Trust Me, I'm An Expert

By The Conversation

Trust Me, I'm An Expert episodes

July 30, 2019 Politics with Michelle Grattan: Anthony Albanese on Labor's hard times
Anthony Albanese defends Labor's vote for the government's $158 billion tax package, supports an increase in Newstart, and strongly argues the need to take the superannuation guarantee to 12%.
31 min
July 24, 2019 Politics with Michelle Grattan: Paul Oosting responds to GetUp's critics
GetUp's national director Paul Oosting joins Michelle Grattan to respond to critics who accuse the organisation of "creating an environment...[of] abuse, harassment, intimidation".
22 min
July 23, 2019 Politics with Michelle Grattan: Centre Alliance's Stirling Griff on Newstart
Centre Alliance Senator Stirling Griff tells Michelle Grattan that his party will pressure the government to raise Newstart.
20 min
July 19, 2019 What’s the next ‘giant leap’ for humankind in space? We asked 3 space experts
Today, we're asking two astrophysicists and a planetary scientist: what's the likelihood we'll be living on Mars or the Moon in future? Pixabay/WikiImages, CC BY
You’ve probably heard that this week marks 50 years since humans first set foot on the Moon – a feat that still boggles the mind given the limitations of technology at the time and the global effort required to pull it off.
If you’re as fascinated as we are about the history and future of space exploration, check out The Conversation podcast, To the moon and beyond, a five-part podcast series from The Conversation. We’ve featured a little taste of it on Trust Me today.
Through interviews with academic experts around the world – from space scientists to historians, lawyers, futurists and a former astronaut – science journalist Miriam Frankel and space scientist Martin Archer look at the past 50 years of space exploration and what the 50 years ahead have in store.
Episode two features Australia’s own space archaeologist, Alice Gorman, in conversation with Sarah Keenihan about why Apollo 11 landing spots could become heritage sites for future generations of visitors to the Moon.

Read more:
To the moon and beyond 2: how humanity reacted to the moon landing and why it led to conspiracy theories

But today, The Conversation’s Molly Glassey sits down with a panel of astrophysicists to ask the big questions about space, like: what’s the next big thing that’s happening in space research, the thing that will blow us away or bring us together the way the Moon landing did back in 1969? And what’s the likelihood we’ll be living on Mars or the Moon in future?
Today, Molly chats to astrophysicists Jonti Horner and Belinda Nicholson from the University of Southern Queensland and planetary scientist Katarina Miljkovic from Curtin University.
You can find all the episodes of To the moon and beyond on your podcast app, or on our site here.
New to podcasts?
Podcasts are often best enjoyed using a podcast app. All iPhones come with the Apple Podcasts app already installed, or you may want to listen and subscribe on another app such as Pocket Casts (click here to listen to Trust Me, I’m An Expert on Pocket Casts).
You can also hear us on Stitcher, Spotify or any of the apps below. Just pick a service from one of those listed below and click on the icon to find Trust Me, I’m An Expert.

Credits:
To the moon and beyond is produced by Gemma Ware and Annabel Bligh. Sound editing by Siva Thangarajah. Thank you to City, University of London’s Department of Journalism for allowing use of their studios for To the moon and beyond, and to .
Music: Even when we fall by Philipp Weigl, via Free Music Archive
Fallen Stars by Ketsa, via Free Music Archive
Apollo 11 and 17 audio from NASA
Additional audio
Kindergarten by Unkle Ho, from Elefant Traks.
Images
Pixabay/WikiImages
20 min
July 16, 2019 Politics with Michelle Grattan: Megan Davis on a First Nations Voice in the Constitution
Megan Davis says the idea of including an Indigenous Voice in the Constitution is being rejected on an understanding that "simply isn't true" but believes Australia has the "capacity to correct this".
23 min
July 11, 2019 Politics with Michelle Grattan: Ken Wyatt on constitutional recognition for Indigenous Australians
Ken Wyatt says he is "optimistic about achieving [constitutional recognition] because...Australians will generally accept an opportunity to include Aboriginal people" and that he will work with "naysayers".
20 min
July 03, 2019 Politics with Michelle Grattan: Father Frank Brennan on Israel Folau and religious freedom
Member of the government's Religious Freedom Review, Frank Brennan, discusses the way forward on the "wicked problem" of ensuring religious freedoms in Australia.
29 min
July 01, 2019‘This is going to affect how we determine time since death’: how studying body donors in the bush is changing forensic science
Research underway at the University of Technology, Sydney's AFTER facility is yielding some surprising new findings about how bodies decompose in the Australian bush. Supplied by UTS, Author provided (no reuse)
On the outskirts of Sydney, in a secret bushland location, lies what’s officially known as the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research (AFTER). In books and movies, it’d be called a body farm.

Maiken Ueland at the AFTER facility run by UTS.
Supplied by UTS, Author provided
Taphonomy is the study of how an organism breaks down after death. Research underway at the University of Technology Sydney’s AFTER facility is yielding some surprising new findings about how bodies decompose in the Australian bush.
And here’s an astonishing detail: until AFTER opened in Sydney in 2016, there was no facility like it in the southern hemisphere. Most of the world’s taphonomic research came from the US, meaning we were missing vital clues relating to how Australian weather, bugs and climate conditions affect the way a human body decomposes in the bush.
Today on our podcast, Trust Me, I’m An Expert, we take you on a journey to AFTER. The facility’s interim director, Maiken Ueland, and PhD student Samara Garrett-Rickman share with us:
some of the unexpected findings emerging from AFTER on determining time since death;
why AFTER researchers prefer not to use the term “body farm”;
how the stages of decomposition work
a process of “mummification” that research suggests may be unique to Australian bushland conditions;
what the TV shows get wrong about forensic science;
why it’s harder to bury a body than most people think;
what investigators look for to spot a clandestine grave;
And if you’re interested in finding out more about how to donate your body for such research, you can start here.

Looking for odours at the AFTER facility, run by UTS.
Anna Zhu, Author provided (no reuse)
New to podcasts?
Podcasts are often best enjoyed using a podcast app. All iPhones come with the Apple Podcasts app already installed, or you may want to listen and subscribe on another app such as Pocket Casts (click here to listen to Trust Me, I’m An Expert on Pocket Casts).
You can also hear us on Stitcher, Spotify or any of the apps below. Just pick a service from one of those listed below and click on the icon to find Trust Me, I’m An Expert.

Additional audio
Kindergarten by Unkle Ho, from Elefant Traks.
Backyard by David Szesztay from Free Music Archive
Images
UTS/Anna Zhu
34 min
July 01, 2019 Politics with Michelle Grattan: ACTU president Michele O'Neil on John Setka and the government's anti-union legislation
ACTU President Michele O'Neil says that the decision over Setka's leadership lies with the union membership, and denounces the government's plans to bring back anti-union legislation.
25 min
June 14, 2019 ‘People felt totally trapped’: what it’s like to be a pensioner renting privately as Australia’s housing costs soar
Older private renters are far more likely to experience loneliness than their counterparts in social housing and that loneliness can be acute. Shutterstock
A growing number of older Australians don’t own their homes. And whether they are private renters or live in social housing can make a big difference to their risk of loneliness and anxiety.
That’s the key finding of research led by Alan Morris, a professor at the UTS Institute for Public Policy and Governance, who interviewed older Australians about how their housing situation may relate to the loneliness they experience.
On today’s episode, Professor Morris shares some of the deeply moving stories he heard.

Read more:
‘I really have thought this can’t go on’: loneliness looms for rising numbers of older private renters

New to podcasts?
Podcasts are often best enjoyed using a podcast app. All iPhones come with the Apple Podcasts app already installed, or you may want to listen and subscribe on another app such as Pocket Casts (click here to listen to Trust Me, I’m An Expert on Pocket Casts).
You can also hear us on Stitcher, Spotify or any of the apps below. Just pick a service from one of those listed below and click on the icon to find Trust Me, I’m An Expert.

Additional audio
Kindergarten by Unkle Ho, from Elefant Traks.
Image
Shutterstock
18 min

About Trust Me, I'm An Expert

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The Conversation's editors bring you the most insightful, fascinating, surprising analysis and stories from the academic world. We're asking the experts to bust the myths, explain the science and put…