Podcast
Saturday Extra - Separate stories podcast
Hosted by ABC Australia · EN
Smart analysis, lively conversations, and great company. Understand Australia and the world with Nick Bryant.
11episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
The Last Thing: Victoria Falconer
6d ago00:07:50Tap to summarizeVictoria Falconer is the co-artistic director of Hayes Theatre in Sydney's Kings Cross, a tiny venue known for almost entirely putting on musicals.She joined Saturday Extra for The Last Thing, where she talked through some of the last great things she's done.
Transcribe →How Charlottesville became the frontline of an American history war
6d ago00:16:09Tap to summarizeIn August 2017, during the early months of the first Trump presidency, hundreds of white supremacists and neo-Nazis descended on the small Virginian city of Charlottesville.They were there to protest the planned removal of a statue of the Confederate General Robert E. Lee.Overnight, Charlottesville became the frontline of a history war, an ugly battle that's captured in a new book by the author and historian Deborah Baker.We talk to Deborah as part of our series on 250 years since American independence.
Transcribe →Canberra: love it or hate it?
6d ago00:06:12Tap to summarizeLast week, an unlikely stoush broke out on X after one user maligned the design of Australia's Parliament House. Criticism of Canberra (and its institutions) is as old as the bush capital itself. But these days it's getting a bit more love.
Transcribe →Can Australia be a leader in sustainable data centres?
6d ago00:14:00Tap to summarizeThis week OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman declared Australia could be a world leader in AI data centres.While Pope Leo XIV laid out a sweeping vision and a warning to safeguard humanity from AI's most harmful effects.Dozens of data centres are popping up on the fringes of our major cities, and big tech is lobbying the federal government to seize the opportunity and support their construction. But there are concerns that the trillion dollar industry is risking our environment, energy security, drinking water and copyright laws.Can big tech do this differently with the right regulations?
Transcribe →Amid heavy losses, Russia looks to next stage of Ukraine war
6d ago00:15:15Tap to summarizeOn Friday, a Russian drone hit an apartment building in Romania, a NATO member state.And earlier in the week, Russia pummelled Kyiv with drones and used a hypersonic missile - prompting condemnation from European leaders.Moscow has since threatened to launch more waves of attacks, warning foreigners and diplomats to leave. Sergey Radchenko, a Russian-born security expert who is writing a history of the Ukraine war, joined Nick Bryant to discuss Russia's heightened aggression.
Transcribe →Is it 'deal or no deal' for Iran and the US?
6d ago00:12:53Tap to summarizeHours after President Donald Trump concluded a Situation Room meeting with his national security team on Iran, the White House has not indicated whether there will be an Iran-US deal.A proposed deal, which would reopen the Strait of Hormuz but leave the nuclear issue for further talks to resolve, brought a shower of criticism from some of President Trump's Republican supporters.
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Is mahjong having a moment?
2w ago00:10:14Tap to summarizeMahjong is being revived by a younger generation who want to reconnect over the game they grew up watching their families play.And they've taken matters into their own hands by starting new Mahjong social clubs around Australia.
Transcribe →Tasmania's budget: a fiscal precipice?
2w ago00:13:35Tap to summarizeThis week in Tasmania, the minority Liberal government has delivered a budget to cut the state's debt and deficit.Tasmanian budgets don't usually make national front-page news, but a new paper argues that the apple isle's finances and its older demographics warrant a closer look, offering insights for other states.
Transcribe →Australian activist claims of abuse while attempting to deliver aid
2w ago00:07:15Tap to summarizeThis week, Israel's security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir posted a video of himself waving a large Israeli flag and appearing to taunt activists, who are shown kneeling, their heads on the ground and their hands zip-tied behind their backs.The members of The Global Sumud Freedom Flotilla are claiming they were abused by Israeli forces, after their ships were intercepted in international waters on Monday while attempting to deliver aid to Gaza.This claim has been denied by Israel's ambassador to Australia, Hillel Newman.Zack Schofield, one of 11 Australian activists who joined the flotilla, spoke with Saturday Extra from Istanbul.
Transcribe →Tennant Creek home offers a solution to Indigenous housing crisis
2w ago00:16:41Tap to summarizeIn Tennant Creek, a new bespoke home designed by its occupants is the envy of town.With wide balconies, solar panels, and architecture that accommodates cultural relationships, the house stays cool through the devastating heat of a Central Australian summer.It's a far cry from the overcrowded, unbearably hot homes that have become the norm across many remote Aboriginal communities.The house was designed by Tennant Creek elder Norman Frank and his wife Serina in partnership with local doctor-turned housing justice advocate Simon Quilty.
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