115 episodes
If You're Listening ABC News
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The world is on fire. There's a coup. A former president is being indicted. Inflation is through the roof, and AI is taking our jobs. What does it all mean? Each week, Matt Bevan explains the biggest story in world news while hiding in his basement from assassins and authoritarian regimes.
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Why is China so obsessed with Taiwan?
The island of Taiwan, just off the coast of China, is shaping up as the most likely spark for the next global conflict.
China's president Xi Jinping wants to claim all the territory he thinks belongs to China, without triggering a nuclear war.
It's a century-old civil war, which has been frozen in place for decades.
It's an almost unimaginably dangerous situation, and one mistake could lead to catastrophe.
This is a repeat episode. It was first broadcast on the 6th July, 2021 as part of the China, If You're Listening series.
If you want to listen to the whole series you can find it here, or scroll back in your podcast feed.
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The brutal and bloody career of Iranian President Raisi
Earlier this week the President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash in bad weather.
Raisi was a phenomenally important figure in Middle Eastern politics — not just Iran's President, but the likely next Supreme Leader of Iran.
He got there through acts of extreme brutality, showing his willingness to do anything to defend the Iranian status quo.
How did Ebrahim Raisi become the heir-apparent to the Iranian Supreme Leadership, and what could happen now he's gone?
Listen to our other episodes about Iran:
Iran, Israel and the calculus of revenge
The Ayatollah who dreamed of an Iranian caliphate
How the Shah's cancer led to Iran's rift with the US
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Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0_VTGzZj2U -
Should we treat domestic violence like we treat terrorism?
Australia's first domestic violence shelter Elsie opened in the 1970s, and researchers have been analysing the problem ever since.
In the last three decades more than 1,500 women have been killed by intimate partners in Australia and we're still no closer to finding out why.
Campaigner Rosie Batty has compared domestic violence to terrorism, and called for similar levels of funding.
Is that comparison extreme, or is it the best way to get us closer to fixing the problem?
*EDITOR'S NOTE: This episode incorrectly states that Luke Batty was 14 years old at the time of his death. He was 11 years old when he died.
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The man who destroyed his life to try to put Trump in jail
Michael Cohen is the star witness in the Trump 'hush-money' trial.
He was once Trump's personal attorney and said he would "take a bullet" for his boss, but then everything changed.
He has served years in prison for lying, tax fraud, bank fraud and campaign finance violations.
But he thinks everything he's gone through will be worth it if he can take Trump down.
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Is Brisbane repeating the Olympic mistakes of the past
Plans for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics are not going well.
It's a political quagmire, with plans for billion-dollar stadium upgrades or massive new venues being thrown around like confetti.
There are concerns that Brisbane is going to blow its budget.
Fifty years ago, the 1976 Montreal Olympics suffered a financial disaster so massive it nearly heralded the end of the Olympic Games.
Is Brisbane repeating the mistakes of the past?
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Could Benjamin Netanyahu go to jail?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.
He is doing everything he can to stay in office, because if he holds office, he can't be thrown in jail.
Sound familiar? It's a bit like Donald Trump's situation in the United States.
But Netanyahu's case has an old-school flavour. It's a fierce battle between media tycoons, and it even involves Australian media nepo baby James Packer.
It's a rollicking tale. But with a military campaign against Gaza and tensions with Iran rising, it could also change the fate of the war in the Middle East.
For more on Benjamin Netanyahu's history, check out this episode: Can Israel rescue the hostages?
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Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25NndMbkhVE