Long Distance Call

Geraldine is in New York City after attending a fabulous wedding in Virginia.

She spent her last day in America travelling north to FDR's old residence in upstate New York.

Geraldine has always thought of herself as a Londonophile, rather than a New Yorker. That's partly because she lived in London and has a greater affinity for its people and culture.

Eliza asks her Mum to analyse why she's not more of a Manhattan fan. After all, New York has all the ingredients Geraldine loves, like great parks and classy architecture.

Under some gentle scrutiny, Geraldine acknowledges that maybe she's a bigger fan of the United States than she cares to reveal.

Apologies for the scratchy audio during parts of this episode. Eliza's headphones were rubbing against her shirt, but that sound was drowned out in the headphones. She'll fix it by next week.

Please join the conversation at the Facebook page "Long Distance Callers" or email at [email protected]

Roosevelt Library & Museum

Hudson Yard

The Highline NYC

The Influencer and her ghostwriter

The Guardian's abridged version of the Influencer story

The Great Gatsby

Getting It Right: FDR's Legacy

LBJ – The Great Society

Weary Dunlop

Eliza joins her husband Adam to cover the Islamic festival of Ashoura. They go to an area called "Dahiyeh" or the city suburbs. This is real Beirut, away from the flash restaurants of the Mediterranean and one of the strongholds of the militia gang, Hezbollah.

The religious event is one of the rare times where you can meet Hezbollah fighters and get a sense of their power.

Geraldine isn't working this week and will fly to America for a wedding soon. She's considering diving back into literature. And she's looking for a new TV series after binging on the HBO blockbuster "Succession".

Eliza and her Mum will launch a new podcast next week called "Long Distance Bookclub". The first book is "Live A Little" by Howard Jacobson.

Please join the conversation at the Long Distance Callers facebook page or email us at [email protected]

Live a Little Howard Jacobson

The Little Red Chairs Edna O'Brien

Serial Reader App

Succession

In Extremis Lindsay Hilsum

Foreign Correspondent Rwanda

Analysis of the ANU voter behaviour project

Eliza and her family spent Sunday on the beautiful white sandy beach of Tyre in Southern Lebanon.

As they arrived back in Beirut, news broke that Hezbollah had fired rockets into Northern Israel in retaliation to last week's skirmishes.

There were reports of soldiers being injured and killed.

In the hours and days after the attack it's been revealed that Israel mounted a decoy operation. Footage disseminated amongst Israeli media showed injured soldiers being flown to hospitals. That now turns out to be false. It appears to be an elaborate mission to convince Hezbollah and its followers that Israel had been badly affected by the rocket strike, which in actual fact there'd be no serious consequences.

All it quiet again ... for now.

Meanwhile, Geraldine is taking on the insurance industry after a very unsatisfying attempt to claim for lost items on a recent trip. Eliza is convinced that most people don't lodge claims because of the ensuing bureaucratic nightmare.

Finally, TV ... and planning for overseas weddings.

Please join the conversation at our Facebook page "Long Distance Callers" or email us at [email protected]

Truth is a casualty as the IDF fools Hezbollah

The Spy

Ride Like a Girl

Axios

Daily Beast

Roosevelt compound

The shadow war between Israel and Iran might erupt into a direct conflict.

Early Sunday morning, two Israeli armoured drones entered South Beirut, a region controlled by Hezbollah. The Iranian funded militia group says it will retaliate, a threat Israel appears to be taking very seriously.

Eliza is monitoring the situation and hopes (for many reasons) that cooler heads prevail.

Geraldine has seen a new film about the Battle for Long Tan. It was a deadly encounter for the Australians who fought skillfully against a regiment of North Vietnamese forces. The Americans immediately recognised the Australian's achievements but it took decades for the Australian Government to give them the public credit they deserved.

Both women are enjoying "Live A Little" by Howard Jacobson, the first book as part of the new podcast "Long Distance Bookclub" launching on the third week of September.

To join the conversation search for "Long Distance Callers" in Facebook or email [email protected]

Thanks for listening!

Rise and Kill First - Ronen Bergman

Lebanon Accuses Israel of 2nd Attack in 2 Days - NYT

Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan

Here's the latest from Geraldine's appearance in court.

Do you check your phone in the car? Geraldine does (sometimes) and just got pinged by the Police.

She copped a hefty fine. But even worse was the loss of five demirit points. She's now on the cusp of losing her licence.

Geraldine has completed a driver re-education course and it's had a profound impact. She'll go before a Magistrate on Tuesday to plead for leniency.

In Beirut, Eliza is looking at three more weeks of school holidays. The Harveys have just returned from a week in an area known as the "Turkish Riviera", just a hop step and a jump from Lebanon.

Thanks for listening! Log onto the Facebook page "Long Distance Callers" or email us at [email protected]. Please leave a review on the platform where you access the podcast.

Antalya - Turkey

Can "Succession" Succeed Again?

"Palm Beach" directed by Rachel Ward

Podcast: Talking Politics by David Runciman

Eliza is moving house. This unpleasant process has been made tolerable by podcasts and the spectacle that is the Democratic Party presidential debates in the United States.

Who will be the candidate? Eliza thinks it’ll be Joe Biden, despite the fact he’s been flat at the debates and doesn’t have a potent message to thwart President Trump.

Geraldine thinks it’ll probably be Biden too. But her attention has been on the Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo and his recent trip to Australia. She doesn’t appreciate his bellicose rhetoric on China and doesn’t think it’ll land well in the corridors of power in Canberra.

Both women mourn for America in the wake of the domestic terror attacks. The loss of life is madness for a country not at war.

Don’t forget to join the new LDC bookclub for the first meeting at the end of September. The first book is “Live a Little” by Howard Jacobson.

Please join the conversation at the Facebook page “Long Distance Callers” or email us at [email protected]

Thanks for listening!

Adam's Correspondents Report on the Syrian orphanage with Yazidi children

Turkey plans to invade Syria and attack the Kurds

Pod Save America – Debate recap special

Bernie Sanders interview

Keating on the US-Australian alliance (2016)

Howard in warning on China strife

The Ratline Podcast

Eliza has just finished the most hyped book of 2019: "Three Women".

It's a non-fiction 'ripping yarn', investigating the private lives of three American women over an 8 year period.

Eliza's verdict? 7.5 out of 10. She liked it without loving it. But she wonders critical because everyone has been raving about it.

Meanwhile, Geraldine is raving about the TV series "Chernobyl". Written by an American screenwriter previously known for comedy, it provides an insight into the nuclear incident that scarred the Ukraine and ultimately lead to the downfall of the Soviet Union.

The women briefly touch on Brexit and a brilliant essay by the Irish writer and journalist Fintan O'Toole.

Thanks for listening! Join the conversation at the Facebook page "Long Distance Callers" or email us at [email protected]

Chernobyl

More on the mini-series

Three Women - Lisa Taddeo

The New Yorker reviews Three Women

Fintan O'Toole on Boris Johnson

White Crow - movie

Geraldine is home from her fabulous holiday to a busy work schedule and a dose of the flu.

This week she talks to Eliza from the ABC studios, where she's just interviewed a German historian about how people dealt with the humiliation of losing the Second World War.

Eliza is entertaining her family in Beirut. One of the stops on the trip is the Shatila Palestinian refugee camp. It was the scene of a horrific massacre in 1982 and is now home to thousands of Syrians fleeing war.

The women also discuss books: "East West Street"; "Boy Swallows Universe" and "Happiness".

Join the conversation at the Facebook page by searching "Long Distance Callers" or email us at [email protected]

Thanks for listening!

Anne Summers on Jeffrey Epstein – ABC Saturday Extra

Promise Me You’ll Shoot Yourself – Florian Huber

Shatila Massacre

Indonesia's killings of 1965

East West Street – Philippe Sands

Becoming – Michelle Obama

Happiness – Aminatta Forna

Geraldine's world tour is drawing to a close.

For Geraldine's third visit to Lebanon, Eliza thought it would be a good idea to get out of Beirut and explore the countryside.

Byblos (or Jbeil as it's called in Arabic) is about 45 minutes north of the capital. It's one of the oldest cities in the world, occupied by everyone from the Crusaders to the Ottomans. Put in on your list the next time you visit the Middle East.

This week, Eliza and Geraldine discuss the state of anxiety in Britain as Brexit nears. Geraldine reflects on Russia and Eliza rues the way Putin changed the war in Syria. And the women discuss the challenge of going home after a fabulous break.

Please join the conversation at the Facebook page "Long Distance Callers" or contact us at [email protected].

Thanks for listening!

Byblos

Can Boris Johnson maintain his Brexit bluster?

How Oxford University shaped Brexit

A no-deal Brexit would be a lunacy wrapped up in a stupidity

Vladimir Putin says liberalism has ‘become obsolete’

Angela Merkel shakes uncontrollably

The Daily – The Battle for Europe

Syria’s torture prisons - NYT

Attack on Nice: BBC News

New Zealand ISIS guard held in Kurdish jail