The opening scene of Chris Flynn’s fourth and latest novel, Orpheus Nine, came to him in a dream. Not long after, he had the whole story down from start to finish. On this week’s episode of Read This, Chris and Michael sit down for a conversation about the falsity of certitude, how trauma can re-shape a community, and what The Exorcist, the Bible, …

Paul Bongiorno is one of the 1.2 billion Roman Catholics who mourned the loss of Pope Francis this week. As he read tribute after tribute of the impact of the Pope’s life, he noticed what wasn’t on the front page – Peter Dutton’s last-minute policy announcements. “The Pope is a world figure… and of course, it swamped the world’s media, including he…

In January, Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting the trans community by banning some medical care for minors. The move has had a chilling effect across the United States, as doctors withdraw their services for fear of being prosecuted and parents stop accessing medication for their children. But many are fighting back. In one red state,…

When Scott Morrison lost his job as prime minister, it was women who sacked him. A review commissioned by the Liberal Party after the 2022 election found that a decline in support among women was a decisive factor in their loss. The report outlined ways the party might win women back. But three years on, that hasn’t happened. Today, contributor to …

When Peter Dutton’s son, Harry, fronted the media to talk about his dream of home ownership, it was an attempt by the opposition leader to seem relatable. The 20-year-old apprentice said he was “saving like mad”, but it’s unlikely he’d be able to save enough in the near future. But it seems his father may have failed to anticipate the obvious quest…

In a coastal corner of Australia, scientist Saul Griffith has been quietly working away on a plan to turn 500 households completely off fossil fuels. He hopes that what he achieves there can act as a blueprint for the rest of the country. But for that to become a reality, the federal government would need to drastically increase their commitment to…

As a child refugee in India, Harini dreamt of making it to Australia to study medicine and become a doctor. She arrived in Australia in 2013 when she was 10 years old, leaving behind her two siblings and mother. Harini did not realise her visa status made her different to her classmates until she received a university offer for a biomedical science…

Over four decades Niall Williams has made a name for himself as one of Ireland’s leading novelists. In his latest novel, Time of the Child, Niall returns to the fictional village of Faha, in west Ireland, the setting of his previous book, This Is Happiness. Time of the Child centres on the notion of familial love, and as he explains to Michael in t…

At one point during this term of government, Indigenous affairs dominated national debate. Politicians, pundits and the public couldn't stop talking about it. But since the Voice referendum failed, it’s become something of a taboo. Labor is eager to move on, while the Coalition is more focused on scoring points than offering a plan. Now, with the e…

Last year, reporter Mike Seccombe looked into the divide between Australia’s richest and poorest schools to find out why this gap keeps widening. What he found was a broken system. Rich parents are able to get huge tax breaks by donating to opulent building projects at their kids’ private schools. It’s a practice that goes way back, despite many ar…

Last night, Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton went head-to-head in the second leaders’ debate of the campaign. The difference between the two leaders’ visions for the country was stark. Albanese talked about his “optimism” for the future, while Dutton asked voters to reflect on whether they are better off now than they were three years ago, suggest…

Donald Trump’s presence looms large on the campaign trail, as both leaders face questions about how they would handle his trade war. The market chaos and escalating tensions between China and the US may have once seemed like the last thing Labor needed during an election campaign. But insiders now believe they’ve been granted a rare opportunity: to…

In January, Jonathan Holmes met with the ABC’s then managing director, David Anderson. Jonathan and his colleagues at ABC Alumni wanted to know if Anderson was concerned about funding cuts under a Dutton-led government. Successive Coalition governments have made cuts to the national broadcaster over decades. Now, as Peter Dutton signals he’s lookin…

As a scientist, Tim Flannery says he’s seen climate change kicked around parliament for decades. Australians are now paying for the years of denial, distraction and delay from our politicians, with a decade’s worth of warming just in the past couple of years. While the last election sent the major parties a clear message that Australia should act o…

Turkish-born, Paris-based writer Ayşegül Savaş’s third novel opens with a young, ex-pat couple who are apartment hunting. Both foreigners in the city they live in and unburdened from the usual familial obligations, their days are marked by small pleasures: shopping at a local flea market, drinking coffee together before work, and taking long walks …

Peter Dutton says he’ll cut migrant numbers by 100,000 people a year as soon as he gets into office. He says it’s part of his plan to free up housing for Australians, but it could also impact the workforce needed to build new homes. Dutton is putting a number to his plans just days after immigration dominated the first leaders’ debate. Abul Rizvi w…

Elon Musk is pressing NASA to abandon its planned journeys to the moon – projects that have been decades in the making, with billions already spent and contracts already signed. Despite backlash from NASA insiders and politicians on both sides of Congress – who view his plans as costly, disruptive and politically toxic – Musk remains resolute. Toda…

Donald Trump wants to write the next chapter in US spaceflight history. With billionaire tech CEO and SpaceX founder Elon Musk by his side, he’s outlined an ambitious agenda: to land the first humans on Mars before he leaves office. Whether or not that goal is achievable, the plan would massively reshape America’s space program to the benefit of Mu…

Anthony Albanese won the first leaders debate of the election campaign last night. But it was a tight contest, with both leaders well prepared and polished, as they faced undecided voters in Western Sydney. Anthony Albanese spoke of a country rallying in spite of difficult global conditions. For Peter Dutton, it was about painting a dire picture of…

“We made a mistake” are tough words for any politician, but in the heat of an election campaign, they can really hurt. In a spectacular reversal, Peter Dutton has walked back his policy to sack 41,000 public servants, saying he’ll now wait for people to quit and will no longer force those who remain back into the office. Dutton’s backtracking doesn…

It looked like a scene from a very different period of history: US Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, standing in front of a prison pen filled with gaunt, shirtless men, their heads shaved, staring silently at the cameras. The footage is from El Salvador, where the US government had whisked away over 200 Venezuelan migrants to be held in …

Colm Tóibín is regarded as one of Ireland’s greatest authors — and for good reason. With a career spanning 30 years and 11 award-winning novels under his belt, Colm is beloved both at home and abroad. In his latest book, Long Island, Tóibín returns to familiar territory with a sequel to 2009’s best-selling Brooklyn. On this episode of Read This, he…

It’s only been a week, but the election campaign is already off script. Trump’s tariffs have landed like a grenade in the middle of the campaign, with the announcement of a 10 per cent tax on all Australian goods bound for the US providing a real world test for both leaders. While Dutton’s plan to tackle tariffs lacks detail, he’s clear on one thin…

Barry Berih has lived in the same Melbourne flat for most of his life. He has mild cerebral palsy and is cared for by his mother. He has all the medical support he needs, along with his mosque nearby and his Eritrean community surrounding him. But one afternoon, without warning, Barry watched the then Victorian premier, Dan Andrews, announce on TV …

Australian defence officials are preparing to choose whether to buy warships from Germany or Japan. It’s an $11 billion decision – and is about far more than ship design and cost. Given Japan describes Australia as its most important security partner after the United States, our decision will send a signal about whether the relationship is reciproc…

Today in the White House Rose Garden, President Trump will unveil his next round of tariffs – an event he’s calling “Liberation Day”. Trump’s first round of tariffs are already causing damage, and there’s more pain to come, as the president enacts what looks like a radical plan to reshape the entire global financial system. Today, managing editor o…

As the federal election campaign kicked off over the weekend, chief political analyst at the Australia Institute Amy Remeikis was paying close attention. While Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a crackdown on supermarket price gouging and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton focused on cost-of-living measures, Remeikis noticed there were some big…

In recent weeks, Australian researchers began receiving a questionnaire. Sent by the US government, it asked things like “can you confirm that this is no DEI?” and “Can you confirm this is not a climate or environmental justice project?” The questions were seeking to determine whether Australian research, co-funded by the United States, was complyi…

Tanzanian-born, London-based author Abdulrazak Gurnah was midway through writing his latest novel, Theft, when he received a call letting him know he’d won the 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature. After more than a year of events and literary obligations, he finally returned to Theft, with more enthusiasm than ever. On this episode of Read This, Michae…

In his press conference announcing the May 3 federal election, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australians have a choice, warning Opposition Leader Peter Dutton will cut “your job, your wages, your child’s education and… your Medicare”. In response, Dutton asked voters to consider if they are better off now than they were before Labor came to …

While Peter Dutton’s electorate braced for Cyclone Alfred, the opposition leader flew to Sydney to attend a $25,000 dollar-a-head dinner at Justin Hemmes’ Vaucluse mansion. It was a choice that’s been pilloried in the media – and the government. But as Labor sets about to raise money in similar ways, it raises questions about who has the ear of our…

Traditionally, the idea of bail meant that someone accused of a crime had the right to be free until their trial. But over nearly fifty years, that has shifted dramatically, with bail now used as a tool for crime prevention. Jurisdictions across Australia are adopting more punitive bail laws – with Victoria just passing what it calls “the toughest …

Jim Chalmers has handed down the Labor government’s election budget. Front and centre was a surprise tax cut for all Australians, along with many of the measures we’ve been promised, including a boost to Medicare, energy bill relief, housing support and student debt reductions. As the government makes its pitch for re-election, gross public debt is…

The ceasefire in Gaza collapsed a week ago as Israel launched a series of airstrikes. Since then, more than 600 people have been killed, including children, according to Gaza’s health ministry.Israel says the attacks were aimed at Hamas’s surviving leadership – and just a few days ago, Hamas confirmed its top political leader is dead. As the war re…

When footage of a CFMEU “health inspector” assaulting a woman was made public last week, it shocked a lot of people. But many union members weren’t surprised. It’s been six months since the CFMEU, one of Australia’s most powerful unions, was put under federal administration. But now, the lawyer tasked with investigating corruption within the union …

Tasmanian writer Robert Dessaix is a man of many talents when it comes to the written form – from travel memoir and fiction to biography and philosophy, he’s done it all. He became a household name for many listeners to ABC Radio following a long stint hosting the beloved show Books and Writing. Now, at 81, Robert is back with a new memoir. This we…

Kos Samaras spends hundreds of hours listening to what voters really think. In focus groups and in surveys, his research and political strategy firm, RedBridge Group, gathers the opinions of everyday Australians to paint a picture of the national mood: What is worrying us? What do we think of the prime minister’s mansion, or the opposition leader’s…

Over the past month, a flotilla of Chinese military ships came close to Australian shores unannounced. They conducted live-fire drills off the coast of Eden, New South Wales – disrupting dozens of flights out of Sydney airport. The Chinese ships have arrived at a time when Australia’s ability to rely on the United States for defence is questionable…

Are Catholic priests employed by the Church, or by the hand of God? This question was at the heart of a five-year legal battle between a survivor of child sexual abuse seeking compensation from the Catholic Church and Bishop Paul Bird of the Catholic Diocese of Ballarat. The High Court’s decision last November – that the Catholic Church does not em…

In December last year, a group of crossbenchers dialled into a secret call with the Albanese government. It was to get a briefing on a government-commissioned report on the national security risks posed by climate change – a report the government has been sitting on since early 2023. Described by one senator as “frankly terrifying”, the Climate Ris…

The discovery of an abandoned caravan full of explosives on the outskirts of Sydney earlier this year triggered widespread panic and fear. There were reports of a list of Jewish targets – and right away, NSW Premier Chris Minns and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called it terrorism. In the months that followed, discourse concerning the caravan bec…

Acolytes of Elon Musk, working in the Department of Government Efficiency, are currently gutting the US government, with Musk claiming he’ll find savings of up to US$2 trillion. Department by department, DOGE staff – mostly young men from the tech world – are sacking federal employees and gaining access to some of the government’s most sensitive in…

Donald Trump’s full-throated support of Elon Musk continues, despite more and more people questioning why an unelected billionaire is exerting enormous power over the future of the American government. While Musk claims to be bringing his business expertise to cutting government waste, his true motives are becoming clearer. WIRED reporter Vittoria …

Novelist Sonia Orchard was in her 40s when a revelation during a therapy session turned her life upside down. Could the relationship she’d had in her teens with a man more than a decade older in fact be abuse? In her new memoir, Groomed, Sonia investigates her own story, sharing her gruelling journey through the justice system, and shines a light o…

Australia’s Chinese community proved to be a powerful voting bloc in the last election. And as the time draws near to vote again, a growing number of politicians have realised that appealing to the country’s 1.5 million Chinese Australians is key to electoral success. But as journalist Wing Kuang has found, the major parties’ attempts to court Chin…

Donald Trump’s trade war is escalating, as his wide-ranging tariffs take effect. Australia had hoped to avoid a 25 per cent tariff on our steel and aluminium – but we now know there’ll be no exemptions. As Canada and the EU retaliate with counter-tariffs, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is focused on stemming the damage, by arguing other large indu…

When Launceston nurse and midwife Amanda Duncan appeared at a Tasmanian parliamentary inquiry into ambulance ramping last year, her testimony was macabre and shocking. Duncan claimed hospital management at Launceston General Hospital had altered death certificates – meaning deaths that should have been investigated were quietly recertified. Those r…

As Trump’s radical reshaping of the US pulls into focus, so too has the list of those who have gained entry to his inner circle. That list includes not only Australia’s richest person – but also Australia’s largest private arms supplier. Robert Nioa isn’t yet a household name, but the weapons mogul is a close confidante to Peter Dutton, married to …

Most Australians have been targeted by a scam attempt, from spam text messages to intricate love fraud. The scams have cost us billions. But behind these attacks is a highly organised and secretive industry – fuelled by human trafficking. It’s believed hundreds of thousands of people are being held against their will in so-called “scam factories” a…

Julie Bishop built her career as a politician representing Australia on the world stage. Now, she’s taken on a new lobbying role, working for a China-linked resources company who are attempting to mine uranium in Greenland. Bishop’s gig comes at a time when China and the US are ramping up their fight for domination in the Arctic – and if she’s succ…