Saturday Extra - Separate stories podcast

The major political parties in Britain are reeling from nationwide local election results which have underscored the rise of the populist right, and in particular Reform UK.  As voters head to the polls in Farrer for today's by-election, will Australia become part of that global story? Plus, the 2026 Federal Budget is days away. Will we see some big reforms and big thinking?

Sarah Wilson has a knack for tapping into the mood of the times. With headlines dominated by climate catastrophe, fertility decline, nuclear threat, and the rise of authoritarianism, not to mention trad wives and AI, she has an overwhelming sense that the world is out of balance. In her new book, I Eat The Stars, she explores how we continue to live as tender-hearted humans in amidst these tumultu...

For the first time since records began, England is no longer Australia's top overseas country of origin. New figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics found people born in India now make up the largest proportion of those born overseas. Two guests who were born in India and now call Australia home tell us about this growing community.

Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are set to meet in Beijing next week, where the two leaders will discuss trade and technology. The Middle East conflict will also loom large, and both powers will seek to use it for leverage. 

Thomas Wright, one of the Biden administration's top national security advisers, explains how great power rivalries are playing out during the Iran war. He argues that Donald Trump's prosecution of the Iran war is a reminder that the president is willing to take big risks on issues that he believes could build a unique legacy. 

This weekend marks one year since Anthony Albanese defied expectations and won a second term in a landslide. In this time, both Australia and the world have changed: War in the Middle East, cost of living pressures, the rise of One Nation.  The prime minister discusses domestic issues and the place of Australia in the era of 'America first' and general global upheaval.

Moving between the mountains of Papua New Guinea and Sydney, musician Ngaiire leads a kind of double life - cooking by fire and living off grid one day and returning to the rat race the next.  After building a 20 year music career and touring the globe, Ngaiire is now building a music school in her home village to give young Papua New Guinean artists the chance she never had: to hone their craft i...

Opening our series on 250 years since American independence, we feature historian Jill Lepore, an expert in the US Constitution who tells the stories of ordinary people who have struggled to change the country's founding document. 

This week, Charles III became the first British king to address a joint meeting of US Congress. It was one part of his trip across the Atlantic, coming at a time when there are noticeable cracks developing between the US and UK. So as the US turns 250 this year, what's the state of the 'special relationship'?

Tim Ayliffe is a journalist-turned-thriller writer. He joins Saturday Extra for The Last Thing, where he talks through his last great reads and a book launch he recently attended (with a very personal connection).

The significance and meaning of Anzac Day has waxed and waned over the decades. In the late-1960s and 1970s, many thought they were witnessing the demise of Anzac Day, as veterans of World War I passed away and Australia's military involvement in Vietnam was so contentious. From the 1980s onwards it has revived, and has essentially become the country's de facto national day. Now many recent migran...

One of Australia's most loved actresses is back on the big screen with the release of Warwick Thornton's latest feature, Wolfram. The film tells the story of child labourers forced to work in mines, and is based on the experience of Warwick Thornton's grandmother.  Deborah Mailman stars as Pansy, a mother grieving her estranged young children on Central Australia's brutal colonial frontier. From t...

It's been called "the most impossible job in the world". Amid wars, the threat of climate change, and other global crises, who wants to be the next Secretary-General of the United Nations?  So far, there are four declared candidates. 

Talks between Israel and Lebanon in Washington have resulted in a three-week extension to the ceasefire. But what is the situation on the ground? Richard Weir of Human Rights Watch was recently in Lebanon's capital, Beirut.

President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are poised to leave Washington for Pakistan's capital, Islamabad. But it's still unclear whether peace talks between the US and Iran will actually take place there.

This weekend, hundreds of people will be outside painting and drawing the local landscape of Bombala in the Snowy Monaro region of southern NSW. Lucy Culliton, is a celebrated Australian painter known for her vibrant paintings of the Snowy Monaro landscape, her animals and garden who has helped organised the event.

America's war against Iran is designed to break the Iranian regime and eliminate its nuclear programme.  But what does the Iran war mean for China? 

A new book explores the 2025 landslide electoral victory for the Labor Party, and the Liberal Party's worst ever result.  And looking forward, where to now for the Coalition after the release a new values-based immigration policy aimed at stemming the loss of voters to the Pauline Hanson-led One Nation? 

Cheng Lei was a TV presenter in Beijing with an audience of millions when Chinese state security blindfolded her and drove her to a secret location where she was detained for 1154 days. After a year in solitary confinement, she was charged with espionage. Her crime: sending an 8 word text message that broke a media embargo. Now free, Cheng Lei is creating a theatre production that takes audiences...

US President Donald Trump has had no shortage of feuds over the years. His latest is a holy war of words with Pope Leo, the American head of the Catholic Church. It's been met with criticism from American Catholics and even some in Trump's usually-rock-solid support base of conservative Christian evangelicals So does it point to something bigger — the fraying of MAGA?

There's been the clearest signs yet of a breakthrough between Washington and Tehran.

Fifty years after its founding in a California garage, Apple has grown into one of the most influential, profitable, and iconic companies in history, with more than 2.5 billion users worldwide. But beyond products like the iPhone and the iPad, what has Apple's broader impact been on our culture and society and how has the tech giant reshaped communication, our daily lives and screen addiction? CNN...

There seems to be a determination from US President Donald Trump to end the Iran war even though the US has not achieved so many of its stated aims. So what would "success" look like for the US?

The end of the Artemis II mission this weekend is potentially the start of a much bigger story. The learnings from Artemis II will help pave the way for a return to the Moon's surface, and in the years beyond, exploration even further in space. So with a new space age beckoning, what does it all mean for Australia? How will our tech and our people fit into this story?

He's regarded as Keir Starmer's right-hand man: A British Labour MP brought into Downing Street when the UK prime minister's leadership looked to be in peril.  Darren Jones was given the job title of chief secretary to the prime minister, and a wide-ranging brief.  He's in Australia this week, at a time when the special relationship between the UK and America is very shaky.