From the moment the pandemic began, uncovering the origins of Covid-19 has been a fraught pursuit.

Many different theories - some more viable than others - have flourished, including the hypothesis that Covid-19 was deliberately leaked from a lab in Wuhan. 

The Wuhan lab leak theory has been given new prominence thanks to a controversial book written by Australian journalist and Sky News commentator Sharri Markson.

Today, writer and contributor to The Saturday Paper Linda Jaivin, on the credibility of Markson’s claims, and how ideology has impacted our ability to get to the truth of how this pandemic first started.

Guest: Contributor to The Saturday Paper, Linda Jaivin.

Background reading: Wuhan: What the Markson book tells us in The Saturday Paper

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The new Cold War over the origins of Covid-19

A daily news show from the publisher of The Monthly and The Saturday Paper. Hear from the country’s best reporters, covering the news as it affects Australia. This is news with narrative, every weekday.

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The wait for elective surgery in our public hospitals is longer than ever, but it seems there’s a way to jump the queue.
If you can afford to pay for private care in a public hospital, you might find yourself being offered more perks than just a free bathrobe and some slippers.
Today, lawyer and contributor to The Monthly Russell Marks, on whether our public health system is truly fair and what happens when your own child’s health is on the line.

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Guest: Lawyer and contributor to The Monthly, Russell Marks

'Outrageous and probably illegal': Offers to skip the queue at public hospitals

An attack at a Western Sydney church last week was inextricably linked to social media.
The bishop who was stabbed is a social media celebrity, the attack itself was live-streamed, and both the attack and the reaction may have been inflamed by online extremism.
The Australian government is so concerned it has picked a fight with the global social media giants X and Meta, ordering them to pull down content about the attack.
Today, counter-terrorism expert and Lowy Institute fellow Lydia Khalill, on the attack, whether it was an act of terrorism and how we can do more to prevent extremism.

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Guest: Project director of the Lowy Institute’s Digital Threats to Democracy Project and expert on counter-terrorism, Lydia Khalil

The stabbing of a TikTok bishop

Grace Tame knows how to advocate. Her campaigning for survivors of sexual assault and abuse helped to create real change and pushed powerful institutions to be better.
Now, Tame is turning her focus onto something she has lived with her whole life and which is now on the agenda in Canberra, – autism and neurodivergence.
Today, former Australian of the Year and contributor to The Saturday Paper, Grace Tame, on Australia’s first attempt at a national autism strategy – and why we must get it right.


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Guest: former Australian of the year and Contributor to The Saturday Paper, Grace Tame

Grace Tame is not a cat, she’s autistic

It’s now been a week since the Federal Court of Australia’s Justice Michael Lee ruled it was substantially true that Bruce Lehrmann raped Brittney Higgins in a minister’s office at Parliament House back in 2019.
In other cases, that may have been the end of the matter. But this case has drawn in dozens of characters, with careers ended, others on the rocks and Channel Seven appearing as if it could implode.
Today, senior reporter for The Saturday Paper, Rick Morton, on who emerges from the wreckage of one of the most dramatic defamation cases we’ve seen in years.

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Guest: Senior reporter for The Saturday Paper, Rick Morton

Can Channel Seven survive the Lehrmann verdict?

Today, columnist Elizabeth Farrelly will read her piece about our modern cities and how they relate to the history of how humanity has imagined the perfect city.
Farrelly is one of Australia’s foremost writers on urban development and the communities of our cities – having earned devoted readers at the Sydney Morning Herald and now at Schwartz Media, inThe Saturday Paper.

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Guest: Columnist Elizabeth Farrelly

The new Cold War over the origins of Covid-19

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