At 13 years old, a young Gina Rinehart read a book that would help shape her worldview – Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, which is having a moment around the world. 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 the iron ore industry in Australia 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 another company, CSR, which mined the area for 20 more years. Wittenoom has become synonymous with an immense tragedy that unfolded upon thousands of the people who lived and worked there due to 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 Listen and subscribe to the Gina podcast at theguardian.com/gina

Gina Rinehart’s father Lang Hancock is well known as a pioneer of the iron ore industry in Australia 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 another company, CSR, which mined the area for 20 more years. Wittenoom has become synonymous with an immense tragedy that unfolded upon thousands of the people who lived and worked there due to 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 last episode, we covered historical claims made over the years that Lang Hancock, Gina’s father, had two unacknowledged daughters with separate Indigenous women. Since then, the daughter of Sella Robinson, one of the Indigenous women who claimed to be Hancock’s daughter, has decided to speak publicly for the first time Listen to all the episodes of Gina at theguardian.com/gina

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 of Gina 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. Listen with care

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 his mother fell apart and discusses a high-stakes legal case that could threaten the foundations of her empire Listen and subscribe to the Gina Podcast at theguardian.com/gina

Gina Rinehart has been Australia’s richest person for the last six years in a row. But where does her money come from? In episode three 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 then 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 Listen and subscribe to the Gina Podcast at theguardian.com/gina

How does Gina Rinehart, like her father before her, use wealth and power to influence politics? Rinehart’s first major foray into the political spotlight was successfully lobbying against Labor’s mining super profit tax during the early 2010s. But what did she learn from Lang Hancock, who campaigned to overturn the iron ore export embargo in the 1950s, setting the foundation for their family fortune? Listen to all the episodes of Gina at theguardian.com/gina

Gina Rinehart is Australia’s richest person – and as her wealth continues to rise, so does her power and influence. But what does she want? In the first episode of Gina, senior correspondent Sarah Martin explores the impact Rinehart could have on Australian politics. Rinehart grew up in the vast expanse of the Pilbara. To understand her story, we delve into her past and how her unique childhood under the influence of Lang Hancock shaped her

Gina Rinehart is Australia’s richest person – and as her wealth continues to rise, so does her power and influence. But what does she want? As the federal election approaches, Guardian Australia’s new series explores the impact she could have on Australian politics. Senior correspondent Sarah Martin investigates decades of family history and infighting to make sense of how she became a mining billionaire, legal warrior and Trump admirer – and what she might do next.