Fire at Will

As Western values continue to come under assault, it is hard not to feel like there is a courage deficit in society today. We are often too afraid too question and confront dangerous ideologies, and often too complacent to defend the history and the culture upon which the Western world was built.Someone who has never been accused of lacking for courage is Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Ayaan is a human rights activist, author, and, as of recently, the founder of Courage Media, a platform committed to challenging the dominant narratives that suppress truth and intellectual debate.Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Read The Spectator Australia here.Visit Courage.Media here.

The American President remains the most powerful person in the world. The collective choice made by a relatively small group of voters in a handful of American swing states will change the lives of people everywhere from Ukraine to Taiwan, from Israel to Iran, and from the UK to Australia. The question is, how will the world change during a second Trump term? Few people are better placed to answer that question than former Treasurer of Australia, former Ambassador of Australia to the US, and now Founding Partner and President of Bondi Partners, Joe Hockey.Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Read The Spectator Australia here.

London’s famously gloomy weather reflects the national mood. Farmers are marching on Westminster to protest crippling changes to inheritance tax laws. They are one of countless segments of the population that the new Starmer government has alienated in its early days in power. Illegal migrants continue to cross the channel in unprecedented numbers. Journalists are being investigated for thought crimes. And the long-term economic outlook is anemic. At the same time, the new Trump administration may provide a blueprint for how to shake up a country in decline. The question is, how can we make Britain great again? To help Will with an answer, he is joined by comedian, podcaster and GB News host, Leo Kearse.Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Read The Spectator Australia here.

There has been no real, society-wide reflection on the way we responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. We need to reflect on it, because the responses of Western governments were characterised by some of the most flagrant abuses of political power in history. We also witnessed shocking failures in the pharmaceutical industry; all in the pursuit of gigantic profits at the expense of public safety.Fortunately, Naomi Wolf is talking about it. Naomi’s most recent, and perhaps most important, contribution to the public debate has been editing the now released collection of papers, collectively called 'The Pfizer Papers – Pfizer’s Crimes Against Humanity.'Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Read The Spectator Australia here.

Donald Trump will be the 47th President of the United States. He will be the second President in history to be elected for non-consecutive terms, after Grover Cleveland. Whether you like him or not, Trump has confirmed his position as the most remarkable American political figure of the 21st century. To discuss what we’ve just seen, and what is to come, Will is joined by writer and commentator, Melissa Chen.Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Read The Spectator Australia here.

In a recent episode with Lord Frost, Will asked him if he was hopeful for the future of the United Kingdom. He acknowledged that it feels doom and gloom in 2024, but that the country has a history of getting itself into difficulties, and then finding the strength to overcome them. It is a great country with great traditions, and we just need to draw on them once again.If the UK is to draw strength from its history, it should talk more about it. There’s no one better in the world to have that conversation with than the co-host of the cultural phenomenon that is The Rest Is History podcast, Dominic Sandbrook.Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Read The Spectator Australia here.

We are 10 days out from the most important US election of our lifetimes. Of course that’s what they always say, but this time it feels like it may just be true. In this special bonus episode, Will chatted to Former White House Press Secretary, and now host of The Sean Spicer Show, Sean Spicer. Sean reflected on the campaign, and gave his prediction for who will win on the 5th of November. And spoiler alert, he thinks he'll win bigly.Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Read The Spectator Australia here.Watch The Sean Spicer Show here.

The start of a new government sets a tone that is often difficult to change. And the tone of Keir Starmer’s first 100 days has been dire, reinforcing a feeling of malaise across the United Kingdom. To help with his first report card, Will is joined by David Frost, a Conservative member of the House of Lords and previously the Europe adviser to Boris Johnson and his Chief Negotiator for Exiting the EU in 2019 and 2020.Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Read The Spectator Australia here.

There are many things that are depressing about the modern culture wars, but none more so than the war on the past. There is a concerted, fierce and increasingly successful effort to not just make us ashamed of our history, but to disconnect us from it entirely.How did this war start, and more importantly, how can it be won by defenders of Western civilisation? To answer these questions, Will is joined by sociologist, author, and commentator Frank Furedi. Frank’s new book is titled, “The War on the Past: Why the West Must Fight for its History.”Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Read The Spectator Australia here.

In some respects, October 7 and the events that have followed is the continuation of a story that is almost as old as time itself. But in many others, the conflict, and the response to it, has been a reflection of our times.Identity politics, the loss of confidence in western civilisation, the ideological capture of our institutions, the corruption of the media, and the self-flagellating instinct to atone for the sins of the past can all be seen in the response to October 7. There has been no one better in the world at analysing this conflict through the prism of our contemporary culture than Brendan O’Neill. His new book is titled, “After the Pogrom: 7 October, Israel, and the Crisis of Western Civilisation.”Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Read The Spectator Australia here.

There is a feeling of pessimism in the UK at present, and it seems to be getting worse each day under the Starmer regime. A sense that the country has forgotten who it is. A feeling of helplessness that things are getting worse. And a rage that leaders on both sides of politics just don’t seem to care.Calvin Robinson has, sadly, said enough is enough. With a heavy heart the popular priest and broadcaster moved from his home in England to the US earlier this month. In this conversation with Will, he explains why.Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Read The Spectator Australia here.

For many voters, the upcoming US election isn’t really about the border, or the deficit, or guns, or healthcare, or abortion. As many pundits have now suggested, it’s about the vibes.  It raises an unsettling question: does policy even matter anymore? Is the spin more important than the substance? There’s no one better to answer that question than the Chairman and Co-Founder of Purple Strategies, a bipartisan public affairs firm, Alex Castellanos. Alex is one of the America’s best known and most successful media consultants and strategists. He has served as media consultant to seven U.S. Presidential campaigns, and has been credited with the discovery of the “political soccer mum” and called the father of the attack ad.Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Read The Spectator Australia here.

Comic and GB News Host Nick Dixon was on the show a few weeks ago. He returned the favour by inviting Will on his podcast, "The Current Thing," last week. This podcasting pyramid scheme turned out rather well – it was a fun conversation covering the US election, the latest Churchill controversy, and the Starmergeddon facing Britain. Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Read The Spectator Australia here.Follow "The Current Thing" here.

Talking about Islam is a dangerous business, but talk about it we must. The West is facing a civilisational moment, and tensions between Islamism and Western liberal democracy may well determine its future. Joining Will in these murky waters is GB News Presenter and the founder of the online video platform Reasoned, Darren Grimes.Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Read The Spectator Australia here.Subscribe to Reasoned here.

Free speech is under attack all over the Western world, but the assault may be the most sinister in the United Kingdom. Keir Starmer's authoritarian regime seems intent on chipping away at civil liberties until very few remain standing.To discuss the state of free speech in the UK today, Will is joined by journalist, commentator, and the Founder of the Free Speech Union, Toby Young.Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Read The Spectator Australia here.Join the FSU here.

It's easy to say that "woke ideology" is a nonsense. It's much harder to say that when your job, your social status, or your friendships may be put at risk by doing so. We need a practical, principled approach to fighting back against wokeism. Enter Helen Pluckrose. Helen is a political and cultural author and speaker. She is the co-author of ‘Cynical Theories’, which was book of the year in The Times, Sunday Times and Financial Times. Her latest book, 'The Counterweight Handbook,' is a practical guide to help you survive and defeat critical social justice at school, at work, and beyond.Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Read The Spectator Australia here.

The United Kingdom is a great country. It’s arguably contributed more to the flourishing of Western civilization than any other. Which is why recent events have left many people heartbroken. Racially and culturally motivated riots have erupted on British streets, met with a two-tiered policing and judicial response, a crackdown on free speech, and an awful sense that the next five years could see the country change beyond recognition. At the same time, the United Kingdom has faced dark moments before, and triumphed. Will it do so once again? To help Will answer that question, he is joined by GB News presenter and the co-host of The Weekly Skeptic podcast, Nick Dixon.Please leave Fire at Will a rating and a review in your favourite podcast app!Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Read The Spectator Australia here.

Across the Anglosphere, governments on both sides of politics have never been more interested in the personal lives of their citizens. The nanny state thrives from Australia to the United Kingdom, and even in that traditional bastion of freedom, the USA.Christopher Snowdon is the UK’s leading warrior against the excesses of the nanny state. He is the Head of Lifestyle Economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs, the author of six books, the editor of the Nanny State Index, and the co-host of the brilliant “Last Orders” podcast from Spiked.Please leave Fire at Will a rating and a review in your favourite podcast app!Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Read The Spectator Australia here.Visit Christopher's website here.

What the mainstream media calls a “conspiracy theory” is often nothing more than an amalgam of incentives hiding in plain sight. Once you see that, the rest becomes pretty obvious. Misaligned incentives are everywhere, and are the root cause of some of our thorniest global challenges. So how can we fix them? There is no one better qualified to answer that question than Liv Boeree. Liv has one of the world’s most interesting CVs. She has a First Class degree in Astrophysics, she has won European Poker Tour and World Series of Poker championship titles, she is a Ted Talk phenomenon, and a successful YouTuber and podcaster. Her podcast 'Win Win', encourages us to understand the good, bad and ugly parts of competition, and find ways to harness the power of game theory to build a more positive-sum world.Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Read The Spectator Australia here.

When it comes to conflict in the Middle East, there’s the war, and then there’s the war about the war. Of course, this isn’t new. Caesar was penning war reports in Gaul and sending them back to Rome to win hearts and minds over 2000 years ago. But, back then Caesar could control the narrative. Today that is almost impossible. Social media, an activist mainstream media, and more sophisticated disinformation techniques have combined with millennia-old prejudices, and made it exceedingly difficult for Israel to communicate why they are fighting, how they are doing, and what still needs to be done. Eylon Levy has been on the frontline of the war about the war. Eylon is a former Israeli government spokesperson, and International Media Advisor to the President of Israel. He is now co-founder of the Israeli Citizen Spokespersons’ Office and host of the State of a Nation podcast. Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.

The American experiment is failing. Division, mistrust and misinformation are now the country's defining characteristics. The storming of the Capitol, the prosecution of Donald Trump and battles over gun rights and abortion raise the spectre of further political violence.We often hear that these events are unprecedented. On the contrary, author and journalist Nick Bryant suggests that the hate, divisiveness and paranoia we see today are in fact a core part of America's story. His remarkable new book is titled 'The Forever War: America's Unending Conflict with Itself'.Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.

Sir Niall Ferguson is arguably the world's greatest living historian. He first pointed out that we’re in Cold War II back in 2018. In articles for The New York Times and National Review, Sir Niall tried to show how China now occupies the space vacated by the Soviet Union when it collapsed in 1991.This view is less controversial now than it was then. China is clearly not only an ideological rival; it’s also a technological competitor, a geopolitical rival, and a military rival.Sir Niall has recently amended his thesis to something altogether more disturbing. What if, in this new Cold War, the US — and not the Chinese - might be the Soviets? Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.

Education was once the search for truth. Sadly, this is no longer the case in many universities across the Western world. Instead of promoting debate, disagreement, and viewpoint diversity, too many institutions peddle a series of ideological narratives that seek to engrain a black armband view of history, an assertion of the importance of identity over merit, and a subjective definition of truth.That’s why there is no more urgent priority in the world today for sensible conservatives than to fight back against the radical left’s colonisation of education. Wilfred Reilly has accepted the challenge. Wilfred is a political science professor at Kentucky State University, and the author of the wonderful new book, “Lies My Liberal Teacher Told Me: Debunking the False Narratives Defining America's School Curricula”.NOTE: We had some very minor issues with Will's sound. Rest assured the tech team have been severely reprimanded.Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.

It wasn’t so long ago that one phrase sat above any other in the hierarchy of endorsements for a British or Australian male: “He’s a good bloke.” You don’t hear it as much in 2024 because blokehood is under attack across the Western world. Historically positive masculine virtues are now shamed as toxically masculine. At a minimum, blokeishness is derided as boorishness by our social betters in the media, politics, business, and culture. The first step to reclaiming blokehood is understanding it, which is what Geoff Norcott has done. As a rare right-winger, Geoff is a unique voice in British comedy, and has been hugely successful on the stand up circuit, with his podcast, and on TV. His latest book has made him the official expert on British blokes. It is titled, "The British Bloke: Decoded – From Banter to Man Flu, Everything Finally Explained."Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.Visit Geoff's website here.

It feels like AI can now write anything for us and create anything for us. In some respects it’s exciting, but it’s also scary, and it raises a depressing question: will technology kill creativity?There are few people better placed to answer that question than Polish-American artist Agnieszka Pilat. Agnieszka is the Silicon Valley elite’s favourite artist. Intelligencer magazine has called her the court painter of the potentate’s of Silicon Valley, including Elon Musk, who has twice invited her onsite for an artist residency at SpaceX. She is best known for her work with Spots: dog-like robots designed by Boston Dynamics, which are more usually used by mining companies or militaries than by artists. In her own words, “Machines are humanity’s children. I am just giving them a page in a family album.”Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.

There has long been a curious sub-genre in liberal journalism. It can best be described as “examining working class Americans in their natural habitat.” It goes something like this. Journalists from New York or California will bravely venture into a red state, observe the local inhabitants from afar, and come back with a series of superficial insights that reinforce the existing prejudices of coastal elites. Partly as a result of this lack of journalistic curiosity, liberal America is no closer to truly understanding the underlying forces that swept Donald Trump into the White House, and may yet do so again.Batya Ungar-Sargon did something novel. She wanted to understand the American working class, so she actually spoke to them, all over the country, for over a year. Lessons learnt were captured in ‘Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America’s Working Men and Women.’ It is the best book to read if you want to understand the political and cultural forces at play in America in 2024.Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.

The most peculiar aspect of 'Pride' is how it has lumped together the gay population, with the most extreme proponents of gender ideology, when the latter have arguably done more than any other group to harm the former. Gareth Roberts has witnessed this firsthand. Gareth has fallen into commentary on gender ideology, but like previous guests of the show such as Graham Linehan and Helen Joyce, he was marvellously successful before wading into such treacherous waters. Gareth is a screenwriter and novelist, best known for his work on the iconic British series Doctor Who. His latest book is titled 'Gay Shame: The Rise of Gender Ideology and the New Homophobia.'Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.

The world could end before you finish listening to this podcast. That's the reality of a nuclear-armed world. If a sense of complacency had crept in about the threat of nuclear weapons, Annie Jacobsen's stunning new book is a wake up call. 'Nuclear War: A Scenario' imagines the 72 minutes after the 'button is pushed', and it doesn't end well. It's shockingly realistic, due to Annie’s meticulous research, which reflects her status as a Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times bestselling author.Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.

Heresy is defined as opinion profoundly at odds with what is generally accepted. It has rarely been more dangerous to be a heretic, which is why it's rarely been more important to champion them.There is no bigger heretic than Andrew Gold. Andrew is a journalist, author, and TV presenter who produces documentaries on bizarre and controversial subcultures. He has battled an abusive exorcist, dueled with the Crazy Baby Lady, hunted UFOs, and spoken to a teen school captain, who also happened to be a pedophile. His podcast is appropriately titled, ‘heretics’.Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.Subscribe to Andrew's YouTube channel here.Buy 'The Psychology of Secrets' here.

Note: We had some minor sound issues in the first 10 minutes, but we couldn’t bring ourselves to edit out anything that Victor said. Stick with it. It’s worth it!In some respects, the West is exhibiting similar symptoms to past civilizations that decayed, declined, or were completely wiped off the map. At the same time, there are green shoots that may point to a rebirth of the United States, and Western civilization more broadly.To put our moment in a historical context, Will is joined by the inimitable Victor Davis Hanson. Victor's latest book is titled 'The End of Everything: How Wars Descend Into Annihilation.'Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.Buy 'The End of Everything' here.

Australiana is now Fire at Will - your safe space for dangerous conversations.Why is Africa poor? There’s a series of trendy answers to that question, that are almost taken as read amongst the progressive elite that dominate our institutions. Racism, slavery, and colonialism. Magatte Wade has called BS on this narrative, and she is uniquely qualified to do so, being widely regarded as the world’s leading African prosperity activist. She is an entrepreneur, speaker, and author. Her latest book is titled ‘The Heart of a Cheetah: How we have been lied to about African poverty, and what that means for human flourishing’.Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.Follow Magatte here.

Australiana is now Fire at Will - your safe space for dangerous conversations.Across the western world, cosplay protests are ongoing in some of the most elite academic institutions. They point to a deeper malaise in places of higher education. That's a real problem. The illiberal dogmas that have infiltrated our social institutions have their roots in the cultural rot in western education systems.To discuss how this happened, and what can be done, Will is joined by Eric Kaufmann. Eric is Professor of Politics at the University of Buckingham. His next book is out soon. It is titled 'Taboo: How making race sacred produced a cultural revolution.'Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.

Introducing your safe space for dangerous conversations.Follow Will Kingston and Fire at Will on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.

Australiana is now Fire at Will - your safe space for dangerous conversations.Western liberal democratic capitalism has created more prosperity, and enabled more human flourishing, than any other social system. It is something we should be proud of. And yet, Jonah Goldberg argues it is under attack, both from illiberal progressive identity politics, and right-wing populism.Jonah is one of America's most esteemed political pundits. He was the first editor of National Review Online, before founding The Dispatch - a digital media company providing engaged citizens with fact-based reporting and commentary on politics, policy and culture. He is a regular contributor to CNN and The Los Angeles Times, and a #1 New York Times bestselling author.Follow Australiana on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.Visit The Dispatch here.

Australiana is now Fire at Will - your safe space for dangerous conversations.There’s a common refrain when it comes to housing in Australia today: ‘it’s never been harder to enter the housing market’. Housing affordability has been labelled by politicians, the media, and aspiring homeowners as a historic crisis.What if that’s just not the case? What if we’ve seen the same story countless times before? What the markets are doing what they have always done, and what they should be doing? Perhaps, as Cameron Murray suggests, the market isn’t the answer? Cameron is an economist and Australia’s leading expert on housing. His new book is titled, ‘The Great Housing Hijack: The Hoaxes and Myths Keeping Prices High for Renter and Buyers in Australia’.Follow Australiana on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.Subscribe to Cameron’s Substack here.

Australiana is now Fire at Will - your safe space for dangerous conversations.It’s easy to forget that journalists were once invested with immense trust by citizens. This is no longer the case. Journalists are amongst the least trusted members of society, and it has been largely self-inflicted. The rise of activist journalism over objective journalism, the rush for online clicks, and the narcissistic desire of too many to transition from being journalists to media personalities has blighted the profession. The question is, is journalism beyond saving? Anthony De Ceglie is well placed to answer the question. Anthony was the Deputy Editor at the Daily Telegraph, and is now Editor in Chief of West Australian newspapers, including The West Australian, and the editor in chief of Seven West Media’s new evening digital newspaper, The Nightly.Follow Australiana on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.Visit The Nightly here.

Australiana is now Fire at Will - your safe space for dangerous conversations.Gen Z has developed quite a reputation. Lazy. Difficult to work with. Technology-addicted. And of course, insufferably woke. What if that reputation is ill-founded? What if, in fact, Gen Z is the most culturally conservative generation since World War Two? What if Gen Z are the saviours-in-waiting of western civilisation?That’s the opinion of content creator, author and Gen Z-er, Isabel Brown. Isabel’s new book is titled, ‘The End of the Alphabet: How Gen Z Can Save America’.Follow Australiana on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.

Australiana is now Fire at Will - your safe space for dangerous conversations.Sometimes it feels like the tidal wave of ‘wokeness’ (or identity politics) washed over the western world almost overnight. It has captured more or less every societal institution in a remarkably short period of time.However, the intellectual roots of the movement can be traced back over fifty years. The best analysis on how it has achieved such incredible influence comes from the German-American political scientist, Yascha Mounk. Will and Yascha discuss his latest book, ‘The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time’.Follow Australiana on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.

Australiana is now Fire at Will - your safe space for dangerous conversations.Politics is downstream from culture. To change politics, one must first change culture. The left intrinsically understands this in a way that the right simply does not. The arts have been captured by a toxic mixture of identity politics, social justice ideology, and cancel culture.Matthew Marsden has seen this ideological takeover firsthand. He rose to fame from his role on the iconic British TV series Coronation Street, and has subsequently starred in a long list of Hollywood films, including Black Hawk Down, Resident Evil: Extinction, Rambo and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.Follow Australiana on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.Subscribe to Matthew's YouTube channel here.

Australiana is now Fire at Will - your safe space for dangerous conversations.There are two ways to look at American politics in 2024. There’s the prevailing pessimistic view. Many people think democracy is under threat, the economy is structurally vulnerable, the military is stretched, and for many, the looming election represents a choice between two geriatric evils.There is another perspective. What incredible fun! American politics has never been so entertaining. And as we look forward to the election, no one knows what will happen.If anyone can make sense of it all, it’s Charles C.W. Cooke. Charles is a senior writer at National Review, the host of the Charles C.W. Cooke Podcast, and the author of The Conservatarian Manifesto.Follow Australiana on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.Visit Charles' website here.

Australiana is now Fire at Will - your safe space for dangerous conversations.It is now in vogue to celebrate non-Western cultures and disparage Western ones. Many well-meaning people have been fooled by hypocritical and inconsistent anti-West rhetoric.It’s not just dishonest scholars who benefit from this intellectual fraud but hostile nations and human rights abusers hoping to distract from their own ongoing villainy.If the West is to survive, it must be defended. In this very special episode, Will talks to the preeminent defender of western civilization alive today, Douglas Murray.Follow Australiana on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.

Australiana is now Fire at Will - your safe space for dangerous conversations.We as a society are self-censoring at record rates. Say the wrong thing at the wrong moment to the wrong person and the consequences can be dire. When the truth is no defense and nuance is seen as an attack, self-censorship is a rational choice. Yet, our silence comes with a price. When we are too fearful to speak openly and honestly, we deprive ourselves of the ability to build genuine relationships, we yield all cultural and political power to those with opposing views, and we lose our ability to challenge ideas or change minds, even our own. Katherine Brodsky thinks it's time for principled individuals to hit the unmute button and resist the authoritarians among us who name, shame, and punish. Her new book is titled 'No Apologies: How to Find and Free Your Voice in the Age of Outrage—Lessons for the Silenced Majority'.Follow Australiana on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.

Australiana is now Fire at Will - your safe space for dangerous conversations.Australia is facing serious domestic and international challenges, all at a time when the political class has arguably never been so ill-equipped to address them. In fact, perhaps the only thing that nearly all Australians can agree on is that our leaders are not a patch on what they were in times gone by. At the same time, ‘she’ll be right, mate’ has served Australia well enough so far, and may yet still. To help us understand the state of the nation and our politics in 2024, Will is joined by one of Australia’s best-known and most insightful political journalists, Joe Hildebrand.Follow Australiana on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.

Australiana is now Fire at Will - your safe space for dangerous conversations.Bill Clinton's strategist James Carville memorably said, "It's the economy, stupid". Times have changed. The great political battles of our time are not waged over economics, but cultural issues. Today, "It's the culture, stupid".No one understands this better than Matt Goodwin. Matt is an academic and bestselling author, known for his work on political volatility, risk, populism, British politics, and Brexit. His book, 'Values, Voice and Virtue: The New British Politics' is one of the most influential political science books of modern times.Follow Australiana on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.Subscribe to Matt's Substack here.

Australiana is now Fire at Will - your safe space for dangerous conversations.Journalist. Contrarian. Iconoclast. Intellectual. Provocateur... And one of the most successful novelists of the 21st century.Lionel Shriver has, in her own words, spent a career courting self-destruction. But she's still standing. In this no-holds barred conversation with Will, Lionel gives her inimitable take on identity politics, the trans debate, and the manias that continue to afflict society in 2024.Note: Lionel's dog makes a cameo in the second half of the episode. Apologies on his behalf.Follow Australiana on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.

Australiana is now Fire at Will - your safe space for dangerous conversations.We all comfort ourselves by believing in cause and effect. According to Dr Brian Klaas, we wilfully ignore a bewildering truth: but for a few small changes, our lives and our societies could be profoundly different. When given the choice between complex uncertainty and comforting – but wrong – certainty, we too often choose comfort. In other words, we ignore the flukes.Brian is an associate professor of global politics at University College, London, a contributing writer for The Atlantic, and the author of several books, the most recent of which has just been released. It is titled: Fluke: Chance, Chaos, and why everything we do matters.Follow Australiana on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.

Australiana is now Fire at Will - your safe space for dangerous conversations.2024 is the biggest election year in history. Countries with more than half the world’s population – over four billion people – will go to the polls. You’d think the more elections the better, right? Dr Nic Cheeseman would urge caution. In fact, he argues that the greatest political paradox of our time is that there are more elections than ever before, and yet the world is becoming less democratic. Nic is the Professor of Democracy at the University of Birmingham and the co-author of the book, ‘How to Rig an Election’.Follow Australiana on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.Follow Nic on Twitter / X here.

The most astute social commentators on the present are the people who have the deepest understanding of the past. As Mark Twain famously said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” Historians are best placed to hear the rhymes of history in the news of the day.There are few historians who have demonstrated such an aptitude and insight for understanding modern politics and culture as Dr Victor Davis Hanson. Victor is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He has written or edited twenty-five books, the latest of which is ‘The Dying Citizen: How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization Are Destroying the Idea of America’.Follow Australiana on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.

It’s perhaps never been harder to speak the truth than it is in the West today. In fact, many people now implicitly question the value of the truth itself. That’s why it’s so important to recognise and champion people with the intellectual capacity and moral courage to speak the truth, no matter how uncomfortable it may be.Few people in the public discourse can speak deep truths with such simplicity and power as Zuby. Zuby is a rapper, author, podcast host, public speaker and creative entrepreneur, not to mention Elon Musk’s dream presidential candidate…Follow Australiana on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.Subscribe to Real Talk with Zuby here.

Few people called for sanity as the world lost its collective mind during the COVID pandemic, but Jay Bhattacharya was certainly one of them. Jay is a Professor of Health Policy at Stanford University, a Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, and one of the three authors of The Great Barrington Declaration.In this wide-ranging conversation with Will, Jay discusses the litany of institutional failures that marred the pandemic response, and what we must do to avoid making the same mistakes again.Follow Australiana on social media here.Subscribe to The Spectator Australia here.