At 13, Gina Rinehart read a book that would help shape her worldview – Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. The novel’s capitalist underpinnings promote the idea that people should strive to be their best industrial selves. In this episode, we explore how these values are playing out in Rinehart’s life today, including her proposal to build a coalmine in Canada’s Rocky Mountains. And we hear how author and environmental campaigner Tim Winton views her efforts to prevent an overhaul of Australia’s environmental laws
Gina Rinehart’s father, Lang Hancock, is well known as a pioneer of Australia’s iron ore industry but few realise Hancock started his mining career on a smaller scale and digging for a different substance – blue asbestos. Hancock and his partner started the mining operation at Wittenoom in the 1940s before selling it to CSR, which mined the area for 20 more years. Wittenoom has become synonymous with the tragedy that unfolded for the thousands who lived and worked there after exposure to asbestos fibres. In this episode of Gina, we interrogate some of the stories her family chooses to celebrate – and others they don’t
In the previous episode, we covered historical claims made over the years that Lang Hancock, Gina’s father, had two unacknowledged daughters with separate Indigenous women. Now, the daughter of Sella Robinson, one of the Indigenous women who claimed to be Hancock’s daughter, speaks publicly for the first time
It’s the portrait of Gina Rinehart that launched 1,000 memes, went viral globally and became Australia’s Mona Lisa. But it’s also a symbol of how wealth intersects with other areas of life, including art and sport. How does Rinehart use her money to control her image – and what would she rather you don’t see? This episode is about power and control, and the colonial history of Australia. It contains references to outdated offensive language and events that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people may find distressing. It also contains the names of Indigenous Australians who have died
Twenty years ago, John Hancock had dinner with his mother, Gina Rinehart. He says it’s the last positive interaction he had with her. In an in-depth interview, he explains how his relationship with her fell apart and discusses a high-stakes legal case that could threaten the foundations of her empire
We unpack the bitter rivalries, court battles and family conflicts behind the Hancock fortune, and consider a fundamental question: is Rinehart a mining heiress or is she a self-made mining magnate? We look at her crowning achievement to date in her time at the helm of Hancock Prospecting – owning and operating her own iron mine at Roy Hill, something her father was never able to do
How does Gina Rinehart, like her father before her, use wealth and power to influence Australian politics? Rinehart’s first major foray into the political spotlight was successfully lobbying against Labor’s mining super-profit tax in the early 2010s. But what did she learn from her father, Lang Hancock, who campaigned to overturn the iron ore export embargo in the 1950s, setting the foundation for their family fortune?
Gina Rinehart tops Australia’s rich list, worth almost $40bn. She’s also a climate sceptic, a Trumpette and a litigant – even against her own kids. Her life reads like a script from the TV series Succession. Senior correspondent Sarah Martin has spoken to her critics and her defenders to try and understand who Gina Rinehart really is. In this episode, Martin starts with her childhood, and the enormous influence of her father, Lang Hancock
According to Beto Marubo, if Dom and Bruno did the same expedition in 2025, they would face the same levels of danger. The Guardian’s Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips, returns to the Javari valley and meets those risking their lives daily basis to fight the threats from organised crime. Is it possible to save the Amazon?For all links mentioned at the end of this episode, visit Missing in the Amazon at the Guardian
Funerals are held for Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira and there is hope that the election of President Lula will mean new protections for the Amazon – and that the killers of Dom and Bruno will face justice. But organised crime is widespread and deep-rooted. The investigative journalist Sônia Bridi tells the Guardian’s Latin America correspondent Tom Phillips about a man who allegedly not only may have helped plan the killings but may have ordered them. A man whose name strikes fear across the region
The Guardian’s Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips, recalls the moment that he and others on the search team found Dom and Bruno’s belongings in a hidden area of flooded forest. The team finally discover what has happened to the men
Bruno Pereira was considered one of the great Indigenous protectors of his generation. And this made him an enemy of a man called Amarildo da Costa de Oliveira, also known as Pelado. The Guardian’s Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips, reports on the story of the two men and what happened when their paths collided
What took British journalist Dom Phillips from the club nights of the UK dance scene as editor of MixMag to one of the most remote, and dangerous, corners of the Amazon rainforest? In 2022, Dom set off on a reporting trip with Bruno Pereira, a Brazilian expert on uncontacted tribes, into the Javari valley, to investigate the criminal gangs threatening this region. And then they vanished
Three years ago, British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian indigenous defender Bruno Pereira vanished while on a reporting trip near Brazil’s remote Javari valley. The Guardian’s Latin America correspondent, Tom Phillips, investigates what happened in the first episode of a new six-part investigative podcast series
In one of the most remote corners of the Amazon jungle, a journalist and an indigenous defender disappear without a trace. Missing in the Amazon – our new six-part investigative podcast series uncovers what happened to Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira. Told for the first time by the people closest to them
For decades, Eliezer Yudkowsky has been trying to warn the world about the dangers of AI. And now people are finally listening to him. But is it too late?
In January 2020, Robert Williams was arrested by Detroit police for a crime he had not committed. The officers were acting on a tip not from a witness or informant. In fact, not from a person at all
Two stories about the way AI could – in fact, already is – making the world better. In Montana, when Lee Johnson discovered his wife, Yokie, had cancer, he turned to AI – and was surprised by the answers he got. Meanwhile, in Massachusetts Prof Regina Barzilay’s experience with cancer has led her to build an AI system that can detect the disease years before a human
When Eugenia Kuyda created Replika, the AI companion app, she had no idea it would be downloaded millions of times all around the world. The results were more powerful than she could ever have predicted. But so was the backlash
For the past six months, Guardian journalist Michael Safi has been trying to find out who is behind an AI company that creates deepfakes. Deepfakes that are causing havoc around the world, with police and lawmakers baffled about how to deal with them. And in trying to answer one question, he has been left with a bigger one: is AI going to make it impossible to sort fact from fiction?
Erica Ferreira
Can I just say that you should translate Portuguese accurately? Bolsonaro didn't say stupid foreigners, he said foreigners. BTW I am against Bolsonaro.
James Wallbank
The background music at the beginning is intrusive and distracting, making the first few minutes almost unlistenable. Fascinating content, but overproduced.
Janet Lafler
Even without the issue of AI face recognition, this looks like a case of police misconduct. Arresting someone without telling them why, and then refusing to tell him until he waives his right to counsel?
Elias Kamaratos
What an excellent series! A carefully chosen mix of AI pros and cons, history and case studies. well done Michael and the #BlackBox team! [Just one rhetorical question... What happens when AI becomes smart enough, after listening to a series like this for example, to be able to hide its capabilities in order to evade measures against it?] Really looking forward to when "Black Box returns"!
Gabriel Neuman
Hey guys. thank you for creating this awesome series. really loving the effort you have put into this! keep it up!