The Radio National Hour

Compelling conversations on issues that challenge, entertain and inspire us.

Time-restricted diets like the 5:2 - popularised by the late Dr Michael Mosley - have achieved cult status in recent years, promising not just to deal with excess weight but also prevent diabetes and add years to our life, but the largest ever study of its devotees has linked the diet to cardiovascular disease.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu isn't listening. Not to the head of the IDF, not to the negotiators urging him to accept a phased, ceasefire deal and certainly not to the desperate parents of hostages. Lazar Berman the Times of Israel's diplomatic editor says Bibi Netanyahu is convinced that Israel in the 'final stage' of the war. And imagine paying rent that doesn't just keep a roof over your head, but gives you a real stake in the place you live and where no one is going to boot you out to chase profits, this is one model of providing housing that's thriving in Switzerland. When your time comes, how will you be remembered? Language psychologist David Markowitz has studied tens of millions of obituaries to understand what it is we value when we eulogise our loved ones. His finds show that our feelings towards the dearly departed have changed in the wake of seismic global events like Sept 11 and the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto has called in the military to quell nationwide protests in what critics say is an echo of the nation's authoritarian past. Speaking of authoritarian leaders, the man dubbed the 'Trump of the Tropic's', Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro is facing decades in prison, accused of plotting to overthrow the government. A verdict in his court case is expected by the end of the week. And eight First Nations STEM students are undertaking a space bootcamp at Melbourne's Monash University ahead of a ten-week research placement at at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California and the UK’s national space laboratory: RAL Space. 

Is America’s threat to slap India with a 50 percent tariff driving the south-Asian power into the arms of Beijing?Just a few years ago India and China were exchanging fire across their borders, but now it's all smiles between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sino-India expert Manoj Kewalramani explains the geo-political manoeuvring underway at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.With the government just weeks away from announcing a refreshed 2035 emissions target, investigative journalist Marian Wilkinson examines the power plays and politics behind the proposed expansion of Woodside’s North West Shelf Gas Project for the latest Quarterly Essay: Woodside vs The Planet: How a Company Captured a Country. 100 days out from the social media ban for under-16’s taking effect, there are fresh concerns about how the tech giants will be able to police the new rule. The ABC's national technology reporter Ange Lavoipierre looks at the shortcomings and whether they could render the ban ineffective. 

Compelling conversations with some of the most interesting people from around the world, on the issues that challenge, entertain and inspire us. 

As a search continues in Victoria’s High Country for a fugitive sovereign citizen accused of gunning down two police officers, the debate over nationwide anti-immigration marches planned for this weekend turns ugly.

Compelling conversations with some of the most interesting people from around the world, on the issues that challenge, entertain and inspire us. 

Compelling conversations with some of the most interesting people from around the world, on the issues that challenge, entertain and inspire us. 

Compelling conversations with some of the most interesting people from around the world, on the issues that challenge, entertain and inspire us.