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Tucked away in a Sydney suburb is one of Australia’s largest landfill sites. Here lies a stark reminder of the millions of tonnes of waste that form the collateral of our modern lives.  Author and critic James Bradley visited the landfill to reflect on our relationship with private consumption and investigate why there is so little accountability for the damage caused by our waste.  Please enjoy “...

Indonesia’s recently sworn in President Prabowo Subianto is many things. To millions of young Indonesians, he is a daggy dancer on TikTok. But to a cohort of voters with longer memories, he is a veteran of a brutal and oppressive military force. Today, principal fellow of the Indo-Pacific Research Centre at Murdoch University Jacqui Baker charts Prabowo Subianto’s extraordinary climb to the presid...

This year, Andrea Robin Skinner, the daughter of the late Nobel Prize-winning Canadian author Alice Munro, revealed something about her mother that had stayed hidden throughout Munro’s entire life. When Skinner was nine years old, Munro’s husband – who was also Andrea's stepfather – had assaulted her.  Today, art critic and author Sebastian Smee reads his piece on the author Alice Munro. It’s an i...

Peter Dutton’s first major promise when he became opposition leader was to build nuclear power plants. It was a curious idea with no cost attached, and polling suggested it had little community support. Today, journalist Marian Wilkinson joins with her investigation into the conservative charity group figures driving the opposition leader’s pivot to nuclear energy.   Marian’s sharp reporting on th...

Elif Shafak is an award-winning British Turkish novelist whose work has been translated into fifty-five languages. In this episode, from Schwartz Media’s podcast Read This , Michael chats with Elif about her latest novel, There are Rivers in the Sky, which follows a single drop of water across millennia. Reading list: The Bastard of Istanbul , Elif Shafak, 2006 The Forty Rules of Love , Elif Shafa...

Winner of both the Miles Franklin Award and the Stella Prize, author Evie Wyld writes dark and often trauma-informed books, but she also has a remarkable capacity to capture the tenderness of memory. In this episode, from Schwartz Media’s podcast Read This , Michael is joined by Evie for a conversation about her latest book The Echoes , which explores how we tell stories around and into the absenc...

Writer Leslie Jamison is celebrated for her ability to link the personal to the cultural to the critical in ways that resonate and move and connect with readers. In this episode, from Schwartz Media’s podcast Read This, Michael sits down with Leslie to discuss her latest book, Splinters: Another Kind of Love Story, a memoir about rebuilding a life after the end of a marriage Reading list: The Gin...

Rumaan Alam is a best-selling author who made a splash in 2020 with his critically acclaimed novel Leave the World Behind . In this episode, from Schwartz Media’s podcast Read This , Rumaan joins Michael for a conversation about his latest novel, Entitlement , and they discuss class, desire, and the influence of Sylvia Plath. Reading list: Rich and Pretty , Rumaan Alam, 2016  That Kind of Mother ,...

Musician and writer Nardi Simpson is a Yuwaalaraay woman from freshwater country in north-west New South Wales. Her debut novel was 2020’s critically acclaimed and multi-award-winning Song of the Crocodile . In this episode, from Schwartz Media’s podcast Read This, Michael sits down with Nardi for a wide ranging conversation about her new book, The Belburd . Reading list: Song of the Crocodile , N...

Every day this week, critics from The Saturday Paper and beyond are bringing you their top picks of the year.  From the partying Russian oligarchs to grave robbing in an Italian fishing village, writer/curator Kate Jinx’s best film picks of 2024 will take you on a cinematic journey. Socials: Stay in touch with us on Twitter and Instagram Guest: Kate Jinx is a writer and film curator, director of G...

Every day this week, critics from The Saturday Paper and beyond are bringing you their top picks of the year. From the adventure of a lifetime to a family torn apart by murder, senior producer for 7am Cheyne Anderson brings you a collection of gripping podcasts perfect for your summer road trip.  Socials: Stay in touch with us on Twitter and Instagram Guest: Senior producer for 7am Cheyne Anderson...

Every day this week, critics from The Saturday Paper and beyond are bringing you their top picks of the year.  2024 was a blockbuster year in music: Beyonce went country, Taylor Swift went everywhere, and we all went Brat.  Today, with The Saturday Paper ’s music critic Shaad D’Souza, we’re exploring the albums that defined the year.  That includes Charli XCX of course, but also a surprising new a...

Every day this week, critics from The Saturday Paper and beyond are bringing you their top picks of the year.  From the saddest comedy on our screens to a queer reality show – The Saturday Pape r’s television critic Sarah Krasnostein looks back at the highlights of 2024. Socials: Stay in touch with us on Twitter and Instagram Guest: The Saturday Paper ’s television critic Sarah Krasnostein See omn...

Every day this week, critics from The Saturday Paper and beyond are bringing you their top picks of the year.  From a reimagining of a classic to the sidelines of footy practice, editor of The Monthly and host of Read This Michael Williams has your beach reads covered.  Socials: Stay in touch with us on Twitter and Instagram Guest: Editor of The Monthly and host of Read This Michael Williams See o...

For  Read This ’s last episode of 2024, host Michael Williams heads to Fitzroy Pool to find out what people are reading as the weather warms up. Plus, a handful of previous  Read This  guests offer book recommendations for the summer holidays. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anthony Albanese has finished the year with his lowest approval rating yet. The prime minister’s popularity has been crumbling ever since his party was elected to government in 2022, with some polling suggesting that he is now as unpopular as Scott Morrison was heading into that election. His image has been damaged by the purchase of a $4.3 million mansion during a housing crisis, as well as recei...

Like coming up for air after 50 years. That’s how one man described the current moment in Syria. Since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, thousands of Syrians have been celebrating in the streets and wandering through Assad’s abandoned palace. But many more are searching through the massive network of prisons that underpinned Assad’s repressive regime, hoping to find out the fate of lost loved...

Alice Springs is making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Violent crimes committed by young people, including a recent attack on a woman and her two-month-old baby, have left the town shaken.  The baby has suffered a brain bleed and a fractured skull, and there are now big questions about how to keep the community safe, what justice should look like and why crimes like this happen at all. Today...

It’s been nearly four months since all branches of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union were forced into administration and hundreds of union officers were kicked out. The government wanted a clean slate after allegations of bullying, intimidation and infiltration from outlaw bikie gangs. Now, those underworld figures are seeking payback. And the man tasked with cleaning up the...

The Liberal Party says it wants the next election to be a referendum on energy. After months of waiting, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton finally released the costings for his $331 billion nuclear power plan. The modelling suggests the nuclear plan would be $264 billion cheaper than Labor’s renewables rollout, and deliver lower energy prices for consumers. But Dutton’s plan contradicts the CSIRO's n...

John Safran has been a fixture in Australian media since his breakthrough in 1997 with ABC TV's Race Around the World . After several TV series of his own that explored ideas about faith, race and culture, John made the shift to book-length journalism. On this episode of Read This , Michael sits down for a conversation with John about his latest book, Squat , and John reveals the deeper story behi...

After a scathing ruling from a Nevada probate commissioner, Rupert Murdoch and his eldest son Lachlan’s attempt to amend a family trust may have backfired spectacularly, with the commissioner concluding the two acted in “bad faith”. Rupert was attempting to give permanent control of his conservative media empire, comprising Fox and News Corp, to his designated successor Lachlan after Rupert dies....

This week, on the streets of Damascus, there were signs of an army in retreat – tanks abandoned and Syrian army uniforms scattered on the roads where soldiers had torn them off. It reflected the speed at which rebel forces had taken over Syria, with Bashar al-Assad’s brutal reign finally coming to an end after 13 years of civil war. As celebrations spread across the nation, the Syrian people face...

Last week, News Corp tabloids ran front page stories in papers around the country, all saying a similar thing: Australia needs to “step on the gas” or face blackouts and soaring electricity prices. But you had to turn the page to find out the coverage – labelled an “exclusive” special report – was sponsored by major gas companies. Now, the Greens are planning to call Murdoch media executives befor...

In 2019, Scott Morrison’s government managed to narrowly win a third term, despite polling placing them behind Labor for almost three years. At the heart of the victory was a change in the way they campaigned, bringing in a pair of New Zealand election strategists armed with a new weapon: low-quality memes. Since then, the duo known as Topham Guerin have brought their political tricks to bigger ba...