Podcast
Rear Vision
Hosted by ABC Radio · EN
We tease out the complex history behind those baffling events in the news.
11episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Papua New Guinea’s Election—Democracy with a difference
Jul 10, 202200:29:05Tap to summarizePNG has hundreds of languages groups, almost a thousand tribes and is one of only four nations globally that doesn’t have any women in parliament. Over three weeks the country is holding its national election – the 10th since it gained its independence from Australia in 1975. The PNG political system, like Australia’s, is based on a Westminster model but that’s just about where the similarities end. How do PNG elections work, who are the key political figures and just how free and fair have their elections been over the past 50 years?
Transcribe →How did it come to this — the energy crisis we had to have?
Jul 3, 202200:29:05Tap to summarizeAustralia has everything it needs to produce electricity - coal, gas, sun, and wind. Yet we've wound up with energy shortages and huge price hikes. How did we get here - why is our energy system in such a mess? And what can we do to fix it?
Transcribe →United States Supreme Court
Jun 28, 202200:29:40Tap to summarizeThe selection of a new justice to the United States Supreme Court is frequently controversial and almost always political. It’s a 'captain's pick' for the US president and one that can shape American society long after the president’s gone.
Transcribe →The economics of Inflation—Science, Craft, or Snake Oil
Jun 26, 202200:29:07Tap to summarizeNone of us need to be told that prices are going up or that interest rates are following. We are clearly now in a period of inflation which may or may not lead to a recession. But what exactly is inflation, why does it occur, how does it relate to interest rates and what if anything can we learn from past inflationary periods?
Transcribe →Not Quite Australian - What’s Australia’s problem with New Zealanders?
Jun 19, 202200:29:06Tap to summarizeDespite being the closest of neighbours, for the last decade there’s been a worsening Trans-Tasman spat as New Zealanders in Australia are refused basic services and often deported. The new Albanese government has signalled this may be about to change, but what caused the spat in the first place, and was race the underlying issue?
Transcribe →The NRA—Its history and its influence on the gun debate in America
Jun 12, 202200:29:05Tap to summarizeIt’s hard-to-understand America’s relationship with guns. Gun deaths and school shooting are commonplace in American communities – yet US politicians seem incapable or powerless to implement any type of gun reform. So, what’s going on and what role has the NRA, played in this political debate?
Transcribe →Predicting the weather—a history of the forecast
Jun 5, 202200:29:06Tap to summarizeWe take for granted the accuracy of predictions and warnings put out by our weather forecasters. Once, weather predictions were the butt of jokes but today the Bureau of Meteorology can accurately forecast the weather for the next seven to ten days. How did this happen?
Transcribe →Zero-COVID in China—the social economic and political cost
May 29, 202200:29:03Tap to summarizeWhile the rest of the world is learning to live with COVID-19, China is still following its zero-COVID policy with citywide lockdowns, mass testing and quarantine. But there’s a social and economic cost and, potentially, also a political one. Why is the Chinese leadership sticking with the policy?
Transcribe →Sri Lanka—failed state
May 22, 202200:29:08Tap to summarizeStreet protests and violence have accompanied Sri Lanka’s worst economic downturn since independence in 1948. What is behind the blackouts and acute shortages of food and fuel?
Transcribe →Trouble in the ‘family’—Australia’s relationship with its Pacific neighbours
May 15, 202200:29:06Tap to summarizeThe recent signing of the security pact between China and the Solomon Island has sent shock waves through the Federal election campaign. Questions are being asked about our relationship with the Solomon Islands and with other Pacific nations. What is behind Australia’s relationship with the Pacific nations?
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