Geraldine is holidaying in Russia. First stop Moscow, then onto St Petersburg and soon a cruise down the Volga.

It’s incredibly beautiful but also confronting. Geraldine reminds Eliza that more than half a million people died of hunger in the siege of Leningrad in the Second World War.

The holiday has given Geraldine new insights into President Putin and his desire to recreate the country’s past glories.

The school year has finished in Beirut. Eliza and her family are well and truly integrated into the Beirut community, but many of their friends are moving. The best part about expat life is meeting new people, the worst part is saying goodbye.

Eliza is travelling to France next week and is still pinching herself that the flight is only four hours!

Let us know your thoughts about the podcast on the facebook page “Long Distance Callers” or email us at [email protected]

Thanks for listening!

Shostakovich Symphony Number 7 (audio)

The story behind Symphony Number 7

Metropolis – Philip Kerr

Boy Swallows Universe – Trent Dalton

What is going on in Australia?

Eliza texted her Mum Geraldine with that question when she heard about the Australian Federal Police raiding a journalist Annika Smethurst's home in Canberra.

The next day, another Police raid was executed at the ABC HQ in Sydney.

Annika Smethurst's report in the Sunday Telegraph suggested Australia's surveillance agency, the Australian Signals Directorate, was seeking to broaden its powers to spy on Australian citizens without their knowledge. The ASD is meant to monitor actions overseas, not at home.

The ABC report related to allegations of unlawful killings committed by Australian Special Forces soldiers in Afghanistan.

Geraldine wants to know more about who called for the AFP raids and why. What concerns her most is that the warrant allowed for the deletion of files at the ABC, which is unprecedented.

The incident has made Eliza re-evaluate her feelings about Julian Assange and his possible prosecution in the US.

The women also discuss Geraldine's upcoming trip to Russia. Plastic surgery in Beirut. How to deal with summer holidays and some great movies on at the cinema in Australia.

Shadow Attorney General Mark Dreyfus on RN Breakfast

If you're not worried about the raids on the ABC, you should be: Waleed Aly

NYT: Australia May Well Be the World's Most Secretive Democracy

Sam Maiden interiews the Defence Whistleblower

Red Joan – Judi Dench

Absolutely Champers

Women at War

Summer has arrived in Beirut.

And in summer, Beirutis like to socialise.

Eliza caught up with a new bookclub and held her first dinner party, nine months after arriving in Beirut.

That's a long time between jalapeno-infused cocktails and glasses of Rose on the balcony. But setup in a new city takes a while.

The dinner party was a huge success, despite her dessert being a flop.

The event made her reflect on the different approaches to making friends at home and abroad on postings.

Geraldine conducted an interesting interview with French thinker Bernard Henri-Levy.

The women finish by wondering if we might be witnessing the long, slow decline of Benjamin Netanyahu's rule in Israel.

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

'Becoming' - Michelle Obama

A European of French Origin: Bernard Henri-Levy on ABC Saturday Extra

New Elections in Israel - Saturday Extra ABC RN

Lebanon Faces Economic Collapse

It's a politics-heavy episode this week.

Theresa May is out and the Tory party is as divided as ever over the next leader.

And the Australian election result is looking curiouser and curiouser.

But it's not all campaigning and matters of state.

Eliza is reading the latest 'Berlin noir' novel by late author Philip Kerr. Geraldine is binging on HBO's "Succession". And Eliza has a potentially embarrassing run in with a artichoke at a dinner party.

Let us know what you think via the Facebook page "Long Distance Callers". Send us an email at [email protected] and leave us a review!

Election washup – Saturday Extra

The Future of Labor: Sunday Extra

FT Journalist Pilita Clark on Theresa May’s resignation

Succession – HBO

Australian actress Sarah Snook

Metropolis – Philip Kerr

Metropolis review

Project Rozana: Building better understanding between Palestinians and Israelis through Health

Inside Elizabeth Holmes’ Final Moments at Theranos – Vanity Fair

Beto O’Rourke: I’m Just Born to be Into It – Vanity Fair

Eliza interviews Geraldine about her decades-long professional relationship with the late Bob Hawke.

Hawke modernised Australia. He wasn't perfect. He had a fierce intellect. He loathed racism. He loved the union movement and believed in the power of collective action.

We hope you enjoy this special, hour-long episode of Long Distance Call. Let us know your thoughts at [email protected] or the "Long Distance Callers" facebook page.

Eliza surprises Geraldine with a declaration of love for her new city.

It’s only taken nine months. But Eliza has finally got past the chaos and misery of Beirut to fall for its beauty, charm and fascinating history.

It’s a relationship she was never able to build during her previous posting to Jakarta, Indonesia.

In the final days before the election the women discuss the possibility of a new Labor Government and the legacy of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years.

They talk books before Geraldine rushes off to the Opera House to watch Jonathan Biggins being Paul Keating.

Ronnie Chatah Walking Tour of Beirut

Mohamad Chatah murdered

Yemen’s Houthi Rebels Attack Saudi Oil Facilities

The NYT Daily Podcast: John Bolton’s Plan for Iran

Hotel Mumbai - movie

Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know – Colm Toibin

The President in Missing – James Patterson & Bill Clinton

Brothers of the Gun: A Memoir of the Syrian Civil War – Marwam Hisham

Inside Syria’s Secret Torture Prisons: How Bashar al-Assad Crushed Dissent

The Gospel According to Paul

Keating on Dutton – ABC Radio

Geraldine is still giddy after her six busy days in Western Australia.

The trip began at the Margaret River Writers Festival where she interviewed Germaine Greer about her controversial essay "On Rape".

Then it was back to Perth for a big interview with Professor Fiona Wood, a world leader in burns treatment.

It's rare that you get the privilege of meeting two remarkable women in one weekend.

Eliza is back in Beirut. The sun is shining but a dark cloud looms over the Lebanese economy. Eliza fears the million plus Syrian refugees might become political pawns in the fight to secure more loans from Europe.

Please get in touch via the Facebook page "Long Distance Callers" or email at [email protected]

Thanks for listening!

On Rape – Germaine Greer

White Beech – Germaine Greer

Bill Cosby

Reading Germaine: three generations respond to On Rape

Professor Fiona Wood, AM

Weary Dunlop

Tony Koch scathing on News Ltd

More of the Lebanese economy

You Can’t Ask That – Politicians

Wandering Souls (film about Cambodia)

Geraldine is in Western Australia this week for the Margaret River Writers Festival.

She's interviewing feminist author Germaine Greer on her new controversial essay "On Rape". Geraldine was initially sceptical about Greer's thesis, particularly given the subject matter. But after reading it properly, Geraldine sees it as an important academic work that could actually help rape victims rather than disrespect their experience.

Eliza attended two sessions at the Sydney Writers Festival this week. Australian literature is going through a purple patch at the moment and her bags are weighed down with lots of new books!

Eliza and her family are about to head back to Lebanon after a month in Australia.

Join the discussion at our Facebook page "Long Distance Callers" or email us at [email protected]

LINKS

The Female Eunuch Germaine Greer

Daddy, We Hardly Knew You Germaine Greer

Margaret River Writers Festival

Sydney Writers Festival: John Birmingham

SWF: The Perfect Crime

Wimmera Mark Brandi

Dervla McTiernan: The Ruin/The Scholar

Conversations with Candice Fox: How to Raise a Crime Writer

Author and journalist Irris Makler joins Eliza for a bonus episode this week.

She's back in Australia from Jerusalem to launch her new book "Food is Love".

It contains the wisdom and cooking recipes of Jewish survivors of the Holocaust.

Irris allows these women to smile and reflect on how they rebuilt their lives after the horrors of the past.

The book will be launched in Sydney and Melbourne this week and is available in all good bookstores.

It's our 50th episode!

And the best way to celebrate is getting into the nitty gritty of the election campaign.

Geraldine has been finding it dull. She believes soaring rhetoric has been swapped for shallow campaign promises.

But Eliza thinks Labor's commitment to change negative gearing policy might be the most exciting thing she's heard in years.

The women talk Barnaby Joyce, the power of asking politicians if they're "OK" and the time Malcolm Fraser cried.

We love your feedback! Please get in touch via the facebook page "Long Distance Callers" or email us at [email protected]

And please leave us a review on itunes or however you listen to your podcasts.

The Aftermath

Their Finest

Normal People - Sally Rooney