The Yarn

For the final episode of our Passion Project series, we’re hearing from trailblazers, trendsetters, and leaders. From a woman motorsport racer smashing her industry’s glass ceiling, to a music teacher rekindling passions for a neglected genre.

This episode features reporting by Aimee Watson, Molly O'Farrell, Nina Bartholomeusz, Katya Ewing, and Vivien Frischknecht.

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Next in our Passion Project series, five stories about communal care. In this episode, a former cult member guides others to freedom, an ICU doctor supports burnt-out colleagues, and an anorexia survivor helps those in recovery.  

This episode features reporting by Eliza McIntosh, Celina Lahdo, Sanober Bhavnagri, Charlie Williams, and Jenson Galvin.

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On this week’s episode of Passion Project, we’re entering the DIS-comfort zone.  

We’re investigating extreme hikers who rebel against modern life, elite athletes struggling with burnout, and others who push themselves to the absolute limit. 

This episode features reporting by Grace Viney, Berit Anna Rojer, Kezia Tan, and Rose Beattie. 

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Nude movie screenings might sound perverse, but this one-of-a-kind experience has been selling out Melbourne cinemas. It's just one of the hyper niche interests we're exploring in this week's episode of Passion Projects — our new series about outliers, trailblazers, and the pastimes they love. 

This episode features reporting by Lachie Carroll, Cathy Yee, Mia Leys, Cassia Cunningham, and Rachel Ferro.

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Today, we’re sharing a talk from Pulitzer Prize-winning war journalist Chris Hedges, who believes the Western media is complicit in the Gaza genocide. 

Chris spent two decades covering war zones in places like Iraq, Sarajevo, and Gaza. He’s also the author of more than a dozen books. His most recent is A Genocide Foretold: Reporting on Survival and Resistance in Occupied Palestine. 

In front of a live audience at the University of Melbourne, he discussed his wide-ranging career, the history of Israeli violence, and how the media manufactures consent for atrocities. 

Show Notes:

The Chris Hedges Report on Substack 

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The Labubu craze might be baffling to some, but their relentless popularity has led to a thriving black market for counterfeits, or “Lafufus”. 

This week on The Yarn, reporter Ashleigh Wyss explains how these low-quality fakes could be putting kids in danger. Her investigation on this issue was copublished by The Citizen and CHOICE.

Show Notes

Ashleigh's investigation for CHOICE

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From bread tag collecting to rocket building, the first episode of The Yarn’s Passion Project series delves into the world of immersive hobbies. Across five stories, our reporters investigate interests that blur the line between leisure and purpose, and question why women are treated differently in certain fan communities.  

This episode features work by Jamille Jayoma, Shaid Sasalu, Aditi Acharla, Jalina Cameron, and Paris Nagorcka.

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Pacific  newsrooms are in crisis. US funding cuts, the rise of artificial intelligence, and constraints on press freedom are just some of the threats to the region’s journalists.   

On this week's episode of News Bites, Louisa Lim discusses the future of Pacific media with Solomon Islands journalist Dorothy Wickham and Fijian journalist Shayal Devi.

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Who gets to shape the story? That’s what journalist Nour Haydar has been asking in relation to Australian coverage of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.  

On this week’s episode of The Yarn, we’re sharing her AN Smith lecture from December 2024. It’s a searing critique of the Australian media’s double standards, and its failure to “meet the moment”. 

Since then, the Gaza health ministry says the death toll of Israel’s campaign has risen to at least 68,000, and a United Nations commission of inquiry has classified it as a genocide. 

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First, Artificial Intelligence took our jobs. Now, it's deciding how we're recruited into the ones that are left. 

For today's episode, Sarah Jensz discusses her reporting on this new—and barely regulated—industry practice. She also speaks with legal experts, including Human Rights Commissioner Lorraine Finlay, who is pushing for urgent reforms to curb algorithmic discrimination.

Show Notes:

Sarah's reporting for The Citizen

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