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The transformation of Germany over the last 80 years has been something of a marvel. It’s gone from a shattered guilt-ridden pariah of a country to a bastion of democracy and Europe’s fiscal hero. So how did this metamorphosis occur? Can it be continued in the post-Merkel era? Historian Frank Trentmann joins us to answer these questions, and more. Plus, Laura Tingle examines the PM's trip to Kokoda, and why the Opposition has changed its tune on government powers to regulate online content on social media. 

Author, poet and academic Tony Birch celebrates the success of so many First Nations writers but there is always room for improvement in the publishing industry. From the LNL Archive we hear a conversation with Andrew O'Hagan and Karl Miller recorded in Edinburgh in 2012.

Nelson Mandela's African National Congress has held power for more than thirty years, but that could soon change. And saffron is the world's most expensive spice, revered as sacred in many cultures. But climate change is making the delicate flower that produces it harder than ever to harvest. 

Bruce Shapiro takes us inside Donald Trump's first day in court as a criminal defendant. In China, the Communist Party keeps tight control of the narrative of the history of China. Ian Johnson introduces us to the artists and film makers who are challenging that narrative - at their own peril.

7:30's chief political correspondent Laura Tingle unpacks the Lehrmann defamation verdict dominating news headlines, and we speak to neurobiologist Robert Sapolsky who makes the provocative argument that we have no free will, at all.

Sir John Franklin is honoured in Hobart as the discoverer of the infamous North-West passage through the Arctic, but a closer look at the story examines how much he relied on women's help and Indigenous knowledge. Also, in the age of scrolling, is it history for the chapter?