Saturday Extra - Separate stories podcast

It's out with Sussan Ley and in with Angus Taylor, the Liberals' eighth leadership change since John Howard's 2007 defeat. Fiona Scott looks at the big, messy week for the party and what comes next.

At this year's Munich Security Conference, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has warned that the rules-based world order "no longer exists". So where are we headed instead?

The Washington Post has made widespread lay-offs that will drastically shrink the size of the storied newspaper. Australia correspondent Michael Miller is among those who have lost their job, making him the first and last Sydney bureau chief.

Pauline Hanson's One Nation is enjoying the kind of public support it hasn't seen since its formation in the 1990s. Is this a blip or a more permanent shift in Australian politics?

Tonight, dancers will battle it out on the runway in a voguing competition in Melbourne. Emerging in New York City in the 1980s, the underground ballroom scene created a home and a family for Black and Hispanic trans people. This isn't waltz or tango, but a style of dance inspired by Vogue magazine models, full of body contortions, fabulous costumes, and fierce competition.  We get a taste of Aust...

A big week in US politics has been capped off by Donald Trump sharing a racist post about the Obamas. Katty Kay and Jon Sopel join Nick Bryant to talk through it all.  And crossing the Atlantic, could the Epstein scandal bring down UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer?

Israel's President Isaac Herzog is about to arrive in Australia. He will meet with bereaved families and members of the Jewish community following the deadly Bondi terror attack. How is his visit, which is generating controversy and opposition in Australia being reported in Israel?

Sam Koslowski, the co-founder of the social media news company, The Daily Aus, joins Nick Bryant on The Last Thing.

January used to be a pretty quiet time in Australian politics, something of a partisan ceasefire. But not anymore.

Old Girls On The Road is a women-led community of classic car owners in Brisbane.  Classic car culture is very male-dominated, so this group offers inclusive, joyful driving for women. 

President Donald Trump is amassing US military forces in the Gulf, as Tehran seeks a deal to ease tensions. Meanwhile, this week doctors inside Iran revealed estimates that 30,000 people may have been killed in 48 hours between 8-9 January. 

Amid the turmoil in Minnesota, President Donald Trump has given conflicting statements on whether or not he will pull back immigration enforcement efforts there.

China's top military general, Zhang Youxia, has been put under investigation and accused of "grave violations of discipline and the law." The purge is considered to be all the more astonishing because General Zhang seemed to be a confidant of President Xi. What's known about this latest purge, and what does the upheaval in China's top command structure reveal about its military ambitions and capab...

It's that time of year — when die-hard country music fans make their annual pilgrimage to the New South Wales town of Tamworth. For ten iconic days, big acts and buskers alike are sweating it out under a sea of akubras. Fanny Lumsden has been nominated for her 10th Golden Guitar award, and will take over Tamworth Town Hall before hitting the road for a tour of Australian capital cities.

For many, Australia Day is a time to celebrate the very best of this country. For others, it's a day of reflection, mourning or protest But this annual national reckoning isn't unique to Australia.  Around the world, other countries also have national or commemorative days that are tied to complex histories.

There's been a January surprise for economists, with an unexpected drop in the country's unemployment rate. According to figures released by the ABS this week, the unemployment rate fell from 4.3 per cent to 4.1 per cent in December. But with this comes some concern that the economy is running a little too hot. Could a rise in interest rates be on the cards?

After the Coalition split, Malcolm Turnbull examines how it all went so wrong. The former prime minister also discusses a major week in international politics, including Canadian leader Mark Carney's powerful speech at Davos.

When hate crime legislation was tabled in parliament this week, few predicted the rancour and division it would unleash on the conservative side of politics.  But was the Coalition's split this week inevitable? As the National Party haemorrhages support to One Nation, how might the Coalition remake itself in the wake of this historic divorce to once again become a credible party of government? 

The Greenland issue has underscored America's determination to challenge the international order as part of its "America first" vision. Where do transatlantic relations go to from here? 

Geraldine Books is a Pulitzer Prize winning author whose work spans foreign affairs, fiction and politics. Her most recent books bring readers somewhere far more intimate. Memorial Days, released this year, is her deeply affecting meditation on love and loss written as she grieved the loss of her husband. Brooks also takes us behind the scenes of Kamala Harris' memoir 107 Days, and inside the proc...

Gary O’Donoghue is the BBC's North America correspondent who made headlines due to an sudden, exclusive interview with President Trump.  He was also in Butler, Pennsylvania, the day that Donald Trump survived the assassination attempt and led global news with his award winning reports from the scene. Gary, who goes by the social media handle @BlindGazza, also discuss the challenges of being a blin...

David Gonski is one of Australia's most respected and connected leaders — known as the "chairman of everything".  After 20 years at UNSW as its longest serving Chancellor, David Gonski is stepping down.  He led the top university through COVID, funding crises and criticism of the sector's reliance on international students. What are his parting thoughts?

The struggle between the US and the Europeans over the Ukraine war and the security of the continent is at a historic turning point — for the first time since the end of World War II, there are concerns that America is abandoning its NATO allies. European leaders will meet again this weekend to discuss using Russian assets and cash that have been frozen in the EU for a loan to help Kyiv fund its m...

At the start of this year, we said we would bring you the best commentators, the biggest brains, and people with lived experience on the ground. We promised to help make sense of the world and abide by one of the first rules in journalism — never be boring. So how did we do?

18-year-old Tommy Lamb has been on the road for over 100 days, making his way from Manchester in England through Europe and Asia in the hope of making the start of the third test in Adelaide. He's travelled 16,000 kilometres without taking a plane, relying on trains, buses, boats, motorbikes and hitch-hiking. Along the way he lost and found his passport, had a serious motorcycle accident and he's...