Radio National Presents

Ever wondered how the term "secret women's business" entered the Australian lexicon? It's part of a bitter legal battle over land, culture and history in South Australia.

How much power does the Federal Government have to protect Australians from international threats?

The High Court showdown over religious freedom that could help you understand how schools are funded to this day.

It might surprise you to learn that until 1997, a man could go to jail for up to 21 years for having sex with another man in Australia.

Despite all the gridlock on Australia's climate policy, there are moves towards a decarbonised economy. The exit from coal is gathering pace in the finance and insurance sectors. On the technology front, cheaper renewables are driving new green hydrogen projects that could make Australia an energy super power. And there's the kids - the Climate Strike generation will soon be voting and they want action. Perhaps there's a chance we can really change.

There's more to our climate politics than the circus of losing a succession of Prime Ministers. Export earnings, donations, access, revolving doors between politics and industry mean that both sides of politics are close to the fossil fuel sector. In our tight Parliament, mining regions have become crucially important. And actions like the recent Stop Adani Convoy have only deepened climate change divisions.

The fossil fuel industries ignored their own research as far back as the 1960s and then denied climate change was going on. We hear how a small group of think tanks and a compliant media pushed our buttons, undermined the science, and turned it into a controversy.

What it is about us, all of us, that makes climate change hard to get our heads around and even harder to do something about? We talk to people who understand that climate change is a real danger and people who don’t. And we hear from researchers looking at why we are the way we are.

It’s been over three decades since most of us first heard about global warming. Meanwhile, the 20 hottest years on record have all occurred in the last quarter century. We’re had heatwaves, storms, drought and bushfires on an unprecedented scale. Why has it been so hard to agree and take action on climate change? How can we rise to meet the challenge?