As the 50th anniversary of the Whitlam dismissal approaches,  Prime Minister Albanese announces the commissioning of a statue of Gough Whitlam for Canberra. And the Liberal Party looks likely to drop their net zero policy this week. But what will that do for their base? 

• Guest: Anna Henderson, SBS World News Chief Political Correspondent
• Producer: Catherine Zengerer

Rebel forces in Sudan have captured the city of el-Fasher in a coup so violent the blood stains could be seen from space. The RSF rebel army is led by Commander "Hemedti” Hamdan, whose family has deep ties to Sudan's gold trade. Gold makes up around 70 percent of the country's exports and is estimated at $USD16 billion annually. Much of it is smuggled to the United Arab Emirates and control of Sudan’s gold mines is making Hemedti a very rich man. Meanwhile the government's SAF army has control over their own supply of gold, and they're refusing to sign up to a ceasefire deal put forward by the United States, Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. 

• Guest: Declan Walsh, Africa Bureau Chief, New York Times and author of The Gold Rush at the Heart of a Civil War
• Producer: Catherine Zengerer

The war medic Edward 'Weary' Dunlop became legendary in the POW camps of World War II for his courage and leadership, including putting his body between a patient and a Japanese bayonet. From the football field through to the horrific working conditions on the Thai-Burma Railway, Peter FitzSimons traces the life of an Australian hero.

• Guest: Peter FitzSimons, journalist and author
• Producer: Alex Tighe

The dismissal of Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam by the Governor-General on November 11, 1975 is perhaps the most dramatic and most contentious moment in Australian political history. 50 years on, do modern Liberals still back Governor-General Sir John Kerr's decision to sack a sitting PM?

• Guest: Julian Leeser MP, shadow Education Minister, Liberal Member for Berowra
• Producer: Jack Schmidt

When New York based, Queer thriller writer Andrea Bartz, discovered the AI company Anthropic, had pirated her book to train its AI large language models, she decided to sue. Alongside two other authors, a class action suit was filed. In a landmark settlement, Anthropic agreed to pay 2.28 billion dollars to five hundred thousand authors. It’s the largest payout in the history of U.S copyright cases.

• GUEST: Queer thriller writer Andrea Bartz, author of The Last Ferry Out
• PRODUCER: Ali Benton

Despite lacking approval for construction from the federal agency that oversees building projects, US President Donald Trump has commenced major renovations at the White House. The East Wing, has been flattened, and a new, 90000 square foot ballroom will be built in its place. Heritage architects are concerned about the new design, claiming that one of America's most famous landmarks could be compromised.

• GUEST: Jan Werner Muller, Professor of Politics at Princeton University.
• PRODUCER: Ali Benton

After a stunning ascent, Zohran Mamdani is the youngest mayor of New York in more than a century. Mamdani is a fierce critic of Donald Trump, and Trump had endorsed an alternative candidate. But New York wasn't the only anti-Trump election result; Democratic governors were elected in New Jersey and Virginia, and Californian voters approved a measure designed to bolster the number of Democrats in the House. What do all of these results mean for Donald Trump's second presidency?

• Guest: Bruce Shapiro, Contributing Editor at The Nation and Executive Director of the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma

The emergence of commercial photography technology in the mid-19th Century coincided with the rise of imperial control in the Pacific, including the British colony of Australia. A new book offers a comprehensive study of photography's arrival in Australia, and its implication in the colonial project. 

• Guest: Elisa DeCourcy, writer and curator, author of Early Photography in Colonial Australia, Melbourne University Press
• Producer: Jack Schmidt

During his decade as UN Secretary-General, U Thant played a pivotal role in resolving some of the most dangerous international crises of his time. From defusing the Cuban Missile stand-off, and preventing nuclear war, to mediating conflicts in India and Pakistan, and the Middle East, he consistently worked to maintain global peace. He also challenged U.S. policies during the Vietnam War, demonstrating a commitment to diplomacy over confrontation. Despite these critical interventions, history rarely remembers him as the peacemaker he truly was, and his legacy remains largely overlooked.

• GUEST: Thant Myint U, historian, academic and author of The Peacemaker:  U Thant and the Forgotten Quest for a Just World
• PRODUCER: Ali Benton

When the CIA was building its new headquarters, they commissioned a statue designed to pay homage to the spy agency. 'Krytpos' was both a sculpture and a mystery: the artwork contains encrypted messages, one of which — known as K4 — has never been decrypted. But just this year, as the artist was preparing to auction the solution, two journalists found K4's answer written in plain English in the Smithsonian archives. But have they really solved the K4 mystery?

• Guest: Dr Sam Blake, the Australian mathematician and cryptographer who solved the Zodiac Killer cipher Z340
• Producer: Alex Tighe, Catherine Zengerer