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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...

ABC chair Kim Williams has been slammed for recent comments made about broadcasters like Joe Rogan, as the national broadcaster undergoes a wave of structural changes. During his first Press Club address, Kim Williams took aim at the podcaster, saying commentators such as Rogan “prey on fear”. Mr Williams was there to deliver a speech calling for greater investment in the ABC, which he said had lo...

Professor Clare Wright is the author of five works of history, including the best-selling The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka and You Daughters of Freedom , which comprise the first two instalments of her Democracy trilogy. On this episode of Read This , Clare sits down with Michael Williams to discuss the final instalment of the trilogy, Näku Dhäruk: The Bark Petitions , which was released in October....

Australian politics is changing in ways it seems the Labor party and the Coalition haven’t yet come to terms with. And as the electorate splinters, it’s becoming harder for governments to last more than three years. Just months from an election where the outcome of a minority government looks likely, scare campaigns about “unholy alliances” have begun. It’s a sign that the two major parties are ra...

In 2007, future United States president Donald Trump stepped into the wrestling ring for a showdown with Vince McMahon, then head of World Wrestling Entertainment and Trump’s close friend. Trump played the villain perfectly. For decades now, Trump has been shaped by a love affair with professional wrestling. It taught him how to control and manipulate a crowd, how to speak, and how to respond to c...

What happens when you have a democratically elected leader who takes it upon themselves to prosecute their political opponents – as US President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to do? The Philippines is a far more corrupt system, but its former president Rodrigo Duterte is someone who did exactly that. One such opponent was Leila de Lima – lawyer, politician and human rights activist who opposed Dute...

Anthony Albanese was triumphant on Friday, as he talked up the government’s passing of dozens of bills through the parliament. But there was one key piece of environmental legislation that didn’t make it. Albanese personally stopped the bill, right at the last moment and without warning Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek. The decision by the prime minister puts mining interests – and the hope of...

In Anthony Albanese’s political universe, personal relationships are everything. High on the list for Albanese is his bond with Peter V'landys, the chair of the Australian Rugby League Commission and chief executive of Racing NSW. That relationship has been central to the government’s decision to again delay reforms of gambling advertising, which V’Landys strongly opposes. Today, special correspon...

The Robodobt scheme is considered by many to be one of the Australian government’s worst scandals. Senior reporter for The Saturday Paper and Walkley Award-winning journalist Rick Morton followed the case closely and he documents the crisis and its devastating effects in his new book. On this episode of Read This , we bring you Michael and Rick’s conversation about Mean Streak from Canberra Writer...

Two years ago, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese labelled 6 News , a streaming news channel founded by then 14-year-old Leonardo Puglisi, a “fantastic initiative”. Now, under Labor’s very own legislation, currently working its way through parliament, every child under 16 – like Leo was then – will be banned from using almost every social media platform. The government is defending the proposed ban,...

On Nauru, there are close to 100 asylum seekers who have been released from detention but are currently living hand-to-mouth. They are forbidden to work on the island, and are surviving on a stipend of $230 a fortnight – which they say is not even enough for three meals a day. The Australian government has mostly succeeded in keeping offshore processing off the front pages, but as boat arrivals co...

Crypto is skyrocketing, ever since Donald Trump won the US election. Trump is set to lead the most pro-crypto administration ever, promising a crypto advisory council and appointing a prominent pro-crypto hedge fund manager as his pick for Treasury secretary.  His campaign received considerable donations from the crypto industry, who hope he’ll come good on his promise to create a national bitcoin...

The night Donald Trump claimed victory, he celebrated with his closest friends.  Among them was Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart. Rinehart, who describes herself as a “long standing member of the Trump support group ‘the Trumpettes’”, is not only cultivating her ties among America’s right-wing political elite. She also remains a highly influential figure in Australian politics.  And with...