Theresa Payton made history as the first female Chief Information Officer in the White House, where she steered digital transformation strategy and helped secure critical government systems. With an increase in cybercrime in Australia, what's her advice to Australians on how to stay safe online and how to harness the enormous capabilities of generative AI without losing the human touch?

Guest: Theresa Payton - CEO of Fortalice Solutions and former White House Chief Information Officer

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller is the architect of a suite of Donald Trump's hardline border policies, from the so-called “Muslim ban” to the ICE raids on undocumented immigrants. He has been described as a “race-baiting” nativist who is the “root of all evil” in the Trump administration. Who is Stephen Miller and why does he hold so much sway over the president?

Guest: David Klion, columnist for The Nation magazine and contributing editor at Jewish Currents. 

Stephanie Dogfoot is a comedian, poet and lawyer based in Singapore. They have been performing since 2008 and has established open mic nights for poets and comedians in particular encouraging women and the LGBTQI community to get up and perform. They have been forced to come out as bisexual in many different places and the reception is always different.

Guest: Stephanie Dogfoot, poet and comedian. She will be reading some of her poems at Queersland as part of the Brisbane Writers Festival and performing her stand up comedy show Gold Star Bisexual at the Melbourne Fringe Festival

From his early news on the business desk at a number of newspapers to a stint behind the scenes in Victorian state politics to the founding of the online news site Crikey, Stephen Mayne's career has occurred at the nexus of business, politics and journalism.

And while those worlds are often the scene of a lot of shenanigans and grubbiness, Stephen has made it his business to let some light in.

Stephen is now what could be called a professional corporate trouble maker, though his official title is full-time shareholder activist and publisher of The Mayne Report. 

And, for the first time, Stephen publicly reveals his life-altering health battle.

If you have ever had a medical procedure in a hospital, you might have noticed that much of the medical equipment that you came into contact with went straight into the bin afterwards. 

Since resigning as UK Prime Minister in 2007, Tony Blair has maintained an active interest in the Middle East through his think tank The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. Carole Cadwalladr has been an investigative journalist for over 20 years and is now writing for the media outlet The Nerve. She has been digging into who funds his institute and whether this will compromise his proposed role in the running of Gaza. 

Guest: Carole Cadwalladr, investigative journalist with The Nerve and author of the Substack How to Survive the Broliarchy

Josh Neille took home his first animal to care for when he was eight years old. Now he is a registered wildlife carer in Gippsland VIctoria where he, his partner Amber and daughter Ashlee care for all sorts of wildlife from wombats to kangaroos, birds and snakes and turtles. Now Josh has a huge social media following as he tells the stories of both his successes and failures as a wildlife carer.

Guest: Josh Neille, wild life carer and author of Growing Up Wombat (Affirm Press) You can follow Josh on Tik Tok, Instagram or Facebook too.

Dr Margaret Leggatt and Sandy Jeffs are the authors of Out of the Madhouse: From Asylums to Mental Health Reform – Who Cares? 

The book focuses on the now-closed Larundel Psychiatric Hospital in Melbourne, but it has been re-released this week with updated coverage including of Victoria’s Royal Commission into the Mental Health System handed down in February 2021.

University of Sydney academics Dr Nick Riemer and Professor John Keane will be facing the Federal Court on Monday 13th October after university colleagues made a complaint of anti-Semitism against them under Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act. The case hinges on whether criticism of Israel and Zionism equates to anti-Semitism.

Guest: Dr Nick Riemer, Senior Lecturer in Linguistics, University of Sydney

While the physical condition of the 20 living hostages is unknown, it is anticipated that the 2 years spent in captivity has had an extreme impact on all aspects of their health and will require ongoing treatment.