Sunday Extra - Full program podcast

2005 was a big year for Marcus Zusak and Gill Hicks. For Markus Zusak his best seller The Book Thief was published. For Gill Hicks, 2005 was the year she survived the terrorist bombing of the London Underground. Both events changed their lives. We also investigate the rise of the Banh Mi and Hi Viz in Australia.

The UN is shutting down its mission in Iraq at the end of the year after 22 years. What has it achieved? Evan Ratliff has set up a company staffed entirely by AI. Has it worked? What have researchers learnt about the migration of Monarch butterflies from the airtags on them?

This week on Sunday Extra, does Australia need a 'Castle Law', what happens if Tehran runs out of water,  and the sculpture outside the CIA HQ that may finally reveal its secrets.

Plus, the 'Queen of Sumo', commentator Katrina Watts on the Year that Made Me. 

Phil Gunson, analyst with International Crisis Group, on the reaction of Venezuala's opposition to Trump's attacks on Maduro. Dr Beatriz Grinsztejn, President of the International AIDS Society on the progess of the fight against AIDS.Science communicator and author, Dr Kathryn Harkup on the real life science behind Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.Celebrated experimental performance artist, Stelarc, on the year that inspired him to explore the human body as an art experiment. 

This week on Sunday Extra, an investigation reveals how some major cryptocurrency exchanges profit from scams and other cyber crimes, we meet the architect behind Cairo's grand new museum, what is going on with food allergies in Australian, and Google Maps for the Roman Empire.

Plus the Year that Made Me, Tweet of the Week, Background Briefing and Lab Notes. 

What influence is climate disinformation having on tackling climate change, and what are the tipping points that may see the end of the greyhound industry globally. As Nazis reappear on the streets of Sydney, we revisit the investigation team that tracked down Nazis living in Australia after World War Two. Also the challenges of retrieving digital archives from floppy disks.

The final  Boyer Lecture is presented by James Curran, author and professor of modern history at the University of Sydney.

A few questions answered on Sunday Extra today: what was the role of the Chief Justice in the dismissal of the Whitlam government 50 years ago; should there be air quality standards for indoors as well as outdoors; should we all be making time to day dream and how can post-war rubble be turned into something useful?

The 4th Boyer Lecture is presented by Amelia Lester, deputy editor at Foreign Policy magazine. 

Africa Correspondent for Foreign Policy Magazine, Nosmot Gbadamosi on the violence that has broken out in Tanzania after this week's election. Mihai Sora, from the Lowy Institute on a proposal for greater intelligence sharing between Australia and its Pacific neighbours. Kari Byron, former co-host of the science smash-hit Mythbusters on the importance of cultivating a new generation of STEM prodigies. Astronomer Michael Brown on the radical new proposal to use satellites to bring us sunlight on demand. And Darius von Güttner Sporzyński teases out the history and humour of Netflix's new series 1670.

On this week's episode, U Thant the former Secretary General of the UN is remembered by his grandson, Thant Myint U. The extraordinary career of Kenya's Raila Odinga, a politician who ran for President 5 times unsuccessfully but still became one of his country’s most revered figures. And the Egyptian-Canadian journalist and author of One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, Omar el Akkad joins us on The Year that Made Me.

Who is Stephen Miller and is he a "root of evil" in the White House? Professor of International Relations, Clinton Fernandes reflects on the 50th anniversary of the murder of Australian journalists in East Timor, known as the Balibo Five. Laura Brown talks about her new book, All the Cool Girls Get Fired.

Sunday Extra is also broadcasting the 2025 Boyer Lecturers. The series is called Australia: a Radical Experiment in Democracy and this week is the keynote presentation from Justin Wolfers and a panel discussion.