40 years of Adelaide's "Frankenstein bus-rail hybrid"

Adelaide's O-Bahn was the second guided bus railway in the world, and is now one of only four on the planet. But it has been an enormous success, and...

Tweet of the week, 29 March 2026

This week's mystery caller occupies wooded habitats across the south and up the east – the Golden Whistler.

The Year that Made Me: Emily Strasser, 2009

Emily Strasser was in her late teens before she began to realise the depth of her family's secret. Her grandfather, George, whom she had never met, ha...

Slavery and sex trafficking: uncovering the secrets of Australia's first Hollywood icon

Much has been written about Errol Flynn, whose extraordinary life took him from Hobart, to Papua New Guinea, to Hollywood's Golden Age where he became...

The cost of living too long

Is the longevity of Australians in the 21st century actually a curse for future generations? Government spending on the elderly is predicted to grow s...

Is it OK to drink in front of your kids?

The growing health burden of type 5 diabetes

Type 5 diabetes is fast becoming a significant public health issue in parts of sub-saharan Africa, rivalling infectious diseases like Malaria and HIV....

Why aren't China and Russia helping Iran?

Why have Russia and China offered only tepid support to Iran in the form of statements criticising the US and Israel, and might that change if the Ira...

What's on at the Africa Film Fest?

After two years of sold-out shows in Sydney, in 2026 the Africa Film Fest is making its Melbourne debut. From Friday March 27 until the 29th, films fr...

The Year that Made Me: Dr Olivia Ong, 2008

Early in her medical career, Dr Olivia Ong decided that instead of becoming a neurosurgeon, she would go into rehabilitation medicine. Little could sh...

All aboard the Freedom Plane for America's 250th birthday

The United States National Archives is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the founding of America with a lofty, high-altitude initiative called the...

What would you pay to visit the Twleve Apostles?

The State government of Victoria has announced that later this year, a fee will be introduced for tourists visiting the Twelve Apostles along the Grea...

Seeking the elusive ghost elephant

Werner Herzog's documentary Ghost Elephants takes us deep into the remote Angolan Highlands, following conservationist Dr Steve Boyes and a team of In...

Why spies still use WW1-era encrypted radio broadcasts

Short-wave radio enthusiasts have eagerly reported the appearance of Farsi-language encoded messages being broadcast out of Western Europe. The messag...

Unpacking the Tillies v Japan Asia Cup final

Julian speaks with former Matildas vice captain Moya Dodd about the outcome of the Matildas Asia Cup final against Japan.
Guest: Moya Dodd, form...

Medicinal Cannabis no better than placebo for some mental health conditions

A major new study from the University of Sydney, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, has found medicinal cannabis is no more effective than a placebo...

A South Australian election result with 'massive national implications'

“A political earthquake” with “massive national implications”: that was the verdict of ABC Election Analyst Casey Briggs on the outcome of Saturday's...

The rich history of Australian artworks about Antarctica

Antarctica has long captured the imaginations of artists and poets, as well as explorers and scientists.
Since 2023, The University of Tasmania...

The Year that Made Me: Adam Elliot, 2004

Adam Elliot is an auteur writer and director of animated films, who has carved his own path in the Australian film industry with his idiosyncratic fil...

30 years since Port Arthur, a meditation on the aftermath returns to the stage

Australia will mark the 30th anniversary of the Port Arthur massacre in April 2026. The process of dealing with the grief and its ongoing effects are...

Have human emotions changed through history?

Have you ever wondered what your ancestors were feeling decades or centuries ago? Rob Boddice is an historian who argues that differences in our conte...

How the global economy is used as a weapon of war

As an official in the US State Department, Edward Fishman worked on imposing sanctions on Russia. Eddie discusses his latest book Chokepoints, which e...

Deep Impact averted by a shove in the right direction

NASA crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid in 2022, hoping the kinetic impact would nudge it off its orbit. The mission was called the Double Asteroid...

Iraq's hard-won stability threatened by Iran conflict

As the conflict in the Middle East enters its third week, Iran continues to launch attacks against US allies in the Gulf. Iraq, which borders Iran, is...

Tooba Khan Sawari: A sporting chance in Australia

This week seven members of the Iranian women’s soccer delegation were given humanitarian visas to stay in Australia rather than returning to Iran afte...

India through Indigenous eyes

Julie Janson is a Burruberongal woman, novelist, playwright and poet. In her new book, Letters from India, she writes about the profoundly moving expe...

The Year that Made Me: Deborah Cheetham Fraillon, 2023

Deborah Cheetham Fraillon AO is a soprano and composer whose extensive CV includes Artistic Director of Short Black Opera and Dhungala Children's Choi...

Gatz is a play worth the numb backside

Gatz is a six-hour theatrical reimagining of The Great Gatsby (eight and a half hours with intervals), which The New York Times called “the most remar...

Dr. Bot - The future of AI in medicine

As doctors are weighed down by increased demands, reduced support and the fast pace of change in medical research, could AI help save the health syste...

Getting deep: the fascinating infrastructure of subsea cables

Roughly 98% of all global internet traffic travels not via phone towers or even satellites, but underwater, along a vast network of fiber optic cables...

Nepal elects rapper-turned-politician Balen Shah

Rapper-turned-politician Balen Shah has been elected Nepal's new Prime Minister. The 35 year-old was the mayor of Kathmandu before he ran against form...

The Pahlavi Shahs of Iran

Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last Shah of Iran, is pitching himself as a democratic future leader of Iran, claiming to have broad support in Iran. Who...

The underestimated power of the chokepoint

Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz highlights how vulnerable global trade routes can be to disruption — and how easily strategic choke points can...

Iran's Supreme Leader is dead... what happens next?

Donald Trump has announced the death of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei from a missile strike coordinated by the United States and Israe...

The Year that Made Me: Bob Brown, 1976

Bob Brown is a giant of the environmental movement and Australian politics.
A former doctor, Bob is the co-founder of the Australian Greens, ser...

The People's Guide to the Australian Constitution

As Constitutions go, America’s is the most famous and revered document. By contrast, the Australian constitution doesn’t inspire as much interest.

The award winning documentary about an Italian fascist poet

Fiume o Morte! Has been praised as “the funniest and most unorthodox history lesson of the year”. In January, it was awarded Best Documentary at the E...

Preserving LGBTQIA+ history at the State Library of NSW

100 word including guest & book

Why Václav Havel's 1978 essay is "eerily relevant today"

When Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney gave his rousing speech on middle powers at Davos, he quoted Václav Havel - the Czech dissident, and later pr...

Forty years on from the fall of Ferdinand Marcos

Forty years ago this week, events in the Philippines were underway that would lead to the fall of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who had served as Pre...