President Xi Jinping's life story seems simple. His father was a high-ranking Chinese government official, and opened doors ...

INTRODUCING Season Five | China, If You’re Listening

24 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A podcast about how the relationship between Australia and China came to the verge of collapse.Not long ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping was regular...

AMERICA | S04 09 - How Coronavirus destroyed Trump's MAGA promise

01 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

When the coronavirus pandemic swept the globe, killing hundreds of thousands in its wake, President Donald Trump's new way of running the country sud...

AMERICA | S04 08 - How China fooled Donald Trump

25 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

For a decade Donald Trump railed against China. But once he was elected, Chinese President Xi Jinping quickly broke down Trump's defences.In today's ...

AMERICA | S04 07 - How Donald Trump turned the Presidency into a business

18 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Just this month, the public finally got access to Donald Trump's tax returns.They revealed that he pays little to no tax, because he makes very littl...

AMERICA | S04 06 - Trump's desperate measure to halt immigration

11 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump ran for election on some promises - building a wall between the US and Mexico, and stopping the immigration of Muslims.But instead of li...