In the 1960s independent magazine OZ became a cause célèbre when its editors were charged, in the UK and Australia, with obscenity.

Edition 4 of OZ magazine is a rare collectors item, valued at $700 by collectors online. One of the founders of OZ himself, Richard Walsh, had been searching for edition 4 far and wide.

This missing piece of Richard's collection was finally returned when Jill Bowen read about his search in The Australian … and it just so happened she still had her copy from over 60 years ago.

Guest: Jill Bowen, retired journalist

Abraham Kuol spent the first seven years of his life in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. His family came to Australia as refugees, and this year he is Victoria’s Young Australian of the Year. 

Abraham is an Associate Research Fellow in Criminology at Deakin University, where his research focuses on the post-settlement challenges faced by African Australians, particularly regarding interactions with the justice system. His work with the 2025 Westpac Social Change Fellowship has seen Abraham travel to countries in Europe and the UK to compare their justice responses to those in Victoria.

Abraham is also a leader in Melbourne’s African-Australian community. He understands the power that sports have to create positive change, and he mentors at-risk young people in team sports programs. 

In 2010, Abraham was elected as captain of his primary school, which taught him lessons of service and responsibility that he has carried ever since.

Guest: Abraham Kuol - 2026 Young Australian of the Year for Victoria, and Associate Research Fellow at Deakin University

The Magna Carta is one of the world's most famous documents, and Australia has it's own copy from 1297. Libby Melzer recently completed a 10 year project to analyse and conserve this copy of the Great Charter, touching the 700 year old document with the scalpel herself.

Libby is the Head of Collection Care at State Library Victoria, and she is giving a talk about the Conservation of the Australian copy of the Magna Carta at the National Library of Australia at 6pm on Tuesday, February 10.

Guest: Libby Melzer, Head of Collection Care at State Library Victoria

Straight from Sydney Festival to Melbourne's Art House, Opera for the Dead is a striking contemporary Chinese cyber-opera that blurs ritual, music and technology. Co-creator Mindy Meng Wang reflects on how her personal experience of grief and funeral rites shaped the immersive visual and musical work she developed with sound designer Monica Lim.

Guest:Mindy Meng Wang, world-leading guzheng player, composer and co-creator of Opera for the Dead

Excerpts from Opera For The Dead rehearsal audio courtesy Mindy Meng Wang and Monica Lim

Mary Penfold was the driving force behind Penfolds wines, which grew from a small vineyard outside Adelaide in the 1850s to the wine-producing powerhouse that we know today.

The number of countries planning to relocate their capital cities now also includes Mongolia, where building works are underway on a new capital.

'Good character' as a mitigating factor of sentencing is poised to be abolished in NSW courts. The proposed new bill in NSW parliament relies on the recommendations in the report from the NSW Sentencing Council, but not all members of the council were in agreement. Barrister Felicity Graham explains why she dissented from the council's recommendations and what the unintended consequences of the change might mean for vulnerable defendants. 

Guest: Felicity Graham, Barrister at Black Chambers

17 months after the revolution that ended the 15 year rule of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League, Bangladesh goes to a general election on February 12.

Have you ever heard of water cremation? It sounds like a misnomer but it is an increasingly popular way of cremating the dead, which its proponents choose for it's gentle effect on their loved ones, and the environment. 

The death industry in Australia mostly consists of funeral homes as we’ve known them, but business owners like Luke Cripps have begun to offer new options for grieving Australians.

Guest: Luke Cripps is a Director of Alluvium Water Cremations in Tasmania: one of the few businesses in Australia offering the service of water cremation.

This week's mystery caller is a common, aerobatic predator of small insects – the Welcome Swallow.