Saturday Extra - Separate stories podcast

The US has launched a campaign to cripple Iran's economy by cutting off its remaining economic lifelines.

The Treasury sanctioned more than 60 entities, including Chinese firms, but fell short of placing more forceful sanctions directly on China.

Washington and Ottawa are locked in a tariff tit-for-tat after trade talks collapsed earlier this week.

Hundreds of thousands of jobs are potentially at stake on both sides of the border.

Nepal and Tibet are still reeling from the catastrophic flash floods that hit the Himalaya region earlier this week.

The images coming from the disaster have been shocking: Bridges swept away, highways destroyed, entire villages engulfed by torrents of mud and water.

As more details of the disaster continue to emerge, we speak with a journalist on the ground there.

In 2022, parts of the Nord Stream gas pipeline system, the multibillion-dollar network carrying Russian gas into Europe, were blown up.

So who exactly was behind what has been described as "the greatest act of sabotage in modern history?"

When a badly stuffed "fox head" was advertised by a UK auction house, James Cranfield quickly worked out that it was a "priceless" head of a thylacine.

The taxidermist and collector won the two-way bidding war for "the find of a lifetime."

How important is this specimen of the now-extinct Tasmanian tiger?

This week, the federal government's gambling reforms passed parliament, after a bipartisan deal was struck with the Coalition.

The package includes restrictions on gambling ads, but in the eyes of some politicians and many campaigners, it doesn't go nearly far enough.

So why is it so hard to pass major gambling reform in this country?

It was Britain's deadliest terror attack: In December 1988, Pan Am flight 103 exploded in the air above Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 passengers on board and 11 on the ground.

Almost four decades on, there is fresh evidence and a new trial.

Next week, a Libyan man suspected of making and detonating the bomb will face court in Washington DC. 

This week, the headlines were dominated by the Trump administration's decision to scale back joint military exercises with South Korea, a longtime US ally and a linchpin of America's national security strategy in Asia.

The US aircraft carrier USS George Washington has been redeployed to the Middle East, temporarily leaving the Asia-Pacific region without an American carrier strike fleet.

So is the US pivoting away from Asia?

Growing up in a lower middle class family on the south side of Chicago fundamentally shaped the thinking of Glenn Loury, but his politics cut against the grain of many black Americans.

"Here I was in the era of Reagan telling black people to pull their socks up," the leading US black conservative intellectual says. 

He discusses the impact of Obama's presidency, self-censorship, and diversity, equity and inclusion.

This week, former Liberal leader Sussan Ley joined a cast of former politicians who have found a new voice in a life after politics.

She's been in the media after spending 6 weeks on a solo trip catching Greyhound buses across the US.

It got us thinking here at Saturday Extra, how do we reassess politicians after they say goodbye to politics? And in some cases, do we only find ourselves liking them once they've left the job?