In the first of a two-part series, The Fin podcast talks to the critics around the Financial Review newsroom to get their recommendations for film, television, books and music.

Further reading:

The 10 best albums of 2024 (if Taylor Swift isn’t your jam)
Soulful singer songwriters, rising indie superstars, Australian up-and-comers and a floor-filling techno god. Welcome to the year’s best sounds.
12 books fiction lovers will give (or hope to receive)
We asked prominent Australian writers, readers, tome-buyers and page turners to tell us what they are most hoping to get – and send to others.
This might be the most explosive tennis movie ever made
Challengers packs a punch.

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Outgoing Rear Window editor Myriam Robin tells us about the megalomaniac trying to solve Australia’s housing crisis, the column’s biggest scoop and the rebellion underway at the country’s most exclusive clubs.

This podcast is sponsored by Aussie Broadband.

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Peter V’landys bogged down in a multibillion-dollar property play
The influential CEO of Racing NSW is staring down allegations aired confidentially by purported whistleblowers to a parliamentary inquiry.
Gina Rinehart lobbies NGA to remove portrait Being Australia’s richest resident comes with some perks. Who knew said benefits included a network of flunkies who will bombard a national institution over a painting you don’t like?
Who’s in (and out) at the Australian Club Who coughs up the hefty annual membership fee at Sydney’s Australian Club on Macquarie Street? Why, we’re so glad you asked.

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This week on The Fin podcast, James Eyers on why Donald Trump is a crypto bro, whether Bitcoin’s price will stay at these record levels and how regulators are playing catch up.

This podcast is sponsored by Aussie Broadband.

Further reading:
ASIC moves to expand its oversight of crypto and digital assets
The corporate regulator’s new guidance outlines more than a dozen examples of how it intends to assess what is in – and out – of financial services laws.
A bitcoin convention in Sydney rings crypto alarm bells
Bitcoin is up almost 130 per cent this year and the US election result put a rocket under crypto. But there are still plenty of ways to lose money in an (unregulated) bull market.
Bitcoin smashes through $US100,000 as traders eye ‘huge re-rating’
Investors believe the change in attitude towards cryptocurrencies still hasn’t been priced in, making Thursday’s milestone just the beginning.

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This week on The Fin podcast, Chanticleer columnist James Thomson and reporter Hannah Wootton on why ASIC is suing Cbus, what it means for industry funds and whether the ‘super wars’ are back.

This podcast is sponsored by Aussie Broadband.

Further reading:
How Cbus’ big party year went horribly wrong
It’s not the biggest or the worst performing of the super funds. So why has Cbus become the poster child for the $4 trillion sector’s problems?
Big Super’s reckoning has arrived
After 32 years of guaranteed inflows from workers and scant scrutiny, the $3.9 trillion industry faces customer fury over service, unclear investment practices and questionable governance.
Super sector’s problems are much bigger than Cbus
The damning review of governance at CBUS shows while industry funds have led the way in gathering and growing assets, they now need to play governance catch-up.

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This week on The Fin podcast, Technology editor Paul Smith and media and marketing reporter Sam Buckingham-Jones on why the ban is being introduced, what it means for children and parents and whether it could cause a rift with the new US President.

This podcast is sponsored by UNSW

Further reading:
Why this former TikTok executive wants a strict social media ban
TikTok hired Felicity McVay to convince Disney, Universal and the AFL to use the platform more. Now she’s campaigning to get children off it.
Canberra takes on big tech – and Gen Alpha – with social media bans
All Australians could be forced to register official identity documents with social media giants to prove they are over the age of 16.
Trump may use tariffs to hit back at PM’s tech crackdown
American and Australian officials are warning the Albanese government that its crackdown on social media platforms could anger the incoming US president into putting tariffs on $33 billion of exports.

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This week on The Fin podcast, Australian Financial Review contributor and former diplomat Geoff Raby on Trump’s world and what it means for Australia and why China and Russia are less close than you might think.

This podcast is sponsored by UNSW

Further reading: 
Xi is thumping Putin in the Great Game
Former Australian ambassador to China Geoff Raby takes a deep dive into the “Chussia” partnership. His conclusions about a rising Sinostan would not please the Kremlin.
Civil servants to flee as Trump ‘drains the swamp’ (again)
Everyone knew Trump’s cabinet picks would be provocative and a purge of government workers was coming. But they have arrived with stunning speed.
G20 goes soft on Russia as Putin threatens to use nuclear weapons
The G20 has ended with a whimper with watered-down statements on Russia, climate change and the Middle East.

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This week on The Fin podcast, investigative reporter Neil Chenoweth and Rear Window columnist Mark Di Stefano on how Chris Ellison’s secret deal with the tax office came to light, why some investors want the founder to stay on and whether Mineral Resources can draw a line in the sand.

This podcast is sponsored by UNSW

Further reading:
Inside the two-week unravelling of Chris Ellison’s hold on MinRes
Monday’s attempt to draw a line in the sand still leaves unanswered questions for shareholders and investigators about the goings-on at Mineral Resources.
Meet Chris Ellison’s personal accountant
Yenna Ong, the number cruncher who managed the Mineral Resources founder’s private affairs, rapidly gained great power. Then just as suddenly, she was gone.
MinRes paid a 70pc mark up to rent Chris Ellison-owned properties
Independent valuations that the owners of the four industrial facilities commissioned themselves indicated that the leases were well in excess of market rates.

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This week on The Fin podcast, senior reporter Simon Evans and Rear Window editor Myriam Robin on Sanjeev Gupta’s flashy property purchase, his financial troubles and the South Australian town caught in the middle.

This podcast is sponsored by UNSW

Further reading:
Whyalla steelworks running out of options as taxpayer rescue resisted
The SA premier says it’s time Sanjeev Gupta took some action, with governments wary of taxpayer funds being siphoned off to overseas parts of GFG Alliance.
The town bearing the brunt of Sanjeev Gupta’s financial nightmare
The British industrialist’s steelworks looms over Whyalla, population 21,900. There’s plenty at stake if things go south.
Sanjeev Gupta buys on Sydney waterfront
The steel magnate is cutting jobs and salaries at the Whyalla steelworks one week, and splashing out for prime Sydney waterfront property the next.

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This week on The Fin podcast, Joe Aston, former Rear Window editor and author of The Chairmain's Lounge, discusses what went wrong for the Qantas, its oversized influence in Canberra, and the extraordinary perks of a Qantas board seat.

Editors note: On Thursday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese denied ever contacting Alan Joyce to seek a flight upgrade.

This podcast is sponsored by UNSW

Further reading:
The incredible financial value of a Qantas board seat
The lavish and fudged flight perks of the airline’s executives are revealed in this extract from Joe Aston’s “The Chairman’s Lounge”.
The zombie chairman: How Goyder let Joyce trash Qantas’ reputation
An exclusive extract from Joe Aston’s book The Chairman’s Lounge tells the inside story of how Richard Goyder and his board allowed Alan Joyce to fly Qantas into a reputational disaster.
Albanese faces calls for probe into flight upgrades
David Pocock and Peter Dutton have both called for a probe into whether Anthony Albanese breached the ministerial code of conduct while he was transport minister.

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This week on The Fin podcast, International editor James Curran and US correspondent Matthew Cranston on how Trump has managed to claw back Harris’ lead in the final weeks of the campaign and what Canberra is worried about.

This podcast is sponsored by IG

Further reading:
Trade wars, market jolts: What a Trump win means for Australia
The tax and economic policies of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will have profound effects for Australian investors, exporters and US subsidiaries.
Trump works a McDonald’s fry station as election goes off colour
The former president served up fries in an apron as he poked fun at rival Kamala Harris’ story of working there in the 1980s.
America’s new Asian alliance network will survive beyond Trump
No matter who is in the White House after November 5, the US’ carefully structured latticework of alliances that underpins its regional primacy will continue.

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