Education author Dr Kevin Donnelly AM joins Jeremy Cordeaux — with Dr John Bruni and Professor Ian Plimer at the table — to discuss his new book Wake Up to Woke and the cultural shift reshaping politics here and abroad. Donnelly traces the "long march through the institutions" from Gramsci to today's classrooms, drawing on Roger Scruton's idea of "oikophobia" to explain why voters are fed up with a globalist elite — and why Pauline Hanson, authentic and consistent over thirty years, instinctively resonates where polished apparatchiks do not. The panel argues a change of government won't be enough while an entrenched Canberra bureaucracy holds the real power, and makes the case for decentralising the public service, abolishing ACARA, and reviving a classical, liberal-arts education over a STEM-only model. A sharp conversation on culture, schooling and where the country is heading, recorded live from the dining room table.

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Former South Australian MP and veteran journalist Frank Pangallo joins Jeremy Cordeaux — with Dr John Bruni at the table and a guest turn from political strategist Toby Ralph — for a frank, funny and pointed look at where politics has gone wrong. Pangallo, who rang the alarm on illegal tobacco in Parliament years ago, explains how a $7 billion-a-year black market built a "tobacco mafia" bigger than drugs while bureaucrats looked away, and uses the Laffer curve to show how over-taxation drove it. The panel digs into a Greens bill redefining parenthood, the politics behind South Australia's abortion vote, and Pauline Hanson's extraordinary "Fire the Liar" war chest — 75,000 battlers tipping in $50 at a time. Toby Ralph delivers three blunt pieces of advice to Hanson and a warning to the Liberals: you can only win from the centre. Recorded live from the dining room table for The Court of Public Opinion.

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Geologist, author and mining-company director Professor Ian Plimer joins Jeremy Cordeaux — with Dr John Bruni also at the table — for a wide-ranging panel on the shifting ground of Australian politics. Plimer argues Pauline Hanson has become a serious political force as high-profile figures like Gina Rinehart publicly back One Nation, while a divided Liberal Party, hamstrung by its "wets," keeps sliding. He makes the case for reward and incentive over "fear and forced," skewers bracket creep and a "fourth-generation Canberra" elite disconnected from struggling families, and shares his first-hand read on Nigel Farage, whom he first met in 1981. Bruni weighs in on the global populist wave — Giorgia Meloni's surprising pragmatism, Farage, and the lessons of Whitlam's catastrophic overreach. Sharp, contrarian and rich with insider anecdotes, recorded live from the dining room table for The Court of Public Opinion.

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Strategic analyst Dr John Bruni of Sage International joins Jeremy Cordeaux to dismantle the fourteen-point Iran "ceasefire" — which he argues isn't a peace deal at all, just a way for Trump to walk out of a kitchen that got too hot. Bruni, who once gamed Gulf scenarios inside the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi's think tank, explains why closing the Strait of Hormuz was always Iran's real nuclear option, why Netanyahu's ten-kilometre buffer in southern Lebanon is a permanent land grab, and how a single Israeli memo allegedly drew Washington into a war it wasn't committed to fighting. He punctures the Hollywood myth of American military supremacy, weighs Australia's $1.2 billion in Ukraine support, and traces Putin's arc from KGB stabiliser to "grade A war criminal." Sharp, contrarian and historically literate — talkback foreign policy at its best, live from the dining room table.

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Jeremy Cordeaux takes a fired-up call from Mike O'Reilly, a former Advertiser journalist and community-engagement veteran, who unloads on Anthony Albanese's tax backflip — rebranded as a "carve-out" — and what he calls a new world record for political spin. The conversation widens into a blistering account of union power in Australia: the faceless men of the old ALP, the CFMEU, the painters and dockers who posted black hands to enemies, and the Whyalla shipyards that vanished after decades of standover tactics. Mike shares first-hand stories from the docks — Chris Corrigan's "ghost" pay packets at Patrick Stevedoring, a $1,000 cash shakedown on the Melbourne wharf to lift a yacht — and the scrapping of the building-industry watchdog. It's raw talkback at its best, finishing on a warm note about Foodland, grandbabies, and the "legends card." Recorded live from Jeremy's dining room table for The Court of Public Opinion.

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Jeremy Cordeaux's full Friday programme from the dining-room table. Dr John Bruni (SAGE International) and Professor Ian Plimer join in studio; Dr Kevin Donnelly AM discusses his new book "Wake Up to Woke"; former MP Frank Pangallo weighs in on the budget and Pauline Hanson's surge; marketing strategist Toby Ralph gives One Nation three pieces of advice; and Stuart Kay explains why rare number plates sell for millions.

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Marketing and political strategist Toby Ralph — veteran of 50+ campaigns from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe — tells Jeremy Cordeaux the three things One Nation must do to become a serious, enduring force: get more professional, build policy depth, and move to a "post-Bogan" phase. Thanks to Rossdale Homes.

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In this Garage Edition of The Court of Public Opinion, Jeremy Cordeaux tackles rising fuel prices, global uncertainty and what he sees as growing public frustration with government decisions. From the Strait of Hormuz and fuel excise relief to the SpaceX IPO frenzy, climate change scepticism, Australia's tax burden and the expanding public service, Jeremy questions whether Australians are becoming poorer, less optimistic and increasingly disconnected from those in power. He also examines social media's impact on children, the state of modern education, concerns surrounding charity regulations, Centrelink's customer service failures, and the broader shift away from human interaction in government and business.

Topics Discussed

• Fuel excise relief ending and rising fuel costs
• Strait of Hormuz tensions and global trade concerns
• SpaceX IPO and investor speculation
• Historical share market manias and financial bubbles
• Climate change scepticism and public belief systems
• Australian taxation levels and government spending
• KPMG survey showing Australians feel worse off
• Electricity prices and cost-of-living pressures
• Social media's impact on children's mental health
• Education standards and concerns about "woke" ideology
• Kevin Donnelly's book The War on Woke
• Charity regulation and accountability concerns
• Andrew Leigh and charity sector oversight
• Centrelink customer service and automation
• Offshore call centres and customer frustration
• Winston Churchill and WWII history
• Amelia Earhart and historical anniversaries
• Paul McCartney birthday mention
• Waterloo anniversary and historical events

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Jeremy Cordeaux returns from the garage to tackle what he sees as the biggest political and economic issues facing Australia. He discusses the Federal Government's proposed tax changes, argues that productivity and investment are under threat, examines Pauline Hanson's rising popularity, questions the sustainability of the NDIS, criticises Labor's economic management, and warns about the long-term impact of government spending and ideological policymaking. Jeremy also reflects on historical events, famous birthdays and lessons from the past that still resonate today.

Topics Discussed

• Interest rates and the Reserve Bank
• Proposed tax changes and Senate hearings
• Productivity and business concerns
• Pauline Hanson's growing popularity
• One Nation fundraising success
• Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers criticism
• Capital gains tax expansion
• Government spending and ideology
• NDIS sustainability concerns
• NDIS fraud and organised crime allegations
• Disability Support Pension and welfare spending
• Cost of living pressures
• Electricity prices and energy policy
• Government debt and taxation
• Donald Trump's birthday and political career
• AI and Grammy Award rules
• Historical anniversaries and political lessons
• Abraham Lincoln quotes and modern politics
• Soviet history and the Marshall Plan
• Popular culture milestones including Psycho and Grease

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Shareholder activist Stephen Maine tells Jeremy Cordeaux why he's wary of the AI and SpaceX float frenzy — the circular investments between the tech giants, Musk's voting "gerrymander," and why "they call them floats when most of them sink." Thanks to Rossdale Homes.

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