Global Roaming with Geraldine Doogue and Hamish Macdonald

Péter Magyar has beaten Viktor Orbán in Hungary's election, ending 16 years of autocratic rule. Hundreds of thousands of Hungarians celebrated in the streets of Budapest as the results were announced.Maygar won in a landslide, meaning his government has the power to enact significant reform, including bringing Hungary back into the EU fold.Hungarians voted for change of government and they got it. Does this signal the end of strongman politics? And what will America and Russia do now they've lost their man in Europe?Guest: Gergő Papp, Hungarian political campaigns consultant and author of 'The Fall of Orbán: How a Political Outsider Toppled Europe’s Trump'. The book will be available in English in a few months.------------Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at global.roaming@abc.net.auFind all episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.

The war in the Middle East is sending shock waves through global supply chains, so where does this leave economic superpower China? Will it emerge as a genuine global leader or merely make a profit from global disorder?Does Beijing see the US and the President Trump's instability as a threat or opportunity?In this episode, Geraldine and Latika go roaming to find out if China wants the global power but not the global responsibility.The article Geraldine references from Foreign Affairs, written by Zongyuan Zoe Liu is here.Guest: Rana Mitter, ST Lee Chair in US Asia Relations at the Harvard Kennedy School and author of 'Forgotten Ally, China’s World War II'.Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at global.roaming@abc.net.auFind all episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.

The ink hadn't even dried on the initial US-Iran ceasefire last week when Israel launched an unprecedented bombardment on Lebanon's capital, Beirut. Latika Bourke and Laura Tingle speak to a seasoned analyst from the International Crisis Group in Lebanon, who gives a unique insight into the fissures in Lebanese society. Is Hezbollah putting Iran's interests over Lebanon's? Will their most recent support of Iran continue a cycle of perpetual warfare? And is fermenting internal division a tactic employed by Israel to weaken the country?Guest: Heiko Wimmen, overseer of the International Crisis Group's Iraq, Syria and Lebanon project.--------------Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at global.roaming@abc.net.auFind all episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.

Is Wikipedia a relic of a more utopian version of the internet? Or is it the citizen-led antidote that we need?In the final episode of Global Roaming's Matter of Facts mini-series, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales joins Hamish and Geraldine to discuss how much we should value freedom of speech over stifling active disinformation.This episode is part of a companion series to Hamish's three-part TV documentary, The Matter of Facts.Guest: Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia and author of The Seven Rules of Trust.Get in touch:We'd love to hear from you! Email us at global.roaming@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Middle East conflict has triggered a reckoning in global energy supplies. So as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese touches down in Singapore for talks to shore up fuel supplies, are there opportunities amidst the disruption? Could Australia work with South East Asia to develop more resilient energy supply chains? In this episode, Hamish and Geraldine travel to Jakarta, Indonesia's capital and now the most populous city in the world, to find out. Guest: Dr Kao Kim Hourn,  Secretary-General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at global.roaming@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.*Hamish is in Indonesia as the winner of the 2024 Elizabeth O’Neill Journalism Award. The award provides for a visit to Indonesia supported by the Australia-Indonesia Institute (All) within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

The war in Iran has aroused worldwide fears: what happens if a country runs out of oil? Because of severe US restrictions, Cuba has faced that reality, having been without oil for three months.Latika and Kylie speak to correspondent Ruaridh Nicoll who has been travelling across the country to find out how the Cubans are surviving.Guest: Ruaridh Nicoll, journalist, freelancer, and author. He has worked with The Guardian, The Telegraph UK, and Al Jazeera, among others.-------------Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at global.roaming@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.

A ceasefire is declared after Donald Trump agrees to a two-week pause in attacks on Iran, contingent on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. But is this a genuine de-escalation or a strategic pause? A reprieve that the world has been desperate to see or statecraft in action? In this episode of Global Roaming Geraldine and Latika speak to one of the UK's leading war and military specialists to better understand where the Middle East conflict is headed. Guest: Dr Jack Watling, Senior Research Fellow for Land Warfare at the Royal United Services Institute in London.Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at global.roaming@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.

Australia's education system is one of our most successful export industries, worth an estimated 54 billion dollars. But as perceptions that our universities are "mediocre and overpriced" rise, is the opportunity to use education as a way to build stronger relationships with south east Asia passing Australia by? This episode Hamish Macdonald and Kylie Morris go to Ho Chi Minh City to speak with Damien Cave from the New York Times, who argues Australian universities are failing as a frontline of Australian foreign policy.Guest: New York Times' Vietnam bureau chief, Damien Cave. Read his story for ABC's Long Read here: Is Australia's university empire losing global appeal?Get in touch:We'd love to hear from you! Email us at global.roaming@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.*Hamish is in Indonesia as the winner of the 2024 Elizabeth O’Neill Journalism Award. The award provides for a visit to Indonesia supported by the Australia-Indonesia Institute (All) within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

In our previous Matter of Facts mini-series episodes, we covered why our brains are vulnerable to misinformation, and how disinformation is affecting democracies. Today, we examine the public's trust (or lack thereof) in mainstream media.For decades, news outlets functioned to bridge the gap between the public and those in power. So, how did faith in traditional journalism erode, and what needs to change in how the media operates to start fixing the mess?Guest: Ulrik Haagerup, founder and CEO of Constructive Institute.-----------------Get in touch:We'd love to hear from you! Email us at global.roaming@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.

Today, a special episode recorded at the Manly Writer's Festival 2026 where Geraldine speaks to three highly experienced diplomats -- Ian Kemish AM, Dr Robert Bowker, Dr Lachlan Straun. They talk about the challenges they faced in foreign negotiating rooms, how accurate the media representations of diplomats are, and whether there is a distinctly Australian style of diplomacy.Guests:Ian Kemish AM -- former Australian ambassador to Germany, former Australian high commissioner to Papua New Guinea and former international adviser to the prime minister. Author of The Consul: an insider account from Australia's diplomatic frontline and Two Islands.Dr Robert Bowker -- Australian ambassador to Jordan (1989-1992), Australian ambassador to Egypt (2005-2008) and former non-resident Australian ambassador to Syria, Libya, Tunisia and Sudan. Author of Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots: An Australian Diplomat in the Arab World.Dr Lachlan Strahan -- former High Commissioner to the Solomon Islands, First Assistant Secretary of the DFAT Multilateral Policy Division, and Australia’s former Acting United Nations Ambassador in Geneva. Author of The Curious Diplomat: A memoir from the frontlines of diplomacy. Get in touch:We'd love to hear from you! Email us at global.roaming@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 

As the war in the Middle East rages, Israel is waging offensives on multiple fronts. The state is pounding Iran and Beirut with missiles and drones. Ground troops are pushing deep into southern Lebanon and occupy half of Gaza. The expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank has become "unconstrained" and increasingly violent. Is this Benjamin Netanyahu pursuing his expansionist dream of "Greater Israel"? And how do ordinary Israelis feel about the conflict? On this episode of Global Roaming Kylie and Latika go to Israel to find out. Guest: Daliah Scheindlin, public opinion researcher, political advisor and policy fellow at The Century Foundation. She is the author of The Crooked Timber of Democracy in Israel: Promise UnfulfilledGet in touch:We'd love to hear from you! Email us at global.roaming@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Iran has withstood US and Israel's offensive more effectively than those who attacked it had expected. They've made the most of geography - and shown just how vulnerable the global economy is.Despite this, Iran's allies, Moscow and Beijing, have been keeping their distance. But what about Yemen's Houthis? What difference could they make in this war?And at what point will the Gulf countries step in?Guest: Neil Quilliam, energy policy, geopolitics and foreign affairs specialist.Get in touch:We'd love to hear from you! Email us at global.roaming@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 

President Trump’s campaign to pull allies like Australia and Japan into defending the Strait of Hormuz is growing more urgent by the day. Japan's pacifist constitution is seemingly at odds with the US calling for them to send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz. Former Japanese ambassador to Australia, Shingo Yamagami, insists there are ways the country can contribute without directly going against their constitutional prerogative. But how far will they be pulled into US interests?And will it influence Australia to do the same?Guest: Shingo Yamagami, former Japanese ambassador to Australia.Get in touch:We'd love to hear from you! Email us at global.roaming@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Disinformation accelerated by AI is affecting democracies worldwide at an extraordinary pace. Governments overseas are wielding it against their own citizens. Meanwhile closer to home, perceptions of AI interference in elections have us questioning everything. It's an information war being fought on several fronts.We finally have some empirical data on this new phenomena. So, how do we safeguard our democracies from digital interference?------------GUEST: Dr Constanza Sanhueza, researcher and senior lecturer in political science at ANU.This is the second of Global Roaming's mini series on misinformation and disinformation. Hamish's documentary is called A Matter of Facts, and will be released on iView on Tuesday 24th March 2026.Get in touch:We'd love to hear from you! Email us at global.roaming@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 

With a rogue United States causing havoc in the Middle East, is it time for Australia to abandon its 'good doggy' approach to US foreign policy?In the final instalment of Global Roaming's three-part series, The World Reordered, hosts Hamish Macdonald and Geraldine Doogue are joined by one of Australia's most respected military thinkers, who argues Australia needs to 'grow up'.Guest: David Kilcullen, Professor of Practice in the Center on the Future of War and the School of Politics and Global Studies, former Australian Army lieutenant colonel, counterinsurgency expert and author.Get in touch:We'd love to hear from you! Email us at global.roaming@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 

How much do we Australians really understand South East Asia? Australia has long prioritised neighbours further north when it comes to our strategic alliances, but as China rises as a great power, have our blind spots become our greatest weakness? Michael Wesley joins Geraldine Doogue and Latika Bourke (The Nightly) to make the case for appraising South East Asia as more than a holiday destination, and in particular, why we should be doing more to partner with Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Guest: Michael Wesley, author of Quarterly essay Blindspot: Southeast Asia and Australia’s FutureGet in touch:We'd love to hear from you! Email us at global.roaming@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 

In a broad-ranging conversation, Hamish Macdonald speaks to historian and host of the hit podcast Empire William Dalrymple about the pitfalls of trying to understand the contemporary world without a firm grasp of the past, whether India can replicate its success as an ancient superpower and how countries like Australia and Britain deal with uncomfortable truths from their past. 

The world is getting more dangerous. The closure of the Straight of Hormuz has sent shock waves around the world. The price of oil has skyrocketed and with fuel shortages now reaching Asia, Australia faces 'crunch time' on its energy security.So how vulnerable are we right now? And how do our perceptions shape our foreign policy? Rory Medcalf from the ANU's National Security College has been studying how our security expectations match up our reality. He joins Hamish Macdonald and Kylie Morris to talk about why public opinion matters. Guest: Professor Rory Medcalf, Director of the ANU's National Security College. Further reading: Report - No worries? Australian attitudes to national security, risk and resilienceGet in touch:We'd love to hear from you! Email us at global.roaming@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.

To celebrate Hamish Macdonald's new television series The Matter of Facts, we'll be taking a deep dive into the global ramifications of mis- and disinformation. First up is the world of AI deepfakes. Generative artificial intelligence has us questioning our own eyes and ears, and the rapid pace at which we're consuming information is quite literally changing our brains. How do we navigate this world without falling prey to manipulation?In this episode, “deep reading” expert Maryanne Wolf joins Hamish Macdonald and Geraldine Doogue to unpack what it means to engage critically with information.-----------Guest: Maryanne Wolf -- Director of the Center for Dyslexia, Diverse Learners, and Social Justice at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. And author of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain.This is the first of Global Roaming's mini series on misinformation and disinformation. Hamish's documentary is called The Matter of Facts, and will be released on iView on Tuesday 24th March 2026.Get in touch:We'd love to hear from you! Email us at global.roaming@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 

With Ali Larijani killed, and the whereabouts of the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei unknown, who is calling the shots in Iran? Iranian-American historian Arash Azizi joins Geraldine Doogue and Hamish Macdonald to talk through the emerging power players, like Mohammad Bagher Ghabliaf and Saeed Jalili, and how much would genuinely change under their potential leadership. Guest: Arash Azizi, author of What Iranians WantGet in touch:We'd love to hear from you! Email us at global.roaming@abc.net.auFind all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.