RN Presents

By ABC listen

What's RN Presents about?

From stories of disease outbreaks to myths of war and understanding how power actually works — RN Presents is the home of great storytelling that helps you better understand what’s going on in the world.

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RN Presents episodes:

08.04.2022
06 | The King of Kowloon — Reinvention
In this final episode of The King of Kowloon, Hong Kong is being remade at warp speed. In this national security era, its politicians have been jailed and its citizens are moving overseas into exile. Yet even in this new...
07.28.2022
05 | The King of Kowloon — Defiance
On June 9, 2019, Hong Kong convulses, as a million people march on the streets in protest against a proposed extradition law. The King had used his misshapen calligraphy to speak of dispossession, and now his descendants are doing the...
07.21.2022
04 | The King of Kowloon — Legacy
The King of Kowloon is an old man now; lying frail in a hospital bed. Outside, on the streets, there is trouble. A protest at the demolition of Queen's Pier, then another at a street famous for printing wedding cards....
07.14.2022
03 | The King of Kowloon — Search
In 2000, Hong Kong has been under Chinese rule for three years. At first glance, it seems that not much has changed. The King's star continues to rise — no longer seen as a dishevelled old crank, he is an...
07.07.2022
02 | The King of Kowloon — Transition
As Hong Kong hurtles towards the transition from British colony to Chinese territory, the king becomes an unlikely celebrity artist. Governor Chris Patten prepares to hand back Hong Kong to the Chinese, and as talks between the global powers take...
07.07.2022
02 | The King of Kowloon — Transition
As Hong Kong hurtles towards the transition from British colony to Chinese territory, the king becomes an unlikely celebrity artist. Governor Chris Patten prepares to hand back Hong Kong to the Chinese, and as talks between the global powers take...
06.29.2022
01 | The King of Kowloon — Disappearance
The King's calligraphy once covered Hong Kong, but now it has all but disappeared. Louisa searches for traces of the King, and for any truth to his claims of dominion over Kowloon. In this quest, she goes to the heart...
06.22.2022
INTRODUCING — The King of Kowloon: A Most Unlikely Icon
He called himself the King of Kowloon and, for almost half a century, he used his misshapen Chinese characters to wage a calligraphic campaign claiming his dominion over Hong Kong. Journalist Louisa Lim follows the trail of a man who...
05.22.2022
04 | Face Value Empowerment or exploitation?
The decision to get cosmetic enhancement is complicated. It could be triggered by childhood bullying, influenced by social media, or stem from a belief that you’re not good enough. The beauty industry encourages you to tie your self-identity to your appearance....
05.21.2022
04 | Face Value Empowerment or exploitation?
The decision to get cosmetic enhancement is complicated. It could be triggered by childhood bullying, influenced by social media, or stem from a belief that you’re not good enough. The beauty industry encourages you to tie your self-identity to your appearance....
05.14.2022
03 | Face Value — Killer curves and harsh realities
Cosmetic enhancement comes with plenty of risks. Botched surgeries, safety breaches, and in the worst-case scenario, fatal results. They've been reported for decades. Horror stories aside, chasing your aesthetic ideal is no easy task. Beneath every Insta-perfect photograph is a...
05.07.2022
02 | Face Value — Ethnic ambiguity and the Kardashian effect
For the longest time, Western beauty has been celebrated. The desire and pressure to look more 'Western' has led to skin whitening products, nose jobs and double eyelid surgery. But the tide is turning. Celebrities like the Kardashians are leaning...
04.30.2022
01 | Face Value — Beauty boom in the age of Zoom
COVID-19 has changed the way we do things. We're relying on video platforms to work and to connect. And it turns out that seeing our faces on-screen everyday has triggered more people to seek cosmetic enhancement than ever before. Couple...
04.27.2022
INTRODUCING — Face Value
The cosmetic enhancement industry is booming. Injectables and surgical procedures promise age-defying beauty. But they come with real risks. From anti-wrinkle injections and fillers, to nose jobs and Brazilian Butt Lifts, why are so many people choosing to enhance their...
03.08.2022
PRESENTS — Dig: The Ring In
Love to deep dive into a story you thought you knew? The Fine Cotton Ring In was one of the biggest scandals in Australian horseracing history. A plan to swap a slow horse with a much faster look-alike involved a...
11.17.2021
Presenting-Stuff The British Stole
Have you ever wandered around a museum and thought “How on Earth did all of this stuff get here?” You’re not alone. Throughout its reign, the British Empire stole a lot of stuff. Today those objects are housed in genteel...
09.10.2021
04 | This Much Is True — Getting Out
By some estimates, 15 per cent of Americans believe in QAnon, the conspiracy movement connected to the storming of the US Capitol in January this year. QAnon can be all-consuming, ending relationships and splitting families. So what's it like to...
09.03.2021
03 | This Much Is True — Cults, QAnon and those left behind
Alex's bible classes started taking over his life — then he discovered who was really running them. Emma's mum went from crystals to a clique that believes in aliens and past lives. And Tim and his dad fell into QAnon...
08.28.2021
02 | This Much is True — Dream weavers
Why do people spread information that isn't true on social media? Especially when they know that's what they're doing?
08.27.2021
02 | This Much is True — Dream weavers
Why do people spread information that isn't true on social media? Especially when they know that's what they're doing?
08.20.2021
01 | This Much Is True — Tradwife rabbit hole
Equality is for ugly losers. Feminism is cancer. #submissivehousewife. Welcome to the world of tradwives, a movement with two distinct subcultures: one wholesome, one harmful. For many, it's about cooking from scratch, caring for children, and getting back to nature....
08.12.2021
INTRODUCING — This Much Is True
What do you believe? There’s some very weird stuff out there. From fringe ideas to full-blown conspiracy theories, we dive into the rabbit hole to find out why it’s so human to fall for them. We hear what motivates those who...
05.27.2021
08 | Patient Zero: First Outbreak
In 1789, a disease tore through Aboriginal communities around Sydney Cove, or Warrane, leaving dead bodies floating in the harbour, and scattered along the shorelines. Some think that this outbreak was a fire that was deliberately lit.
05.20.2021
07 | Patient Zero: Back From The Brink
A six-year old boy in Papua New Guinea wakes up one day and is suddenly unable to stand by himself. Less than a year later, children in three other Asia Pacific nations are experiencing the same alarming symptoms. A disease...
05.13.2021
06 | Patient Zero: Ticking Time Bomb
You’re a doctor faced with a dilemma: your patient isn’t responding to treatment. In fact, they’re getting worse. You run through a list of what might be wrong, but nothing seems to fit. And then suddenly — whatever is wrong...
05.06.2021
05 | Patient Zero: Spillover In Suburbia
A sleepy suburb in Brisbane is the scene of a gruesome disease outbreak, where the streets literally run with blood.
11.26.2020
INTRODUCING — Days Like These
From the heartbreaking to the hilarious, each episode of the brand-new ABC podcast Days Like These introduces you to one regular human as they live through something wild. With a team of outstanding reporters and producers, Days Like These delivers...
09.03.2020
04 | Patient Zero: How We Got Here
This is the big one. The history we’re living. From Melbourne to Munich, Lombardy to Wuhan and all the way back again: this episode is about what happened when we faced those first coronavirus cases. Where things went well, where...
08.27.2020
03 | Patient Zero: The December Transplant
Three transplant patients die within a week of each other and alarm bells start ringing.
08.20.2020
02 | Patient Zero: Basement Files
A junior doctor uncovers a mystery that rewrites the story of a famous epidemic — and we learn the troubling origins of 'patient zero' as a concept.
08.20.2020
02 | Patient Zero: Basement Files
A junior doctor uncovers a mystery that rewrites the story of a famous epidemic — and we learn the troubling origins of 'patient zero' as a concept.
08.13.2020
01 | Patient Zero: Something In The Water
Disease is spreading in the wake of a natural disaster on the Caribbean nation of Haiti — and everyone thinks they know where it's coming from… (Spoiler: They don't).
08.07.2020
00 | Introducing... Patient Zero
Even big diseases start small.
07.10.2020
06 | Section 71 — The Race Power
An extra episode in the series about High Court cases which have changed Australia. Series producer Jane Lee unpicks the origins and uses of Section 51(26) of the Australian Constitution, which gives the Federal Parliament the power to make special...
07.10.2020
05 | Section 71 — The Hindmarsh Island Bridge Affair (Part 2)
In the second part of the long running and divisive case known as the Hindmarsh Island bridge affair, the battle heads inside the High Court.
07.10.2020
04 | Section 71 —The Hindmarsh Island Bridge Affair (Part 1)
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.
07.10.2020
03 | Section 71 — Communists, Terrorists and the High Court
How much power does the Federal Government have to protect Australians from international threats?
07.10.2020
02 | Section 71 — The High Court Dog-Fight on Schools Funding
The High Court showdown over religious freedom that could help you understand how schools are funded to this day.
07.10.2020
01 | Section 71 — Tasmanian crime of gay sex
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.
05.23.2020
04 | Hot Mess — Hope
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...
05.16.2020
03 | Hot Mess — Party lines
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...
05.09.2020
02 | Hot Mess — Spin Cycle
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,...
05.02.2020
01 | Hot Mess — Human frailties
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...
04.25.2020
INTRODUCING — Hot Mess: Why haven’t we fixed climate change?
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...
04.25.2020
INTRODUCING Hot Mess — Why haven’t we fixed climate change?
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...
04.25.2020
INTRODUCING Hot Mess: Why haven’t we fixed climate change?
It’s been just 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 and that’s brought increased temperatures, drought, storms and bushfires on...
02.22.2020
04 | Shifting Cultures: Vanuatu's stolen generation
150 years ago thousands of young men were taken from the Pacific Islands. Today the scars are still being felt.
02.15.2020
03 | Shifting Cultures: Polygamous marriage in modern Malaysia
Muslim Malaysians often have complex and tangled views about polygamy. Their feelings and beliefs aren’t always mirrored by their actions. What role does pragmatism play? What role does faith play?
02.08.2020
02 | Shifting Cultures: Survival and revival in the Torres Strait
The island of Poruma is a shrinking tropical paradise — battered by king tides and eaten by coastal erosion. Meet the locals fighting for survival, in more ways than one.
02.01.2020
01 | Shifting Cultures: South Korea's hope in hell
Expectation and competition are pushing young South Koreans to give up on marriage and kids.

What's RN Presents about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

RN Presents episodes:

06 | The King of Kowloon — Reinvention

05 | The King of Kowloon — Defiance

04 | The King of Kowloon — Legacy

03 | The King of Kowloon — Search

02 | The King of Kowloon — Transition

02 | The King of Kowloon — Transition

01 | The King of Kowloon — Disappearance

INTRODUCING — The King of Kowloon: A Most Unlikely Icon

04 | Face Value Empowerment or exploitation?

04 | Face Value Empowerment or exploitation?

03 | Face Value — Killer curves and harsh realities

02 | Face Value — Ethnic ambiguity and the Kardashian effect

01 | Face Value — Beauty boom in the age of Zoom

INTRODUCING — Face Value

PRESENTS — Dig: The Ring In

Presenting-Stuff The British Stole

04 | This Much Is True — Getting Out

03 | This Much Is True — Cults, QAnon and those left behind

02 | This Much is True — Dream weavers

02 | This Much is True — Dream weavers

01 | This Much Is True — Tradwife rabbit hole

INTRODUCING — This Much Is True

08 | Patient Zero: First Outbreak

07 | Patient Zero: Back From The Brink

06 | Patient Zero: Ticking Time Bomb

05 | Patient Zero: Spillover In Suburbia

INTRODUCING — Days Like These

04 | Patient Zero: How We Got Here

03 | Patient Zero: The December Transplant

02 | Patient Zero: Basement Files

02 | Patient Zero: Basement Files

01 | Patient Zero: Something In The Water

00 | Introducing... Patient Zero

06 | Section 71 — The Race Power

05 | Section 71 — The Hindmarsh Island Bridge Affair (Part 2)

04 | Section 71 —The Hindmarsh Island Bridge Affair (Part 1)

03 | Section 71 — Communists, Terrorists and the High Court

02 | Section 71 — The High Court Dog-Fight on Schools Funding

01 | Section 71 — Tasmanian crime of gay sex

04 | Hot Mess — Hope

03 | Hot Mess — Party lines

02 | Hot Mess — Spin Cycle

01 | Hot Mess — Human frailties

INTRODUCING — Hot Mess: Why haven’t we fixed climate change?

INTRODUCING Hot Mess — Why haven’t we fixed climate change?

INTRODUCING Hot Mess: Why haven’t we fixed climate change?

04 | Shifting Cultures: Vanuatu's stolen generation

03 | Shifting Cultures: Polygamous marriage in modern Malaysia

02 | Shifting Cultures: Survival and revival in the Torres Strait

01 | Shifting Cultures: South Korea's hope in hell