Sunday Extra - Separate stories podcast

Since 2022, Kim Jong Un’s daughter has become a regular fixture at formal events with her father, leading many to speculate that North Korea's Supreme Leader is positioning her to be his successor.

Despite taking place more that 500 years ago, the Black Death plague still fascinates us, and historians are still unearthing new facts about the medieval pandemic.

Chris Wilson was the first woman to work in an underground mine in Tasmania. She is also a visual artist, a tour guide, and lives in a colourful Romani-style caravan on the west coast of Tasmania. In 1976, while teaching in Queenstown, Chris was part of the Franklin River campaign, and kayaked down the Franklin not long after Bob Brown's transformative journey . A series of unfortunate events forc...

Marjon Mossammaparast is an Iranian poet and English teacher. Now based in Melbourne, she was born in Iran in 1979, the year of the Islamic Revolution. 

An exhibition called Cane at the Rockhampton Museum of Art is giving voice to the little discussed stories of the South Sea Islander community in Central Queensland. The exhibition features artworks from artists with South Sea Islander lineage, addressing the history, heritage, and identity of these unique communities in Queensland.  Guest: Melinda Mann

Ben’Imana is set in Rwanda in 2012, during the Gacaca people’s court trials that sought justice and community reconciliation after the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Alongside the court proceedings, a genocide survivor organises discussion groups between women from both sides of the conflict: survivors, and those who are related to male perpetrators. Sometimes they are within the same family. Guest: Marie...

Why is the world’s most populous country, which is rapidly advancing in so many arenas, failing to live up to its dreams of glory on the pitch?

Armenia heads to the polls on Sunday in what has been described as “one of its most pivotal elections since regaining independence in 1991.” Just don't describe it as a choice between Russia and the West says Laurence Borers. 

At the 2026 Oslo Freedom Forum, Burmese artist Sai Redacted was one of the recipients of the Vaclav Havel International Prize for Creative Dissent.

Who is Field Marshal Asim Munir, the Pakistani military leader balancing negotiations between the US and Iran? How did he win the trust of Iran and become Trump's 'favourite Field Marshal', rising in power and influence abroad and at home in Pakistan? Guest: Bobby Ghosh, geopolitical analyst and commentator You can read Bobby's post on Asim Munir on his Substack Ghoshworld .

Chess may not look physically gruelling, but at the elite level it is one of the world's most intense competitive pursuits. Journalist and author Jordan Himelfarb discusses his new book on the fierce battle to become the next world chess champion. Guest: Jordan Himelfarb, journalist and author of Interregnum: Inside the Grueling and Glamorous Battle to Become the Next King of Chess

This week's mystery caller of the north was spotted tapping at the door of a Sunday Extra listener – the Yellow Oriole.

Jason "Dizzy" Gillespie is one of cricket's greats, not just because of his career on the field, but also his second career, fostering a new generation of cricket talent, coaching teams in Australia, UK, Zimbabwe and Pakistan. Guest: Jason Gillespie, former international cricketer and Australian cricket coach.

During World War II, a motley crew of US historians and archaeologists were drawn into a covert mission to protect Greece's the ancient treasures from the Nazis. Author Stephan Talty discusses the remarkable true story behind his new book The American School of Spies.

Being a Bigfooter is an identity in the US, complete with conferences, research organisations and online social groups. They believe Bigfoot is real, and they intend to prove it. But across the Atlantic British sociological researchers are less interested in finding Bigfoot, then uncovering the massive coalition of Bigfoot hunters and the line they toe between mythology and science. Guest: Dr Jami...

Britain’s first housing cooperative for women over 50 opened its doors 10 years ago. The New Ground housing project houses 26 women, almost all of whom previously lived alone. Today, 21 of the original 26 women still live at New Ground, the youngest resident is 60, and the oldest is 96. Guest: Maria Brenton, one of the founders of New Ground co-housing in North London, and UK Cohousing Network’s S...

China's hukou system, which has long restricted the rights of internal migrant workers is undergoing significant reform. What might these changes mean for China's economy, workforce and social structure?

Why do New Zealanders say “fush and chups”, and “hair” like “here”? A new theory about the origins of the distinctive NZ accent is being explored by researchers at the University of Auckland, based on a doctoral thesis they re-discovered from 1921. Guest: Dr Brooke Ross, postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Auckland.

Costa Constanti, who was born and bred in Melbourne - is running for parliament in Cyprus with the Volt Party, which calls itself “the first Pan-European party”.

The Nightline is an instalment work coming to the Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne, and the creators are calling on night owls, shift workers, insomniacs and anyone who happens to find themselves awake in the small hours for anonymous contributions. Guest: Roslyn Oades , director of The Nightline.

This week's colourful wetland caller is found across the north and down the east — the Azure Kingfisher.

Acclaimed Soviet historian Professor Sheila Fitzpatrick reflects on the experiences and historical and personal events of 1989 that shaped her life and career.

Australian author Anne Spencer Parry's debut 1976 fantasy novel The Land Behind the World was described by the Sydney Morning Herald as "weird, complex, fanciful — and intriguing". Sheila Ngọc Phạm describes Parry as someone whose “works are a testament to the life she formed from unusual, difficult and brave choices”.

Future Library is a long-term literary project based in Norway. It currently holds 11 unpublished manuscripts and a growing forest of spruce trees, planted to supply paper for books that will not be printed until 2114. No one has read the manuscripts, and they will remain sealed for almost a century. Guest: Anne Beate Hovind, Chair and producer of Future Library , in Oslo.

A strange international scandal known as “Honduras-gate” has raised allegations of a covert disinformation campaign targeting left-wing Latin American governments. Former diplomat Jeremy Dicker unpacks the claims and the geopolitical intrigue surrounding the story.