From huge diplomatic fallouts, to political assassinations, to historic jewellery heists, 2025 has been a HUGE year for international news. Hamish and Geraldine reflect on the most shocking moments and are joined by Foreign Policy's Editor-in-Chief and host of FP Live Ravi Agrawal to discuss the trendlines that have defined the year. 

Plus, we announce some big news about Global Roaming in 2026... 

Recommendations: 

Geraldine Doogue: 

• Ken Burns' The American Revolution on SBS on Demand
• Robert Manne - Substack

Hamish Macdonald: Global Roaming's Summer Series: Getting Lucky... Again

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Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 

In this bonus episode of Global Roaming with Hamish Macdonald and Geraldine Doogue, one of Australia's most beloved actors Russell Crowe speaks about his new film Nuremberg and he gets philosophical about the need to speak to those we disagree with, in order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. 

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Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.

In a broad-ranging conversation, Hamish Macdonald speaks to historian and host of the hit podcast Empire William Dalrymple about the pitfalls of trying to understand the contemporary world without a firm grasp of the past, whether India can replicate its success as an ancient superpower and how countries like Australia and Britain deal with uncomfortable truths from their past. 

Recommendations:

Geraldine: Murder House: Zhong Na on the Silicon Valley Tragedy That Exposed the Cracks in China's Meritocracy - Sinica Podcast.

Hamish: The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World by William Dalrymple.

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We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]

Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.

The ABC's biggest investigative true crime podcast Unravel has just dropped their new season, Huntsman, and it's already rocketing up the podcast charts.

You might remember when former Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn was convicted of murder in the High Country. The story made headlines when Lynn admitted to burning the campers' bodies to cover his tracks.

But behind the scenes, people who knew him years ago began talking and sending messages.

It sparked an ABC investigation that uncovered the full story of his dark past and his abusive relationship with his first wife, Lisa Lynn, which ended in tragedy.

In this new season, investigative reporter Rachael Brown uncovers the details of Greg Lynn's former life and the fear and damage he left behind him in the suburbs.

You can find the podcast on ABC listen, or search for Unravel: Huntsman wherever you get your podcasts.

What began as targeted strikes against alleged drug smuggling boats has now turned into the largest military build-up in the Caribbean since the 1989 invasion of Panama. It's all part of a campaign to place pressure on Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, but to what end? 

Geraldine Doogue and Hamish Macdonald speak to Latin American correspondent Jon Bonfiglio about the deeper, darker motivations that could be driving the Trump administration's gunboat diplomacy in their own 'backyard'.

Recommendations:

Geraldine: Hurricaines From Above, SBS on Demand 

Hamish: ABC news clip about Helene Chung - ABC Facebook 

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We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]

Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.

Australia does elections pretty well - in fact, we might be the world's hottest ambassador for democracy. But according to former Australian Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers we need to be wary of 'the curse of the sausage'; the idea that our own success makes us vulnerable. In this discussion with Hamish Macdonald and Geraldine Doogue he offers a simple idea to protect our elections against growing threats, both at home and abroad. 

Recommendations:

Hamish and Geraldine: Annabel Crabb's Civic Duty : ABC iview

Get in touch:

We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]

Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.

If you thought Netflix's hit series The Diplomat was pure fiction, think again…

According to creator Deborah Cahn the show was inspired by a real-life diplomat that she has described as "a superhero in a pant suit" — Ambassador Beth Jones.

We tracked down Ambassador Jones and her husband Don to ask what it's really like to work in places like Kabul, Cairo, Baghdad and Kazakhstan and it turns out the truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.

Recommendations:

Hamish: "Anchored in the region" — What the new Australia–Indonesia security treaty really means, article by Natalie Sambhi

Geraldine: Saturday Extra's Diplomacy mini-series from 2021, featuring interview with former diplomats:

• John McCarthy
• Sue Boyd
• Geoff Raby
• US Consul General Sharon Hudson Dean (Kylie Morris hosted)
• The late Martin Indyk

Get in touch:

We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]

Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.

Geraldine has returned from London where she had a front row seat as the BBC was engulfed in it's biggest crisis in decades. She joins Hamish for a conversation about how the BBC got here, what the various forces are at play and why the BBC might need to get "down and dirty" to combat Donald Trump's threats. 

Plus, we unpack some fascinating listener feedback on our recent China episodes, which has sparked quite a debate in the Global Roaming planning room... 

Get in touch:

We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]

Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 

This week democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani became New York City’s first Muslim and South Asian Mayor, beating former New York governor Andrew Cuomo. At a time when faith in the Democratic Party is at an all-time low, Mamdani found a way to reach – and win over – disaffected voters, becoming a household name not just in New York, but all over the world.  

Hamish Macdonald and special guest host Amelia Lester (Foreign Policy) ask whether there is more to Mamdani than just 'rizz'? Are there lessons in his campaign for a flailing Democratic Party? Or is it simply a distraction from the real work required to win back voters?

Then they speak to Timothy Shenk, a historian of modern American politics at George Washington University to discuss some of the ideas he's put forward in a thought-provoking essay for The New York Times entitled Democrats Are in Crisis. Eat-the-Rich Populism Is the Only Answer. 

Recommendations:

Amelia: Equator magazine and article ‘He’s an African Leader’: Why my Ethiopian relatives voted for Trump by Adom Getachew.

Hamish: Amelia Lester's Boyer Lecture: AI on Australia's terms

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We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]

Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 

It may have been the most significant hour and forty minutes in global geopolitics this year...

If the highly anticipated summit between Presidents Xi and Trump in South Korea was about putting out the fires of a great power trade war, the flames seem to be under control... for now. But was it a win-win for everyone? 

Geraldine Doogue and Hamish Macdonald discuss which cans made it onto the negotiating table and were kicked down the road. Then they have a frank conversation with the former Singaporean diplomat Bilahari Kausikan about how South-east Asian countries responded to Trump's whirlwind tour through Asia and why they might be uniquely positioned to deal with a character like Donald Trump. 

Recommendations:

Geraldine: The Myth of the Asian Century | A Lowy Institute Paper: Penguin Special by Bilahari Kausikan

Hamish: Aiming Higher: Universities and Australia's Future by George Williams

Get in touch:

We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]

Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.