The Conversation

•

Channel • 21 Shows

Nutrition

Nutrition

Updated Weekly
News Commentary

News Commentary

Updated Weekly
Politics

Politics

Updated Twice Weekly

Politics

Politics

Updated Twice Weekly
News Commentary

News Commentary

Updated Weekly
Nutrition

Nutrition

Updated Weekly
News Commentary

News Commentary

Updated Twice Monthly
Physics

Physics

Updated Weekly
News

News

Updated 28/04/2020
Science

Science

Updated 31/07/2019

10 FEB

Tony Barry on why a new Liberal leader isn't a quick fix

What do Australians in focus groups say about the Liberal Party right now? "They just kind of laugh," the former Liberal staffer turned pollster says. Mentioned in this episode: Your support matters Support non-profit journalism you can trust. Donations 2025

10 Feb

•

26 min
20 HRS AGO

New Liberal deputy Jane Hume on industrial relations, child care and a decade in politics

The newly installed Liberal deputy leader talks about the turnaround in her fortunes, the spectre of WorkChoices, and why she doesn't believe in quotas for women. Mentioned in this episode: Your support matters Support non-profit journalism you can trust. Donations 2025

20 hrs ago

•

36 min
12 FEB

How Minneapolis is organising against ICE

Whenever federal immigration agents pull up to a location in Minneapolis, people take their whistles out, start blowing them and start filming. In December, US government sent more than 2,000 Immigration and Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agents into Minnesota in December as part of Operation Metro Surge. The residents of the metropolitan area known as the Twin Cities – Minneapolis and St. Paul – quickly came together to protect and support their neighbours at risk of being caught up in ICE raids. In this episode, we speak to Daniel Cueto-Villalobos, a doctoral candidate at the University of Minnesota, who lives in southern Minneapolis and studies race, religion and social movements. He tracks the neighbourhood groups that have sprung into action in response to the ICE presence back to mutual networks set up during the 2020 Covid pandemic and in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis policeman. This episode was written and produced by Katie Flood with editing help from Mend Mariwany. The executive producer is Gemma Ware. Mixing by Michelle Macklem and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Read the full credits for this episode and sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation. If you like the show, please consider donating to The Conversation, an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. I’m a former FBI agent who studies policing, and here’s how federal agents in Minneapolis are undermining basic law enforcement principlesFrom Colonial rebels to Minneapolis protesters, technology has long powered American social movementsMinnesota raises unprecedented constitutional issues in its lawsuit against Trump administration anti-immigrant deploymentThe contradictions of ‘Minnesota nice’ Mentioned in this episode: The Making of an Autocrat Search "The Conversation Weekly" for our new series: The Making of an Autocrat. Is America watching its democracy unravel in real time? In The Making of an Autocrat from The Conversation, six of the world’s pre-eminant scholars reveal the recipe for authoritarian rule. From capturing a party, to controlling the military, Donald Trump is borrowing from the playbook of strongmen thoughout history. This is the story of how democracies falter — and what might happen next.

12 Feb

•

25 min
23 HRS AGO

The 'national humiliation' behind Russia's war on Ukraine

As the 21st century dawned, a newly-elected Vladmir Putin was making friends on the world stage. He smiled for photo ops at G8 meetings, and was the first foreign leader to call George W. Bush after the attacks of 9/11, offering his support against terrorism. So what changed? To understand Russia's view of the world now – and its continued aggression towards Ukraine – it helps to know more about the psyche of the country and its leader. In today's episode, we talk to James Rodgers, a reader in international journalism at City St George's, University of London, about how a festering sense of national humiliation after the collapse of the Soviet Union hardened Putin's tough man regime and led Russia to turn its back on the west. This episode was written and produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware with editing help from Ashlynne McGhee. Mixing by Michelle Macklem and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Read the full credits for this episode and sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation. If you like the show, please consider donating to The Conversation, an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. Vladimir Putin’s history war where truth is the first casualtyThe painful post-Soviet transition from communism to capitalism – Recovery podcast series part fiveIn pushing for Ukraine elections, Trump is falling into Putin-laid trap to delegitimize Zelenskyy Mentioned in this episode: The Making of an Autocrat Search "The Conversation Weekly" for our new series: The Making of an Autocrat. Is America watching its democracy unravel in real time? In The Making of an Autocrat from The Conversation, six of the world’s pre-eminant scholars reveal the recipe for authoritarian rule. From capturing a party, to controlling the military, Donald Trump is borrowing from the playbook of strongmen thoughout history. This is the story of how democracies falter — and what might happen next.

23 hrs ago

•

24 min
10 FEB

What is the vagus nerve and can you really reset it?

The vagus nerve has become the internet’s favourite body part. On social media, it is everywhere. People hum into their phones, gargle with theatrical enthusiasm, dunk their faces into bowls of ice water and poke at their ears in the hope of “activating” it. So in this episode we focus our attention on the body’s longest cranial nerve and ask a simple question: what does the vagus nerve actually do, and can we really hack it? Hosts Katie Edwards and Dan Baumgardt turn this week to Arshad Majid, a professor of cerebrovascular neurology at the University of Sheffield and an expert in vagus nerve stimulation. Strange Health is a podcast from The Conversation is an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. Full credits for this episode available here. If you like the show, please consider donating to support our work. You can sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation here. Hosts: Katie Edwards from The Conversation and Dan Baumgardt, University of Bristol Executive Producer: Gemma Ware Editing and mixing: Anouk MIllet Artwork: Alice Mason From decapitation to positive psychology: how one nerve connects body, brain and mindStimulating the pathway connecting body and brain may change chronic condition patients’ lives

10 Feb

•

37 min
4 FEB

Barnaby Joyce on getting on with Pauline Hanson and One Nation's rise

Joyce says 'I'm not going to be wearing a burqa' like the One Nation leader – but his relationship with her is stronger than his 'bitter' end with the Nationals.

4 Feb

•

36 min
5 FEB

The Super Bowl that kickstarted prop betting in America

Super Bowl Sunday is the biggest night in American sports. A popular destination to watch – and bet – on the Super Bowl is Las Vegas, Nevada. And it was in Las Vegas, ahead of the 1986 Super Bowl between the Chicago Bears and the New England Patriots, that one enterprising casino would kickstart a new direction in American sports gambling: prop betting. It offered odds not just on the result of the game, but on the outcome of an individual event within it – whether one defensive player called William Perry, nicknamed The Refrigerator, would score a touchdown. Today, as American sports face multiple gambling scandals, we speak to John Affleck, Knight Chair in sports journalism and society at Penn State, about that 1986 Super Bowl, the history of prop betting, and why he believes its explosion is threatening the integrity of professional sports in the US. This episode was written and produced by Katie Flood with editing help from Mend Mariwany. The executive producer is Gemma Ware. Mixing by Michelle Macklem and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Read the full credits for this episode and sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation. If you like the show, please consider donating to The Conversation, an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. Watch the Super Bowl Shuffle by the Chicago BearsSupreme Court delivers a home run for sports bettors – and now states need to scrambleBad Bunny’s Super Bowl show is part of long play drawn up by NFL to score with Latin AmericaHow the explosion of prop betting threatens the integrity of pro sports

5 Feb

•

23 min
28 JAN

Jonno Duniam on the 'frenzy' over hate speech laws and the Coalition split

The Liberal senator says 'social media influencers' have falsely 'whipped up a frenzy' of misinformation about new hate speech laws limiting freedom of speech.

28 Jan

•

34 min
4 JAN

The Making of an Autocrat: co-opt the military

In November, six Democratic lawmakers recorded a video directed at members of the US military and intelligence agencies. In it, they issued a blunt reminder: "The laws are clear: you can refuse illegal orders. […] You must refuse illegal orders." The lawmakers were issuing the warning against the backdrop of US airstrikes on boats off the coast of Latin America the Trump administration claims are suspected drug runners. Many Democrats and legal experts, however, argue these strikes are illegal. Since returning to office, Trump has successfully expanded his power over his own party, the courts and the American people. Now, like many autocrats around the world, he’s trying to exert control over the military. In the final episode of The Making of an Autocrat, Joe Wright, a political science professor at Penn State University, says: "I am very concerned that getting the military to do illegal things will not only put US soldiers at more risk when they do engage in international missions in the future […] it’s a first step to using the military to target domestic political opponents. That’s what really worries me." This episode was written by Justin Bergman and produced and edited by Isabella Podwinski and Ashlynne McGhee. Sound design by Michelle Macklem.

4 Jan

•

18 min
20 JAN

Is detoxing your liver worth the hype?

Social media is full of green juices, charcoal supplements, foot patches and seven-day “liver resets”, all promising to purge the body of mysterious toxins and return it to a purer state. But do you really need to detox your liver? In the first episode of Strange Health, hosts Katie Edwards, a health editor at The Conversation, and Dan Baumgardt, a practising GP and lecturer in health and life sciences at the University of Bristol wince and occasionally laugh their way through some of the internet’s most popular detox trends. They also speak to Trish Lalor, a liver expert from the University of Birmingham, whose message is refreshingly blunt: “your body is really set up to do it by itself.” Strange Health is a podcast from The Conversation is an independent, not-for-profit news organisation. If you like the show, please consider donating to support our work. You can sign up here for a free daily newsletter from The Conversation here. Hosts: Katie Edwards and Dan Baumgardt Executive Producer: Gemma Ware Editing and mixing: Sikander Khan Artwork: Alice Mason

20 Jan

•

34 min

Listen to experts explain the world around us and tell the stories behind brand new research. Podcasts from The Conversation, an independent source of news and views, sourced from the academic and research community. Shows in English, French and Bahasa Indonesia. Free to listen.