Sunday Extra - Separate stories podcast

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...

Nepal's week of upheavel

13 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A relative state of calm has returned to Kathmandu with the swearing in of Nepal's new interim Prime Minister, Sushila Karki. The new leader takes he...

Hatching the mystery of why birds sing

13 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Dr Grainne Cleary is a wildlife ecologist who is one of Australia's most enthusiastic bird lovers. But in writing her new book 'Why Birds Sing', she ...

The foreign judges still presiding in Hong Kong courts

13 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation recently released a report calling on all foreign judges in the territory to resign.

Cooking for Seamus

06 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

“Cooking for Seamus” is a TV cooking project funded by Screen Australia.The uniqueness of this show comes from the fact that Seamus, the judge of...

The Year that Made Me: Peter Shmigel, 2022

06 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Shmigel's story began in New York City where he grew up steeped in the culture of his Ukrainian refugee parents. His life has since included st...

Croak of the Month - Sept 2025

06 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s the Ornate Burrowing Frog! As their name implies, these frogs spend much of their life, particularly in dry times and during the day, buried ...

The science of saving Antarctica

06 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Antarctica is at the frontline of witnessing the effects of climate change and Dr Chen Zhao is one of the lead researchers mapping how the Antarctic ...

Yeah-Nah: Can AI understand Aussie sarcasm?

06 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Large language models (LLMs), like ChatGPT, are usually trained on Standard American English. But with all the dialects of English that exist outside...

The history of the 'Like' button

06 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

People on the internet love to like, in fact clicks on 'Like' buttons "now add up to over 160 billion per day - roughly equivalent to every person o...

When fatherhood is a calling

06 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Arne Rubinstein has spent more than 30 years helping parents and teenagers through the complex transition into adulthood through his Rites of Pas...

FOI law to be strengthened, but for who?

06 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week Federal Attorney General Michelle Rowland introduced the Freedom of Information Amendment Bill to Federal Parliament. The Centre for Publi...

Winston the World War 2 diplomacy platypus

04 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In 1943, Australian Attorney-General Doc Evatt sent UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill... a platypus. Why? For diplomacy, of course!When it inevita...

The Year That Made Me: 2018, Kate Marvel

30 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Dr Kate Marvel was named by Time Magazine one of 15 Women Leading the Fight Against Climate Change in 2019. She was described as someone who “cuts...

A good dance battle is better than therapy

30 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Brisbane is about getting ready for the dance battle of the year, when Brisbane Festival hosts the 7th year of the sequin-infested, hairspray-recomme...

Tweet of the Week: 31 August 2025

30 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week's mystery caller is found dry woodland across the south of Australia – the Yellow-plumed Honeyeater.

What the sovereign citizen movement tell us about Australia

30 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Experts say we’ve seen a mainstreaming of once-fringe conspiracy beliefs, fuelled in part by the pandemic and amplified by social media.So what do ...

Unravelling the secrets of a Viking-Age treasure hoard

30 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A hoard of treasure found in the lowlands of Scotland has re-written what historians know about the Viking-age in Britain. Containing silver and gold...

Kumanjayi Walker, Zachary Rolfe and the power of race in Australia

30 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Smuggling USB drives into North Korea

30 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Flash drives for Freedom is a long-running initiative by the Human Rights Foundation which has smuggled 140,000 donated USB drives, SD cards and micr...

Controversial new hunting rules for NSW

30 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The 'Right to Hunt' is at the centre of a controversial new bill being debated in NSW parliament at the moment. Introduced by the Shooters, Fishers a...

What's wrong with the world map?

23 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The most common map of the world is one that was created in the 16th century known as the Mercator projection. Now the African Union has joined a cam...

Tweet of the week 24 August 2025

23 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week the Tweet is the Pilotbird.It's chocolate-brown in colour, and it measures about 18 centimetres. And although it's a secretive bird, that b...

The Year that Made Me: Josh Szeps, 2010

23 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Podcaster and broadcaster Josh Szeps has made a career out of making uncomfortable conversations comfortable. He has worked in America on programs li...

The man who killed Pluto

23 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It was on the 24th August 2006, that the International Astronomical Union changed the definition of planet which meant that Pluto lost its status as ...

Working less for better productivity

23 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Working 4 days a week on the same salary might seem like an unrealistic dream, but years of trials by businesses world wide show that reducing work h...

The role of the CIA in getting George Orwell's books behind the iron curtain.

23 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

George Orwell wrote the book Animal Farm during WW2 as he tried to come to terms with his disappointment in the harsh reality of life in the Soviet U...

ICC sets precedent on crimes against LGBTQI+ Afghans

23 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The International Criminal Court set an important precedent in international law last month when it included in the arrest warrants issued for member...

India's Kashmir Book Ban

23 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

100 word including guest & book

Tweet of the week 12 October 2025

21 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Can you guess this week's tweeter?

Not just scream queens: the women who shaped horror cinema

16 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The vast contributions of women to horror film is explored in a new documentary titled 1000 Women in Horror. Far from just being scream queens, women...

The Year that Made Me: Julian Kingma, 2017

16 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Julian Kingma's photo essay book, The Power of Choice, shows the vulnerable, personal and surprisingly beautiful journey of terminally ill people, th...

The colourful language of book cursing

16 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Books have always aroused strong emotions in people. So much so that book owners throughout history have written curses in the front of the book to d...

Tweet of the week - August 17, 2025

16 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week's mystery caller likes wet forest along the east coast – the Russet-tailed Thrush.

Tweet of the week - 14 September, 2025

16 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week's colourful mystery caller has a fondness for tall trees along rivers – the Regent Parrot.

Kirli Saunders - connecting to the past and future through poetry

16 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kirli Saunder is a Gunai woman from East Gippsland Victoria who’s written nine books including the poetry collections, Kindred, and Returning  a...

Is the Australian National Dictionary doomed?

16 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Australian National University is being criticised for the decision to disestablish the Australian National Dictionary Centre, which since 1988 ...

What's coming up in the ABS Census in 2026?

16 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The ABS described the Census testing process in a statement released this week, testing of potential changes to the content of the Census has been u...

Putin met Trump on the former Russian territory of Alaska

16 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Alaska has been the location of some big negotiations in the past. Back in 1867, the Russians sold the territory to America for 7.2 million dollars, ...