Rear Vision — How History Shaped Today

In the early 1990s, Nelson Mandela and his political party, the ANC, ended apartheid peacefully but the leaders of the new democracy did not address the economic inequality of the apartheid era. Today it is tearing the nation apart.

The Tokyo Olympics have gone ahead despite the global pandemic, but it’s the not the first-time world events have conspired against the games. 40 years ago, the Olympics ran head long into the Cold War, and sport became collateral damage in a standoff between the USSR and the United States. This is the story of how Australia and its athletes were caught up in the crisis, and a how the impact of that time is still being felt today.

The Caribbean nation of Haiti, whose president was recently assassinated, is the world’s poorest and most unstable country. Yet this was not always the case. For over a century it was France’s richest colony and later became the first black-led republic. Why has Haiti become such a mess?

Bolsonaro's right-wing politics, boorish comments and mishandling of the Covid pandemic have invited comparisons with Donald Trump, but Brazil’s president came from a poor family and spent almost thirty undistinguished years in parliament before he won the top job.

In 2018, Ethiopia had a new, reformist prime minister and was opening up politically and socially while forging a peace deal to end its long conflict with Eritrea. Today, it’s at war with itself. What went wrong?

Orangemen—with their distinctive bowler hats, white gloves, and orange collarettes—are a Protestant Irish organisation. For centuries they have celebrated the military victory of the Protestant King William over the Catholic monarch King James with an annual parade. What is this all about and how does the Orange Order fit into the politics and social life of Northern Ireland today?

For fifty years, governments have cut taxes for corporations and the wealthiest people, arguing that this will stimulate the economy and lead to prosperity for us all. Known as trickle-down or supply-side economics, does it make any sense, and has it worked?

A scheduled Ryan Air flight from Athens to Vilnius was diverted as it flew over Belarus and told to land at Minsk because of a bomb threat. What can pilots do if there’s a bomb threat and how do we ensure international air safety?

In 2018 Australia signed a Treaty with Timor-Leste establishing sea boundaries based on a line equidistance from each other’s coasts. Yet Australia’s seabed boundaries with Indonesia, established in the 1970s are much closer to Indonesian than Australia. How did that happen, and is it fair?

Around the world there is a rapidly growing body of scientific evidence suggesting that psychedelic drugs are safe and highly effective when used under medical supervision. Why did promising treatments first become illegal and how did drugs once seen as possibly leading to madness or death become once again treatments for mental illness?