Sunday Extra - Separate stories podcast

Icelanders are preparing to vote in a referendum on whether to re-start long-frozen accession talks with the European Union.

The vote on August 29 is seen as a barometer of the EU's ability to recruit new member states, particularly prosperous and democratically-credentialed ones.

Domestically, a majority of Icelanders are in favour of talks, but opposed to actually joining the bloc. 

Guest: Darren Adam, presenter with RÚV English, the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service

Delegates from across the globe have just wrapped up a 10-day session in New York, discussing a proposed UN tax framework that supporters describe as a "pay-where-you-play" model, requiring multinational companies to pay more tax in the countries where they actually generate their profits. Supporters of the framework estimate the changes could raise an extra $500 billion for nations around the world.

Guest: Professor Jayati Ghosh, Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst

This week the Vietnamese leader Tô Lâm wrapped up a 6-day visit to Australia, during which the two countries agreed to deepen their Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, with fresh cooperation agreements regarding defence, agriculture and border security.

It was the first visit by the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam, the highest political position in the country, to Australia and New Zealand since 2009, and coincides with shifting approaches to foreign policy in the Asia Pacific.

The visit comes after the government recommitted to its policy of leveraging its significant diaspora for economic growth, but with many Vietnamese-Australians distrustful of the communist government it remains to be seen how successful this will be. 

Guest: Dr. Hai Thiem Bui, researcher at the Department of Global Political Studies at Malmo University

Colin Barnett describes himself as an ‘accidental politician’, who went on to have a long and successful career in Western Australian state politics.

He was elected premier in 2008 and won again in a landslide in 2013 before being swept from power in 2017.

He led the state through a period of massive growth, particularly the mining boom and infrastructure growth.

The Sacrifice of Farinelli is a new theatre work based on the life of opera's first superstar, the castrato singer known as Farinelli. 

The castrati, singers who were castrated before reaching puberty, sat at the top of the musical hierarchy, though castration is no guarantee of musical success. 

Through the story of Farinelli and his brother Riccardo Broschi, a composer, the play wrestles with the costs of pursuing perfection in the arts.    

The Sacrifice of Farinelli premiers in Melbourne on August 14. 

Guest: Stuart Bruce, writer and director of The Sacrifice of Farinelli

A comment from Peter Singer set ex-Q&A host and seven-time Walkley Award winner Tony Jones on a journey exploring the sentience of non-human animals, culminating in his directorial debut. 

Sentient is a documentary that exposes the scale of the primate medical testing system, and explores the ethical and clinical questions that arise, as well as their possible answers.

Sentient will be screening at the Melbourne International Film Festival on August 11 and 13.

Writer/director Tony Jones and primatologist Dr Lisa Jones-Engel will be in attendance for Q&A's at both sessions of the film.

Guest: Tony Jones, writer and director of Sentient.

Timor Leste, one of the world’s youngest nations continues to develop economically and is emerging as a member of ASEAN.

But in 2008, the 6 year-old nation was in the grip of ethnic grievances and rebel groups, which had combined to create a politically volatile situation.

It all came to a head on February 11 when both the president, Jose Ramos Horta, and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao were shot in parallel rebel attacks.

This moment kick starts a new book by veteran journalist Paul Toohey, who was covering the events from Darwin as northern Australia correspondent for The Australian newspaper.

The influx of 72,000 people into the tiny Spanish territory of Ceuta put the global spotlight on the curious phenomenon of enclaves.

A close inspection of the world map reveals enclaves and exclaves and even enclaves within exclaves dot the earth, but how did they come to exist and what is life like for inhabitants of these geographical quirks?

Guest: Dr Alexandra Novosseloff, author of Enclaves of the World: travels through geographical oddities 

As doctors reach a breaking point balancing patient care with an escalating administrative burden, AI scribes are emerging as a lifeline. But amid the rapid adoption of AI scribes in the medical community, are concerns about patient privacy and the quality of care being overlooked?

Guest: Lizzie O'Shea, founder and chair of Digital Rights Watch

The DRW's discussion paper is Off the Record — AI Scribes in Australian Healthcare

100 word including guest & book