Saturday Extra - Separate stories podcast

The annual Sydney Tango Weekend brings together dancers from across the country and around the world. They've bonded over the intimate intensity of the dance to form a community that lasts long after the music stops.

8.3 billion and counting - that's the UN's best estimate on how many people live on the planet when it marks World Population Day this Saturday.  But while the Earth's population is growing quickly, the growth rate is starting to slow down. What are the implications ?         

The Norwegian striker Erling Haarland is in the running for the Golden Boot, the trophy awarded to the World Cup's top goalscorer. But it's not just Haarland's goalscoring that has excited fans. With his super-hero physique, flowing platinum blond hair, speed and size, the comparisons to a Viking warrior or Norse god are inevitable. Mímir Kristjánsson tells us more about Haarland's family and the...

The big story at the World Cup this week came off the field rather than on it, with Donald Trump's intervention on behalf of a star US striker who'd been banned from playing against Belgium after receiving a red card in the previous game. The US president called the FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, and the player in question, Folarin Balogun, was allowed to play, essentially ripping up the world...

Two giant figures of Europe's populist right have announced a reset of sorts. France's Marine le Pen and the UK's Nigel Farage have both mounted fresh bids for power even as financial scandals threaten to derail their political futures.  Their renewed push underscores the enduring appeal and persistent controversy of Europe's nationalist movements. 

When China launched a ballistic missile into the South Pacific Ocean on Monday, it was a rare test of a nuclear-capable weapons system that drew international rebuke. New Zealand will now consider joining a new defence alliance between Australia and Fiji which commits each country to come to ​the other's aid if either is attacked, as Australia ​works to counter China's growing influence in the reg...

NATO leaders wrapped up their summit this week with a joint declaration affirming a unified stance on several issues, including support for Ukraine to make Patriot air defence systems to counter missile attacks from Russia. The surprisingly amicable conclusion followed a more turbulent start. The summit ended with Turkish President RecepTayyip Erdogan presenting a firearm to the leader of each cou...

For the finale of our America at 250 series, we look at how America is marking July 4. We criss-cross the country, from Donald Trump's Great American State Fair to the town of Normal in Illinois to an attempt at getting Dolly Parton on the show

On the eve of NAIDOC Week, the National Indigenous Art Fair is up and running at the Cutaway in Sydney's Barangaroo. Now in its 7th year, the event is bringing together over 100 artists from more than 30 art centres.

Australians' lack of understanding of our own region is making the country increasingly vulnerable in a volatile security environment, according to the findings of a parliamentary inquiry released this week. The Federal Inquiry into Building Australia's Asia Capability found that fewer students are learning Asian languages at all levels of our education system, and there is less academic study of...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is loved by his supporters, loathed by his critics and among the most powerful people on the planet. Next week, he's due to visit Australia, at a time when India-Australia economic and defence relations are deeper than ever. The two countries have much to gain, with increased uranium exports from Australia reportedly on the table. But who exactly are we doing bu...

The Socceroos have lost a heartbreaking penalty shootout against Egypt in their World Cup round of 32 clash. David Mark dissects the almost 3-hour game where Australia's campaign has come to an end.

Sam Guthrie is a diplomat-turned-international thriller writer. He joins Saturday Extra for The Last Thing, where he talks through his last great read, his last great theatre experience and the last great library he visited. 

This week's Lowy Institute poll showed the largest drop in support for cultural diversity in Australia on record. Multiculturalism has long been hailed as an Australian success story, a global exemplar in integrating migrant communities, the envy of Europe and the US. It follows so soon after Pauline Hanson's rallying cry for monoculturalism to replace multiculturalism. So what's driving this feel...

It's well known that Australia is a country of migrants, and plenty of historians have traced our multicultural past. But incredibly, until now most Australian history has been written using only English language sources. A new book titled Sinophone Australia is changing that, translating Chinese language newspapers, letters, poems, maps and travelogues to tell a more complex story about Australia...

Shelby Steele is one of the foremost African American intellectuals. He's a child of the civil rights revolution, was a Black radical in the late 1960s and emerged as a prominent conservative voice in more recent decades, fiercely opposed to policies such as affirmative action. As part of our America at 250 series, he talks us through the racial disunion of America.

This week, we saw what is fast becoming an annual rite in the UK: the changing of the prime minister outside 10 Downing Street. Sir Keir Starmer is the latest UK PM to bid a tearful farewell. So why did he have to go, and what should we make of the Labour politician who will succeed him, Andy Burnham?

The USA's dominant display proved too much for the Socceroos in Seattle with Australia going down 2-0.  Australia still has a chance to progress to the next round of the FIFA World Cup when they face Paraguay on Friday. The ABC's National Sports correspondent David Mark discusses what went wrong for the side.  

Thirty years after she was elected to Federal Parliament, this week Pauline Hanson made her first address to the National Press Club. When she faced journalists, her tone was combative and defiant, deriding an industry that she feels has treated her unfairly, taking aim at the ABC, SBS and the Guardian. But has Hanson's resilience and rise been nurtured by a media that is only too happy to publici...

As our America at 250 series continues, we examine an important strand of their national story that often gets overlooked and even erased. The history of Native Americans, who occupied the continent thousands of years before The Mayflower or Christopher Columbus set sail for the Americas, is often forgotten.  As the anniversary of independence approaches, debate is intensifying over whose stories...

This week, Andy Burnham has moved one step closer to replacing the UK's Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer. In a hotly contested by-election, the mayor of Manchester and British Labour luminary claimed a thumping victory, which now puts him on track to challenge the deeply unpopular Starmer.

After intense diplomatic talks at the G7 in Paris this week, Donald Trump surprised many by signing a memorandum of understanding with Iran. "Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. Oil is flowing. Gas prices are falling. Markets are roaring. A WIN for America and the world," the US president claimed on social media. But the finer details of the 14-point agreement have yet to be finalised. So who st...

Ken Burns is one of the great chroniclers of US history. Over a nearly 50-year career, the filmmaker has produced long-form works about America's Civil War, the Vietnam War, and, his latest epic production, The American Revolution. As part of our America at 250 series, he talks about the birth of the US and what lessons it holds for the world today.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino this week strenuously defended America hosting the World Cup, in partnership with Canada and Mexico.  Even before kick-off time, the tournament was mired in controversy over ticket pricing, accommodation and transport arrangements, along with the decision to allow the Iranian team entry to the United States despite an ongoing war. Will the drama of the largest and m...

Misinformation is everywhere. And among the most harmful types is scientific misinformation, with all kinds of severe real-world consequences. So how can we inoculate ourselves against this, and do we need a better understanding around "trust" and science?