In 2018, then prime minister Scott Morrison announced a royal commission into aged care, shedding light on the astonishing prevalence of abuse in residential facilities.

It’s been three years since its final report was handed down and advocates say very little has improved.

The commission highlighted just how difficult accountability and justice can be to achieve after someone in care is harmed. Especially when the abuse is at the hands of those in charge of the nursing homes and home care services.

The federal government is attempting to remedy this with new laws that could see directors and management jailed in particularly egregious cases.

Today, poet and aged care advocate Sarah Holland-Batt on whether the government's new laws will be enough to turn around the disaster that is our aged care system.

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Guest: Poet and aged care advocate, Sarah Holland-Batt

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There's a shadow world beneath Canberra, fed by the defence, foreign affairs and security communities, and it is hugely influential in how the government responds to our biggest geopolitical challenges.

Margaret Simons has spent decades keeping a close eye on this world. Recently, the story of one think tank, China Matters, caught her attention.

The group, dedicated to bettering Australia’s understanding of China, was defunded during a time of aggressive posturing towards the superpower and talk of war.

Today, investigative journalist and contributor to The Monthly Margaret Simons on why this influential think tank came undone, and how a crew of anti-China politicians called the ‘Wolverines’ led the attack.

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Guest: Investigative journalist and contributor to The Monthly Margaret Simons

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If you pick up a copy of The Age or The Sydney Morning Herald, you’ll see the tagline ‘Independent. Always.’ under the masthead.

Now, as journalists at those papers reel from an announcement that Nine Entertainment is slashing 200 jobs across the company, some are wondering if they’re being targeted for the papers’ recent coverage of Nine’s troubled culture. 

Are the cuts payback for certain papers being too independent? 

Today, National Correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe on why Australian media is struggling and what the future of independent news looks like.

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Guest: National Correspondent for The Saturday Paper, Mike Seccombe

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Donald Trump’s lead in the polls for the 2024 presidential race has widened following a fumbling debate performance from Joe Biden, and concerns about the President’s age.

With the increasing likelihood of a second Trump presidency, attention is now turning to his potential governing agenda.

The blueprint, called Project 2025, is more than 900 pages long and includes calls to sack thousands of civil servants, expand presidential power, and dismantle federal agencies.

Today, senior researcher at The Australia Institute, Dr Emma Shortis, on Project 2025, and the threat of ‘a second American Revolution’.

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Guest: Senior researcher in International and Security Affairs at The Australia Institute, Dr Emma Shortis

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George Saunders is one of literary fiction's most acclaimed living writers. Along with his many collections of short stories, he also published the Booker Prize-winning novel Lincoln in the Bardo. To celebrate Read This' first birthday, we're bringing you Michael Williams' interview with George Saunders. They talk about his life and career and the three words that made him a writer.

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Smut Clyde spends several hours every day, scouring online science journals for suspicious-looking research.

He’s part of a growing team of online ‘science sleuths’, combating the rising number of fake research papers being published.

These papers are typically generated, with the help of AI, by ‘paper mills’: a cottage industry relying on overworked and desperate researchers to fuel their profit. 

Today, 7am producer and journalist Cheyne Anderson on how this epidemic of fraudulent research is infecting the scientific record and the self-appointed ‘sleuths’ who are fighting it.

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Guest: Producer for 7am, Cheyne Anderson.

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When people think of the CFMEU, Australia’s powerful and fearsome construction union, they picture its top dog, John Setka.

But as he prepares to step down from the union’s Victorian branch, Setka’s legacy is overshadowed by his brutality. Many current and former colleagues think his leadership was poisonous to the union, and that he may have even destroyed it.

Today, associate editor of The Saturday Paper Martin Mckenzie-Murray on the power and legacy of CFMEU boss, John Setka, and what comes next for the union.

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Guest: Associate editor of The Saturday Paper, Martin Mckenzie-Murray.

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Sebastien Lai woke up one morning in 2020 to find dozens of missed phone calls – his father, the Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai, had just been arrested.

Sebastien is in Australia now, trying to convince our political leaders to advocate for his dad’s release from a Hong Kong prison.

Today on the show, Sebastien Lai tells the story of how his father Jimmy went from media mogul to political prisoner and what this means for journalistic freedom in Hong Kong.

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Guest: Sebastien Lai

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In high-security labs, from Silicon Valley to mainland China, researchers are racing to be the first to achieve what has been dubbed ‘Q-day’.

On that day, all encryption and security could be laid bare – the deepest plans of militaries around the world, our medical records and private encrypted conversations could all be exposed. The internet could essentially break.

Q-day, after all, is the day the most powerful machine yet comes online: the first fault-free quantum computer.

Today, special correspondent for The Saturday Paper, Jason Koutsoukis on why Australia wants to join the race, and why one American company got the billion-dollar deal to do it.

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Guest: Special correspondent for The Saturday Paper, Jason Koutsoukis

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By the end of this week, the United Kingdom will almost certainly have a new prime minister and closure on 14 years of Tory leadership.

One man in particular is working very hard to prevent that, and it’s not the current Tory leader. Since it kicked off with a bizarre, rain-soaked announcement, Rishi Sunak’s election campaign has been marked by ineptitude, misstep and ignorance.

Today, veteran UK correspondent and contributor to The Saturday Paper Paola Totaro on the stratospheric rise of the young strategist from regional New South Wales, whose dark arts of electioneering have pulled off a series of “miracle” victories. 

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Guest: Veteran UK correspondent and contributor to The Saturday Paper, Paola Totaro

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