In the first Fifth Estate discussion of 2017, Sally Warhaft hosts two heavy-hitting American experts. Thomas Frank is the author of Listen, Liberal, a blistering appraisal of recent Democratic administrations and a liberal professional class seemingly indifferent to widening income inequality. Cynthia P. Schneider is a foreign policy expert at the highly respected Brookings Institution in Washington and an active, eloquent advocate of ‘soft power’ and cultural diplomacy, especially with the Muslim world. The pair explore a wide range of questions around America’s recent past, present and future, and provide a unique perspective from the inside. How might Trump work to serve the interests of those who voted for him in protest against the establishment? And how are his efforts likely to affect those well beyond American borders?

Mark Colvin is one of the most trusted and revered figures in Australian journalism today. In this Fifth Estate discussion with Sally Warhaft, he reflects on the release of his memoir, Light and Shadow, discussing the unlikely convergence of family and foreign affairs in his personal and professional lives, as well as four decades at the forefront of news reporting.

Colvin has won the respect of generations of Australians through his work at the original Double J, his stint as the ABC’s correspondent in London and for his reporting on Australian politics and international conflicts. Today he’s known as the voice of ABC Radio’s current-affairs flagship PM and the darling of Australian Twitter. What nobody knew until very recently, is that he’s also the son of a spy.

Mark Colvin

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Mark Colvin is one of the most trusted and revered figures in Australian journalism today. In this Fifth Estate discussion with Sally Warhaft, he reflects on the release of his memoir, Light and Shadow, discussing the unlikely convergence of family and foreign affairs in his personal and professional lives, as well as four decades at the forefront of news reporting.

‘Democracy is the worst form of government,’ Winston Churchill famously said, ‘except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time’.

Greg Sheridan, Gareth Evans and Sally Warhaft

But democracies come in very different shapes and sizes. And they’re always evolving; sometimes in response to pressure from within the body politic, and sometimes because of shifts outside sovereign control. Lately – with the emergence of Donald Trump, the shock Brexit result and Australia’s confusing recent turn at the polls – talk of democratic dysfunction has been on the rise. But are things really worse than they were in the past? And what can we learn from other models of democracy around the globe?

For this conversation, host Sally Warhaft speaks with two observers deeply familiar with democracy here and abroad – academic, lawyer, international policymaker and former Foreign Minister Gareth Evans, and the Australian’s foreign editor Greg Sheridan.

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Is democracy in a bad way, as some have said, referring to Trump and Brexit? What can we learn from other models of democracy around the world? Host Sally Warhaft speaks with two observers deeply familiar with democracy here and abroad – academic, lawyer, international policymaker and former Foreign Minister Gareth Evans, and the Australian’s foreign editor Greg Sheridan.

Earlier this year, Philip Ruddock declared his intention to retire from politics after a 42-year career. As ‘Father of the House’ – the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives in Canberra – Ruddock has served in Fraser, Howard and Abbott/Turnbull governments, as a key player in several turbulent and transformative periods of Australian politics. Best known as the architect of the controversial ‘Pacific Solution’ during his time as Immigration Minister in the Howard era, Ruddock has also been a vocal advocate on several human rights issues, especially the abolition of the death penalty.

After the election, Ruddock will take up a new role as Australia’s Special Envoy for Human Rights. As Ruddock opens a new chapter, and Australia seeks a seat on the UN Human Rights Council for 2018, what are Ruddock’s aspirations and priorities in the role – and how does he respond to criticism of his new position? Hear from this elder statesman of the Australian conservative movement, in the first days of his post-political life.

In conversation with Sally Warhaft, Ruddock discusses human rights, the death penalty, and the changing Australian political landscape.

Sally Warhaft and Philip Ruddock

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In conversation with Sally Warhaft, veteran conservative politician Philip Ruddock discusses human rights, the death penalty, and the changing Australian political landscape.

In a new collection of essays, It’s Our Country, editors Marcia Langton and Megan Davis bring together diverse ideas from leading Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander thinkers and leaders including Dawn Casey, Noel Pearson, Patrick Dodson, Nyunggai Warren Mundine and Mick Mansell. Each offers a perspective on what constitutional reforms could – and should – achieve for Indigenous Australians.

In this episode of the Fifth Estate podcast, host Sally Warhaft is joined by Marcia Langton and Megan Davis for a conversation exploring the political and philosophical intricacies of recognition, and the real-world implications for the lives of Australia’s first peoples.

Sally Warhaft, Megan Davis and Marcia Langton

Why should Indigenous Australians be constitutionally recognised, what form should recognition take – and how will it affect Australian society?

As a referendum on the issue becomes increasingly likely, those fundamental questions remain unresolved (and sometimes, hotly contested) – leaving Australia as one of the last liberal democracies still to settle its colonial beginnings.

Further listening Podcast episode

The Wheeler Centre

Question Time: Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australians / First Nations 15 Jul 2015 Podcast episode

The Wheeler Centre

Intelligence Squared Debate: True Reconciliation Requires a Treaty 4 Feb 2014 Podcast episode

The Wheeler Centre

Lunchbox/Soapbox: Mark McMillan on Indigenous Identity and the Law 11 Mar 2014

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Why should Indigenous Australians be constitutionally recognised, what form should recognition take – and how will it affect Australian society? Fifth Estate host Sally Warhaft is joined by Marcia Langton and Megan Davis for a conversation exploring the political and philosophical intricacies of recognition, and the real-world implications for the lives of Australia’s first peoples.

Award-winning journalist and author Roger Cohen meets Fifth Estate host Sally Warhaft for a wide-ranging spotlight conversation on his memoir, his body of work and his perspective on international affairs.

'There's been a tremendous commitment of blood and treasure to far away places, and the results seem pretty paltry.'

Roger Cohen

Cohen has worked from 15 different countries as a foreign correspondent, reporting for some of the most prestigious news outlets in the globe. His association with the New York Times has spanned 25 years – as a foreign correspondent, foreign editor, and now as an op-ed columnist. Of his trade, he’s said: ‘The journalist moves in the opposite direction from the crowd, toward danger, often leaving the settled majority perplexed.’

Roger Cohen

In the latest of Cohen’s four books – 2015’s The Girl from Human Street: Ghosts of Memory in a Jewish Family – he turns that reporting ethos to his own family’s complex and itinerant history, centring on his mother’s travails with mental illness, geographical displacement and loneliness. It’s a slow-burning account of love, revealed layer by layer; it’s also an intergenerational search for the meaning of Cohen’s complex inheritance, and for ‘Jewishness’, touching on his sometimes controversial views on key issues facing modern Israel.

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