Australia isn’t experiencing one populist surge, but two. In this episode of Curtin’s Cast, Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras unpack new RedBridge and Accent Research polling revealing a striking political reality: under the same economic pressures, different generations are breaking in completely different directions.

Among financially stressed Gen X voters, One Nation is surging. Among Gen Z voters under that same pressure, the Greens are rising just as sharply. Same system. Same frustration. Completely different political outcomes.

This isn’t just volatility — it’s something deeper. The unravelling of the class-based political system that has defined Australia for more than a century.

But here’s the paradox: as the system fragments, Labor remains dominant. Why? Drawing on Nick’s ‘Trump Bump 2.0’ thesis, the episode explores how voters are shifting from blaming governments to asking a different question — who looks like the “adult in the room” in an age of global instability. Nick and Kos break down:

This is a conversation about a political system coming apart — and what might replace it.

Has World War 3 already begun — just without a declaration?

This week on Curtin’s Cast, Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras are joined by the excellent Misha Zelinsky — Fulbright Scholar, economist, lawyer, and national security expert — to unpack a confronting idea: We may already be living through the early stages of the third great global conflict of modern times.

From Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine to chaos in the Middle East and rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific, Misha argues we are witnessing an unevenly distributed, undeclared world war — driven by a loose but dangerous alignment of authoritarian powers.

On episode 51 we cover:

This is a serious, sobering conversation about power, geopolitics, and whether the world has already crossed a threshold we don’t yet recognise.

This week, Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras are joined by arguably Australia’s finest historian and public intellectual, Professor Frank Bongiorno, for our landmark 50th episode — and a big question at the heart of Australian politics:

Is Bob Hawke really the “gold standard”… or a myth we can’t escape?

Our conversation is anchored in the new book Gold Standard? Remembering the Hawke Government, edited by Frank, Carolyn Holbrook and Joshua Black — a major reassessment of Hawke’s record and reputation.

We unpack:

▪️ Why Hawke still dominates how we judge governments

What matters now is what Albanese Labor can realistically learn from Hawke — and what his record tells students of Australian politics about the limits and possibilities of reform today.

A seismic election result in South Australia — but was it a Labor landslide, or a structural collapse of the Liberals? Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras unpack:

This is a deep dive into fragmentation, realignment, and the future of the two party system. Check out episode 49 wherever you get your podcasts.

This week on Curtin’s Cast, Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras break down the most striking polling shift in a generation — and what it means for Australian politics.

Victoria is no longer a conventional contest. Both major parties are struggling to reach 30%. One Nation is now polling in the mid-20s. The next Victorian election won’t be one election at all. It’ll be eighty-eight by-elections happening simultaneously across the state.

In this episode we explore:

📊 RedBridge/Accent Victorian state election polling

👥 Generational and class realignment playing out in real time

🗳️ Check in on South Australia ahead of March 21

🌍 Whether Middle East conflict influences domestic voting behaviour

This is a deep dive into the end of the old electoral map — and what replaces it.

This week co-hosts Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras are joined by Dr Kylie Gilbert-Moore — Middle East scholar, columnist and former political prisoner in Iran. After spending 804 days jailed in Tehran’s Evin Prison, Kylie offers a rare perspective on how the Iranian regime works and how ordinary Iranians see the world. In this episode we unpack:

• Iran’s widening war in the Middle East

🎧 Listen now via Apple, Spotify or YouTube

This week Curtin's Cast is joined in the studio by Peter Khalil — Labor member for the federal seat of Wills in Melbourne, Assistant Minister for Defence, former Chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee, ex-national security adviser to Kevin Rudd, and previously the government’s former Special Envoy for Social Cohesion. From public housing in Melbourne’s north to junior tennis glory, from working as an executive with SBS to the frontline of Australia’s national security debate — Peter’s story is as global as it is grounded. And Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras go deep with Peter, exploring:

This week it’s a one-on-one Kos vs Nick deep dive. No guests. No niceties. Just a hard look at the polling — and some of the rubbish floating around. We unpack:

📊 The latest federal and state polls — what’s real and what’s noise

We also dig into:

📍 Victorian and South Australian polling

Then:

🏗️ Why issues like the CFMEU saga are viewed by voters as intra-elite squabbles

If you want to know where Australian politics is actually heading — beyond the hot takes — this is the episode for you!

🎙️ New Curtin’s Cast: Alastair Campbell on democracy in the age of Trumpism

Politics everywhere feels simultaneously stuck and combustible — in the US, the UK and here in Australia. This week Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras are joined by Alastair Campbell — former Director of Communications and Strategy to Tony Blair, co-host of The Rest Is Politics, and one of the sharpest observers of modern democratic politics — for a wide-ranging and unsparing conversation. We explore:

Alastair also speaks candidly about his own reaction to Trump — even joking about how he has “Trump Derangement Syndrome” — and what that reveals about the emotional intensity of contemporary politics 🎧 Listen to episode 44 wherever you get your podcasts. 

🎙 Curtin’s Cast returns for 2026

Episode 43 | Polling shocks, Coalition fracture and the new politics of grievance

Australian politics is realigning in real time. In the first Curtin’s Cast episode of 2026, co-hosts Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras unpack a turbulent political summer — from polling shocks and Coalition breakdown to the surge of One Nation, the Gen X revolt, and the risks now facing a dominant but vulnerable Labor government. We discuss:

🎧 Listen now on Apple, Spotify and YouTube