Sunday Extra - Full program podcast

An ex-Pentagon official on the escalating conflict in the Middle East, Israel is debating re-introducing the death penalty, a live update on death of the Ayatollah, the 40th anniversary of the Philippines people's revolution, queer history archives at SLNSW and Bob Brown on The Year That Made Me.

Sunday Extra presents a mix of national and international affairs, analysis and investigation.

This week on Sunday Extra, Timor Leste has appointed prosecutors to take on crimes against humanity committed by the Myanmar military junta, the software engineer locked in a legal stoush with Services Australia, and we look at the company founders of Breville in our Household Names series.Plus, on the Year that Made Me it's Marianne Jauncey, the medical director of the Uniting Medically Supervised Injecting Centre in Sydney's Kings Cross. 

In the wake of last year's deadly student riots, what will be the outcome of the upcoming election in Bangladesh?Will abolishing 'good character' references from sentencing relieve victims or impair justice?Another peak at the name behind the brand. This time: godmother of Australian wine, Mary Penfold.How will Mongolia plan resurrect an ancient city when it moves it capital, Ulanbaatar?And on the Year That Made Me — Victoria's 2026 Young Australian of the Year, Abraham Kuol.All that and more, on Sunday Extra.

In the wake of the Bondi massacre, we ask Dr Rosemary Hollow how and when we should memorialise the loss and grief for victims and the community. Journalist Charlotte Grieve on her book Duty to Warn, and the defamation case that came from her investigation into surgeon Dr Munjed al-Muderis. NSW Australian of the Year nominee and ultramarathon runner Nedd Brockman and on the Year That Made Me, Australian Sikh rapper L-FRESH the Lion.

Meet North Korean Seongmin Lee who defected to the West and he now smuggles USB sticks containing Korean soap operas into North Korea. Intrepid investigative journalist Sean Williams tells the story of his trip to meet the self-proclaimed ‘ King of Bougainville’. On The Year That Made Me we revisit our interview with Matilda’s Media Manager, Ann Odong, as she shares her story and her love of football.

Author and broadcaster Tim Ross reveals some of the Australian designs you have never heard of. Sally Gould take us behind the scenes of life as a new paramedic - and her tips for staying sane and Mary Bosworth takes us behind the scenes of a UK deportation facility. All revealed on Sunday Extra's summer special.

Historian Ann Curthoys takes us on Paul Robeson's tour of Australia back in 1960. What happened to the platypus called Winston Churchill that was sent by boat to the UK in the middle of the 2nd World War. And don't miss a moving Year That Made Me with photographer Julian Kingma. All on Sunday Extra this week.

Bagpipes have a long history that doesn't all take place in Scotland. How much truth is there in the CIA's use of George Orwell's book Animal Farm. And why has the Algerian Nutella-like spread El Morjene been banned in Europe? Find out on Sunday Extra.

2005 was a big year for Marcus Zusak and Gill Hicks. For Markus Zusak his best seller The Book Thief was published. For Gill Hicks, 2005 was the year she survived the terrorist bombing of the London Underground. Both events changed their lives. We also investigate the rise of the Banh Mi and Hi Viz in Australia.

The UN is shutting down its mission in Iraq at the end of the year after 22 years. What has it achieved? Evan Ratliff has set up a company staffed entirely by AI. Has it worked? What have researchers learnt about the migration of Monarch butterflies from the airtags on them?

This week on Sunday Extra, does Australia need a 'Castle Law', what happens if Tehran runs out of water,  and the sculpture outside the CIA HQ that may finally reveal its secrets.Plus, the 'Queen of Sumo', commentator Katrina Watts on the Year that Made Me. 

Phil Gunson, analyst with International Crisis Group, on the reaction of Venezuala's opposition to Trump's attacks on Maduro. Dr Beatriz Grinsztejn, President of the International AIDS Society on the progess of the fight against AIDS.Science communicator and author, Dr Kathryn Harkup on the real life science behind Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.Celebrated experimental performance artist, Stelarc, on the year that inspired him to explore the human body as an art experiment. 

This week on Sunday Extra, an investigation reveals how some major cryptocurrency exchanges profit from scams and other cyber crimes, we meet the architect behind Cairo's grand new museum, what is going on with food allergies in Australian, and Google Maps for the Roman Empire.Plus the Year that Made Me, Tweet of the Week, Background Briefing and Lab Notes. 

What influence is climate disinformation having on tackling climate change, and what are the tipping points that may see the end of the greyhound industry globally. As Nazis reappear on the streets of Sydney, we revisit the investigation team that tracked down Nazis living in Australia after World War Two. Also the challenges of retrieving digital archives from floppy disks.The final  Boyer Lecture is presented by James Curran, author and professor of modern history at the University of Sydney.

A few questions answered on Sunday Extra today: what was the role of the Chief Justice in the dismissal of the Whitlam government 50 years ago; should there be air quality standards for indoors as well as outdoors; should we all be making time to day dream and how can post-war rubble be turned into something useful?The 4th Boyer Lecture is presented by Amelia Lester, deputy editor at Foreign Policy magazine. 

Africa Correspondent for Foreign Policy Magazine, Nosmot Gbadamosi on the violence that has broken out in Tanzania after this week's election. Mihai Sora, from the Lowy Institute on a proposal for greater intelligence sharing between Australia and its Pacific neighbours. Kari Byron, former co-host of the science smash-hit Mythbusters on the importance of cultivating a new generation of STEM prodigies. Astronomer Michael Brown on the radical new proposal to use satellites to bring us sunlight on demand. And Darius von Güttner Sporzyński teases out the history and humour of Netflix's new series 1670.

On this week's episode, U Thant the former Secretary General of the UN is remembered by his grandson, Thant Myint U. The extraordinary career of Kenya's Raila Odinga, a politician who ran for President 5 times unsuccessfully but still became one of his country’s most revered figures. And the Egyptian-Canadian journalist and author of One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, Omar el Akkad joins us on The Year that Made Me.

Who is Stephen Miller and is he a "root of evil" in the White House? Professor of International Relations, Clinton Fernandes reflects on the 50th anniversary of the murder of Australian journalists in East Timor, known as the Balibo Five. Laura Brown talks about her new book, All the Cool Girls Get Fired.Sunday Extra is also broadcasting the 2025 Boyer Lecturers. The series is called Australia: a Radical Experiment in Democracy and this week is the keynote presentation from Justin Wolfers and a panel discussion.

On Sunday Extra this week, the doctor in charge of the medical team for the Hostages and Missing Families Forum on the task that lies ahead. Carole Cadwalladr, the journalist who broke the Cambridge Analytica scandal discusses her investigation into Tony Blair’s Institute for Global Change.And professional troublemaker Stephen Mayne, the founder of Crikey and prolific shareholder activist joins us for a rabble-rousing trip down memory lane on the The Year that Made Me. He speaks publicly for the first time about the rare medical condition that’s changed his life.