A few weeks ago I went to Newcastle, the Australian one, and spent some time chatting with the voice of Newcastle herself, Carol Duncan OAM. She was ABC Radio's morning presenter for quite some years, then she was a city councillor, and she does a lot of other things too.

In this episode we discuss her Medal of the Order of Australia and her status as a Freeman of the City of Newcastle. Also, her time in the music industry, chocolate and other confectionary, and the sheer sexual magnetism of Queensland politician Bob Katter.

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https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00274/

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Back at the start of the year, my good friend Snarky Platypus and I created a bingo card for 2026. A set of 25 things that might happen. Well, we're half-way through the year, so let's see how we went.

We discuss music, SpaceX, OpenAI, the war with Iran, and much more. You might want to follow along with this on this episode’s web page — or go back to the original post.
https://stilgherrian.com/essay/bingo-card-2026/

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I like trains. Do you like trains? I hope so, because today we’re talking about trains. There’s a strong focus on China and on high-speed trains, and our guest on the internet from Beijing is Chinese-Swiss international rail visionary, it says on his YouTube channel, David Feng.

In this episode we discuss China’s high-speed rail network and some of the country’s metros. But we also cover high-speed rail in other countries, why Australia doesn’t have any (yet), signalling, food, and more.

If you’re interested in maybe meeting up with David and me in Sydney on 14 June, please indicate your interest by Wednesday 8 July.

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Today's episode is a bit different. It's more personal. I, Stilgherrian, was born in Gawler, South Australia, and lived there from ages 11 to about 17. Last year I visited the town with my good friend Snarky Platypus, and he asked me some pertinent questions.

In this episode, there's memories of school, some history of Gawler, a rambling chat about science fiction and fantasy, television, music, and much more — including the true story of Australia's favourite condiment, chicken salt.

The core material for this podcast was recorded on 29 June 2025.

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Is Pluto a planet? Currently, officially, no. But the Trump-appointed head of NASA wants to reinstate Pluto's planetary privileges. Why? Let’s find out with space archaeologist Dr Alice Gorman aka Dr Space Junk and astrophysicist Rami Mandow.

In this episode we also talk about new ways to make black holes, glitches, drones, the explosion of Blue Origin's New Glenn launch vehicle, and of course the SpaceX share float.

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How long does UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer have left? And what is the Chelsea Flower Show? Today’s special guest is Scottish author and social researcher David F Porteous, and he can help us with neither of these things.

In this episode we talk about British politics and, yes, the Chelsea Flower Show. But we also discuss the UK’s heat wave, AI, age verification, Eurovision, Edinburgh’s new capybara, rabbits, feral pigs, and King Charles III.

This episode was recorded on 22 May 2026, so make sure to listen to the housekeeping segment for any factual updates.

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https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00269/

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Have you seen what’s going on in the Philippines? They’re trying to impeach the vice-president — again — and there was even a shootout in the senate building. It’s time to chat with journalist Erin Cook, who specialises in South-East Asia. And as always we talk about a lot of different things.

Erin produces the excellent newsletter Dari Mulut ke Mulut, an English-language summary of what’s happening in the region, and an occasional newsletter specifically on the Australia-Indonesia relationship, Flat White, Kopi Susu.

In this episode we talk about those high-level political dramas in the Philippines. But we also chat about the oil crisis and its affect on the region, scam compounds in Myanmar, the history of physics for some reason, Thaksin Shinawatra out on parole, the exciting world of Memorandum of Understanding 44, and much more.

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https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00268/

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Something different to kick off the mid-2026 series. Just two days ago, on the 8th of May, Sir David Attenborough celebrated his 100th birthday. As it happens, way back in 1984, I interviewed him when he was just Mr Attenborough, and here is that interview.

It was part of the program Science Journal series 1984 episode 35 from community station Radio 5UV, now Radio Adelaide, first broadcast on 29 August 2024.

I spent half an hour with Attenborough in his hotel room. It was his ninth interview for the day, and the greying gentleman in his fifties was visibly tired — particularly tired, he said, of being asked questions like “What’s your favourite animal”. But as I set up my equipment we chatted and, once he realised that I knew his work and knew what I was doing, his eyes began to sparkle just like on TV.

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From Australia’s teen social media ban to AI safety, there’s so many tech policy matters these days! So to wrap up the summer series — finally! — I decided to chat with Johanna Weaver and Zoe Jay Hawkins from the Tech Policy Design Institute in Canberra.

In this episode we talk about how Australia as a middle power can participate in global tech policy. We chat about AI slop, the battle between Anthropic and the Pentagon, the digital duty of care, and of course the social media age restrictions.

This episode was recorded on 11 March 2026, so some of the topical references may be slightly dated.

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As I post this, we’re supposedly just hours away from the launch of NASA’s Artemis II mission around the Moon. So what better time to chat with space archaeologist Dr Alice Gorman aka Dr Space Junk and astrophysicist Rami Mandow?

In this episode we talk about that mission, but also flag some of the problems, including the various laws and treaties relating to the Moon. Also, cooking in space, drugged-up spiders, the recent total eclipse of the Moon, tightrope walking, and cockroaches.

This episode was recorded on 11 March 2026, so some of the topical references are slightly dated.

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https://the9pmedict.com/edict/00265/

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