Nigerian journalist Fisayo Soyombo is a 'seeker, digger & teller of hidden stories; a three-time winner of the Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting  

Can you guess this week's tweeter?

As a well known third place, libraries are having to handle an increasingly complex variety of patrons. This is a trend occurring across the country, but it’s presenting additional challenges for rural and regional libraries.

Mines and unexploded ordnance have contaminated much of Ukraine's grain growing areas

Around the world there are 10 million stateless people. In 2014 the UN launched a campaign to end statelessness by 2024, so what has been done in the past 10 years?

Earlier this week a massacre in Papua New Guinea's Highland region resulting in the death of about 50 people — making it one of the largest massacres in the country's recent history.

As the war in Gaza continues, Egypt faces a dilemma over how to deal with the humanitarian disaster, and the pressure to accept Palestinians fleeing the fighting.

As Iran prepares for the first elections since the mass protests over the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, the majority of Iranians have indicated they intend to boycott the vote, according to a survey by the Gamaan Institute.

There are women choosing to “freebirth” completely outside the medical system.

Here's another guest who chose 2007 for The Year That Made Me

Can you guess this week's tweeter?

From apprentice carpenter to general manager, Jo Farrell has had to build her own path in the very blokey world of construction.So, in 2020 Jo set up ‘Build Like a Girl’ to help girls and women get an easier start in trades than she had.Guest: Jo Farrell, General Manager of Kane Constructions ACT, and the ACT’s Australian of the Year for 2024Producer: Margie Smithurst 

Forbidden Stories is a network of journalists who pursue and publish the work of other journalists facing threats, prison, or murder

Indigenous school students Aroha Parkinson and Reuben Simpson are this year's winners of the 'If I was Prime Minister' competition

Since the International Court of Justice was created in 1945, only five women have ever served on its judging bench

Shahnaz Habib’s book 'Airplane Mode: An Irreverent History of Travel' is billed as a “witty personal and cultural history of travel from the perspective of a Third World-raised woman of color”.Guest: Shahnaz Habib, author

What do whistleblowing protection authorities look like overseas, and what can Australia learn from them?

There are concerns that emissions from badly managed landfills could exacerbate climate change.

They have anonymous leaders, manifestos, and even a flag with a snake on it. 

The camera lens of William Yang captured one of the most pivotal cultural moments in Australian history while also breaking photography norms - the gay liberation movement in Sydney during the 1970s and 80s.

Surviving Australia's biggest ever rail accident set this fashion designer on a creative journey she never expected to take.

This week's mystery callers occupy three distinct regions – the Western, Northern and Eastern Shrike-tits.

Lindy Lee is one of Australia’s foremost contemporary artists. A painter and sculptor, her distinctive polished-steel and bronze spherical sculptures are prominent in public places around Australia.Coming from a Chinese family and growing up in Brisbane during the White Australia Policy, she has grappled with the idea of belonging throughout her art career. Guest: Lindy Lee, artist Producer: Margie Smithurst     

Bendigo in Victoria has been home to a wealth of Chinese heritage and culture since the gold rush in the 1850s. This year, the city brings out it's internationally historic 'Sun Loong' Chinese dragon to celebrate the year of the wood dragon.

Ugandan opposition leader, activist and musician Bobi Wine lost a rigged election in 2021 against the 35 year regime of Yoweri Museveni. The documentary about that election campaign is nominated for an Oscar in 2024.

The host of the RadioLab podcast, Latif Nasser came across a ‘moon’ of the plant Venus named 2002VE on his child’s bedroom wall chart. He tells the story of how after a huge effort by himself, his podcast team and a group of others, it was officially named Zoozve by the International Astronomical Union.Guest: Latif Nasser, RadioLab podcast host 

Is the sentencing of Chinese Australian pro-democracy advocate Yang Hengjun another example of ‘hostage diplomacy’?

Amidst a flood of 'constitutional coups' within the African continent, a new generation of politicians are emerging who are interested in restoring the rule of law.

‘Cities’ are popping up across Bali’s spiritual heartland. Can villagers from Ubud hold back a tsunami of foreign money and preserve the island's culture?

Can you guess this week's Tweeter? 

Our guest Bonnie Hancock decided during Covid that she wanted to circumnavigate mainland Australia on an ocean surf ski and beat the current world record. That decision, with the logistical, physical and environmental challenges it involved, would push the professional athlete to her limits.It was a remarkable journey of perseverance and determination, now told in her new book ‘The Girl Who Touched The Stars’. Guest: Bonnie Hancock, athlete and author.

Malaysia's Chinese-built 'Forest City' remains almost uninhabited

A deluge of digital records is creating a record keeping crisis for the public service

Johannes Lichtman was invited to lead a creative writing group... at the CIA.

Financial Times data journalist John Burn-Murdoch is reporting that a large ideological divide is opening up between men and women of Generation Z.

Financial Times data journalist John Burn-Murdoch is reporting that a large ideological divide is opening up between men and women of Generation Z.

Slovenia is hosting the 2nd Global Forum on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. It's considered one of the only truly global discussions on the topic.

Pakistan, a muslim-majority country of 241 million people, heads to the polls on the 8th of February.

Background Briefing returns to your pod feeds next week.

This week's mystery caller is a familiar sight in all states and territories – the Galah.

Three young Australians of the Year talk about their work and their motivations

Dr Graham Grant began his career as an engineer of medical equipment and went on to study medicine, but continued inventing medical devices. One of the earliest of his many  inventions was a portable incubator for premature babies, which saved them from dying in freezing winter temperatures during transportation to hospitals in the UK. He has received an Order of Australia in this year’s Australia Day Honours for his contributions to biomedical engineering and medicine.  Now 90, he still plays jazz piano.Guest: Dr Graham Grant, anaesthetist, engineer and inventor. Producer: Margie Smithurst

Masty o Rasty (The Drunken Truth) is a Persian podcast created by Iranian émigré Raam Emami, which explores everything from psychedelics and depression to sex and identity in Iran.Guest: Raam Emami, podcaster 

On January 8th, 2024 a space mission launched headed for the moon. It held 66 'capsules' of personal mementos people had paid to send on the mission, including human ashes.

AI is being used to recreate lost memories

Documentary maker reflects on right win stirrer and Trump ally, Roger Stone  

The outgoing Finnish president, Sauli Niinistö, is wrapping up his 12 years in office, unable to run for a third term.

Former military lawyer David McBride sought whistleblower protection after leaking defence documents, in relation to the conduct of some Australian service personnel in Afghanistan.

Described as an “ultramodern multi-media theatre piece”, Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World received rave reviews in the UK and the US and is coming to Australia for the Sydney Festival in January 2024.

An award-winning documentary follows the perilous political campaign of Ugandan presidential hopeful Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known Bobi Wine."Bobi Wine: The People's President" was the recent winner of Best Feature at the 2023 International Documentary Association Awards.The film depicts the transformation of Bobi Wine from music star into politician, member of Parliament, presidential candidate, and victim of political repression.Guest:  Moses Bwayo, journalist and filmmaker 

What role could you play in the fight against space junk?This week, Mars shares her thoughts on the role of citizen science in space research.

The former President of Latvia is in Australia for a series of public talks, on the challenges of regulating AI.

After an electoral officer helped police arrest a popular state minister, her life began to unravel.

From humble beginnings, Fahad faced hurdles entering medical school. Now, he fights for equal access to medical education. Marty Smiley reports.

"Simone" arrived on a remote island to help asylum seekers. But she witnessed something there that convinced her to leak over 2000 documents. Reporters Paul Farrell and Maddison Conaughton investigate what happened.

When two infants die after being left inside a hot car, their family seek answers to how this could have happened. Reporter Alexandra Blucher tracks down a child safety officer involved in their case, and hears why she believes the girls' deaths could have been prevented.

Queensland authorities failed to heed multiple serious warnings that a young pair of sisters were in danger, before it was too late. Their grieving family is now desperate to understand why. Reporter Alexandra Blucher investigates.

Reporter Heidi Davoren provides an extraordinary insight into a parenting dispute, where a mother and father come together after a Family Court psychologist harmed their family.

As a teenager, Remy learnt to survive by hustling on the streets of Parramatta. Then she hit the bigtime. Reporter Mahmood Fazal investigates what life is like on the other side of the war on drugs.

In a nursing home lives an elderly man who is being held against his will. We can’t tell you his name. We can’t tell you his age. We can’t even use his real voice, or the voice of anyone involved in his case. Reporter Anne Connolly investigates what happens when the state rules you're incapable of looking after yourself.

Can you guess this week's tweeter?

The Kyiv Independent was established three months before Russia’s invasion and is now one of the most trusted sources of news on the war in Ukraine

Gary Mason grew up in 1960s Belfast at the beginning of "the Troubles"; three decades of bloody sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland. But what can a life lived at the heart of conflict teach someone about building peace?

Scientists have lots of different ideas about how to conserve our native species. One of these ways is rewilding. 

Tens of thousands of Aboriginal objects exist in museum collections overseas.Palawa woman Professor Gaye Sculthorpe located a wrongly labelled Tasmanian Aboriginal water carrier in a Paris museum while researching her family's history. Her research,  whilst working on Tasmanian Aboriginal collections in the United Kingdom and France, also looks at other misidentified or improperly labelled object, and is the subject of  the 2023 Eldershaw Memorial LectureGuest: Professor Gaye Sculthorpe, Deakin University. 

Each year Mitch McTaggart produces a snack-sized compilation of the year on Australian television, The Last Year of Television, which streams on New Year’s Eve on Binge. 2023 is his fifth year of reviewing Australian TV, so expect highlights of the good, the bad and the cringeworthy. Guest: Mitch McTaggart

A war veteran who was once shot (and reported dead) at Gallipoli, William Roy Hodgson would go on to play a key role in drafting one of the United Nation's most historic documents. But his unvarnished approach to diplomacy would see much of that legacy forgotten.

Father-of-three Ayman Dhlan started a WhatsApp group to help Australians and their families get out of war-torn Gaza. Now he can barely put his phone down.

Can you guess this week's tweeter?

Award-winning poet Gavin Yuan Gao lost their beloved mother at five years of age. Through writing, Gavin found a way to maintain a connection to her. 

Think you can tell whether that expensive wine you’re drinking is fake? Or if the vintage wine you’ve bought at auction is the real thing?Wine fraud is as old as wine itself, says Master of Wine and author Rebecca Gibb, whose new book Vintage Crime: A Short History of Wine Fraud charts key episodes in history, including the glut of fake champagne that led to the Champagne riots in 1911, and the fake Burgundy concoctions of notorious wine fraudster, Rudy Kurniawan.  Guest: Rebecca Gibb, author of Vintage Crime: A Short History of Wine Fraud

Razia Zakarya is an epigeneticist. But what does an epigeneticist do exactly? Razia is here to explain! Today, why DNA and epigenetics is important for chronic disease research.

American Jake Adelstein, whose book Tokyo Vice detailed his time as a crime reporter on the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun and was the basis of the TV series of the same name, has spent his career dealing with the infamous yakuza of Japan.His latest book is a history (of sorts) of the organised crime groups --The Last Yakuza: Life and Death in the Japanese Underworld. Guest: Jake Adelstein, writer

Russia continues to cast its shadow over Georgia's hopes to join the EU and NATO.

The ‘missing’ Yirrkala Bark Petition – one of four sent by the Yolngu people of Northeast Arnhem Land to the Commonwealth Parliament in 1963 – will be repatriated to country in a community ceremony on December 7.  Typed on paper and framed by traditional bark paintings, the petitions called for consultation with the local Yolngu clans before any mining proceeded.Guest: Clare Wright,  Professor of History and Public Engagement at La Trobe University

It might surprise you to learn that the names of pop stars and fascist dictators have been passed down to generations of Indigenous Australians. Reporter Erin Parke heads to the remote Kimberley to meet a man named Bing Crosby, and find out how it happened.

There's a gripping new series by our friends across the ditch at RNZ.

This week's mystery caller hunts insects in Australia's southern forests – the Scarlet Robin.

The Melbourne singer's second album is a deeply personal account of the lasting impact of a fundamentalist religious upbringing, and her effort as an adult to make sense of it.

Developing nations have secured a bigger international tax compliance role for the UN in a 'historic' vote at the UN General Assembly, which voted overwhelmingly in support of a resolution tabled by African member states. The prospect of a new UN convention threatens the OECD’s ability to set the global tax agenda. 

Almost sixty years after his life threatening encounter with a great white shark off Aldinga Beach in South Australia, shark conservationist Rodney Fox reflects on the day that changed "everything that came afterwards"

Science doesn't have to be restricted to old white men in lab coats. Maddie reckons it's time to make science fun! Without losing it's important messages.

Frank van Vree is the new Cleveringa Professor at Leiden University in Holland. The position is named after Rudolph Cleveringa, who became famous after a speech denouncing the invading Nazis' measures to remove all Jewish academics from their posts.In van Vree’s inaugural Cleveringa Lecture, he will talk about the tensions between learning from the past and remembering the past.Guest: Frank van Vree, Emeritus Professor of War, Conflict and Memory Studies at the University of Amsterdam, and the new Cleveringa Professor at Leiden University

“The best science for the most neglected” is a phrase that defines the mission of international non-profit medical research organisation DNDi - the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative, which is marking the twentieth anniversary of its founding this week.After Médecins Sans Frontières won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999, it pledged the approximately $1 million USD in prize money to setting up a Neglected Diseases Fund.  Guest: Dr Luis Pizarro, Executive Director of DNDi

Award winning investigative journalist Bethany Allen reveals how China has used its economic weight to coerce nations, corporations and multilateral bodies to play by its rules. From punitive sanctions, to covert intelligence gathering, and suppression of dissent, Allen describes how China has sought to expand its influence.

From humble beginnings, Fahad faced hurdles entering medical school. Now, he fights for equal access to medical education.

This week's tweeter is heard across the south and east of the country – the Fan-tailed Cuckoo.

After a promising start to her career was impacted by injury and selection heartbreak, Amy Sayer took a less-trodden path for a professional footballer, enrolling at Stanford University and discovering a love of philosophy.

Transgender Australia: A History Since 1910 is the first book that charts the history of transgender people in Australia from the Twentieth Century onwards.Julian speaks to the author, a cis-gender man, and an older transgender activist, who has seen the language of trans definitions change over time.Guests: Prof Noah Riseman, author of Transgender Australia: A History Since 1910Jenny Scott, transgender activist

First Nations people were the first scientists in Australia. But they don't just stay in the past tense – they're still here, and still actively contributing to science.Today's speaker Maggie Walter is Palawa and she's here to talk about how we think about First Nations science.

100 years ago, on November 23rd, 1923 Sydney radio station 2SB (now ABC Radio Sydney) was the first licensed station to broadcast over the airwaves. It was the beginning of a new era of news and entertainment in the home, transforming Australian cultural life.  Guest: Bruce Carty, former broadcaster, historian and author of “Australian Radio History” 

The global statistics on forced migration are stark. At the end of 2022, 108 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide as a result of persecution and conflict -- an increase of 19 million on the year before.Aarathi Krishnan discusses the future of forced migration and what the impending catalysts are ahead of her keynote to the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law conference.Guest: Aarathi Krishnan, Senior Advisor for Strategic Foresight for UNDP

Marine biologist Professor Richard Thompson was the first to identify microplastics on an Isle of Man beach 30 years ago. This week, he’s been at the UN Environment Programme headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, where delegates from around the world are working towards an international treaty on plastic pollution. But are policymakers listening to the scientists?Guest: Richard Thompson, Professor of Marine Biology at the University of Plymouth

Natalia had a job at a prestigious university, $120,000 in the bank, a loving partner, and shared custody of her two sons.Then one day, a little over a year later, she woke up in a psychiatric hospital, where doctors told her she was experiencing what’s known as stimulant-induced psychosis.

This week's mystery caller picks at grass seeds in the north of Australia – the Long-tailed Finch.

In 1993 Mark and Judy Evans bought a dilapidated theme park in northern Queensland, and over the past thirty years they’ve re-made it into one of the state’s most unique tourist attractions. It’s a story of devotion to the project, and devotion to the vision of the man who first built Paranella Park in the 1930’s, Spanish immigrant, Jose Paranella.

The celebrated author on what a cancer diagnosis taught her about life and art.

Today's speaker Chelsea explores the extreme cold in Antarctica to bring home something important... Ice cores!  These ice cores can be used to uncover clues about Australia's past. 

The Ukrainian rock band Antytila is in Australia as part of a global tour, showcasing their music and gathering support for Ukraine’s ongoing war with Russia. The band has taken time out from serving in the Ukrainian territorial defence force to engage in some cultural diplomacy. Guest: Taras Topolia, band member 

The criminal trial of Afghan war crimes whistleblower David McBride begins in Canberra this week. The former army lawyer who leaked classified information to the ABC that revealed allegations of war crimes by special forces in Afghanistan, faces a life sentence if found guilty. Guest: Kieren Pender, senior lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre’s Whistleblower Project

How the Commonwealth Bank tried to stop a royal commission by using dirt files, intimidation, threats and surveillance against whistleblowers and journalists.

Can you guess this week's tweeter?

This week's mystery callers were sent in by our wonderful listeners – listen in to guess each one.

For much of the past 50 years Bryan Brown has starred in a wide range of Australian and international films - titles like The Thorn Birds , A Town Like Alice, Breaker Morant (1980), Cocktail (1988), Gorillas in the Mist (1988) to name just a few. More recently he has added author to his list of accomplishments. His first book, Sweet Jimmy - a collection of short stories - was shortlisted for Best Debut Crime Fiction, Ned Kelly Awards last year. And in 2023 Bryan Brown is releasing his first novel, The Drowning … also in the crime genre

Julia is a retelling of the dystopian classic1984 from the point of view of Julia, the lover of George Orwell's protagonist, Winston Smith.

Today's speaker works with radio of a slightly different sort – radio astronomy! Dr Laura Driessen explains what radio is… and isn't.

Solomon Islands National University is offering the country’s first bachelor of science degree

Telegram’s minimal moderation enables extreme content and ideas to be more widely disseminated.

NSW Police will discontinue a policing program that targets people, including children, who police predict may commit crimes

Three dead dolphins turn up in an oil spill.

This week's tweeter climbs straight up tree trunks in search of food – the Brown Treecreeper.

Akuch Kuol Anyieth is working to free her community from the traumas of their past

A prominent American scientist warns of "anti-science aggression" that he says threatens both individual lives and our collective future. 

A citizen science project is working to protect the common wombat from various threats, including cats, cars and a skin disease known as sarcoptic mange.

As cities grow, nature becomes more and more fragmented.  So how can we protect native species without big areas to conserve? Brendan Wintle says we need look into smaller places, like your own backyard or the bushland down the street.

A new report says the NSW Police is failing to honour its obligation to reduce Aboriginal over-representation in the criminal justice system   

-When Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7, many filmed their atrocities with some live streamed on a social media platform. The live streaming of extremist violence is a problem the social media platforms have struggled to counter, and Hamas has further threaten to broadcast the execution of Israeli hostages. So what is being done to try to prevent the live broadcast of terrorist acts?

"Simone" arrived on a remote island to help asylum seekers.

Can you guess this week's Tweeter? 

One of Australia’s greatest biographers has turned his spotlight onto his own family and discovered some dark and difficult secrets. Marr’s great-great-grandfather was a professional killer of Aboriginals in the Native Police, and he chronicles that and the broader picture of an earlier, brutal Australia in his latest book Killing for Country: A Family Story. Marr joins us to talk about writing the book, but also about his life and how he became such a forensic, unflinching biographer. Guest: David Marr, writer, essayist

What is a proportionate response in war? It's a complex and highly contested concept

Guess what happens when art and science collide?

Judith Stutchbury and Donna Buckley won the 2023 Prime Minister's Awards for Science Teaching

A unique Israeli-Palestinian collaboration is under threat in the latest conflict

The former Labor leader and Governor General, Bill Hayden has died at the age of 90. His Labor colleague and former fellow cabinet minister Kim Beazley, reflects on the life and political career of the man who establish universal health care in Australia.  

When patients start unexpectedly dying at a regional hospital, nurse Toni Hoffman takes a big risk to blow the whistle on a negligent surgeon.

This week's mystery caller appears to be extending its range down the east coast – the Tawny Grassbird.

Shivshankar Menon continued a long and distinguished family tradition of foreign service for India

Seaweeds are the odorous, often-overlooked cousins of terrestrial plants. But do they deserve greater appreciation?

Fire has been fundamental for human development - but have you ever stopped to think about how it might be causing us harm?  Fay Johnston wants us to rethink our relationship with fire, through a retelling of a story.

In an era of extremes when moderation seems an increasingly remote concept, and balance even more rarely practised, Professor Aurelian Craiutu has tripled down on moderation in a new book called Why Not Moderation? Letters to Young Radicals. It aims to present moderation as both a “radical virtue” and, interestingly, “a fighting creed.” Guest: Aurelian Craiutu, Professor of Political Science at Indiana University

Australians have voted overwhelmingly to reject an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.  Professor Matt Qvortrup has been described by the BBC as “the world’s leading expert on referendums”, so what does he think the factors are behind this result? Guest: Matt Qvortrup, Visiting Professor of constitutional law at the ANU College of Law.

After the Referendum for a Voice to Parliament, what should happen next?

70 years after the first mainland nuclear test on Australian soil, the descendants of Indigenous people wounded are fighting for an end to nuclear weapons. 

Kathy Jackson was once heralded as a revolutionary who shone a bright spotlight on union corruption but she too was later found to be a fraudster who had misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars in union members' money. So who was the man responsible for blowing the whistle on her?  Reporter Annika Blau investigates.

Can you guess this week's tweeter?

Elizabeth Evatt is a towering figure of the Australian legal profession. Her distinguished and trailblazing career has been marked by a series of firsts – among them her appointment as the first Chief Justice of the Family Court, a position she held for 12 years. Elizabeth’s career has also been devoted to law reform, the rights of women, and international human rights advocacy.  Guest: Elizabeth Evatt, AC

The stunning advance of generative AI technology appears to present an existential threat to human authors. Can the law protect them?

Bread... Beer... Bioengineering? Yeast really can do it all. Today's speaker Jason Whitfield wants us to consider what our world could look like with emerging bioengineering tech. 

A new book traces the lives of thousands of contributors who helped create the Oxford English Dictionary  

New Zealanders will vote in their national elections next Saturday and the incumbent Labour government is predicted to lose to a conservative coalition, with minor parties are expected to take a significant proportion of votes from Labour and the Nationals. The NZ vote will occur on the same day as the referendum in Australia for an Indigenous Voice to parliament, and there are some parallels when it comes to political sentiment around indigenous/race issues. Guest: Luke Malpass, Political Editor, Stuff.co.nz

Hamas carried out a coordinated attack on Israel, firing rockets and with armed fighters infiltrating Israeli towns

After an electoral officer helped police arrest a popular state minister, her life began to unravel.

In this 6-part series presented by Adele Ferguson, the Background Briefing team brings you the untold stories of ordinary Australians who helped bring some of Australia’s biggest and dirtiest scandals to light.

This week's mystery caller sports a boldly striped face and head – the aptly-named Striped Honeyeater.

The final report of the four year Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability has been released. Julian Morrow speaks to human rights lawyer and disability rights activist, Rosemary Kayess.

Eric Philips has been to the very top and very bottom of the planet some thirty times, most recently in January this year, becoming one of only two people over 60 to have skied unsupported to the South Pole. Over more than 30 years of polar trekking Eric has written a book and produced four documentary films about his expeditions, including the Emmy Award-winning ‘Chasing the Midnight Sun’, filmed in Greenland.

There are fewer than 1800 Quakers in Australia, according to the last census. But despite their small numbers globally , Quakers — also known as the Religious Society of Friends — have played no small part in peace and social justice movements in Australia and around the world. Guest: Nelson File, Quaker and Principal of The Friends' School, Hobart

A "living legend" of Australian music recounts her personal and artistic coming-of-age

Diving into the "twilight zone", there's some amazing aquatic creatures.  These fish fascinate today's speaker Yi-Kai Tea. He's even named a few. 

A senate inquiry is looking into funding challenges and operational decisions at the Australian Antarctic Division following revelations the organisation’s scientific research may be compromised at a time of unprecedented reductions in Antarctic sea ice levels. Guest: Senator Jonathon Duniam, joint leader of the Senate Inquiry into Australian Antarctic Division Funding

Background Briefing will return to your feeds next week. 

Can you guess this week's Tweeter? 

A former Ambassador to China, Geoff Raby has revelled in travel since he set off to Europe backpacking at aged 21.  His academic path as an economist led to a serendipitous career in diplomacy, which took him to China in 1986 for his first diplomatic posting. While there, Geoff developed an appreciation for the contemporary Chinese art of the time, which grew into a significant collection. He also witnessed the dramatic events of Tiananmen Square and absorbed some pertinent geo-political lessons. Guest: Geoff Raby, AO. Former Ambassador to China 2007 – 2011.

Remi Guiffre's biannual curation of snack-sized facts, stories and ideas is called Remorandom

Do you have a favourite mineral? Maybe you love the gleam of a tiger's eye or the sparkle of an amethyst. 

A new musical, The Dismissal - An Extremely Serious Musical Comedy, features the performance of actor Matthew Whittet as Norman Gunston, with permission from the character’s creator Garry McDonald. Matt’s Gunston 2.0 is the narrator of the Dismissal musical, and amidst all the narration of political and personal backstory, Matt revives the genius of the Gunston character as a comic device.

As climate change increases the frequency and severity of floods, at-risk communities around the world, like the US city of New Orleans, are rebuilding differently 

Canada claims it has intelligence linking the Indian government to the murder of a Sikh activist in Vancouver

This week's tweeter breeds in the Arctic Circle and migrates annually to our shores – the Common Greenshank.

Sean Turnell spent 650 days in prison in Myanmar before he was given amnesty and released in November 2022.

Passengers and crew from British Airways flight 149 who were taken hostage in Kuwait in 1990 are suing the British government and the airline

Flora Hui's hope for the future is that blindness from glaucoma no longer exists. And as an optometrist and researcher, she's at the forefront of finding better treatments. 

As transnational criminal networks become increasingly advanced and more deeply entrenched in governments and institutions, how can investigative journalists stay on the story?

Nathasha Edirisooriya is a standup comedian whose most recent gig got her a huge round of applause and 39 days in jail. She was accused of insulting the majority Sinhalese population. We discussed her case on Sunday Extra back in June when she was still in custody in Sri Lanka. Nathasha was eventually granted bail and spoke to Sunday Extra

In 2018, Ireland voted to remove the ban on abortion, and in that referendum, the Yes case started out well ahead in the polls, but the No case gained ground during the campaign. Then, in the last days of the Irish campaign, support for the Yes campaign surged back and 66% of Ireland’s 2.1 million voters said Yes. So what were the secrets of the successful Yes campaign, and might they translate to the current situation in Australia?  Guest: Orla O’Connor, Director of the National Women’s Council of Ireland and Co-Director of Together for Yes

Can you guess this week's Tweeter? 

Lorin Clarke has written a book about life with her late father, comedian John Clarke

How a vibrating tech used in gaming and mobile phones is translating sound into physical sensations for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.       

Microfluidics is an exciting field of science that has the potential to change the way we do drug trials.  Today's speaker Susi Seibt is keen to explore the future applications of this teeny tiny science. 

In the early 1970s (in the final flagging years of US involvement in the Vietnam War) a race was underway throughout the Indonesian archipelago of young Western surfers seeking to discover new surf breaks.

Woke is a concept that, whether used as a badge of honour or a slur, feels in some ways like it defines the times while also being itself hard to define. Philosopher Susan Neiman has braved the ideological minefield by tackling the subject in her new book, ‘Left is Not Woke’. Guest: Susan Neiman, philosopher, author, and Director of the Einstein Forum in Potsdam.

Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of micro credit banking for the poorest people, Muhammad Yunus is facing a criminal trial in Bangladesh

The veteran ABC investigative journalist talks about his year, 1987, and his most influential reports for 4 Corners including The Moonlight State.

This week's mystery caller soars across our deep southern waters – the Black-browed Albatross.

In 1955, the first digital computer arrived in Australia in Melbourne, called CSIRAC. It is the world's oldest surviving first-generation electronic computer and the first computer to produce digital music. Our guest was the former Head of the Dept of Computer Science at the Uni of Melbourne and explains how CSIRAC led to the rapid adoption of computing at the university and fostered the discipline. Guest: Dr Peter Thorne, former Head of the Department of Computer Science, University of Melbourne, Chair, Heritage Committee, The Pearcey Foundation

How Kafka, Covid and bushfires inspired the Ghanaian-Australian artist's highly anticipated second album 

What do you love about that first sip of beer? Maybe it's the bitterness, the fizz or the fruitiness?

The 2023 Intergenerational Report identifies “population ageing” as one of the major forces shaping Australia’s future. In several Asian nations, the same demographic changes are more advanced and forcing a rethink, and there may be lessons for Australia.

The Belarus opposition in exile has given evidence the the ICC of Ukrainian children being taken from their families and sent to Belarus, with the approval of Belarus dictator, Alexander Lukashenko.

Can you guess this week's sound?

Inspiring individuals talk about a pivotal moment in their personal histories. This week,

The British museum theft scandal has raised the question: just how many museum collections might be at risk from the very people charged with taking care of them?

Mathematical or scientific modelling is used widely, from manufacturing design, to economic and weather forecasting, and in recent years it has become more critical and controversial, with modelling being used to drive government policy on climate change and the COVID 19 pandemic. That puts the modellers in a powerful position and unfortunately, many of the models built to predict the pandemic were wrong. How should the way models are designed change?

Beneath the cold ice sheets of Antarctica lies the dynamic deep earth. So what happens when the two interact? Today's speaker Niam is eager to find out. 

India’s successful landing on the south pole of the Moon, days after Russia crashed  on one of its own attempts, has put India firmly in the top tier of the space race. It’s the first time a country has landed on the Moon’s south pole, and India is one of only four countries to manage a landing feat at all. So what does this indicate about India’s space aspirations, and how do their space achievements fit in with in the geopolitics back on earth? Guest: Dr Rajeswari (Raji) Pillai, Director of the Centre for Security, Strategy and Technology (CSST) at the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi

Imran Khan’s elevation to prime minister was the culmination of a long political campaign with the help of advantages conferred upon him as the favoured candidate of the military establishment. As Pakistan’s traditional political parties join the generals in cornering Khan, there is no major force calling for full democracy. Guest: Ayesha Jalal, Mary Richardson Professor, History, Arts and Sciences at Tufts University

Whistleblowers play an important role in holding power to account, by speaking up about human rights abuses, government wrongdoing and corporate misfeasance, but all too often it is the whistleblower who faces reprisal. The Human Rights Law Centre’s Whistleblower Project is Australia’s first dedicated legal service to protect and empower whistleblowers who want to speak up about wrongdoing.

In what's been heralded as a watershed climate change lawsuit, earlier this week an American district court judge ruled in favour of a group of young environmental activists who had sued their home state of Montana. In what was the first constitutional climate trial in US history, the Held vs Montana lawsuit was filed in 2020 by 16 young Montana residents who argued that state agencies were violating their constitutional right to a "clean and healthful environment" by permitting fossil fuel development without considering its effect on the climate. The Montana attorney general's office said it will appeal what it called an "absurd" ruling. But just what might this win mean for future climate litigation brewing elsewhere around the world? Guest: Zoe Bush, Senior Solicitor in the Environmental Defenders Office

In one of the most remarkable stories of art theft in history, a Frenchman named Stephane Breitwieser stole hundreds of artworks and valuable objects from around 170 European museums between 1995 and 2001.   But unlike other notorious art thieves, he didn’t steal the works to sell them or make a profit, despite their value being estimated at more than a billion US dollars.  Instead, he kept them, carefully looked after,  in the bedroom and attic of the house he shared with his girlfriend and mother. Guest: Mike Finkel, author of The Art Thief

Let's go on a space adventure! Gomeroi woman and astrophysics honours student Krystal explores the scale of our universe.

Historian Mark Edele's new book explains why and how the war in Ukraine came about.

That’s the question that Antarctic ecologist Dr Dana Bergstrom tackled when she gave the 2023 Allan Sefton Memorial Lecture at the University of Wollongong. Dr Bergstrom works for the Australian Antarctic Division, studying and identifying risks to Antarctic ecosystems … and she’s been pondering the extent to which one of the risks to Antarctic ecosystems is scientists like her.  Guest: Dr Dana Bergstrom, Senior Researcher, Australian Antarctic Division and Honorary Senior Fellow at the University of Wollongong

Record crowds and viewing numbers have made the 2023 Women's World Cup the biggest women's sporting event ever.

The charity Peter Baines set up has helped underprivileged kids in Thailand with homes, food, education and future pathways.  

The FIFA Women's World Cup has transfixed Australian audiences in a way that few sporting events in this country have come close. 

Yasmin Arkinstall's one-women opera tells the story of living with OCD

If we had a time machine, we could go back and fix the mistakes we've made. But that probably isn't the best way to prevent mistakes before they happen... Trish Kerin believes everyone has a right to be safe at work and has a creative way to encourage us to spot warning signs early, saving us from mistakes ahead of time.

The Dartmouth Institute has an interesting mission: to “improve the communication of medical evidence to physicians, journalists, policymakers, and the public … to help them see through excessive fear and hope created by exaggerated and selective reporting in medical journals, advertising, and the news.” Dr Steven Woloshin is Professor of Medicine and co-director at the Institute, and about to attend the Preventing Overdiagnosis conference in Copenhagen, where he’ll chair a session on communicating about overdiagnosis in mainstream journalism and on social media. Guest: Dr Steven Woloshin, Professor of Medicine and co-director at The Dartmouth Institute.

Even Zoom wants its workers back in the office. So what does this mean for the future of remote work?

Cambodia's prime minister Hun Sen will hand power to his son, Hun Manet, on August 22 

Two years ago, Meagan complained to the ABC that our coverage of sexual assault cases was too negative, and it didn't reflect her personal experience.

One of Australia’s most lauded poets, Sarah Holland-Batt spent her teenage years in the US, and had dreams of another career. But that was all up-ended by the diagnosis of her father with Parkinson's and her family’s move back to Australia. His experience in aged care led Sarah to become a vocal advocate for better conditions in aged care facilities, and her latest book of poetry, The Jaguar, is dedicated to her father and won the Stella Prize in 2023. Guest: Sarah Holland-Batt, Professor of Creative Writing, QUT

Emerging football nations are aspiring to compete in the Women's World Cup

We're getting pretty familiar with hearing people talk about AI and what it could mean for our future. Luckily we humans still have the power to shape how that will look. Rashina Hoda is one of those humans and she's hoping to make sure AI is used in an ethical way. 

Magabala Books is Australia's oldest independent Indigenous publishing house.

The US congress last week heard remarkable testimonies by former military officers on the existence of UFOs, or what are now referred to as UAP’s, ‘unidentified anomalous phenomena’. 

The Move Forward Party won the most votes in the Thailand elections but will be excluded from a governing coalition

Just after midnight, Marty woke to find three young intruders in his bedroom. Then they started talking to him. He'd now become one of the hundreds of victims of crime in Mount Isa each year. This is the final episode looking at the youth justice system in Queensland — the state with the highest number of children behind bars.

Can you guess this week's tweeter?

After a horrific accident and subsequent brain injury ended his medical career, Dr Bruce Powell had to reimagine his life and the meaning of care and recovery. 

A new study warns of the forthcoming collapse of critical Atlantic ocean currents

When is depression just ‘sadness’? Why are so many children being diagnosed with ADHD and autism? How much access to care are the seriously mentally ill getting? Dr Allen Frances is one of the leading global voices in the discussion about overdiagnosis and mislabelling of mental illnesses. He was also the head of the taskforce that wrote the ‘bible’ of psychiatric disorders in 1994, the DSM-4, and openly regrets the expansion of certain disorders in that edition, which led to a much wider expansion in the next edition Guest: Dr Allen Frances, Professor and Chairman Emeritus of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at Duke University.

Researchers have a lot of unanswered questions about female reproductive health. Today's speaker has a story of a discovery that will hopefully advance this area of science, but found in a very unlikely place. We have some live shows coming up, and we'd love to see you there! Get your tickets here. 

Is it time for Aung San Suu Kyi to make way for a new generation of leaders of the democracy movement in Myanmar.

Despite 30 weeks of ongoing protests against the proposal, Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline government this week passed the first part of a plan for judicial reform, which would curb the influence of the country’s top court over government decisions. Detractors say this will erode democracy and lead to more corruption, but the government says the judiciary has been using its powers politically. Guest:  Eliad Shraga, chair of Movement for Quality Government, Israel

Australian women and children are among 50,000 people held in detention camps in Syria 

"Locked down for hours and hours": Jaxon explains what life is like inside a juvenile detention centre. 

This week's tweeter forms large, noisy flocks in the cooler months – the Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo.

'Love Lies Here', about the rise and fall of Imelda Marcos, is the first Broadway musical with an all-Filipino cast

Lindy Morrison is back on the drums full time, more than 30 years after the Go-Betweens  

How are your knees feeling? There's a pretty good chance one or both of them are sore — after all, knee osteoarthritis is a leading cause of disability globally, and Australia's no exception. Trouble is, we don't really have any way of treating it. But never fear — this week we're hearing from someone who's bringing her engineering background to take a peek inside dodgy knees and see what it might take to fix them. We have some live shows coming up! We're heading to Sydney and the Huon Valley in Tasmania. Check out details here.  This episode was first broadcast in 2022.

As climate change and habitat loss increasingly pushes human and non-human animals up against each other, how might humans and apex predators learn to co-exist?

It’s sometimes called the ‘forgotten war’ because it has been overshadowed by the Vietnam War and the previous World Wars.  But despite lasting just three years, the Korean War is also called the longest war, because no peace deal was ever signed, just an armistice agreement 70 years ago, on July 27, 1953.  That truce might have ended the fighting on the Korean Peninsula, but it didn’t end the hostilities between the two Koreas. Guest: Jongwoo Han, founder and president of the Korean War Legacy Foundation

With the eyes of the world on the war in Ukraine, less attention is being paid to the atrocities carried out by the military regime in Myanmar against its people. More than 2 years after the coup, the military is facing growing armed and civil resistance and the exiled Minister of Foreign Affairs in the National Unity Government says there is a revolution underway for a new Myanmar.

Jaxon stole a car at age 10. Six years later, the Mount Isa teen has a decision to make.

Can you guess this week's tweeter?

The annual Boulia Camel Cup is the richest camel race in Australia

Deep space experts say they've proved Elon Musk's Starlink satellites are leaking enough radiation to interfere with important radio astronomy.

Do you think we're alone in the universe? Could there be other life out there? And, whether there is or isn't, how does life come to be, anyway? (Is this sounding a little like your mate on a camping trip getting a bit too deep while looking up at all those stars?) Well, this time we're hearing from someone who's trying to unpick the origins of life — here on Earth, and maybe other places too. We've got a bunch of live shows coming up! You can find more details here.  

Taiwan’s political drama series ‘Wave Makers’ and its #MeToo plot line has triggered actual allegations about Taiwan’s political officials and others.  

'The world’s leading expert on referendums' discusses the challenges the referendum for the Voice faces to be successful.

Ukraine's Prosecutor General of Ukraine is overseeing the investigation of tens of thousands of war crimes.

A growing number of AI industry insiders are guessing at the probability that Artificial Intelligence will lead to a catastrophic scenario for humanity, and calculating their ‘p(doom)’.

This week's tweeter moves in small groups from tree to tree as it searches for nectar, fruit and insects – the Silvereye.

From 2003 to 2007, United States Marine Corp officer Michael ‘Dan’ Mori was the person appointed by the US military to represent Australian citizen and Guantánamo Bay detainee David Hicks

From golf, to tennis, to football – nation states are increasingly using sportswashing to improve their country's image and distract from dubious human rights records. But does this process of reputation laundering actually work? And why has it reached 'fever pitch' in 2023?

What does it take to survive on the driest inhabited continent on Earth? Indigenous people have tens of thousands of years of knowledge about this, but their place in the conversations about water planning and management are often tokenistic at best, or worse, completely absent. Bradley Moggridge wants to change that. He's a Kamilaroi man and hydrogeologist, and he knows Indigenous knowledge needs to be central to Australia's water future. Want to join the audience at our next live show? We're heading to Melbourne, Tassie and Sydney. Check out details here. 

In a recent Australian Book Review essay titled ‘A Referendum in Trouble’, history professor Bain Attwood compares the 1967 referendum, when Australians overwhelmingly voted to support Indigenous rights, with the forthcoming referendum to change the constitution and establish a First Nations Voice - where polls indicate the ‘yes’ vote will struggle to even get a bare majority. Attwood says the huge changes in Australians’ views on race, rights and history since 1967 are a factor.   Guest: Bain Attwood, Professor of History, Monash University  

A stem cell conference in Boston attracted so many scientists to a talk on rejuvenation technology that police had to be called to clear the aisles.

The Robodebt Royal Commission report exposes the failure of government oversight of the debt recovery scheme despite it being shown to be unfair and unlawful  

Did you know that some of Australia’s largest public hospitals are run according to a religious code of ethics? 

This week's tweeter is a familiar voice of our woodlands and open forests – the Peaceful Dove.

Can you guess this week's tweeter?

This week's mystery caller sweeps across inland skies in search of insect prey – the White-backed Swallow.

These common pain killing medications are taken for similar reasons but work in slightly different ways.

A Vietnamese poet and author of novels in both Vietnamese and English, Nguyen Phan Que Mai has received critical acclaim for her stories that draw on recent Vietnamese history.

To protect our heads in a crash or collision, we wear a helmet. But what about if we need to protect a building? That's probably too big for a helmet… Engineer Tatheer explores creative solutions to these big problems. We have some upcoming live Ockham's Razor shows! We're heading to Melbourne, Huon Valley and Sydney. Check them out and join the audience here. 

New York writer and reviewer Ann Manov has reviewed the London Review of Books

Medical science institutes that hosted rogue surgeon Paolo Macchiarini won't take responsibility for his work 

UN Special Rapporteur, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin has called on the United States to apologise for the torture of Guantanamo Bay prison inmates

Kym Ellery, the founder of collapsed Australian fashion label Ellery Land, tells reporter Rachael Brown that business collapses are sometimes the price of working in the fashion industry.

This week's mystery caller is a colourful inhabitant of the rainforest canopy – the Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove.

Inspiring individuals talk about a pivotal moment in their personal histories. This week,

Rachael Mead has written a novel inspired by the true story of the first Australian woman to set foot on Antarctica.

In a thought provoking piece for The Guardian, journalist Eleanor De Jong wrote a deeply personal article under the heading, “Nobody I’ve been locked up with in a psychiatric hospital felt ‘proud’ of their illness”.  Former Australian of the Year Pat McGorry’s tweet called the piece “brilliant”, adding “It’s a scandal that despite all the “awareness” of mental illness in recent years that severe mental illness like schizophrenia and bipolar are so neglected still.”  Guest: Eleanor De Jong 

When it comes to conservation, it's easy to get excited about protecting creatures that make you go "aww". Like, "aww, what a fluffy koala!", or "aww, what a cute lizard!"

With tens of thousands of Russian soldiers dying or being injured in the country’s war on Ukraine, Putin has offered immigrants money and citizenship if they enlist. There are reports Cuban immigrants are now joining the army to fight with Russia in Ukraine.  But our guest believes that the Cubans enlisting may not be doing so voluntarily, and that the government in Havana will keep the majority of the money.  Guest: Javier Larrondo, President, Prisoners Defenders

Iranian Baha'i poet Mahvesh Sabet has been jailed and tortured for a third time 

As Australia seeks ways to address its housing crisis, and rapidly rising rents in particular, an inner-west Sydney council suggested a vacancy tax on the one in 10 empty homes in the area. We look at British Columbia to see how their ‘Speculation and Vacancy Tax’ has worked over there. Guest: Professor Tsur Somerville, Sauder School of Business, Uni of British Columbia

Reporters Ty King and Mayeta Clark are granted a behind-the-scenes look at the dangerous game of cat and mouse played by cops and cartels.

Can you guess this week's tweeter?

Wiradjuri woman Denni Francisco is the founder of fashion brand Ngali, and winner of the Fashion Designer Award at the National Indigenous Fashion Awards

Since winning Eurovision 2022 Kalush Orchestra have  toured the world raising support for Ukraine’s war effort. 

'Kim's Video' is a film about a legendary independent video store in New York,  which ended up in Sicily, Italy

What’s the most important human invention from history? The wheel? Fire? How about… language and culture? Archaeologist Sam Lin takes us on a tour of very early human history, featuring an item that crops up too regularly to be an accident: an almond-shaped piece of sharpened stone. Sam's talk was first broadcast in February 2022. 

One study shows how social media can help scientists analyse the effects of climate change on plant pollination. 

Sri Lankan comedian Nathasha Edirisooriya has been arrested for comments about Buddhism in her stand-up routine

What else can we expect from Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation 

Reporter Heidi Davoren provides an extraordinary insight into a parenting dispute, where a mother and father come together after a Family Court psychologist harmed their family.

This week's tweeter is a colourful and familiar inhabitant of dry woodland – the Red-capped Robin.

Morrie Hart turned 100 in May and on 19 June he’ll step out to carry the Legacy torch for the torch relay marking 100 years of Legacy,

America’s top court recently found that the Warhol Foundation breached copyright of photographer Lynn Goldsmith when it licensed Warhol’s portrait of rock star Prince to Vanity Fair for the cover of a commemorative edition in 2016, after Prince died.  Warhol’s portrait was made in 1984 and was based on a Lynn Goldsmith photo of Prince from 1981.  A majority of the Supreme Court found in favour of Lynn Goldsmith, saying her original work is “entitled to copyright protection, even against famous artists.” Guest: Dr Richard Meyer, Professor of Art History, Stanford University

No one likes having their ideas taken for granted, without recognition or pay. For First Nations Australians, their expansive knowledge is often used without proper consultation or respectful communication.  So how do we tackle the problem?  Tahlia, a Ballardong Whadjuk and Wajarri Yamaji engineering student, shares her thoughts. 

The Greens want a rent freeze and rent caps in order to support the federal government's housing future fund

A Hong Kong journalist is released from prison following a surprise appeal from the territory's highest court.  

Kathleen Folbigg's diary entries were used to convict her. It took medical science to quash her conviction

In part two of the investigation into the deaths of Ray and Jennie Kehlet, reporters Rebecca Trigger and Ash Davis examine the story of the last man to see the couple alive. And they speak to a police insider who raised concerns about the direction of the investigation back in 2015.

A team of researchers in the U.S. analyzed data from 189 mass shootings between 1966 and 2021, and found that fame seekers – as opposed to those predominantly motivated by personal grievance or revenge, for example – planned their crimes around the novelty of the location and targets. Mass shooters pursuing fame often plan their attacks as “surprises,” which makes them uniquely challenging to prevent. The study is part of ongoing data-based research related to U.S. gun prevalence and violence, and the “firearm ecosystem” in the United States.

In just six short years, Sinéad Burke has graced the cover of British Vogue twice and become a global activist for those with disabilities. 

Last week in Finland, electricity supply was so abundant that the country’s average electricity price fell into negative territory for a number of hours. It’s not the first time it’s happened, but it’s being described as ‘historic’. So what does this mean for Finland’s energy market and consumers? Guest: Jukka Ruusunen, CEO of Fingrid

Here on Ockham's Razor, our soapbox for science, we try to bring you science that's deeply applicable to your daily life.

While We Watched chronicles the struggle to keep independent reporting alive in India 

A new book tells the story of Ukraine’s nuclear power scientists and workers as they confronted Russia's invasion

For years, we have been told that recycling plastic will help reduce pollution, but recent studies show that plastic recycling could actually make things worse. 

Two campers go missing while prospecting for gold in the Western Australian outback.

This week's tweeter is better known for its hairstyle than its call – the Topknot Pigeon.

Immigration lawyer by day and rockstar by night, Daniel Estrin's journey to the Eurovision stage. 

Feminist diplomacy prioritises gender equality and social justice in foreign policy

When it comes to mental health, we're so much better as a society at talking about it than we used to be.

Alexandra Petri has written a satirical textbook of 500 years of important American documents

The treatment of Indigenous journalist Stan Grant shows the need for a national approach to tackling racism

In South Africa, people are spending many of their evenings in darkness - with no lights, TVs or computers. Street lights are off, businesses have to close.  Last year, the country, which is one of the richest on the African continent,  experienced 200 days of long blackouts. It's a jaw-dropping story of crime and corruption, and the state-owned energy giant Eskom, which supplies more than 90% of the country’s electricity.  Guest: Jeevan Vasagar, Climate Editor, Tortoise Media. 

Australia's migrant workers can wait for years to find out whether they can stay here, and while they do they can become targets for opportunistic operators offering a short cut.

Can you guess this week's tweeter?

Renowned Australian didgeridoo player, composer and Kalkadunga man, William Barton mixes the worlds of Indigenous and western music. His inspired compositions and collaborations with composers bring together the didgeridoo and orchestras in ways never done before. As William himself describes it: “I want to take the oldest culture in the world and blend it with Europe’s rich musical legacy.” Guest: William Barton, Qld's Australian of the Year 2023

Thai scholar Pavin Chachavalpongpun was forced into exile after criticising the Thai monarchy

As a teenager, Remy learnt to survive by hustling on the streets of Parramatta.

Corey decided to be a scientist, no matter what anyone else said. It ended up taking him on some life changing adventures. Now, he's using his love of science to make sure all kids, even in the most remote parts of Australia, have the chance to achieve their dreams.

Find out how one 13 year old set up her own publication to write about women's sports and has now become a household name in Australia. 

PWC are one of the big four firms that are the focus of The Big Con: How the Consulting Industry Weakens our Businesses, Infantilizes our Governments and Warps our Economies

Former resistance figures set to continue domination of Timor Leste politics

Can you guess this week's tweeter?

In 1995 teacher Sarah George met ‘Kakadu Man’, Big Bill Neidjie in Arnhem land, and he suggested she should record him telling his people’s dreamtime stories for a children’s book and posterity. Over several years he sent her more tapes and she gradually compiled the stories into a book, as he’d requested. Now, 28 years later and 21 years after Big Bill’s death, the book, ’Gamu: the Dreamtime Stories, Life and Feelings of Big Bill Neidjie’ has been published. 

Did you know the Romans celebrated Mothers Day? It was held on 1 March, the start of Spring and the first day of the year in the archaic calendar. But never mind breakfast in bed and a bouquet, on Roman Mother’s Day, women served their own slaves and offered up flowers to a goddess.

This week's episode is one for the true crime podcast fans.  Paola is a forensic entomologist meaning she uses bugs to help solve murders.  So, what can the bugs tell us? Just a heads up, this episode includes descriptions that get a bit gruesome. Listen with care. 

Hundreds of First Nations women gathered this week in Canberra for a landmark Wiyi Yani U Thangani or the Women’s Voices national summit, the first national event of its kind. It builds on the Women’s Voices project, led by Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, June Oscar, and comes at a pivotal time. Guest: Dr Hannah McGlade - human rights lawyer and expert member of the UN Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues

After four weeks of fighting between Sudan’s rival military groups, residents in the capital Khartoum are running out of food, fuel and cash. Shops, banks and most of the city’s hospitals are closed, and people are desperately hoping a ceasefire can be agreed to and enacted on the ground.

The consumer genetic testing industry has become big business.

Can you guess this week's tweeter?

John Kamara escaped war torn Sierra Leone as a child and came to Launceston as a refugee at aged 19. Despite the very real challenges of racism and adjusting to a completely new culture and way of life in Australia, he decided to make the best of it and help others like himself who had arrived with traumatic backgrounds or who struggled to understand the Australian system. Since arriving, he’s tirelessly helped migrant communities in Tasmania. John Kamara is the  co-founder of the Culturally Diverse Alliance of Tasmania and the African Communities Council of Tasmania, and is Tasmania’s Australian Of the Year for 2023.

Why do people promote claims that conflict with science? A new course at Cortland university in the U.S examines this question and looks at how people process information in a way that helps them confirm what they already want to believe. Students develop their own bogus scientific claims and a corresponding plan to convince people that their claims are legitimate.

Signs of Life is an intriguing collaboration between the band Fourplay and the author Neil Gaiman

We often think of sharks as villains -- but as far as humans vs sharks go… we're the bad guys.

A baseball Little League in the U.S. has come up with an innovative approach to dealing with spectator abuse of referees

More than 11,000 television and film writers are on strike as their union seeks a deal for better wages and job security.

King Charles III takes to the throne in the first coronation the United Kingdom has seen in over 70 years. 

A small Welsh football team, owned by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, has just been promoted to the highest football league in the UK. So how did a small town team grab the attention of two A-List actors? 

Two of Europe's biggest powers join the European Commission and 15 other countries in a lawsuit against Hungary over a controversial anti-LGBTQ law. 

This week's tweeter inhabits wetlands, sometimes in flocks of thousands – the Pink-eared Duck.

Silva McLeod was Tonga's first female airline pilot, flying with Royal Tonga Airlines, Australia's Royal Flying Doctor Service and Virgin International.

Darwin's theory of evolution cut from India's school curriculum 

People who want to be a scientist, should have the opportunity to pursue a career in science - right? Well, there are barriers that make it much harder for some people to become the scientists they dream of being. Today, Linda Agnew explores how we can create equitable opportunities in STEM for people with disabilities. 

 40 years ago, respected German current affairs magazine Stern thought it had a sensational scoop with documents believed to be Hitler’s diaries. Not long after they were published, the magazine admitted it’d been fooled. Now, copies of the diaries have been digitised and published in full online, with historical annotations giving context that show the diaries were an attempt to rewrite history and deny the Holocaust. Guest: Professor Hajo Funke, political scientist and right-wing extremism expert, Free University of Berlin

Members of the West Papua National Liberation Army are fighting an insurgency against the Indonesian military

Can you guess this week's tweeter?

Our guest for The Year That Made Me is a young army veteran who, since leaving the military, has devoted his time to helping others transition to the private sector.  Tom Larter is CEO  of an organisation called WithYouWithMe. It was set up to help Australian veterans find work after leaving the army, but it’s grown to have global reach and now helps other groups in the community become job ready.  It’s all based on the idea that your past experience shouldn’t be a barrier to finding work. Guest: Tom Larter, CEO, WithYouWithMe

Pressure is starting to mount on the Murdoch empire following the 787.5 million dollar settlement and one more pending in the state of New York. 

Judge Mirman Dil'Aram Abid was one of the few female judges in Afghanistan’s judicial system, starting on the bench in 1978. She jailed men for horrific crimes against women, and when the Taliban regained power in 2021 those men were released, putting her in great danger. Judge Dil'Aram had to flee Afghanistan with the help of the International Association of Women Judges.

It's the perennial question when it comes to considering the universe – could there be life on other planets?

The Lowy Institute’s latest Being Chinese in Australia survey shows an increased sense of belonging among Chinese-Australians, and lower incidences of racism. Chinese-Australians also consider Australia the most trusted country to deal responsibly in the world. But there is a markedly different perception of China as a threat:  Chinese-Australians are much less likely to see China as the military threat that the broader population does. To unpack the research we talk to the lead author, Dr Jennifer Hsu, Project Director of the Multiculturalism, Identity and Influence Project at the Lowy Institute.

It’s been called the birth strike. South Korean women are having fewer and fewer children and the country has the lowest fertility rate in the world. But in a country where women’s safety concerns range from violent crime to digital exploitation via a wave of spy cameras in public bathrooms… even the term ‘gender equality’ is now taboo.

The Reserve Bank board will be stripped of its power to set interest rates and replaced by a board of monetary policy experts as part of a major shake-up, with the review released on Thursday making over 50 recommendations, to improve decision making, transparency and accountability.

The Year That Made Me: Toner Stevenson & Nick Lomb – Toner and Nick are ‘eclipse chasers’ and co-authors of a new book on the subject. Both talk about the time they realised astronomy was their love, and the excitement of witnessing a total solar eclipse. The next total solar eclipse can be seen on Thurs, April 20, near Exmouth in Western Australia.

They're the unwanted hiking companion that is trying to suck your blood.  Today, Charlotte tells us about why ticks want to follow us home.

This Sunday the RAW  Comedy National Grand Final take place at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Raw is a national search for emerging voices in the comedy industry.

Rice is a staple of a large portion of the world’s diet, but while rice demand is soaring, cultivation is not -- with yields being affected by land and labour scarcity as well as climate change. As a result, there’s now talk of a ‘global rice crisis’. Guest: Jean Balié,  Director General of the International Rice Research Institute

In the U.S. the decision on the right to access a commonly used abortion drug is headed for the country’s Supreme Court. After a federal judge in Texas ruled the Food and Drug Administration was wrong, 23 years ago, to approve the drug mifepristone, a U.S. Appeals Court decision on Thursday temporarily preserved access to the abortion pill, with tighter rules. The Biden Administration will now appeal to the Supreme Court to restore full access to mifepristone.

The war in Ukraine has brought into question whether or not Swiss neutrality is tenable.

This year marks the 25th anniversay of the Good Friday Agreement, so how has peace been mainitained over the last two decades? And how does it compare to those growing up in Northern Ireland post the Troubles. 

Can you guess this week's tweeter?

Biden Administration advisor, ‘Genius Grant’ recipient and founder of both Rewiring America and Rewiring Australia Saul Griffith joins The Year That Made Me – to explain why he’s a man on a mission to electrify everything, and why 2019 was his year.

The political lines around the Voice referendum are shutting out Indigenous voices. 

Callum is thinking about the future of freshwater systems in Australia. They're full of life, within and around the water. But how do we protect these waterways when humans also rely on them?  Callum Donohue explores this careful balance. 

Comedian Josie Long is in Australia with her new show, Re-Enchantment

Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen has just finished a visit to Central American countries on her way to a meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California. Taiwan is trying to shore up its dwindling diplomatic support in the region, with China’s economic influence persuading countries to shift allegiances – Honduras being the latest example. Guest: Benjamin Gedan, Director of the Wilson Center’s Latin American Program   

Russian President Putin's has made thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine

This week's caller makes do with an especially tiny nest – the Varied Triller.

Natural history museums create a global inventory of their collections to help with urgent issues such as climate change

SA’s Local Hero recipient for 2023 has personally micro-chipped more than 22,000 animals and spurred a national rollout of her hugely successful affordable micro-chipping scheme in SA. Despite serious health issues, Christine Robertson carried on with the volunteer-run service, all while holding down a full-time job. But when those she loved most suddenly had health issues, she had to decide whether to continue, or pause to spend precious time with family. Guest: Christine Robertson, South Australia’s Local Hero in the Australian of the Year Awards, 2023.

To plan conservation efforts, scientists need to know what species are in an area, how big the populations are, how they interact... The list goes on.  But what happens when the creatures that need conserving are so small you can barely see them? Today, Lisa Kirkendale explores the importance of taxonomy in conservation, and why even the tiniest of creatures need attention. 

When we define ‘value’ in medical innovation, for business it means profit, for people it means health benefit

Wales' latest Commissioner for Future Generations has just started in the job, and it's the first position of its kind anywhere in the world. Tasked by the government to ensure Wales leaves a better country for its children, the commissioner advises on sustainable development and monitors the longer term impacts of government decisions. Guest: Derek Walker, Future Generations Commissioner, Wales.

Donald Trump has been indicted on criminal charges,  the first time in US history that this has happened to a former president.  A Manhattan grand jury voted to indict him over a probe into hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels. The charges remain unclear because they're under seal. The former president is scheduled to appear in court for his arraignment on Tuesday.  Guest: Nick Akerman, New York attorney, former Watergate prosecutor

Can you guess this week's tweeter?

Our guest sold offerings outside temples in India to fund his schooling and beat hundreds of thousands of students to win a coveted place at medical school. When he moved to Australia, he worked as a paediatrician in Darwin, doing valuable fly-in fly-out clinics at remote communities, gradually winning community trust. Now in Melbourne, he has worked tirelessly with multicultural communities to correct healthcare misinformation and taboos.  Guest: Dr Raj Khillan, Paediatrician and co-founder of the Healthcare Awareness Society of Australia. Victorian recipient, Australian of the Year 2023

With energy prices soaring everywhere, finding new ways to reduce energy costs has never been more attractive … and it’s leading to some unusual developments in Europe. A public swimming pool in Devon, a lobster farm in Norway and a university in Dublin are being heated by data centres. But are they a truly large-scale energy solution? Guest: Paul Deane, senior research fellow in energy futures, University College Cork.

Jacob is no stranger to becoming immersed in the world he's researching. He's a nanotechnologist, so things are about to get tiny. Today, Jacob Martin explains why his research requires a balance of the real and virtual worlds of scientific experimentation.

Iran and Saudi Arabia formally severed ties in 2016 and they've been fighting a proxy war ever since. Now, the Gulf rivals have resumed relations in a deal brokered by China boosting Beijing's credibility as a credible partner in the region. So, how much of a hand did China play and what does it reveal about President Xi's alternative world order?

Six months after Pakistan's worst ever floods, parts of the country are still covered with stagnant water 

Chris Minns will be the new Premier of NSW after leading his party to an election win after 12 years in opposition. The result means that Tasmania is the only state or territory with a Coalition government.

In a nursing home lives an elderly man who is being held against his will.

Pashtana Dorani is leading her education foundation for girls in Afghanistan from afar after being forced to leave the country

Can you guess this week's tweeter?

He’s probably the world’s most famous living astronaut, thanks to his performance of David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ aboard the Space Station. But since retiring, Chris Hadfield has kept grounded by keeping very busy – writing books, giving TED Talks and hosting TV series. He's coming to Australia for the Cybersecurity Conference in Canberra.  Guest: Chris Hadfield – astronaut, engineer, test pilot, author.

Namulanta Kombo works in the development sector in Nairobi, Kenya. She's also the mother of a son and a daughter. The first podcast she ever made was declared “Best Family Podcast” and “Podcast of the Year” at the British Podcast Awards in 2022 and Season 2 of “Dear Daughter” has just launched on the BBC World Service. 

We've all looked at the night sky in the hope of seeing a shooting star, but today's speaker looks at the ground to find meteorites! Ellie Sansom explains what it takes to go on a meteorite hunt in the Australian outback. Next live show: The next Ockham's Razor live show is in Brisbane on the 24th of March. You can find tickets here. We'd love to see you there!

BBC Arabic is one of 10 foreign language radio services to be cut

The Russian Wagner group is involved in military, mercenary and criminal activity in Africa  

Former spy boss says we need to recruit a boader range of people to work in cyber security

Reporters Geoff Thompson and Annika Blau investigate how Australia became the first country to give scripts for trips.

This week's nocturnal caller likes wetlands surrounded with tall trees – the Nankeen Night-Heron.

In 2015 Amar Singh decided to use charity to fight racism.

If you’ve ever worked in retail you'll probably relate to Meg O'Hara's debut solo show Customer Service Conundrum.

Whispered in Gaza is an animated series with the voices of Gazans expressing their true feelings about life Hamas rule.

Bias is usually regarded as something to avoid in scientific research, but that doesn't always have to be the case. James Hill explores the role his lived experience as a queer Ngarrindjeri man plays in his research, and what can be gained by inviting bias into science. Next live show: Ockham's Razor is coming to the World Science Festival in Brisbane and we'd love to see you there. You can find tickets here. 

Filipino poet José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda is a national hero whose statute can be found in town plazas across the Philippines.

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is turning to podcasting to address what he calls 'one of the most vexed and consequential questions of our time.'

To tackle welfare fraud, European countries are using algorithmic formulas to determine which recipients might be cheating the system. But investigative journalists with access to the algorithm’s inputs discovered systemic bias on ethnicity and gender grounds, with potentially drastic consequences for those affected. Guest: Gabriel Geiger, lead reporter on the Lighthouse Reports and WIRED investigation

In the second and final episode of Dead Man's Secrets, reporter Josh Robertson investigates the grisly murder of the powerful Papuan executive who negotiated one of Australia’s biggest foreign assistance packages.

The camera lens of William Yang captured one of the most pivotal cultural moments in Australian history while also breaking photography norms - the gay liberation movement in Sydney during the 1970s and 80s.

Fifty thousand people will be marching across the Sydney Harbour Bridge calling for more equality in Asia-Pacific countries where homosexuality is still banned and rights are restricted.

Ben Lott completed one of the world's toughest races four years after a brain injury from a fall meant he had to learn to walk and talk again.

When you think of Australia's most famous coral, the Great Barrier Reef likely comes to mind.  But there's a coral reef ecosystem in the north of WA that also deserves attention. Today, Zoe takes us on a journey to the corals of the Kimberley region, to tell us why they give her hope for the future of coral populations globally.

Belarusian resistance group BYPOL claims to have disabled a Russian surveillance plane, critical to the coordination of missile strikes in Ukraine, and is vowing to step up its disruption of the Russian war effort in Belarus.

Experts in Africa's media landscape are pushing for more independent sources of media, particularly in Nigeria where general elections have just been held.

A shocking murder takes place in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea.

What is dying a good death?

Can you guess this week's tweeter?

Can you guess this week's tweeter?

When Lancashire mother of two Nicola Bulley disappeared in late January, there was an unprecedented level of public speculation about the case on social media. Local police were criticised for the way they communicated investigation details to the public, but how does policing operate against a background of intense social media involvement? Guest: Graham Wettone, former UK police officer

The National Library is facing a pinch. It needs to find new locations for much of its physical collection, and secure long term funding for its world-renowned digital library, ‘Trove’.

What can stories tell us about science? And what science can we explore through stories? This week, science writer Lauren Fuge asks us all to imagine the future of science. 

AI and facial recognition technology could help with disaster victim identification

US President Joe Biden made a historic visit to Kyiv by train, in an operation dubbed 'Rail Force One'.

When two infants die after being left inside a hot car, their family seek answers to how this could have happened.

Professor Rasko is a clinical haematologist, pathologist and scientist, known internationally as a pioneer in gene and stem cell therapies. His work as helped change the way we understand human illness and recovery. 

This week's backyard caller is found in the southeast, where it seeks out the nectar of native trees – the Musk Lorikeet.

The first anniversary of Russia’s invasion into Ukraine in on February 24th. 

The Australian with the daunting task of providing relief in Gaza

What is a task for AI and when does a human need to intervene? And when is a compassionate response better than an accurate one? These are the big questions explored by today's speaker, Carolyn.  Next live show: The next Ockham's Razor live show is in Perth on the 22nd of February. Find all the details and tickets here. 

In a significant move the office of Special Counsel Jack Smith has issued a subpoena to former Vice President Mike Pence.

The war in Ukraine is being fought with heavy weaponry. Subsequent conflicts may be more dependent on the use of big data

The Turkiye earthquake had a magnitude of 7.8 and a magnitude 6.7 aftershock 11 minutes later. It's left over 40,000 dead. Those studying disaster risk say Türkiye was meant to be implementing monitoring systems over the last three decades and had money from the EU to do this.

Queensland authorities failed to heed multiple serious warnings that a young pair of sisters were in danger, before it was too late.

He's received a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Australian Book Council, and kids across the country have voted him Australia’s Favourite Children’s Author 40 times.

Can you guess this week's tweeter?

Canberra resident Murray Upton has returned a set of 9 statuette carvings his father acquired while working in southern Thailand in 1911. The retired entomologist, formerly with the CSIRO, handed over the buddhas at a ceremony at the Thai Embassy because ‘it was the right thing to do’.

Pavel Kuljuk lives with his wife Sveta, in Kramatorsk, a city of 150,000 in the Donetsk region of Eastern Ukraine. Pavel has been writing about his experiences during the war and his words, carefully translated, have found a home at the online newspaper, The Red Hook Daily Catch.

Having a voice in conversations that concern your experiences is vital, especially when it comes to First Nations health.  Today, Kim Morey explores what an inclusive future in healthcare looks like.  Next live show: Our next live show will be in Perth on the 22nd of February. Find tickets and more info here. 

For years, arts and social change organisation Big hART has been working with Indigenous communities in the Pilbara to create music, videos and performances. Their latest community-led album ‘Songs for Freedom’ has been produced in support of the campaign to lower the incarceration rates of Indigenous children. GUESTS: Yamatji singer / songwriter Fred Ryan, and Big hART CEO Scott Rankin.      

Archivists face technological, ethical and political challenges in deciding what to preserve, given the massive trove of digital information generated every day, as well as controversies over the archiving of content related to the COVID pandemic and political disinformation.

He’s been labelled a tycoon, a business maverick and was Forbes 3rd richest person in the world, but as protests continue over fraud allegations within the Adani Group, who is the man behind the conglomerate?