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.
58episodes
Episodes
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Can Donald Trump end the war in Iran?
Jun 1200:12:22Tap to summarizeIs the end of the Iran war in sight?The Iranian foreign ministry, President Donald Trump and Pakistani mediators all say a deal is close to being finalised.But we've been here before, with CNN calculating this week that Trump has said 39 times that the US and Iran are on the verge of a deal.The conflict is set to be high on the agenda at next week's G7 Summit in France, where world leaders will be watching developments closely.
Transcribe →Adelaide fundraiser vows to claw back world record for most Marilyn Monroe lookalikes
Jun 500:05:14Tap to summarizeTo celebrate what would have been Marilyn Monroe's 100th birthday last week, over a thousand die-hard fans donned platinum blonde wigs, red lippy and white halter-necks in Palm Springs, California.They easily broke the world record for the most Marilyn Monroe lookalikes in one place — snatching it from 254 lookalikes from Adelaide. That's not the end of the story. The Adelaide Marilyns are vowing to claw back their record within months.
Transcribe →America at 250: how royalists became revolutionaries
Jun 500:19:45Tap to summarizeAs part of our series marking 250 years since American independence, we feature British historian Adam Smith.In 1775, war broke out between the British and the American colonists. The following year, the former colonies declared themselves independent and in 1783, following a prolonged and bloody war, Britain was forced to recognise the independence of the United States.Adam Smith discusses why a former colony, populated overwhelmingly by loyal British-Americans, became revolutionaries.
Transcribe →Is theatre and cinema etiquette getting worse?
Jun 500:06:05Tap to summarizeLast weekend on a London stage, acclaimed actress Rosamund Pike did something very unexpected.Pike, who is starring in Inter Alia by Australian playwright Suzie Miller, returned to the stage at the end of the play, to call out some bad theatre etiquette.So, in 2026, what's OK and not OK in a theatre or cinema?
Transcribe →Former Washington Post editor Marty Baron on journalism under Trump 2.0
Jun 500:19:56Tap to summarizeIt's no secret that legacy media is facing a crisis.Traditional media outlets like newspapers, television and radio stations have had their business model upended by the internet, social media and now AI.Newspapers in the US are closing their doors at a rate of two per week, according to one study, while in Australia over 200 local newspapers have disappeared over the last 15 years.CBS News, owned by the billionaire Ellison family has recently sacked 60 Minutes correspondents, while earlier this year The Washington Post, which is owned by the billionaire Jeff Bezos, axed over 300 jobs, in a move employees described as a 'bloodbath.'How healthy is the fourth estate in the age of social media, AI and Trump 2.0?
Transcribe →Elon Musk, the world's first trillionaire?
Jun 500:13:17Tap to summarizeElon Musk's SpaceX is planning for what could be its biggest launch yet.Next week, the rocket, space, and AI company is set to make its initial public offering, or IPO, which may end up being the largest in history.And if it all goes to plan, this Musk is set to become the world's first trillionaire.
Transcribe →Pacific diplomacy under the microscope
Jun 500:09:45Tap to summarizeThis week, there were signs that Australia-Solomon Islands relations are on the mend, when the new leader of the Solomons Matthew Wale stood alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra to announce plans for a new security treaty — and that a secretive security deal with Beijing would be reviewed.Meanwhile across the ditch, four New Zealand MPs have been banned from travelling to China after the group visited Taiwan.
Transcribe →The Last Thing: Victoria Falconer
May 2900:07:50Tap 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
May 2900:16:09Tap 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?
May 2900:06:12Tap 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.
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