The Fifth Estate

Sally Warhaft, Bob Carr and Dennis Altman

The 2018 midterm elections in the United States will be held on Tuesday 6 November. In the heated, highly partisan atmosphere in Washington – and indeed across the whole of the United States – the stakes feel higher than ever. Two years into Donald Trump’s presidency, the midterms are a test of his often controversial administration.

In the lead-up to the big day, Sally Warhaft dissects the polls, candidates and analysis with former Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr and La Trobe University academic Dennis Altman.

Carr is a former New South Wales Premier, and is currently a professor of international relations at the University of Technology Sydney, researching foreign policy, economics, international relations, national defence and security and Chinese politics. Altman is a leading writer and academic whose work focuses on sexuality, HIV/AIDS, Australian politics and US politics – in domestic and international contexts.

The House and Senate are both ruled by the Republicans, but this could all change after the midterms, with all 435 seats in the House of Representatives in contention and a third of the Senate up for grabs. A Democratic swing could even spark an impeachment motion. In conversation with Sally Warhaft, Carr and Altman discuss the possible outcomes and their consequences for the Australia and the region.

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Sally Warhaft dissects the 2018 US midterm elections – talking polls, candidates and analysis with former Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr and La Trobe University academic Dennis Altman.

Sally Warhaft and Stephen Smith — Photo: Scott Limbrick

As we hurtle towards the end of 2018, it’s clear we’ve entered a period of increased volatility and uncertainty in global relations. The world's two major powers are locked in a trade war, the European Union is looking decidedly shaky and much of the Middle East is still mired in conflict, partly due to the interventions of powers outside the region. How can Australia negotiate this shifting and unpredictable landscape? And what's our place in it?

In this Fifth Estate conversation, Sally Warhaft discusses these questions with former Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith. During his political career, Smith has held a range of other portfolios that make him uniquely placed to comment on Australia’s strategic priorities and predicaments, including stints as Minister for Trade and Shadow Minister for Immigration. Today, he’s a professor of international law at University of Western Australia.

Together, they explore Australia’s place in a changing region and a changing world. What are the new security challenges? And how can we nurture friendships within the region, while staying on good terms with our increasingly erratic old allies?

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Host Sally Warhaft and former Foreign Minister Stephen Smith explore Australia’s place in a changing region and a changing world. What are the new security challenges? And how can we nurture friendships within the region, while staying on good terms with our increasingly erratic old allies?

Host Sally Warhaft and journalist and author Greg Sheridan talk morality, hope, disillusion and the changing shape of faith in today's global society.

Sally Warhaft and Greg Sheridan

In 1966, 88% of Australians identified as Christian in the census. By the 2016 census, the proportion had dipped to 52%. The number of Christians who attend church regularly is even lower. How has Christianity gone from being at the centre of Australian cultural and social life to something that's important to a dwindling number of Australians?

In this Fifth Estate conversation, host Sally Warhaft is joined by journalist and author Greg Sheridan, whose new book, God Is Good for You, makes a case for the achievements of Christianity. He argues that the Judeo-Christian tradition can offer a framework for tackling our increasingly complex and connected world.

Through their discussion, Warhaft and Sheridan talk morality, hope, disillusion and the changing shape of faith today.

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Host Sally Warhaft and journalist and author Greg Sheridan talk morality, hope, disillusion and the changing shape of faith in today's global society.

How is journalism changing when it comes to reporting on crimes against women? Why do some crimes, and some victims, get more press than others? And how does media coverage affect police investigations and the pursuit of justice in specific criminal cases?

For this Fifth Estate conversation, Sally Warhaft is joined by former Victoria Police chief commissioner Christine Nixon and veteran crime journalist Andrew Rule to discuss prejudice and perception in media and police work.

How does public scrutiny help and hinder the police? How are media standards, and public standards, changing? What works, and what doesn’t, in solving and preventing, these kinds of crimes?

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For this Fifth Estate conversation, Sally Warhaft is joined by former Victoria Police chief commissioner Christine Nixon and veteran crime journalist Andrew Rule to discuss prejudice and perception in media and police work. How does public scrutiny help and hinder the police? How are media standards, and public standards, changing? What works, and what doesn’t, in solving and preventing, these kinds of crimes?

Sally Warhaft and Katharine Murphy at The Fifth Estate

‘Conflict is not a new commodity in news,’ Katharine Murphy has written. ‘ … But media disruption has intensified the conflict cycle, compressing it into smaller, louder, intraday bursts, and those constant interruptions have a material impact on political decision-making, both here and around the world.’

As the Guardian Australia’s political editor, and a veteran of the press gallery in Canberra, Murphy has viewed the decline of traditional media, and its impact on political processes, from a ringside seat. In her On Disruption essay, Murphy maps the ways in which media disruption has affected Australian politics and policy – for better and for worse. In the 20 or so years since the advent of online news, which radical changes do we already take for granted? And in a knee-jerk media environment, how can we develop sound, long-term policies that protect the interests of future generations?

At the Wheeler Centre, Murphy joins host Sally Warhaft as they discuss how politicians, journalists and citizens are learning to navigate the changing new media world order.

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