Sunday Extra - Separate stories podcast
Episodes
Crowdsourcing the flight of Monarch Butterfliles
13 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Project Monarch is a crowd-sourcing initiative that uses Bluetooth tracking technology to help scientists and butterfly enthusiasts monitor individua...
The Year that Made Me: Pauline Harley, 2011
13 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Toowoomba's pink-haired, motorbike-riding priest has overcome huge challenges on the road to becoming Reverend Harley.
The Excel World Championships
13 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Andrew "The Annihilator" Ngai is an actuary by day, but he has just returned from Las Vegas where he was competing in the Microsoft Excel World Cha...
Supernovas and microchips: the future of computer errors
13 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When an Airbus A320 made a dramatic altitude drop recently, Airbus grounded more than 6,000 planes to fix a software error that made aircraft compute...
Tweet of the week - 14 December 2025
13 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week's tweeter is the Sahul Sunbird - and we also accepted its former name of Olive-backed Sunbird.It's the only Sunbird found in Australia - pa...
Christmas for Australia's Ukrainian refugees
13 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Thousands of Ukrainian refugees came to Australia in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. Many of them are now facing their fourth Christmas in Australi...
Robodebt is just one of our social service scandals
13 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
100 word including guest & book
Shell Game Season 2: The one-human company
13 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Evan Ratcliff's podcast Shell Game has returned for a second season that rivals the first for it's unsettling but comic exploration of AI. This time ...
UN mission in Iraq to end after 22 years
13 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On August 14th 2003, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1500, establishing the United Nations Assistance Mission to Iraq, at the request of t...
Can you mobilise compassion?
06 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It feels like compassion is dwindling in the current political climate. Can compassion be mobilised again? Or is the age of humanitarianism over? Mic...
The Year that Made Me: Katrina Watts, 1990
06 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Katrina Watts left for Japan with the intention of staying two years. 25 years later she was still embedded in Japan, not only in language and cultur...
Tweet of the week 7 December, 2025
06 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week's mystery caller is Australia's only cuckoo that builds its own nest – the Pheasant Coucal.
Could robodogs replace sheep dogs?
06 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The sheep dog is part of Australia's farming identity. But as good dogs become more expensive and pressure mounts on farmers, could they be replaced ...
MTV - the end of an era
06 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
MTV was a groundbreaking media experiment when it first launched in the US in 1981. The first channel to show 24-hour a day music videos, it was ex...
The answer to Kryptos is not the solution
06 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A coded puzzle embedded in a sculpture outside the CIA headquarters has been stumping cryptologists for more than 30 years until, in the lead-up to t...
Nearing Day Zero: Will Tehran run out of water?
06 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The citizens of Iran’s capital Tehran are facing a dire situation: the government is warning that people may soon be forced to evacuate the city be...
Do we need Castle Law in Australia?
06 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Victoria has followed Queensland in legislating tough new "adult crime, adult time" laws. In Victoria the new laws mean that a fourteen year old can ...
The Year that Made Me: Stelarc, 1970
29 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Australian performance artist Stelarc has pushed the boundaries of the human body for the last 50 years, suspending himself by hooks, wiring his musc...
How the National Assistance Card helps people with invisible disabilities
29 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The National Assistance Card is a tool that is increasingly being used by people with invisible disabilities to communicate their needs, particularly...
Is the African Grey Parrot too clever for its own good?
29 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The African Grey is a very clever parrot whose capacity to mimic has made them stars on social media. But has the increased demand for them threatene...
The Science of Frankenstein
29 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Yet another adaption of Frankenstein emerges from Netflix this month, the latest in over 100 years of screen adaptations. But in 1818, when Mary Shel...
The Science of Frankenstein
29 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Yet another adaption of Frankenstein emerges from Netflix this month, the latest in over 100 years of screen adaptations. But in 1818, when Mary Shel...
What happens to patients when neurotechnology is abandoned?
29 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As interest in the possibilities of neurotechnology accelerates, there are growing concerns that some of the downsides are being overlooked. Particul...
The state of HIV prevention in 2025
29 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The 1st December is World AIDS Day and 2025 has proven to be a very challenging year globally for those working in HIV prevention and treatment. When...
Venezuelan opposition backs US on regime change
29 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The 2025 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, has aligned herself closely with the Trump administratio...
Londinium to Roma: an online map of the Roman Empire's roads
22 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A new online map has come online and while it can not give you directions for driving your car from Rome to Paris, it can tell you how long it will t...
The Year that Made Me: Anna Iltnere, 2016
22 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Anna Iltnere felt the pull of the sea when she moved from Riga - the capital of Lativia - to her new home looking out on the Baltic Sea. She started ...
Tweet of the week November 23, 2025
22 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week's mystery caller is plainly coloured but sings with an easily recognised voice – the Pallid Cuckoo.
Robin Hood Maths - Taking back algorithms from the rich
22 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Big business, tech and even universities are using maths to enrich their own pockets. Maths Professor Noah Giansiracusa shows us how we can take back...
Are peanut allergies still on the rise?
22 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The 1990s saw huge increases in the numbers of children with peanut and other food allergies. Almost 10 years ago the guidelines were changed and par...
Quillette turns ten
22 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Claire Lehmann is the founder and proprietor of the online magazine Quillette which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. What is the secret to the su...
Architecture to rival the Pyramids
22 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When Róisín Heneghan and her firm, Heneghan Peng Architects entered a competition to design a new museum just 2kms from the Pyramids of Giza, the...
A death sentence for former PM of Bangladesh
22 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The former Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to death in absentia for her role in the deaths of more than 1400 people dur...
Prising open the coin laundry: how crypto is used in money laundering
22 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A new investigation from the consortium behind the Panama Papers reveals how some cryptocurrency exchanges profit from money laundering, scams, theft...
Tweet of the week - 16 November 2025
15 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week's mystery caller spreads south down the east coast in the warmer months – the Australian Rufous Fantail.
YouTube stars Dr Matt and Dr Mike present The Body A-Z
15 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It is the most important thing we all possess, yet many of our body’s parts and processes are a mystery: why does blood have types? How do hormones...
Future Nostalgia: Saving the Floppy Disk
15 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Future Nostalgia is a project from the University of Cambridge Library, taking on the archiving of Britain's floppy disks, from the lectures of Steph...
The original Australian Nazi hunters
15 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 1986 an explosive Radio National investigation revealed that hundreds of Nazi collaborators and war criminals had settled in Australia after the S...
Is greyhound racing at a tipping point?
15 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the last 18 months there have been moves to ban greyhound racing in New Zealand, Scotland, Wales and Tasmania. What are the tipping points that ma...
The battle for the truth on climate change
15 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cop30 is underway in Brazil and for the first time the theme Information Integrity is part of the COP agenda. Climate disinformation is increasing ex...
Tweet of the week - 9 November, 2025
08 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week's mystery caller is a colourful inhabitant of windswept coastal habitats – the Rock Parrot.
How to manage rubble in a warzone
08 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After a disaster, before reconstruction can begin, survivors invariably face a huge and often toxic problem: debris and in particular rubble. Mobile ...
The lost art of daydreaming
08 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In an age of distraction we are losing a surprisingly important skill - daydreaming. According to Professor Hannes Leroy, productive daydreaming is ...
PM's Prize for Science winner Lidia Morawska clears the air
08 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The winner of the Prime Minister's Prize for Science this year was Distinguished Professor Lidia Morawska from the School of Earth and Atmospheric ...
"Often colourful, and sometimes controversial", remembering Graham Richardson
08 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
“A giant of the Labor Party and a remarkable Australian” - that’s how Prime Minister Anthony Albanese remembered former ALP powerbroker and fed...
The Dismissal: how history judges the judges' role
08 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On 9 November 1975, Australia’s Governor General, Sir John Kerr, rang the Chief Justice of the High Court, Sir Garfield Barwick, and asked him for ...
Croak of the Month - November, 2025
01 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This month it's the Shoemaker Frog. It’s one of the many frog species that gets its common name from the sound of its call - with the call reminis...
Mythbusters' Kari Byron on creating STEM's next gen
01 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Kari Byron's time as a co-host on Mythbusters formed the core of her passion for science, but in the years since then she has turned that passion int...
Absurdist history in Netflix's mockumentary 1670
01 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A new mockumentary from Netflix, 1670, looks back on the absurdities of an obscure era of history - the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth, which lasted ...
'Sunlight on Demand': science fiction fantasy or the next big thing?
01 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It's being marketed as Sunlight On-Demand. American startup Reflect Orbital is proposing a 2026 launch date for it's test satellite, which will a car...
A spy network for the Pacific
01 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Five Eyes alliance involving Australia, the UK, US, Canada and New Zealand is an enduring and sophisticated intelligence-sharing agreement that h...
Post election violence erupts in Tanzania
01 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Parliamentary elections were held in Tanzania this week, but with the leaders of the two major opposition parties in jail or disqualified from runnin...
Tweet of the week - Buff Breasted Paradise Kingfisher
25 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week's mystery caller is a colourful summer migrant to Far North Queensland – the Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher.
The Year that Made Me: Omar El Akkad, 2001
25 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Omar El Akaad was at college in 2001 when the opportunity to become a writer opened up before him. Over the following decades this path would lead hi...
Can short films bring Australia and Indonesia closer?
25 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It is the 10th year of the ReelOzInd! short film festival which is open to filmmakers from both Australia and Indonesia. The finalists are shown in b...
You, Me and That Chair
25 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This is the poem You, Me And That Chair by Johannes Winata, read by Trivita Tiffany Winataputri. The poem was the inspiration for the short film of t...
Tim Hatton on 30 years of migration policy
25 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Anti-immigration protests have become a regular fixture of the Australian news cycle. In the UK, CNN reported that anti-immigration rallies in Londo...
Kenya farewells political giant Raila Odinga
25 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Raila Odinga 'a towering figure in Kenyan politics' died on 15 October 2025, aged 80. A former Prime Minister, and son of Kenya’s first Vice-Presid...
The Peacemaker: a grandson remembers U Thant
25 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Thirteen years after U Thant left his position as a school teacher in a small village in Burma, he found himself appointed as Secretary General of th...
All the Cool Girls Get Fired
18 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Getting fired isn't normally something to celebrate, but Laura Brown, along with co-author Kristine O'Neill have created a part-memoir, part-manifest...
No justice after 50 years for Balibo 5
18 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
50 years after the murder of the Balibo 5 and 18 years after a coronial inquest confirmed the Australian journalists were deliberately shot by Indone...
The influence of AI on cybercrime
18 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Theresa Payton made history as the first female Chief Information Officer in the White House, where she steered digital transformation strategy and h...
'The most dangerous man in the White House'
18 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller is the architect of a suite of Donald Trump's hardline border policies, from the so-called “Muslim...
What does poetry and comedy in Singapore sound like?
11 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Stephanie Dogfoot is a comedian, poet and lawyer based in Singapore. They have been performing since 2008 and has established open mic nights for poe...
The Year that Made Me: Stephen Mayne, 2000
11 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From his early news on the business desk at a number of newspapers to a stint behind the scenes in Victorian state politics to the founding of the on...
Could more medical equipment be re-used?
11 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you have ever had a medical procedure in a hospital, you might have noticed that much of the medical equipment that you came into contact with wen...
Why Tony Blair might end up "Governor of Gaza"
11 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Since resigning as UK Prime Minister in 2007, Tony Blair has maintained an active interest in the Middle East through his think tank The Tony Blair I...
Taking care of wombats
11 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Josh Neille took home his first animal to care for when he was eight years old. Now he is a registered wildlife carer in Gippsland VIctoria where he,...
Out of the Madhouse
11 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Margaret Leggatt and Sandy Jeffs are the authors of Out of the Madhouse: From Asylums to Mental Health Reform – Who Cares? The book focuses on...
Anti-Zionism on trial
11 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
University of Sydney academics Dr Nick Riemer and Professor John Keane will be facing the Federal Court on Monday 13th October after university colle...
Medical teams prepare to receive Israeli hostages
11 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
While the physical condition of the 20 living hostages is unknown, it is anticipated that the 2 years spent in captivity has had an extreme impact on...
Fun and games: a history of Australian childhood
04 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Historian Dr. Emily Gallagher believes that the playtime of a generation is as much a reflection of a cultural history of a time and a place as it is...
Australian academic and commentator arrested in Thailand
04 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Murray Hunter is a retired academic and author who writes a substack column on Southeast Asian politics, with an emphasis on Malaysia where he lived ...
The Year that Made Me: Geraldine Cox, 1993
04 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Geraldine Cox started her long career with DFAT with a posting to Cambodia in the 1970s. In 1993 she was working for a bank when she went back to Cam...
Syria is holding its first elections since the fall of Assad, how will it work?
04 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Syria will mark a major milestone today when it holds its first election since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime late last year.
Tyson Yunkaporta - Snake Talk
04 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Snakes and serpents appear in the stories of cultures all over the world. What can these tales tell us about the world today?
Politics, nationalism and the return of looted artefacts
04 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Cultural institutions that find their collections contain artefacts have been stolen or obtained illegally are reckoning with how to return important...
Croak of the Month - 5 October 2025
04 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week's croak is the Easter Sign Bearing Froglet.
Australians cutting down on sugar
04 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The latest ABS data shows the amount of sugar in the food and drinks we consume has reduced significantly since 1995.
Can consensus be achieved in space?
04 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Steven Freeland is the Chair of the UNCOPUOS Working Group on the Legal Aspect of Space Resources Activity which means that he tries to get 110 coun...
The Year That Made Me: Cheng Lei, 2023
27 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The founders of Australian Wrongful and Arbitrary Detention Alliance have a unique and unenviable qualification in common. Sean Turnell, Kylie Moore...
Australian Native Food Festival debuts in Sydney this weekend
27 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Australian Native Food Festival has been in the works for many years, delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. But finally, more than 20 First Nations v...
Tweet of the week
27 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Can you guess this week's tweeter?
Sane Inside Insanity: The Phenomenon Of Rocky Horror
27 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Rocky Horror Picture Show was released in American cinemas on 26 September 1975 and despite disappointing early performance, the sexually adven...
Young human rights activist speaking up for Afghan girls and women
27 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
18-year old Nila Ibrahimi fled her home in the days after the Taliban retook the city in 2021. She now gives a voice to Afghan girls and women who a...
Is the future of farming... robots?
27 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Robotics and farming. That’s the subject of an address given in Perth earlier this week by Salah Sukkarieh, Professor of Robotics and Intelligent ...
Japan could have its first female Prime Minister soon. Here's why.
27 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Japan could have its first female Prime Minister next week, as 5 candidates compete in a leadership contest for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.A...
Moldova election critical to both Europe and Russia
27 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Europe is closely watching Moldova’s parliamentary elections which will help determine if the former Soviet republic continues on its pro-western p...
Meet the 24-year-old headlining Belvoir's 2026 theatre season
20 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Vivian Pham started writing her novel, The Coconut Children, when she was 16. After publishing in 2020, she was asked to convert it into a stage play...
How to disagree in an age of polarisation
20 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Monash University academics Dr Daniel Heller and Dr Farid Zaid noticed their students were increasingly unwilling or unable to discuss controversial ...
Tweet of the week, 21 September 2025
20 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week's mystery caller is the largest of a family of four unique, tiny Australian birds – the Red-browed Pardalote.
The exam that stops a nation: China's gaokao uni entrance test
20 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 2024 a record 13,350 million students sat for China's gaokao university entrance exam. Chinese students start preparing for the test in primary sc...
Gary Stevenson: from Trading Games to fighting wealth inequality
20 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Gary Stevenson used to be a successful trader, making millions of pounds betting on the economic downfall of the economy. But his real success has ...
Can Malawi vote its way out of economic crisis?
20 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Malawi, the fourth poorest country in the world, went to the polls on the 16th September for their general election. The two main Presidential Candid...
Head of PNG's Supreme Court reflects on 50 years of independence
20 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sir Gibuma Gibbs Salika is Papua New Guinea's longest-serving judge on the country's Supreme Court. He was only a young man when PNG achieved indepe...
The incongruous concoctions of artist Brian Robinson
13 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Brian Robinson is a contemporary artist originally from Waiben (Thursday Island) in the Torres Strait. His work explores imagery drawn from ancestral...
The Year that Made Me: Paul White, 1990
13 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Paul White's work has taken him to some of the world’s most volatile conflict zones and humanitarian crises. Since the mid-2000s, he’s been on th...
Professor Georgina Long on
13 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Professor Georgina Long has led global breakthroughs in immunotherapy and targeted therapies, transforming advanced melanoma from a disease with no e...
Jack Toohey: The case for rebellious hope
13 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 2023, Jack Toohey created a cut through viral video on the subject of Australian house prices. Now he's written a book about the housing crisis, c...
Papua New Guinea marks 50 years of Independence
13 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Papua New Guinea marks 50 years of Independence and to mark the 50th anniversary a new economic history of PNG since independence has just been relea...