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Articles by Jack Schmidt
Program: John Cameron Mitchell on punk, cancel culture, and how to navigate a dystopian world
John Cameron Mitchell wrote and starred in punk musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch – the tale of a gender queer east German rock and roll singer. He’s now on a mission to bring back punk, saying: “The job of youth is to be punk, meaning to question the status quo in a way where it doesn’t matter if you feel offended, safe…they should be physically safe, mentally unsafe. That is education.” He tackles cancel culture, identity politics and stories vs facts in this conversation with David Marr.
Program: The last cats on Kangaroo Island
Kangaroo Island could soon achieve its goal of feral cat eradication, with approximately 150 cats left to catch. Feral cats have devastated wildlife populations for decades. New Commonwealth funding has been secured for the final push. Local government is also discussing the possibility of a "last cat" policy for the island's residents, to phase out household pet cats.
Program: The changes to spot in this year's Census survey
Census night is just two weeks away, and this year, Australians will have the opportunity to answer new questions on sexual orientation and gender. The Census will also allow for further detail on the cultural heritage of survey participants. Demographer Liz Allen explains why these small changes will make a big difference.
Program: Australia's dependence on the controversial weedkiller paraquat
Last month, after a nearly 30-year review, Australia's chemical regulator finally decided that the herbicide paraquat can continue to be used on Australian farms, with new precautions.That's despite bans on the chemical spreading around the world, amid concerns about the health impacts of repeated exposure. Why is Australia so dependent on the controversial weedkiller, and what are the supply chains for pesticides globally?
Program: 100 years of Route 66 - is it worth celebrating?
It's 100 years since America's fabled highway 'Route 66' was commissioned - the road from Chicago to L.A celebrated in literature and song. But behind the neon-lit diners and sunny road trips, lies a grittier history of danger, death and racism.
Program: Is Australia too generous to the rich? The case for tighter means-testing
Why has means-testing fallen out of favour in Australian public policymaking? The idea of means-testing is to direct government support to those who need it most. Increasingly however, governments are opting for universal spending programs - from energy rebates and EV concessions, to subsidies in childcare and aged care. Professor Robert Breunig asks why, and makes the case for tighter means-testing.
Program: Why are more of us watching TV with subtitles?
More of us are using subtitles while watching TV and movies - particularly amongst Gen Z and Millennials. Is this a sign of our shrinking attention spans, or are there technological factors at play in this era of digital streaming?
Program: Ancient coins reveal more than the faces of dead emperors
Australia is home to one of the world's premier collections of ancient coins, held at The Australian Centre for Ancient Numismatic Studies (ACANS), part of Macquarie University. Its new director celebrates its treasures, currently being digitised for the world. Guest: Associate Professor in History and Archaeology at Macquarie University, Director of ACANS Macquarie University’s Australian Centre for Ancient Numismatic Studies (ACANS) is home to over 7000 ancient coins and medallions.
Program: Why First Nations people are dismayed at Brisbane's new Olympic stadium
This month, earthworks commenced on a new stadium for Brisbane's 2032 Olympic Games. After years of debate, reviews, and a political backflip, Victoria Park was controversially selected by the current state government as the site for the new stadium. The park is the largest existing green space in Brisbane City and holds special significance to local Indigenous people. Questions remain about the project's scale, cost and how the site's heritage will be respected.
Program: Laura Tingle on why Israel isn't backing Trump's Iran peace deal
The terms of the peace deal between the United States and Iran included an immediate halt to fighting on all fronts, including in Lebanon; the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz; the lifting of sanctions on Iran; the unfreezing of Iranian funds; and a massive compensation scheme being set up for Iran. But Israel's Defence Minister, Israel Katz, says IDF security forces will remain in security zones in Lebanon, Syria and Gaza indefinitely, in defiance of the deal.
Program: Will Switzerland vote to cap its population?
This weekend, the Swiss will vote on a proposal to cap the nation's population at 10 million (it's already at 9.1 million). Polling suggests the result will be tight, but how the cap would work for an EU member nation is unclear. Could this be Switzerland's "Brexit' moment? Guest: Mercedes Ruehl, Switzerland and Austria correspondent, Financial Times Producer: Jack Schmidt Referendums on federal laws are a regular feature of the Swiss system of democracy.
Program: Is 'Muskism' the new Fordism?
Elon Musk is tipped to become the world’s first trillionaire when his company SpaceX goes public on the stock exchange as early as next week. To some, Musk is a genius entrepreneur propelling us towards a science-fiction future. To others, he's a troubled far-right “meme lord”, spouting immigration conspiracies on the Internet.
Program: Will the government hold its nerve on tax reform?
A new poll published in the Australian Financial Review has Pauline Hanson's One Nation ahead of Labor and the Coalition on primary vote. Meanwhile, the government is persevering with the tax reforms proposed in its budget, including changes to the capital gains tax discount, negative gearing and discretionary trusts. The Treasurer says he's willing to lose some 'political skin' to make housing more affordable, but will some concessions be made for businesses? Guest: Prof.
Program: Ballerina Anna Pavlova's sensational tour of Australia, 100 years on
100 years ago, Russian ballerina and global megastar Anna Pavlova toured Australia and New Zealand, filling theatres and newspaper columns wherever she went. Why was she such a sensation, so far from home?
Program: The unlikely resurgence of Kim Jong Un
In 2020, North Korea was at a low point. Crippled by COVID border closures, its Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un tried and failed to negotiate sanctions relief. A tearful, apologetic speech at a military rally fuelled speculation that his leadership was in peril. But today, Kim is a resurgent figure, having fostered closer ties with Beijing and Moscow and seen off his internal rivals. With powerful neighbours and a developing nuclear arsenal, Kim appears willing to take more risks in the region.
Program: Silence, stigma and survival: polio in postwar Australia
In the 1950s, Australia endured several dangerous outbreaks of polio - a highly infectious disease that threatened lifelong paralysis. Many aging survivors are still living with its impacts today, including the mother of Professor Catharine Coleborne, a historian of medicine at the University of Newcastle. Now, Catharine is surveying Australia's archival records to better understand the experiences of people who contracted polio in the postwar period.
Program: Silence, stigma and survival: polio in postwar Australia
In the 1950s thousands of Australians contracted polio. Many aging survivors are still living with its impacts, including the mother of Professor Catharine Colbourne, a historian of medicine at the University of Newcastle. Now, Catherine is surveying Australia's archival records to better understand the experiences of people who contracted polio in the postwar period. It's a story not just of physical debilitation, but also intense social stigma and fear.
Program: Why did New Zealand's PM call a leadership vote on himself?
New Zealand PM Christopher Luxon says his leadership is secure after the National Party caucus backed him in an unexpected confidence vote on Monday. Luxon called for the vote after weeks of speculation about party room discontent. Amid tough economic conditions and in a volatile coalition, will Luxon survive through to New Zealand's next election in November?
Program: Why should WA get so much of the GST?
This year Western Australia will once again be the big winner in the GST carve-up, with $6.6 billion from taxpayers heading its way as part of a sweetheart deal which will cost Australia about $60 billion in the next five years. That’s despite WA’s very healthy state coffers. The mineral-rich state has been running a surplus for 8 years, while running down debts. So how does WA keep justifying the deal? Guest: Shane Wright – Senior Economics Correspondent for the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald.
Program: Daylight savings forever? Why B.C, Canada has ditched clock changes
The province of British Columbia, Canada has officially ditched its biannual seasonal clock changes, embracing daylight savings time forever - renamed Pacific time. It's a seemingly popular decision locally, likely fast-tracked in response to Donald Trump's unfriendly rhetoric, but challenges await when the province falls out of sync with its neighbouring US states. Guest: Maurice Katz, video journalist, CBC A woman runs along the waterfront in Vancouver, Canada. Government and Politics, Trade
LNL Summer: Is it time to decriminalise jaywalking?
In recent years, a number of states and cities in the US have decriminalised 'jaywalking', relaxing laws that campaigners argue have been disproportionately enforced on black and Latino residents. Jaywalking first emerged as a traffic offence in the US a century ago, when radical new ordinances gave priority to high-speed vehicles on the roads. Australia followed suit. A campaign of public ridicule shamed pedestrians into following the rules, but are (jay)walkers now reclaiming the streets?
Locals disrupt Trump's deportation blitz in Chicago
On the streets of Chicago, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are busy arresting, detaining and deporting undocumented immigrants as part of "Operation Midway Blitz". But communities are finding ways to resist.
Surviving Malka Leifer: a decades-long struggle for justice
The new documentary Surviving Malka Leifer reveals the inside-story of the Malka Leifer saga, when three sisters from Melbourne's ultra-Orthodox Jewish community fought for years to bring their abuser and former-headmistress to justice. The documentary recently screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival and is available to stream on Stan from October 5.
One hundred years on Mein Kampf is having a worrying revival
100 years ago Adolf Hitler wrote Mein Kampf in prison. It would become compulsory reading in Germany, and millions of copies sold around the world. On its centenary, the acclaimed journalist and author John Kampfner re-examines the book, its years of suppression in Germany, and its ongoing survival in the worst corners of the internet in a new documentary for the BBC. GUEST: John Kampfner, award-winning author, columnist and foreign affairs specialist.
Should we mourn the death of the chequebook?
Australia will phase out cheque payments and processing by 2030, but most banks and consumers moved on long ago. Cheques have been used for cashless payment around the world for some 350 years. Should we mourn or welcome their inevitable demise?
The world's richest shipwreck - and the fight over its future
New archaeological discoveries continue to be made at the site of the San Jose shipwreck, 600 metres under the sea off the coast of Colombia. Described as the 'world's richest shipwreck', the Spanish galleon was sunk by the British in 1708, with hundreds of souls aboard and a heavy cargo of gold, silver and jewels from the Americas. But the ship's loot remains contested - with various nations, tribes and even a private salvage company staking a claim.
The traditional owners tracking a disappearing moth
Not long ago, bogong moths were abundant in the caves of the Australian alps during summer, and in towns and cities like Canberra during their Spring migration. But since 2019, their numbers have crashed by as much as 99.5%. A research project lead by the Taungurung people in collaboration with the University of Melbourne is working to gather much-needed data on these culturally-significant moths - known as deberra in the local language.
Filtered urine and sauna suits: the strange world of biohacking
Emboldened by US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr's libertarian "Make America Healthy Again" agenda, the pseudoscience of 'biohacking' is having a moment. Proponents spruik a range of expensive hi-tech health treatments that promise to increase human longevity: from cryo chambers, to sauna suits, filtered urine treatments and microdosing on snake venom. Journalist Will Bahr went to a conference in Texas to try a few treatments for himself.
Bruce Shapiro's USA: Trump's 'big beautiful bill', and NYC's mayoral race shock
Will Trump's 'big beautiful bill' pass by his preferred deadline of July 4th? And what will the Democratic party learn from the success of 33 year-old democratic socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani, in New York's mayoral candidacy race? • Guest: Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor with The Nation magazine; Executive Director of the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University.
Why don't more countries play cricket? - ABC listen
Nobody knows precisely where the game of cricket was born, but test cricket as we know it has been played for nearly 150 years. The so-called gentleman's game has not always been accessible to all - indeed the sport's development in the early years reflected prevailing attitudes to race, class and empire in the 19th Century. It's a sport full of marvels and contradictions, that continues to appeal to this day.
MAGA Republicans endorse Trump's Iran strikes
MAGA Republicans have put aside their staunch isolationist, anti-interventionist positions to offer their enthusiastic support for US President Donald Trump's strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Republican congressman Chris Massie has criticised the strikes - but he now faces Trump's wrath at the ballot box. Guest: Bruce Shapiro, Contributing Editor with the Nation and Executive Director at the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University World Politics, Unrest, Conflict and War
Doctors push to rename body parts named after 'dead old white men'
Take a look at your body. All the parts you can see, as well as all those on the inside, have been given a name at some point in history. There are plenty of descriptive, fairly innocuous names. But many parts are named after people. The vast majority of these are men, whose identities are invisibly stamped on every human. This includes female body parts — even the G in G spot pays tribute to a man.
Australia to negotiate defence agreement with EU at G7
Whilst Australia is not a G7 member, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in Canada for the annual G7 summit for a number of "sideline" talks, including a face-to-face with US President Donald Trump, where AUKUS will be on the agenda. Australia will also hold formal negotiations on joining a new defence agreement with the European Union, as The Guardian Australia's Tom McIlroy reports.
Bruce Shapiro's America: Trump sends troops to LA protests
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Bernard Keane's Canberra: Albanese dismisses US call to up defence spending
As US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth calls on Australia to significantly increase its military spending, journalist Bernard Keane asks if the US remains a predictable partner in the Asia-Pacific region.
The money behind the Enhanced Games - an "Olympics on steroids"
In May 2026, a resort in Las Vegas will host the inaugural Enhanced Games, where athletes will be free to use performance enhancing drugs. The controversial event is the brainchild of Australian businessman Aron D'Souza, and has gained support from the likes of billionaire Peter Thiel and Donald Trump Jr. Guest: Josh Gabert-Doyon, journalist and podcast producer for Financial Times
Ian Dunt's UK: Starmer vows to 'take back control' of borders
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Donald Trump is not the only leader meddling with maps
On the day of his second inauguration, Donald Trump pulled out his big black Sharpie and scribbled out the Gulf of Mexico, renaming it the 'Gulf of America'. Restoring Names that Honour American Greatness was the title of his executive order. Donald Trump’s fantasy maps – from annexing Canada and Greenland, to claiming the Panama Canal– have been widely ridiculed. But Trump is one of a number of world leaders challenging the cartographic status quo.
A tribute to Ted Kotcheff and his Oz horror classic 'Wake in Fright'
Ted Kotcheff, director of the 1971 Australian cult classic Wake in Fright has died at the age of 94. David Stratton pays tribute to the Canadian director who captured a distinctly Australian horror story on screen.
Ian Dunt's UK: gender wars escalate and House of Lords reform stalls
Ian Dunt looks at the fallout from the UK Supreme court ruling that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex, why Labour's push to remove hereditary peers from the House of Lords has stalled and the Ukraine peace talks are off track. • GUEST: Ian Dunt, columnist with the “i”, co-host of the Origin Story podcast
The folklore of the Stawell Gift: Australia's oldest footrace
The small town of Stawell in regional Victoria is busy preparing for the 143rd running of the Stawell Gift - Australia's richest and oldest footrace. The history of th Gift is full of drama, intrigue, and occasional controversy.
Bruce Shapiro's America: Harvard will not 'yield' to Trump threats
Harvard University will not 'yield' to demands from the Trump administration to roll-back diversity initiatives and 'root out' activists, despite threats of $9bn USD in withdrawn federal grants. Meanwhile, another pro-Palestinian student from Columbia University has reportedly been detained by immigration authorities. • Guest: Bruce Shapiro, Contributing Editor for the Nation, Executive Director of the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University
Laura Tingle's Election 2025: blunders and backtracks
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has acknowledged that his proposal to compel Canberra-based public servants working from home to return to the office was a mistake. But as past elections have shown, there is still plenty of time to recover from a blunder.
Tariffs are as old as the Roman Empire
Global markets are reeling in response to US President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, but the tariff itself is nothing new. The ancient Romans applied duties to imports from the East - including incense, spices and jewels - designed to generate vast amounts of government revenue. But Roman tariffs also created problems - from price inflation to the emergence of black markets.
Ian Dunt's UK: why did London police arrest activists in a Quaker meeting house?
LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 31: Quaker Meeting House stands in London, England. The arrests of six female Youth Demand activists from the Quaker Meeting House in central London have drawn widespread condemnation. London Police arrested the Gaza protest planners on the evening of 28th March, along with raids at other London addresses and in Exeter. Paul Parker of Quakers in Britain said the raid "clearly shows what happens when a society criminalises protest."
Crime in extreme places: from Antarctica to space
An alleged physical assault at the South African Antarctic research station SENAE IV has underlined how these extreme, isolated work environments can become hotbeds of stress and human conflict. • Guest: Dr Hanne Nielsen, Senior Lecturer in Antarctic Law and Governance at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania
Bruce Shapiro's America: the prestigious law firm bowing to Trump
The prestigious American law firm Paul Weiss is under fire for negotiating a deal with the Trump administration to avoid losing lucrative federal contracts. Meanwhile, Columbia University is also negotiating with the administration to unfreeze $400 million worth of federal funding. • Guest: Bruce Shapiro, Contributing Editor with The Nation, Executive Director with the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma
Ian Dunt's UK: how to fund increased defence spending? - ABC listen
As Europe looks to become much more self-sufficient on defence, how will the Starmer government find the funds? Plus, relationships sour within Nigel Farage's Reform party. • Guest: Ian Dunt, columnist with i-news, author and host of the Origin Story podcast
Laura Tingle's Canberra: how to handle Trump
After US President Donald Trump imposed 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Australia, opposition leader Peter Dutton said his Coalition could have won a tariff exemption, if they'd been in government. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Albanese has stepped up the language, describing Trump's move as 'entirely unjustified'.
Bruce Shapiro's America: minimising measles and defunding universities
A measles outbreak in Texas and New Mexico has claimed at least two lives, according to reports. But Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has been accused of downplaying the situation. Plus, why has the Trump administration defunded Columbia University to the tune of $400 million? • Guest: Bruce Shapiro, Contributing Editor with the Nation, Executive Director of the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University
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