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The world is on fire. There's a coup. Inflation is through the roof, and AI is taking our jobs. What does it all mean? Each week, Matt Bevan explains the biggest story in world news while hiding in his basement from assassins and authoritarian regimes.
Recent episodes include an exploration of the relationship between India and China, a closer look at the Saudi Arabian city of NEOM, the conflict in the Middle East, the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, and Ukraine's incursions into Vladimir Putin's Russia. Matt Bevan draws connections between stories from the past and the events of the present to help listeners understand world news and international affairs.
The podcast also features series about big moments in world news; previous series have focused on the United States presidential election, the United Kingdom's 14 years of Conservative Party leadership, Donald Trump's relationship with Russia, Donald Trump's presidency and promise to Make America Great Again, the Mueller Report, Vladimir Putin's scheme to destroy western democracies, how the relationship between Australia and China came to the verge of collapse, and Australia's turbulent history with climate change.
There's a new episode of If You're Listening every Thursday.
Recent episodes include an exploration of the relationship between India and China, a closer look at the Saudi Arabian city of NEOM, the conflict in the Middle East, the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, and Ukraine's incursions into Vladimir Putin's Russia. Matt Bevan draws connections between stories from the past and the events of the present to help listeners understand world news and international affairs.
The podcast also features series about big moments in world news; previous series have focused on the United States presidential election, the United Kingdom's 14 years of Conservative Party leadership, Donald Trump's relationship with Russia, Donald Trump's presidency and promise to Make America Great Again, the Mueller Report, Vladimir Putin's scheme to destroy western democracies, how the relationship between Australia and China came to the verge of collapse, and Australia's turbulent history with climate change.
There's a new episode of If You're Listening every Thursday.
244 Episodes
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Space travel is a serious physical and mental challenge by all accounts. But what happens when an astronaut goes rogue mid-flight?Matt is joined by Fiona Pepper, co-host of the Science Friction podcast, to discuss a weird story the team stumbled across when researching flights leading up to the 1986 Challenger disaster.You can listen to The Challenger Legacy, the latest season of the Science Friction podcast, here, or wherever you get your podcastsFollow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq
1When news first broke of a billionaire sex offender with a private island… the story didn’t erupt through traditional media — instead it circulated through online message boards like 4chan. What began as internet trolling and fragmented rumour became fuel for something much bigger. The Epstein case fed directly into the rise of QAnon, a conspiracy movement built on the belief that a hidden elite was operating above the law. Now, after years of pressure and public obsession, millions of Epstein-related documents have been released by the U.S. government. The Epstein Files have exposed networks, associations, and uncomfortable truths. But instead of restoring trust in institutions, they’ve underscored how fragile that trust has become.Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq
That's right, we're talking soil again. Is there a field of Ukranian chernozem soil sitting in rural New South Wales? Producer Pat joins Matt to finally find an answer.Plus, rumours of a chernozem black market… is it true, or just a dirty lie?Thanks to the New South Wales Soil Knowledge Network!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 a long time, no matter which party was in power - the US government has operated within pretty defined guardrails… that is, until Donald Trump returned to the White House for a second term. The bold new direction is largely due to people like Stephen Miller: Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff and the key driver behind his immigration policy. Stephen Miller has spent his entire political career working hard to systematically dismantle and destroy the guardrails that keep the US government in check. So who is this dude? How did he rise to such a position of power? And is there anything that can get in his way?Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq
Jon Lovett has been following the daily minutia of U.S. politics for a decade on his podcast Pod Save America. Ahead of their Australian tour, Jon joined Matt for a wide-ranging chat on how to deal with Trump, and whether the U.S. has a few lessons to learn from the Australian political system. Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq
Matt is joined by psychologist and science writer Steven Pinker to discuss doomsday predictions, climate anxiety, and how best to split the balance between pessimistic fatalism and naïve optimism when considering the future.Listen to the full 1959 'Letters to the Unborn' 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 midst of the Cold War, it was a very real fear that a nuclear winter would obliterate life as we know it. Now, fortunately, that never happened. But ironically fast forward to 2026 and the sense of dread of a nuclear war has been replaced by the impending threat of climate change, or being overrun by our AI overlords. So are we destined to feel doomed? This is the final episode of Black Swans a four-part series by If You're Listening. 67 years ago, the ABC recorded a collection of predictions about the future—the one we’re living in now, in 2026. Their forecasts are truly extraordinary - Intergalactic super speed travel, future pod houses, Nuclear fallout, but strangely all of them are wrong. In Black Swans, host Matt Bevan gets to the bottom of why we’ve always been so bad at predicting the future.Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq
Matt and Kara discuss the book that inspired the Black Swan series… but didn’t make it into the final cut! Can experts, soothsayers, and psychics really predict what’s going to happen?This episode is connected to Black Swans, a four-part series by If You’re Listening67 years ago, the ABC recorded a collection of predictions about the future—the one we’re living in now, in 2026. Their forecasts are truly extraordinary - Intergalactic super speed travel, future pod houses, Nuclear fallout, but strangely all of them are wrong. In Black Swans, host Matt Bevan gets to the bottom of why we’ve always been so bad at predicting the future.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 1959 a flight to London took days and cost half a year’s average salary. But things were changing rapidly. The invention of the Concorde meant that you could fly from Adelaide to London in just under seven hours. Travel was getting faster and many expected we’d be routinely zipping around the world and travelling to other planets in no time. But now, aside from planes, most of our transport is not much faster than it was back then, so why are we still so slow?
Matt and Kara delve deeper into the story of town planner Alex Ramsay, and the bizarre deal he struck to purchase the land that would become Elizabeth, SA. This episode is connected to episode two of the Black Swans series, all concerning predictions of Australia's future, and how we got it so wrong.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 1950s three quarters of Australians were homeowners, most lived on a quarter-acre block, with a mortgage that could be covered with one income while someone stayed at home to look after the children. Nowadays, house prices have sky rocketed and younger generations largely feel locked out. So where did it all go wrong?
Until recently people were scared our planet would be outstripped by the weight of a colossal population. Experts feared that by 2026, there would be so many people that we would be starved of resources, and eat ourselves to death. Ironically we now find ourselves in a world where we’re not scared about having too many babies, but rather too few. So what happened?Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq
Kara and Matt take you behind the scenes of putting the series together, and how hard it is to find an iron when you need one.The Black Swans series kicks off this Thursday 8th January on podcast, and hits television on Saturday 10th January.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 a post on Truth Social, US President Trump announced that he had captured the Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro and his wife, and that the pair would face drug charges in New York. The legality of this seizure is certainly questionable, but surprisingly, an operation like this is not entirely unprecedented. 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 massive infrastructure project NEOM sits in the Saudi Arabian desert, and the jewel in its crown is The Line, a futuristic city which looks insane. The AI-generated ads depict a car-free city, for 9 million people housed between two mirrors, stretching along the desert. Despite promises of millions of residents by 2030, the project has been scaled back by 98 per cent. The Line will be more like a dot. So what the hell happened? And was it all just a scam?This episode was originally broadcast in September 2024Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq
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 kick off? And can it be stopped?This episode was originally broadcast in June 2025Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq
Australians are very proud of our gun laws, and we have good reason to be. The laws are world famous and frequently referenced in the wake of almost every mass shooting in the United States. And yet, we have now seen two men terrorise Australia’s Jewish community at a Hanukkah event at Bondi beach with legally-owned high-powered guns. Despite almost universal support for stricter gun control, there are more guns in Australia now than there were before the famous gun laws were introduced. So, what are the specifics of Australia's laws? Are they really as water-tight as we all like to believe? And if they are about to change what will that actually accomplish?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 Sunday the 14th of December, two men; a father and son, used a range of firearms to attack a large Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach playground. At least 16 people were killed, including one of the two gunmen, and a ten year old girl. It was Australia’s worst ever terrorist attack, and its second-deadliest mass shooting. The local and global Jewish community are horrified and frightened, by the events. Australia is in shock, it’s left people wondering what could have been done to prevent this attack, and what needs to be done now. Perry Duffin is the Sydney Morning Herald’s senior crime reporter, and has broken multiple stories about the seemingly escalating violence and anti-Semitism in Sydney. For the last 24 hours - virtually without sleeping - he’s been covering the early investigations into the events in Bondi.Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq
During a 15 minute phone call, US President Donald Trump offered the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro safe passage for him and his family to the country of their choice, if they left Venezuela immediately. The deal seems to have fallen through and now Maduro is in hiding, and for the last few weeks, Maduro has reportedly slept in a different house every night. So why is the country with the most proven oil reserves on the planet enduring an economic meltdown that is so grave the President is now on the run? Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq
We have always been obsessed with stories about killer robots. But where do stories about malevolent machines with a mind of their own originate? Matt and Kara dig into the archives and discover an English robot called Alpha who; according to newspapers at the time, “became more man than machine” and “fired a gun at its inventor” in front of a packed room of terrified onlookers in Brighton, England in 1932. The terrifying story was covered widely, and audiences flocked from all over to see the killer robot. But it turns out that’s not how the story went at all…Read the Ogden Standard Examiner story from 1932: https://www.scribd.com/document/35924338/1932-Oct-23-Ogden-Standard-Examiner-Ogden-City-UTRead the Time article from 1934: https://time.com/archive/6819850/science-robot/Watch Alpha at Macy's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fiiq0V9QRJ4Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq
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I love if you're listening normally (and both Matt and marks work normally) but this episode was a total dud. It felt like a longer version of the first couple of minutes of a podcast where they tell you about the story that is to come but the actual story with the actual details never really came.
this was one of your finest episodes thanks Matt
excellent episode, thanks Matt
Stick to geopolitics Matt. This episode and the some of the last few where you are spitballing with a random guest have, in my opinion, been uninteresting.
Matt, I'm sure it takes time to make all of this content, but you need to work a little harder. I'm subscribed to a bunch of different podcasts and none of them are consistently good, and none of them are ever as good as this one, and I hold you responsible. You have set the bar too high. You need to put out more episodes, so I don't have to listen to all of that other trash.
Bluff or not. Ukraine is destroyed and Blackrock have no interest to build it. Hello 2030.
PolPot was down on education as well
wasn't Hitla arrested before becoming leader of Germany?
Also there's no evidence of "a soldier making mistake shooting down a passenger airplane", Except what the Islamic regime says. You gotta be naive believing whatever comes out of their mouth.
Qasem Soleimani wasn't a national hero before hia death. Just another general in the regime but .ore known yo foreigners due to the nature of Qods unit. Zarif, the FM of Islamic regime at the time, started a propaganda (as he said in an interview), to present him as a national hero.
Great podcast⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Matt, You frame this chaos so clearly. You show that mud is on everyone's hands and all contributed to this sad state of Australian politics! Thank you again
Matt Bevan thank you for your work. Like always this third series lays out the truth so easily for all to know. so glad you keep educating us all
Nice one. Gold: "MALCOLM TURNBULL: I would say, in talking about America and the West with Xi, it's a reminder that Chinese leaders have a much better understanding of the West than the West does of China." Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull know China relatively better than the rest of Australian politicians🤷♂️
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Can someone remind me what the name of the song is at the start of this episode please. Also, brilliant journalism.
It's 1989 instead of 1999. How many times have the host got it wrong🤦♂️
The host should simply put a "She" sign in front of him 🤦♂️
Everyone on the show is able to pronounce Xi... except for the host. It's driving me crazy.
Great episode! So glad it's back for another season and this one already fascinating