Saturday Magazine

Our last guest for this week’s programme is Clare Stephens is a podcaster, editor, and formerly was the editor-in-chief for Mamamia. This year Clare published her first novel ‘The Worst Thing I’ve Ever Done’ and launched her new podcast The Pile On.

Former editor of Mamma Mia and the creator and host of interview podcast The Pile-On where she speaks to public figures about what happens when the internet turns on you. Her debut novel is The Worst Thing I’ve Ever Done. She was on the panel at the Sorrento Writers Festival about Podcast Mania that we discussed recently with fellow-panellist Mark Kenny.

The Worst Thing I’ve Ever Done follows the story of Ruby, the editor of a feminist website, and Felicity, an online commentator who makes it her mission to take Ruby down.

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Nevena, Macca and Misha talk to Lenore Taylor about World Press Freedom Day.

Raised in Brisbane, Taylor attended Brisbane Girls Grammar School and studied journalism and politics at the University of Queensland, where she was co-editor of the student newspaper Semper Floreat. She began working as a journalist in 1987 at The Canberra Times. She was later national affairs correspondent and then chief political correspondent at The Sydney Morning Herald, before becoming Guardian Australia‘s first political editor from 2013 to 2016.

She has won the “Scoop of the Year” Walkley Award twice: in 2010, for her reporting on the Rudd government‘s shelving of an emissions trading scheme, and in 2014, for a joint report on Australian spying on the Indonesian government. She also won the 2014 Paul Lyneham Award for excellence in journalism and the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery Journalist of the Year in 2007 and 2014.

Taylor published her first book, Shitstorm: Inside Labor’s Darkest Days (about Kevin Rudd‘s first term as Prime Minister) in 2010.

In February 2026, Lenore resigned as Editor of The Guardian after more than a decade in the role.

Macca, Nevena and Misha talk to Lenore about World Press Freedom Day, is now more important than ever?  – attacks on journalism by Trump – does this send a signal to other world leaders that this is acceptable?

– What is the FOI situation like in Australia – should we be concerned?

They also look at the fracturing of news sources and the rise of podcasters. Does it erode the public’s confidence in journalism? Where will the Lenore Taylors and Cameron Stewarts of the future learn their trade?

– is there a shadow side of press freedom?.  In a democracy like ours, where should we draw the line on Freedom of the press?

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Nevena, Misha and Macca talk to Lizzie O’Shea, Chair, Digital Rights Watch, Are Corporations Profiling You?

Lizzie O’Shea sues companies and governments that do the wrong thing. Lizzie works and opens dialogues about the intersection of technology, law and human rights. Lizzie is the founder and chair of Digital Rights Watch, Australia’s leading digital rights organisation, she is an advocate for stronger laws to protect people from predatory industries and dangerous business models. Lizzie has authored two books,  and a contributing author to three more, which explore campaigns to protect human rights and the history and future of technology.

https://digitalrightswatch.org.au/

‘Corporations are deploying Artificial Intelligence into almost every aspect of our lives, shaping how we interact with our government services, businesses, healthcare systems, and employers.

While carefully-considered and worker-led introduction of AI tools may provide benefits, Digital Rights Watch is concerned with the real harms these tools cause to our community’.

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Misha Ketchell discusses with Macca and Nevena Whistle-blower laws in Australia

David McBride, a former Australian military lawyer, was jailed in May 2024 for leaking secret documents that exposed alleged war crimes by Australian special forces in Afghanistan. While Ben Roberts-Smith was implicated in these crimes, he has not been imprisoned, though he was arrested in April 2026 for war crimes and lost a civil defamation case where a judge found him involved in murders.

Misha discusses the consequences in Australia of being a whistle-blower and how it differs so dramatically from many other Western countries.

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On 30 April 2026, Commissioner Virginia Bell AC SC presented the Governor-General, Her Excellency the Honourable Sam Mostyn AC, the Interim Report of the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion. The Interim Report was tabled in the Australian Parliament on 30 April 2026.

The Interim Report examines the circumstances surrounding the antisemitic Bondi terrorist attack on 14 December 2025 Term of Reference (c) of the Letters Patent.

The complete version of the Interim Report will be provided on a confidential basis to the Australian Government and state governments (the confidential report). An edited version is publicly available. Parts of every chapter are contained only in the confidential report as they refer to information that cannot be disclosed publicly, for reasons that include national security and the need to avoid prejudice to current criminal proceedings.

To access the publicly available interim report please go to here: https://asc.royalcommission.gov.au/publications/interim-report

While it’s great news about the royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion; why isn’t the government doing more about gambling addiction and the social cohesion effects on gambling in Australia? Macca, Nevena and Misha discuss this issue with Josh.

https://theconversation.com/to-protect-australians-the-federal-parliament-must-push-albanese-on-gambling-reforms-281641

Australia has historically taken a lax approach to gambling reform, and it shows. A 2024 Grattan Institute report shows we have the highest gambling losses in the world per capita.

Australians collectively lost more than $32 billion gambling in 2023-24, half of it on the pokies. And our losses per person have grown almost every year since reporting began in 1975.

Pokies and online betting are particularly addictive, leading to serious harm for hundreds of thousands of Australians.

The Murphy inquiry was focused on online gambling harm and identified gambling advertising as a major culprit. Gambling advertising exposes large numbers of Australians, including children, to a dangerous product and increases losses, with little corresponding economic or social benefit.

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Macca and Nevena ae joined in the hosting seat this week by Misha Ketchell, Editor and an executive director of The Conversation.

Misha Ketchell is the Misha Ketchell is the editor and an executive director of The Conversation Australia and New Zealand. He was previously editor of Crikey, founding editor of The Big Issue Australia and editor of The Melbourne Weekly. He spent six years at The Age of and four years at the ABC as a producer and researcher on Media Watch.

They discuss what’s coming up on this week’s show as well.

World Press Freedom Day (on Sunday) this year, the theme for this week’s programme is independent media, whistle-blowers and new media fees for social media and what issues podcasting raise for quality journalism in Australia.

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Zoe and Macca are joined live in the studio by Laura Wiener.

Laura has been in the zoo field since 1998 and worked at a variety of different zoological facilities in the US, including San Diego and Oregon Zoos. Laura’s main focus has been mammals with a keen interest in rhinoceros species.

Four rare snow leopard cubs—two boys and two girls named Maya, Kira, Lumi, and Sabu—debuted at Melbourne Zoo in April 2026, born to mother Miska and father Kang Ju. As the only snow leopard cubs in Australia, they are on display in the Lion Gorge habitat, often seen playing, running, and resting.

Melbourne Zoo is part of a global breeding program; Laura discusses if some or all of the cubs will go to another zoo to continue the program. However, this won’t happen until they are 18 months to 2 years old at the earliest.

Laura details How they care for them in a climate that is different from the Himalayas? The training they do for voluntary behaviours What the role of a zookeeper is really like?

Laura detailed that as the cubs grow, they start to practice hunting behaviours, and they’ve started to practice them on mum Miska!

They’re pouncing on her, chewing on her tail, grabbing her,” Laura said. “As you can imagine, four cubs are a lot to handle! So, she does take some time on her own away from them.”

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Macca and Zoe are joined live on air by Professor Mark Kenny, from ANU, as he discusses his recent panel at the Sorrento Writer’s Festival, is podcasting re-shaping the media landscape?

Professor Mark Kenny is a political journalist, commentator, and academic, formerly chief political correspondent and national affairs editor for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times. A regular on ABC’s Insiders and Sky News, he has reported from locations including Kandahar, Beijing, and the Vatican, covering global summits such as G20 and APEC. Now at ANU, his research focuses on national politics, democracy, and the rise of populism

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Macca and Zoe talk to David Gibson about a bill introduced into Parliament to address the historic treatment of LGBTI personnel in the Australian Defence Force is being welcomed as a long-overdue step toward justice.

The Defence Force Discipline Amendment (RCDVS Implementation) Bill 2026, introduced by Minister for Veterans’ Affairs Matt Keogh, will enable eligible Defence personnel convicted solely on the basis of consensual homosexual activity to apply to have those convictions extinguished.

“Chair of GRAI (GLBTI Rights in Ageing Inc), David Gibson, said the introduction of the legislation marks an important milestone in recognising the harm caused by past policies that targeted homosexual service members.

“As a former Army officer who was discharged back in 1989 because of my sexuality, this is not just policy for me. It is personal,” Gibson said.

“Careers were lost. Reputations were damaged. Many former personnel carried that trauma quietly for decades.”

https://www.outinperth.com/new-bill-aims-to-address-historic-discrimination-against-lgbti-defence-personnel/

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Thanks to our producer Kenny Hill, we have a very special treat for ANZAC Day. Renouned Australian stage and international cinema actor Richard Roxburgh reads the poem; ‘The Fallen”.

Richard Roxburgh is one of Australia’s most accomplished and versatile actors, celebrated for his work across acclaimed international film, television and stage productions.

His standout film credits include Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge! and Elvis, Mel Gibson’s Oscar-winning Hacksaw Ridge, James Cameron’s Sanctum, and Force of Nature: The Dry 2, which earned him a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the 2025 AACTA Awards. Most recently, Richard portrayed journalist Robert Greste in The Correspondent, controversial political figure Joh Bjelke-Petersen in Joh: Last King of Queensland and is featured in the animated film Lesbian Space Princess, which won the Teddy Award for Best Feature Film at the 2025 Berlinale.

On television, Richard is best known for his iconic portrayal of Cleaver Greene in the multi-award-winning ABC series Rake, a role that earned him a Silver Logie and AACTA Award for Best Actor. Other significant screen work includes Hawke, Blue Murder, Bali 2002 opposite Rachel Griffiths, Stan’s drama series Prosper, and international series such as Netflix’s The Crown and HBO’s Catherine the Great alongside Helen Mirren.

A highly respected stage performer, Richard headlined productions for the Sydney Theatre Company and Company B, including Uncle Vanya, The Present, Waiting for Godot, Hamlet, and The Seagull.

***

We have included a brief biography of the English poet, Laurence Binyon, who wrote the famed poem, ‘The Fallen’.

Because of the cultural importance Binyon has on ANZAC Day, and Armistice (Remembrance) Day and how War Memorials are commemorated in the West.

Binyon was a prolific English poet and scholar of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, whose career spanned 50 years. During this time, he authored numerous poetry collections and plays, two historical biographies, and several art history volumes, including books on the works of Asian artists, English watercolourists, and William Blake’s drawings and engravings. He is perhaps best remembered for his World War I poem, “For the Fallen”, and his translation of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, which he translated in its original terza rima, Dante’s original rhyming scheme, which was much lauded by Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot and other poets of the time.

Poetry and visual arts shaped his career, the majority of which was spent with the British Museum, where he began in the department of printed books in 1895 before moving to department of prints and drawings, from which he retired in 1933. His first book of poetry, Lyric Poems (1894), was quickly followed by two books on painting, Dutch Etchers of the Seventeenth Century (1895) and John Crone and John Sell Cotman (1897). Later books such as Painting in the Far East (1908) and The Flight of the Dragon (1911) reflect this interest in Chinese, Japanese, and Indian arts and cultures. Ezra Pound praised The Flight of the Dragon and thought of Binyon as a pioneer in the Western appreciation of Asian art.

Binyon served as an orderly in the Red Cross during World War I, and his experiences would become an important part of his poetry. From 1915 to 1916 he worked in a military hospital in France, an experience reflected in his war poem “Fetching the Wounded.” His collections The Winnowing Fan (1914), The Anvil (1916), The Cause (1917), and The New World (1918) deal with the war as a noble cause. One reviewer from Literature Digest contended that WWI as a subject brought a new vitality to the poet’s work: “Laurence Binyon’s poetry once was somewhat coldly ‘literary’—aloof from common human experience, but the war has given him new vigor and new humanity.” His best-known war poem, “For the Fallen,” has been frequently anthologized was widely embraced by the British public. “As the casualty lists grew,” notes John Hatcher in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, “the poem became the focal expression of national grief, both alone and in Sir Edward Elgar’s choral work The Spirit of England (1916–17). Its central quatrain was carved on cenotaphs and tombstones worldwide and is still recited at annual Remembrance Day commemorations: “They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old / Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn / At the going down of the sun and in the morning / We will remember them.”

Some of Binyon’s greatest poetry was produced during the final decade of his life, “greater perhaps than that of any of his generation except [W.B.] Yeats,” according to John Hatcher. Among this exceptional later work are such volumes as The North Star and other Poems (1941), The Burning of the Leaves (1944), and the unfinished “The Madness of Merlin” (1947). During this time, Binyon was also at work on his much-admired and well-received terza rima translation of Dante’s Inferno (1933), Purgatorio (1938), and Paradiso (1943). Mere days after completing final revisions on his Paradiso translation, Laurence Binyon died of bronchopneumonia on March 10, 1943. Upon Binyon’s death, English author and literary critic Cyril Connolly honoured the poet in New Statesman and Nation as someone who understood “how to be both warm and detached, in fact, a sage.”

Binyon biography and photo courtesy of: Poetryfoundation.org

‘The Last Post’ performed by the RAAF Band

(Royal Australian Air Force)

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