If You're Listening

Get ready as Matt and Kara address a whole lot more listener questions. All things from Elon Musk’s impending trillionaire status to the mystery of the missing If You’re Listening episode. Soil also once again gets a mention of course.Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

On the 19th of October at 9:30am, two thieves parked a truck at the Louvre. They carved a hole in the window, climbed into the gallery, smashed two display cases, and made off with 88 million euros worth of crown jewels. It was all over in eight minutes. It turns out robbing the Louvre isn’t as hard as you might think. Many of the security cameras are outdated, and 249 rooms in the gallery have no cameras at all… the trouble all starts after the robbery, when you have to figure out what to do with your loot next.Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

On 11 November 1975, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam was sacked by Governor-General Sir John Kerr. For the past 50 years, people have speculated about the motives behind Kerr’s unprecedented decision — could there have been interference from outside Australia? Today, we’re getting to the bottom of the CIA conspiracy theory that’s dogged Whitlam’s dismissal for decades. Matt talks to The Eleventh producer and award-winning journalist Ninah Kopel about possible American meddling in this most infamous of Australian incidents. Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

In the last decade, the number of data centres worldwide has doubled. As the tech bros spend big to render AI an irreplaceable part of our everyday lives, the energy and water required is truly eye-watering. Nvidia, Google, Microsoft and Meta have already seen their cumulative emissions rise by 72% in the last five years, and given the direction AI is headed, it’s likely that our AI footprint today is the smallest it will ever be. Hundreds of millions of people are using AI every day - and that number is growing fast, but is a world with widely available AI actually sustainable? Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

This episode is about a lawsuit between two puppet dogs. What more do you need?This past week we’ve been waist-deep in the dot com boom of the 90s, in particular the meteoric rise and fall of one company called pets.com. It was during this time that supervising producer Kara Jensen-Mackinnon came across a very strange court case between two fictional dogs - the case of the Pets.com sock puppet vs. Triumph the Insult Comic Doc. You can watch Trumph's press conference in full here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLqT9TSfcegFollow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

There are no salary caps when it comes to securing the future brains of AI researchers. Mark Zuckerberg recently paid a 24 year old $250 million to come work at Meta. OpenAI gave thousands of employees bonus cheques for millions of dollars. AI developer salaries are rising 32% annually, but just how high can these pay packets go? The AI bubble is now four times the size of the dot com bubble at it’s peak, and when that bubble burst billions were wiped off the stock market, so could AI be hurtling towards a similar fate? Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

Today Matt and Kara are answering your questions, mostly about Trump and mud. They talk about whether Trump could serve a third term, if the rest of the world could just ignore the US, and ask for your help solving a mystery about the soil in the rural NSW town of Nimmitabel. Plus, Matt has a very exciting announcement.Got a question you want us to answer next time? Email [email protected] If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

On October 8, US President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas had reached an agreement and signed the first phase of the deal. The ceasefire covered the return of all living Israeli hostages as well as the liberation of 2000 Palestinians who had been detained in prisons. What isn’t mentioned in the ceasefire agreement is what happens to Gaza when the fighting is over. Is it possible to rebuild a city that has been almost entirely destroyed, and perhaps more importantly who is going to pay for it? Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

So, Matt has found a shiny new rabbit hole to get lost in and this time it's balloons. More specifically spy balloons. This is a story about a man with a fabulous moustache who called himself Professor, who was accused of being the devil in the American Civil War and ended up becoming a spy in a big balloon, triggering the creation of the US Air Force. Matt joins Marc Fennell on his podcast, No One Saw it Coming to talk about the early days of aerial espionage and why you should never ask a man in a balloon where he's going. Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

US President Donald Trump has set his sights on the Federal Reserve, his unprecedented threat to fire the Fed Chair Jerome Powell and replace him with someone more willing to lower interest rates sent financial markets into a tailspin. It’s taken decades to build robust, independent central banks that people trust to fight inflation and keep the economy on track. But now a generation of populist leaders are threatening to undo that important work. So what will that mean for the global economy? Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

Yes you read that right. It's a wild story from the latest series of No One Saw it Coming, a show about people, objects, and accidents that changed the course of history. Today, Marc Fennell joins Matt Bevan to chat about this unlikely alliance. Set during WWII, it’s a story about boats bursting into flame, mobsters with marvellous names, and the curious team-ups that come about in a country at war. Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

This episode originally aired in September 2023.For a century, society has bullied and shamed people into trying to lose weight, without much result. Is the century-long search for a weight loss drug finally over? A seemingly accidental discovery by Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, people are hailing semaglutide (known as Ozempic or Wegovy) as a miracle weight loss drug — but it comes at a cost.Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

Last year, environment reporter Peter de Kruijff stumbled on the case of 81-year-old rancher Arthur “Jack” Schubarth, who was sentenced to six months in jail for a truly bizarre crime. He orchestrated an elaborate, multi-country conspiracy to smuggle the tissue of a rare bighorn sheep into the U.S. and clone it.Today, Matt chats to Peter about this outlandish plot. They also get into Barbra Streisand’s cloned dogs, and that video of Putin and Xi talking about organ transplants.Jack’s story inspired the new series of ABC’s Science Friction podcast, Artificial Evolution, which is all about cloning and genetic technology. All episodes are available now on the ABC Listen app.Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

This episode originally aired in August 2023.How do you plan for a country when you don’t even know how many people live there? That’s the problem China faced after decades of dodgy population data and the One Child Policy. No longer the world's largest country, China's population is shrinking, its property sector is faltering, and its economy is feeling the strain.Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

While working on last Thursday’s episode, Matt had the very sad but familiar experience of cutting one of his favourite parts out of the script.It’s the bizarre story of a group of American mercenaries who tried to invade Venezuela and collect the $15 million reward offered by the U.S. Justice Department for capturing President Nicolás Maduro.Matt chats with If You’re Listening producer Adair Sheppard about the doomed plot and the man behind it, a former Green Beret from Florida named Jordan Goudreau.Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

The U.S. military has now attacked three boats off the coast of Venezuela in as many weeks. On the surface, it’s hard to see exactly what the administration is hoping to gain out of this. But when you look at it in a historical context, it makes a lot more sense. This follows a playbook the United States used 35 years ago to topple a Central American dictator they had decided they didn’t like. So what happened last time? And should Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro be watching his back?Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

It’s been almost two weeks since we woke up to the news of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. If you were online that morning, you probably saw rolling updates, speculation, conspiracy theories, and graphic footage — all before breakfast.But it hasn’t always been like this. When Abraham Zapruder filmed the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, the public didn’t see those 26 seconds of film for many years. That delay fuelled decades of fascination and conspiracy.Today, Matt Bevan and Supervising Producer Kara Jensen-McKinnon discuss the Zapruder Film and how the way we experience big news events has changed.

In the days since the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the internet has been awash with conflicting information about the assassin’s ideological motivations. Until recently, most people understood that political violence in America tends not to be organised, but one idea has galvanised many of those on the right: “they are trying to get us”. Just minutes after the shooting, US President Donald Trump and his allies called for revenge on what they call “left-wing extremists”. There is no evidence of an organised left wing militia trying to take down the Trump Administration, but is a crackdown on anti-Trump groups now inevitable? Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

While researching our last episode on the bizarre wave of Iran-banked anti-semitic attacks in Australia and around the world, Matt ended up somewhere unexpected… Swedish TikTok. He was intrigued (and baffled) by a viral sound from a gangster known as the Kurdish Fox that blew up in late 2023.To help him understand this meme, Matt got in touch with the journalist who broke the story and released this now-apparently-iconic audio to the public. Kim Malmgren is a crime reporter for Swedish Newspaper Expressen and hosts the Swedish-language true crime podcast Krimrummet. What starts as a conversation about a meme leads to a bigger story about Sweden’s growing problem with gang violence, tracing the Kurdish Fox’s rise, his war with the fearsome Strawberry, and the teenage "child soldiers" caught in the crossfire.Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

There has been a spike in antisemitic attacks around the world, but there was something off about the ones happening here in Australia. The graffiti had Israel spelled wrong and they were committed largely by people with no clear ideological motivation. For many, the slapdash nature of these attacks raised a serious question about who was really behind them. Recently ASIO revealed that at least some of these attacks were coordinated and financed by Iran to intimidate and destablise their enemies. It turns out, Iran has spent the last few years bankrolling low level attacks just like this all over the world so is this a signal of Iran’s strength or a weakening regime? Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

There’s a story Matt’s been trying to tell on If You’re Listening almost since day one. It’s about the agriculture, soil and water of Ukraine, and he thinks it’s fascinating. Over the years he's tried to write it into episode after episode, only for it to be cut out by four separate producers.Today, Matt attempts to convince Supervising Producer Kara Jensen-Mackinnon (and hopefully you, too) on his obsession with the jet-black soil that’s altered the course of wars from WWII to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Maps referenced in the episode:Map of chernozem distributionMap of European waterwaysFollow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

Donald Trump once said he could end the war between Russia and Ukraine in one day. Well, it’s now been over 200 days and he’s finally admitted that it might be a little more complicated than he originally thought. The man he’s sent to broker this important peace deal is his best bud Steve Witkoff, a lawyer turned billionaire real estate developer turned peace negotiator. In the last few months, Witkoff has had a number of top-secret peace meetings with Vladimir Putin. Unfortunately we don’t know what happened in those meetings, and it now appears that Witkoff didn’t know what was happening in those meetings either. Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

In 1999, a young American called Robert Bogucki dumped his bicycle and walked out into the Great Sandy Desert in remote northern Australia. In 2022, Erin Parke became obsessed with this story and the media circus surrounding it. It's a tale that spans three decades, two continents and a bizarre cast of characters: from booty-wearing bloodhounds, to a cigar-chomping, moustachioed American named Garrison ‘Gunslinger’ St Clair. Matt chats to Erin about her quest to uncover the truth about the mysterious Gunslinger. From his colourful past of fraud and rumours of international espionage, he was larger than life and, as it turned out, too good to be true.Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

It’s no secret that Donald Trump has his sights set on a Nobel Peace Prize. He already claims to have brokered peace in a number of conflicts around the world - and is now planning ceasefire talks for Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Palestine. So how does Trump intend to bring lasting peace to these decades-long conflicts? Well, he’s tasked his best bud and former real estate tycoon, Steve Witkoff with the job. Unfortunately, Witkoff doesn’t really have any credentials for negotiating peace… but he is very good at golf and for Trump that’s all that matters. CORRECTION: In this episode we state that “Armenians are mostly catholic”, and that is incorrect, the vast majority of Armenians are Christian and are members of the Armenian Apostolic Church.Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

When Palestinian statehood is recognised at the UN General Assembly in September, a small office tucked away in a residential street in Canberra will become the official embassy of Palestine. This office is near many other embassies in the nation’s capital - some similarly unassuming, while others are incredible ornate architectural feats complete with gardens and water features. On a recent work trip to Canberra, Matt and producer Kara strolled around the Canberra suburbs judging the architectural merits of some of our nation’s great embassies.Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

Australia, the UK, France and Canada intend to recognise Palestine as a state at the UN General Assembly in September. But what does that actually mean? Well Timor Leste, the small island nation 500km off the coast of Australia was recognised as a state back in 2002 after years of Indonesian occupation and violence, and might offer us a glimpse into what the future looks like for Palestinians. Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

After an entire week looking into the Oslo Accords, we still had a residual urge to find out more about Mona Juul and Terje Rod Larsen, the Norwegian couple who were instrumental in brokering that landmark agreement. We were reading about the Broadway play about their work, reading about the movie adaptation... and then suddenly, unexpectedly, Kara plunged into a rabbit hole. A very unexpected, but oddly familiar one…it involves a trip to Mongolia, a former Australian Prime Minister, and Mona and Terje.

Even the most seasoned negotiators can’t agree on how to bring peace to the Middle East. Everyone agrees that - on a personal level - it’s a problem too big, too old and too entrenched for them to even have an impact on. Except Mona and Terje. Norwegians Mona Juul and Terje Rød-Larsen looked at this extremely complicated conflict and said “we can fix this”. Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

Getting accused of murder is never a good thing. But, hypothetically if you are going to get accused of murder, it’s generally for the best that it’s not somewhere like Houthi-controlled Yemen - a part of the world that barely has a functioning justice system.This is the reality for Nimisha Priya, an Indian nurse who has been convicted of murder and is currently awaiting trial in a Yemeni prison. The question is now whether she’ll be executed for her crimes or whether the victim’s family will accept a blood money payment to spare her life. Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

The internet is flooded with hour-long podcasts about what really happened to Jeffrey Epstein. Until recently, two of the most high profile Epstein conspiracy truthers were MAGA podcasters, Dan Bongino and Kash Patel. But that all changed when they joined the FBI. In the last few months, Bongino and Patel have done a complete 180, and are now saying there’s nothing to see… So are they telling the truth about the so-called Epstein files? Or has the deep state got to them too?Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

So Jeffery Epstein probably wasn’t a Mossad spy. But online conspiracies like this pop up closer to home too. Could Israeli intelligence have been involved in Australia’s most traumatic mass shooting? There are people who think so. In this bonus episode of If You’re Listening, Matt is joined by Conspiracy Nation author Cam Wilson, who breaks down the pervasive PA96 conspiracy about the Port Arthur massacre. Cam Wilson and Ariel Bogle's book Conspiracy Nation is out now.Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

The Jeffrey Epstein rabbit hole has opened into a cavernous rabbit abyss and it seems no one is safe. Conspiracy theorists and right-wing podcasters are following a particularly spicy lead: that Epstein was actually Israeli intelligence. It explains the curious circumstances around his death, the suppression of his so-called client list, and why Donald Trump seems keen to bury the story entirely. But where did the Mossad rumours come from and are they all just an elaborate smoke screen? If you're in Canberra and interested in coming to our live show on the 21st of August at the Canberra Theatre Centre you can buy tickets here: https://canberratheatrecentre.com.au/show/if-youre-listening-live-25/Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

Forty years ago, a man named Mordecai Vanunu came very close to exposing Israel’s secret nuclear enrichment facility in a bible group in the heart of Sydney. But before he could speak to journalists, he was lured to Rome by a beguiling blonde named Cindy. In this bonus episode of If You’re Listening we take a closer look at “Cindy” the mysterious Mossad honeypot who abducted Vanunu and changed the course of his life forever. If you're interested in watching Stanley Hanin's tyre company advertisement you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-zCM_8APc0 If you're in Canberra and interested in coming to our live show on the 21st of August at the Canberra Theatre Centre you can buy tickets here: https://canberratheatrecentre.com.au/show/if-youre-listening-live-25/Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

It’s widely accepted that Israel has nuclear weapons. How many? Well, it’s impossible to know because to this day the Israeli government has never officially confirmed or denied that it possesses a nuclear arsenal at all, instead it maintains a policy of “strategic ambiguity”. In truly one of the most extraordinary stories we’ve told on this show - we get to the bottom of how Israel hides its nukes, how we found out about them, and why the global community seems to be fine with it.If you're in Canberra and interested in coming to our live show on the 21st of August at the Canberra Theatre Centre you can buy tickets here: https://canberratheatrecentre.com.au/show/if-youre-listening-live-25/Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

With Iran still in the news, we thought we would revisit the man who created the regime that so many in the Israeli and American political establishments would love to topple: Ayatollah Khomeini. This is the man who came back from 16 years in exile to be the Supreme Leader of Iran’s fundamentalist Islamic regime and overthrew the 2500 year old monarchy. This episode was originally published on the 22nd February 2024.Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

Before Iran was the Islamic theocracy it is today, it was a monarchy for two and a half thousand years. The last Shah or king of Iran was overthrown in 1979. In this episode of If You're Listening we hear about the Shah’s battle with cancer that resulted in a Shakespearean tragedy that brought about the end of the Iranian monarchy and shaped the Middle East conflict we see today.This episode was originally published on the 15th February 2024.Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://youtu.be/vOsdbCwS5qQ?si=ye2_zy0TOkLRMZLi

The chaotic 12 days of the Israel-Iran war ended with the United States dropping bombs on Iran’s nuclear facilities, then quickly brokering a ceasefire. But there are still many questions about the conflict: Has Iran really been mere months away from building a bomb for the last fifteen years, as Israel claims? Did the US’s strikes bust all plans for an Iranian nuke? And what does an American bowling alley company have to do with Tehran’s nuclear program? That’s this week on If You’re Listening. Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

Israel recently bombed Iran’s notorious Evin prison, a place that Dr Kylie Moore Gilbert came to know all too well. The political scientist and author was imprisoned in Iran for 804 days and eventually released in a prisoner swap in November 2020.In this chat with Matt Bevan, Kylie talks about solitary confinement, Iranian cheetahs, how her first cellmate was a spy, and why the regime is cracking down on dissidents right now. Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

For the last century, since the rise of mechanised and then nuclear warfare, defence budgets are designed to stop big existential attacks. Ships, planes, submarines.But cheap, retail store level technology - drones - have changed the game in the conflicts involving Ukraine and Israel. There’s no real way to immunise against a drone swarm that’s been smuggled into your country and hidden in a truck. These covert attacks are relatively cheap to deploy and incredibly effective. Like the nuclear bomb, the machine gun, and the crossbow - drones mean the traditional way we fight wars is finished.Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

The United States has dropped some very large bombs on Iran, inserting itself into what we are currently calling the Israel-Iran War, despite Donald Trump saying just days earlier that he was going to spend two weeks thinking about it. The bombs they dropped managed to destroy or at least severely damage a nuclear facility buried 90 metres underground. Which kind of makes Matt’s studio basement bunker superfluous. So what’s next? Matt is joined by Emma Shortis, Director of the Australia Institute’s International and Security Affairs Program and host of podcast and book After America to chat about what this means for the Middle East, and whether Australia will get pulled into the conflict. Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.

There is violence on the streets of America as anti-ICE protesters push back hard against the Trump Administration’s immigration policies. In the early months of the Trump presidency it seemed like everything was going his way but now that’s changing and fast as his executive orders are challenged in the courts. When it comes to stopping mass deportations Americans are learning that protests can actually work. These protesters aren’t backing down… but neither is Trump so what does that mean for undocumented immigrants across the country and the future of the Trump Administration’s deportation plans? Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

It’s been a manic week in global politics. Trump and Musk have officially broken up, Americans have taken to the streets to protest ICE deportations… oh and we’re seemingly on the brink of a nuclear war in the Middle East! To take stock of these rapidly deteriorating news stories, Matt Bevan talks to Dr Emma Shortis, Director of the Australia Institute’s International Security Affairs Program, author and host of the podcast After America.If you have a burning question for Emma or Matt send it to [email protected] and we’ll answer it on next week’s show!Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.

In news that will surprise no one, the big beautiful bromance between Donald Trump and Elon Musk has finally come to an end. Over the last week, there's been a dramatic shift in Trump's presidency - he's publicly fighting with his former First buddy, judges are overruling his executive orders and there are protests in the streets of LA. As we pass 100 days of the Trump administration, everything is changing fast and understanding the gravity of this moment is vital. So for the next two episodes, we’re going to take a look at what led to this sudden shift - Trump's summer of discontent. How it started and what it means for the future of the administration.Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

While investigating the history of fluoride, Matt Bevan stumbled upon a regional newspaper insert from the 1940s called Modern Weekly News Magazine. And let’s just say that the content was ... rather unique. In this bonus episode of If You’re Listening Matt swaps articles with supervising producer Kara Jensen-Mackinnon from the quirky pages of Modern Weekly News Magazine.Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYWsonBlNaY

Putting fluoride in drinking water has often been called one of the most successful public health measures in human history. But since the very beginning of fluoridation programs in the 1940s, it’s been plagued by misinformation and furious opposition.Now with Robert F Kennedy Jr at the helm of the US Department of Health, the Trump Administration is leading the charge to get states to ban the use of fluoride in water - and he’s succeeded in Utah and Florida. So when did this anti-fluoride scepticism begin? And can it be stopped?Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

A little trivia question for you... is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi married?He’s gotta be, right? World leaders do tend to be married, and someone like Modi probably is. But, picture him at a big rally does he have a spouse there with him? You can't can you?Well, it turns out Narendra Modu is married and his carefully crafted image of a bachelor was up-ended when it emerged that he had a wife who had been kept secret for decades.In this bonus episode of If You’re Listening Matt chats to Avani Dias who dove into this story as part of her work on the podcast series Looking for Modi.Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.

India and Pakistan have agreed to a temporary ceasefire, but tensions between the two nuclear-armed nations are still running high. There are factions in both governments that think a war might be a good thing for them politically. The old saying goes that most nations have an army, whereas Pakistan is a place where the army has a nation. So will nationalistic rhetoric from Pakistan’s military lead an inevitable escalation into all-out war? This is the second episode in a two-part series where we take a look at both sides: India and Pakistan. Why they want to fight, and what they have to lose.Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

After a brief moment where two nuclear powers looked to be on the verge of war, India and Pakistan have agreed to a temporary ceasefire. But Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi says it’s not an end to hostilities, just a pause. The scary thing is - there are factions in both governments that think a war might be a good thing for them politically. So why is that and will it inevitably lead to a deadly conflict? Over the next two episodes, we’re going to take a look at both sides: India and then Pakistan. Why they want to fight, and what they have to lose. Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

When two planes crashed into the World Trade Center towers on September 11 2001 Howard Lutnick lost 658 of his colleagues. It was a tragedy of unthinkable proportions which we covered in last week’s episode. But Howard Lutnick lost something else that day and Matt can’t stop thinking about it. In this bonus episode of If You’re Listening we take a look at the most famous sculptor since Michelangelo; Auguste Rodin, and his work, “The Gates of Hell” which was on the 101st floor of the North Tower that day, and hasn’t been seen since. Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

The man behind Trump’s trade war is Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and his backstory is extraordinary. He’s been a hero, he’s been a villain, he’s been a sympathetic figure and also one of the most hated men in America - and all of that is even before he attached himself to Donald Trump. Over the last few months, gambling with tariffs has caused economic chaos and sent global markets into a tailspin… but Howard Lutnick is clearly all in. So why is the Commerce Secretary so reckless when it comes to the future of America’s economy? Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq