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Incisive analysis, fearless debates and nightly surprises. Explore the serious, the strange and the profound with David Marr.
Episodes
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Dec 2, 2024 • 54min
Laura Tingle's Canberra, North Korean troops in Russia, and poetry's place in Australia
Laura Tingle casts her eye over the last week in Parliament, and the Prime Minister's relationship with his Environment Minister. Why is North Korea sending troops to fight in Ukraine? And what is the current place of poetry in Australian popular culture.

Nov 28, 2024 • 53min
Why humans think they can subdue nature, and Helen Garner's love of football
Historian Philipp Blom deciphers why humans continue to believe they can subjugate the Earth, tracing ancient stories of dominion back to the Bronze Age. Plus, Australian writer Helen Garner on ageing, being a grandparent and her love of football.

Nov 27, 2024 • 54min
Essays that changed Australia, and beware the Christmas creep
Can an essay change a nation? Meanjin editor Esther Anatolitis believes that some of the essays published over the journal's long history have - including one from Michael Mohammed Ahmed. We also bust a few Christmas myths with Professor of Religion, Carole Cusack.

Nov 26, 2024 • 54min
Bruce Shapiro's America, Australia's submarine fiasco, and the rise of Britishisms
Bruce Shapiro on the dismissal of President-elect Donald Trump's federal cases. We revisit Andrew Fowler's study of Australia's "nuked" submarine deal, recently named the Walkley Book Award winner for 2024. And why Americans are adopting British and Australian vernacular.

Nov 25, 2024 • 54min
Laura Tingle and George Megalogenis
Laura Tingle gives her analysis of Labor's plans for the last sitting week of 2024, while George Megalogenis looks forward to 2025, and what the parliament may look like after the next Federal election - and why.

Nov 21, 2024 • 54min
Imagining a better Australia, and Lech Blaine's miraculous life
Former federal MPs John Brumby and Cheryl Kernot discuss how Australia can make policy progress and find bipartisanship in a world of growing political division. And Lech Blaine shares the extraordinary story of his childhood, growing up in a Queensland pub, stalked by a pair of Christian fanatics.

Nov 20, 2024 • 54min
Marcia Langton on truth telling and Sidney Nolan's African paintings
Marcia Langton on the dashed hopes for truth telling in Australia and Sidney Nolan's paintings of Africa tell a deeper story about his concerns for the future of humanity, nature and its wildlife.

Nov 19, 2024 • 54min
Ian Dunt's UK, who is Barron Trump, and the shark that lives forever
Ian Dunt on what the US election result means for security in the UK and Europe. Journalist Jamie Tahsin investigates the online "manosphere" and Trump's courtship of the "bro vote" with the help of son Barron. And the mysteries of the greenland shark, which lives for hundreds of years.

Nov 18, 2024 • 54min
Laura Tingle on the Greens' compromise, and Jon Ronson dissects the politics of conspiracy theories
The Australian Greens have dropped their demand for a climate trigger in the Government's proposed environmental reforms. And British/American journalist and cultural commentator on the new power of conspiracy theorists, under Donald Trump.

Nov 14, 2024 • 54min
How Australia writes its war history, and the lives of medieval women
Acclaimed historian Peter Stanley on how Australia writes its war histories, and our complicated relationship with memorialisation. And a new exhibition at the British library illuminates the lives of medieval women, in their own words.


