Sunday Extra - Separate stories podcast
Episodes
Is your smartphone a parasite?
21 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Are we in a parasitic relationship with our smart phones? A new article in the Australiasian Journal of Philosophy suggests that rather than being a ...
Mennonites establish a new colony in the Angolan diamond fields
21 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Mennonites are a Christian faith stream established in the Netherlands in the 16th century. They are a pacifist faith and live largely without te...
When Midnight Oil went to Burnie
21 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 1981 Midnight Oil released their Place without a Postcard album including a song called Burnie inspired by a tour the band did to North West Tasma...
Justin Heazlewood's Burnie: a small town that dreams big
21 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Justin Heazlewood is an author, songwriter, comedian and performer whose creative work takes him all over the world. But after returning to his home...
Australian NGOs struggle without USAID support
21 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Australian NGOs have been devastated by Trump's USAID cuts, according to a new report by the Australian Council for International Development. Aid or...
Tasmania goes back to the polls
21 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tasmanians are going, somewhat reluctantly, to an election on July 19th.It's been just 16 months since the last state election, with the snap poll be...
Tweet of the week 15 June 2025
14 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week's mystery caller is the Spotted Catbird. It's often found between about Townsville and Cooktown, and especially in forest around Cairns.Fr...
The Year that Made Me: Ann Odong (2011)
14 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ann Odong's journey from a child in war torn Uganda, to growing up in the suburbs of Perth is a story in itself.But that was just the beginning for a...
Samantha Ellis: Chopping Onions on My Heart
14 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A lot of people can’t get their head around the phrase our next guest uses to describe herself - to some it sounds like a contradiction in terms, o...
Swimming with Jaws to save the sharks
14 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For the 50th Anniversary of the release of Jaws, endurance swimmer, Lewis Pugh, swam around the island of Martha's Vineyard, the setting of the Jaws ...
The Wrong Gods heads to Melbourne
14 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
S Shakthidharan had a huge hit with his first play Counting and Cracking which covered the history of Sri Lanka's conflict and the migrant experience...
Global tensions cast long shadow over the G7
14 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Trump Tariffs, the war in Ukraine and Israel's war in Gaza are all casting a long shadow over this years G7 summit, being held this week in Canad...
Israel and Iran Air Strike update
14 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Barbara Slavin brings us latest news in the direct hostilities in the Middle East, which began on Friday when Israel launched strikes on Iran’s nuc...
Tweet of the week 8 June 2025
07 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week's mystery caller is famously adaptable and opportunistic, even at Lake Eyre – the Silver Gull.The winner is Dave from Lune River Tasmania...
Samantha Ellis: Chopping Onions on My Heart
07 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A lot of people can’t get their head around the phrase our next guest uses to describe herself - to some it sounds like a contradiction in terms, o...
The first Nigerian film to win at Cannes premieres at SFF
07 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Akinola Davies was awarded the Camera D'Or Special Distinction for his film My Fathers Shadow at the Cannes Film Festival this year. It is the first ...
Rewilding our cities
07 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
You’ve probably heard of the term Rewilding - its an approach that aims to restore wildlife to their former habitats in the face of humans and thei...
Elections for judges: Democracy in action or a gateway to corruption?
07 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Mexico's president claims the public election of judges will make for a more transparent democracy. But with only 13% of Mexicans turning out for the...
Who took the photo of 'Napalm Girl' ?
07 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On the 8th June 1972, Vietnamese photographer Nick Ut won the Pulitzer Prize for the photograph of Kim Phuc, a young girl running burnt and naked dow...
Syria after Assad
07 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Six months after Bashar Assad fled the country, Syria is slowing emerging from 50 years of authoritarian rule.Former Al Qaeda fighter Ahmed Al Sharaa...
The Year that Made Me: Everald Compton, 1956
07 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Everald Compton has met every PM since Menzies, counts John Howard as a friend, and says Julia Gillard was the best political negotiator he ever saw....
Tweet of the week 1 June 2025
31 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Can you guess this week's tweeter?
The Year that Made Me: Peter Klinken, 1982 - 1983
31 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After accidentally blowing up the family hills hoist as a kid, Professor Peter Klinken AC realised he loved science. He's went on to become a leading...
A sea change from London to 'Jurassic Park'
31 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 2013 Kelly Green swapped her busy life as a flight attendant to move to Tristan Da Cuhna - part of a volcanic archipelago in the South Atlanic Oce...
Archaeological evidence of the women in Ancient Greek myths
31 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Who decides which people and stories get preserved in our history books? It's a question historian Emily Hauser has been grappling with after spendi...
Amy Wang on her new movie Slanted
31 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Just how far could a Chinese-American teenager go to become prom queen? Writer, director and producer Amy Wang tries to answer this question in her n...
The Karl Popper Memorial Lecture
31 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How much should intolerance be tolerated?And how should we decide what sort of intolerances are tolerable?They’re just some of the questions that o...
Stolen Generations redress in WA
31 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this Reconciliation Week the government of Western Australia announced a redress scheme for survivors of the Stolen Generations. More children we...
South Korean Presidential election testing democracy
31 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After a turbulent six months in South Korea which has seen martial law declared and a President impeached and put on trial for insurrection, the coun...
Tweet of the week
24 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Can you guess this week's tweeter?
The Year that Made Me: Suzanne Chick (1991) and Gina Chick (2001)
24 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When Suzanne Chick sent a request for her birth certificate to find out who her birth mother was, she was just hoping for a name. When her birth moth...
Does our electoral system need fixing?
24 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The 2025 federal election will go down in history as a second term Labor landslide?But has the result also shown up some flaws in our system of votin...
20 years of The Monthly
24 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In an era where media is moving rapidly online, some print publications are managing to not only survive but thrive.The Monthly magazine is celebrati...
Tanzania's opposition leader on trial for treason
24 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tundu Lissu, the leader of the opposition in Tanzania was arrested last month and has been barred from running in this years election race. Now that ...
Navi Pillay - Sydney Peace Prize winner
24 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Navi Pillay has been awarded the Sydney Peace Prize for 2025, following in the footsteps of Arundhati Roi, Julian Burnside and Mary Robinson. She is ...
Reconciliation week
24 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It was the biggest political demonstration in Australian history, when a quarter of a million people marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in supp...
The Year that Made Me: Erna Walraven, 1983
17 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When newly qualified zookeeper Erna Walraven started work at Taronga Zoo in 1983, it was a dream come true. Some of her male co-workers were not so w...
Melanie Cheng: The library that made me
17 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Melanie Cheng was seven when her family moved from Australia to Hong Kong. So finding her favourite authors in the Hong Kong City Hall library made...
How a volunteer-led newspaper in regional NSW has beaten the odds
17 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Glen Innes Examiner closed just two issues short of 150 years of service. It's the latest in a series of more than 200 regional and community new...
The explosive source of gold
17 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There is a finite amount of gold and other heavy metals on earth because they were formed before earth came to existence in its current form. New res...
What paramedic Sally Gould has learnt from her 15 years on the streets
17 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sally Gould has been working as a paramedic for 15 years. Over that time she has has dealt with all sorts of emergencies and plenty of time wasters t...
Prevail Together: The bomb disposal charity working in Ukraine
17 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Chris Garrett, a bomb disposal expert who was killed whilst operating in Ukraine last week, reportedly cleared between 5000-6000 tonnes of landmines ...
Tweet of the week - 11 May 2025
10 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Can you guess this week's tweeter?
How monsters have changed over history: from dragons to humans
10 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dragons, giants and ogres are the terrifying characters of myths and folktales from all over the globe. The type of monsters have evolved over time...
Do you still write shopping lists?
10 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Has the humble shopping list that's written on a scrap of paper from the kitchen bench died out?Melbourne based artist Kenny Pittock has created a li...
Rare copy of Frankenstein acquired by Sydney University
10 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was first published in 1818, it’s fair to say the publishers underestimated the size of the marketOnly 500 were...
Survivor of Khmer Rouge regime reflects on 50 year legacy
10 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Khmer Rouge's brutal take over of Cambodia in 1975 following a five year civil war. As a child Dr Sophal...
Where to now for the Greens?
10 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Do the Greens need to completely recalibrate their party's focus and messaging to win back voters they lost at the Federal election? While they held...
Tweet of the week - 4 May 2025
03 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Can you guess this week's tweeter?
David Pocock easily returned to the Senate
03 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the ACT, there has been a surge in support for independents with Senator David Pocock doubling his vote and easily retaining his Senate seat.The n...
The Year that Made Me: Sarah Arachchi, 2018
03 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When Sarah Arachchi was thirteen, she decided to become a paediatrician. She fulfilled that dream in 2018 after years of study, becoming a mother and...
The Year that Made Me: Kumi Taguchi, 2013
03 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Kumi Taguchi has had a very successful career in the media culminating in her current role as the host of Insight on SBS. All the way along her stell...
Labor secures huge majority in election landslide
03 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Anthony Albanese has become the first Prime Minister to win back-to-back elections in more than two decades, picking up seats in the process, includi...
PM Albanese wins decisive second term
03 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has won a second term with an increased majority for the Australian Labor Party currently sitting at 85 seats. LNP le...
The Year that Made Me: Josh Bornstein, 1998
26 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Josh Bornstein is an employment lawyer who has taken the case of workers against some high profile employers like Qantas, the ABC, Patrick Stevedores...
Why were there objections to the name of WA's new Federal seat?
26 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The only new electorate in the 2025 Federal election is Bullwinkel, named after World War two nurse Vivian Bullwinkel, the sole Australian survivor o...
What bookish words have most influenced the English language?
26 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How has the world of books influenced the English language? In particular the word book itself? How has that changed over time?Guest: David Crystal, ...
Croak of the Month - April 2025
26 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s the Marbled Frog! Named after their pattern of marbling across their back, this brownish frog tends to call hidden away in thick vegetation ...
The Senate Election
26 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How many seats are up for grabs in the federal election?There’s 150 seats in the House of Representatives, and if you add in the 76 seats in the Se...
Canada Votes
26 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The lead up to the Canadian election has gone through some spectacular twists and turns ahead of polling day.At the start of the year the Liberals, a...
The funeral of Pope Francis
26 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The life of Pope Francis was celebrated yesterday in St Peters Basilica. During his papacy, Pope Francis called on global leaders to face the challen...
The Year that Made Me: Steve Williams, 1999
19 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
For 12 years Steve Williams had a front row seat to one of world sports biggest attractions, as caddie to golfing superstar Tiger Woods. During thei...
The marvellous Melocco mosaics
19 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Peter Melocco arrived in Australia in 1908 with a flair for drawing and the skills to create beautiful mosaics that were the speciality of the region...
Can you name 20 Australian women who shaped history?
19 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Frustrated by the lack of womens stories she saw in history books, Rita Sargeant delved into the past of our nationals capital and begun researching ...
50 years on: Damned Whores and Gods Police
19 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s fifty years since it was published, but the themes and issues it explores are maybe more relevant now than ever. Damned Whores and Gods Polic...
A brief history of Australia's closest election results
19 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Australia's very first parliament was a minority government with parties differentiated by their stance on tariffs. The election in 1940 was very clo...
Who won the week on the campaign trail?
19 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week the campaign had another leaders debate with the focus on both parties' housing policies. Will either of their policies address the real ho...
The Year that Made Me: Dr Elizabeth Green, 1988
12 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Inspiring individuals talk about a pivotal moment in their personal histories. This week, Dr Elizabeth Green on her adventures with the Royal Flying ...
Tweet of the week 13 April 2025
12 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In the last of our 'Bass Strait Highway' mini-series, the Tweet of the Week was the Orange Bellied ParrotCongratulations to , XXXX who recognised one...
Japanese playwright Inoue Hisashi's Australian connections
12 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It is 15 years since Japanese playwright Inoue Hisashi died, but his plays and novels are still hugely popular in Japan. This year one of his most fa...
Should the coca leaf be an illegal drug?
12 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The World health Organisation is conducting a critical review into whether the coca plant should be decriminalised. Coca leaves have been used by the...
Volatile sharemarket causing super stress
12 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The share market has been on a ride wild, with each day bringing headlines of record-breaking gains or declines, depending on whatever it was Donald ...
How to run a federal election
12 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As our pollies continue the mad dash to election day, the people in charge of conducting the vote are quietly going about the business of making sure...
Are we heading to another hung parliament?
12 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Journalist Rachel Withers has been talking to all the cross benchers over the last few months to get a feel for what they would want to achieve in ...
The Year that Made Me: Tasma Walton, 1997
05 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In 1997, actor Tasma Walton won the Logie for Best New Talent for her work on the hugely popular show Blue Heelers. But behind the scenes it was also...
Mindful Museums
05 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The Manchester Art Gallery has a dedicated space where visitors are presented with just three paintings all set within a quiet room designed for slow...
Inside a UK deportation centre
05 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Oxford University Criminology Professor Mary Bosworth is the first and only academic to get research access inside the UK’s immigration deportatio...
Thousands rally for former Philippines PM Duterte despite ICC arrest
05 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The former Prime Minister of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte, has marked his eightieth birthday in detention at the International Crimal Court, as he...
The history of hi-vis
05 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It’s federal election season, and that means lots of politicians wearing hi-vis at media events on the hustings. Hi-vis fluoro vests and oth...
Tweet of the week 6th April 2025
05 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Can you guess this week's tweeter?This week your Bass Strait migrant tweeter is the Striated Pardalote.
What Andrew Wilkie learnt from working with the Gillard minority government
05 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Andrew Wilkie was very disappointed that his whistleblower legislation did not go through before the end of the current parliament. He is hoping whoe...
Australia's love affair with banh mi
05 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Has the banh mi become Australia's national sandwich?The Vietnamese roll filled with meat, condiments and an exotic array of vegetables is spreading,...
The Year that Made Me: Nick Kaldas, 2004
29 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Nick Kaldas came to Australia as a young boy with his family from Egypt. He joined the police and went on to become the NSW Deputy Police Commissione...
Tweet of the week - 30 March 2025
29 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week another caller on the 'Bass Strait Highway'? The Grey Fantail. Today's winners were John and Fiona from Katoomba.It's forever twisting and...
Rhys Darby
29 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The 2007 HBO series Flight of the Conchords launched stellar international careers for Kiwi band members Brett McKenzie and Jermaine Clements … an...
Parenting - a new perspective
29 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A new documentary called Seen explores the benefits of personal healing for parents and explores how those benefits can be transformative for their...
What are Americans thinking?
29 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In America's current political climate, you might wonder exactly what Americans are thinking. Jon Krosnick has been studying the opinions of the Amer...