Explore every episode of the podcast Radio National Presents

What if the future of home isn't about ownership — but about connection? In this final episode, Anthony Burke re-imagines the Australian Dream through the most powerful ideas from the series. Could we trade fences for friendships, and privacy for participation? What would it mean to design homes that prioritise community, care, and belonging?

We explore a new vision of home — not just where we live, but how we live together.

Guests in this episode:

• Richard and Jan Gould - Founders, Blue Sky House (low-cost housing initiative)
• Susan Boden - Co-founder, Eden Tiny House Project; Landscape Architect & Mental Health Case Manager
• Sacha Coles -Global Design Director, ASPECT Studios
• Hugh MacKay - Social Psychologist and Author, The Way We Are, Lessons from a lifetime of listening
• Patrick Eigsvogel - Small home builder
• Elizabeth Mossop - Academic Director, Living Lab Northern Rivers

Production assistance this week by Sarah Mashman

Around the globe, architects and designers are reimagining housing with bold, inventive solutions - from sprawling multi use compounds in Indonesia to compact cooperative models in Europe. 

These global experiments offer fresh perspectives on affordability, sustainability and community. But could they work in Australia? In this episode, we explore what local housing can learn from international innovations - and how these ideas might be adapted to fit our unique social and environmental context.

Guests in this episode:

• RealRich Sarjeif - Architect, RAW Architecture (Jakarta)
• Penelope Dean - Professor, School of Architecture, University of Illinois Chicago.
• Gerard Reinmuth -  Director, Terroir Architecture; Professor of Practice, School of Architecture, UTS
• Marisa Jahn - Director of Integrated Design, The New School; Collaborating Artist, Carehaus
• Anne Romme -  Associate Professor, Institute of Architecture and Culture, Royal Danish Academy.

Production assistance this week by Rachael Bongiorno and thanks to Anthony’s ABC International Culture By Design program for supplying additional audio.

We all know that house prices have gone through the roof, but what’s driving them, and what can actually be done?

In this episode, we dig into the money behind the housing crisis, from tax policy and global market shifts to government targets and the growing role of intergenerational wealth.

We explore how renters and homeowners alike are feeling the squeeze, and ask what kind of radical policy — and cultural — change it will take to make housing more equitable for all Australians. Because this isn’t just an economic problem. It’s a social one. And it’s going to take more than creativity to fix it.

Guests in this episode:

• Alan Kholer, ABC financial journalist and author of the Quarterly Essay- The Great Divide: Australia's Housing Mess and How to Fix it
• Brendan Coates, Housing and Economic Security Program Director at Grattan Institute
• Kate Browne, Head of Research and Insights at Compare Club, a financial comparison service
• Damian Madigan, Associate Professor at the University of South Australia, architect and urban infill housing researcher.  
• David, Social housing client                                                                            
• Kait, House hunter from Brisbane

Production assistance this week by Rachael Bongiorno

What if Australia’s housing crisis wasn’t just a problem — but a chance to build something better? Australia’s homes are doing more than sheltering families — they’re accommodating multigenerational households, solo dwellers, single parents, and shared living arrangements.

But is our housing stock too rigid to reflect this diversity? Is it failing behind the way we actually live?

In this episode, we meet the architects and designers reimagining the Australian home for today. As external pressures - from climate to cost - reshape our lives, they’re responding with ideas that prioritise flexibility, wellbeing, sustainability, and social connection.

Hosted by Professor of Architecture Anthony Burke, this series asks: can we reimagine the Dream? 

For more conversations about design with Anthony Burke & friends, head to  Lifestyle on ABC iView

Production assistance this week by Rachael Bongiorno and Regina Botros

Guests in this episode

• Dr Edgar Liu, Arts, Design & Architecture at the City Futures Research Centre at UNSW 
• Savannah Fishel, Senior Innovation Consultant and Service Designer and Churchill Fellow
• Craig Allchin, Urban Designer with 6 Degrees
• Jeremy McLeod, Founding Director and Architect at Breathe Architecture
• Matilda Leake, Associate Director and Design Architect at Bates Smart 
• Marisa and Rose - living together in multigenerational housing in Melbourne
• Leah and Lou - living together with Leah's parents in Sydney

We look at how Australians have lived together in the past — and what those lessons might offer us today.

From the tightly packed worker’s cottages of the early 1900s, where strong community bonds helped people get by, to the bold experiments in communal and cooperative living during the 1970s, Australians have long found creative ways to share space.

Now, as the housing crisis deepens, one State Government (NSW) is reviving the idea of the housing pattern book — a fast-track design initiative that encourages density, sustainability, and smarter living.

But are Australians ready to embrace the idea of “home” not as a private fortress, but where shared space and personal privacy coexist?

Hosted by Professor of Architecture Anthony Burke, this series asks: can we reimagine the Dream? 

For more conversations about design with Anthony Burke & friends, head to  Lifestyle on ABC iView

Production assistance this week by Rachael Bongiorno.

Guests in this episode

• Janet McCalman, Emeritus Professor at Melbourne University and author of Struggletown Public and Private Life in Richmond 1900- 1965 
• Abbie Galvin, NSW Government Architect
• Lee Stickells,  Associate Professor at the School of Architecture, University of Sydney
• Peter Cock, Co-founder of Moora Moora Cooperative in the Dandenong Ranges, Melbourne.
• Chelsea McNabb, Resident at Moora Moora Cooperative
• Izzy Kane, Resident at Moora Moora Cooperative

What if Australia’s housing crisis wasn’t just a problem — but a chance to build something better? In the Home Front, we unpack the historical, cultural, and political forces that shaped our national obsession with home ownership. 

From post-war prosperity to suburban ideals, we explore how the dream took root.

Hosted by Professor of Architecture (UTS) Anthony Burke, this series asks: can we reimagine the Dream? 

For more conversations about design with Anthony Burke & friends, head to  Lifestyle on ABC iView

Production assistance this week by Rachael Bongiorno.

Guests in this episode:  

• Dr Rebecca Huntly, writer and social analyst and  Director of Research at the agency 89DegreesEast. 
• Dr Tom Alves, Head of Development at Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI), 
• Tim Ross, comedian, broadcaster, architecture & design commentator, and curator of the  State Library of NSW exhibition The Australian Dream? 

Australia's housing crisis is pushing more people to the edge — but could better design help turn things around? In The Home Front, design expert Anthony Burke explores how we got here, why the Great Australian Dream is failing so many, and what a better future could look like — for all of us.

She told women they'd been objectified, stereotyped, sold a middle-class myth of romance and marriage and that another, better, life could be had. The Female Eunuch by the Australian feminist Germaine Greer was published in 1970 and became a blockbuster feminist text. 

Greer's defiant and controversial thinking reframed relationships between women and men, but 55 years on, how does it speak to present day feminist thinking?

This is the final in our series The Books That Changed Us, about influential books of the 20th century.

Guests:Michelle Arrow — Professor, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University. Author of a number of books including The Seventies: The Personal, The Political and the Making of Modern Australia. 

Anthea Taylor — Associate Professor Gender and Cultural Studies, University of Sydney. Her forthcoming book is Germaine Greer, Celebrity Feminism and the Archive. 

Kathy Lette — Australian born, England based author of many novels including Puberty Blues which she wrote at 17 in 1979. Her latest novel is The Revenge Club. 

The extraordinary story of a lowly-paid public servant who launched an environmental conservation movement and became an unlikely 1960s pop culture icon.

Using a combination of lyrical writing and fact driven journalism, when Rachel Carson's Silent Spring was published in 1963 it alerted the world to the dangers of the overuse of the pesticide DDT. The book was embraced by the burgeoning environmental movement and rejected by vested interests. It's still considered a benchmark in environmental writing today.

This is the fourth episode of The Books That Changed Us which takes a fresh look at five influential books of the 20th century.

GuestsMichael E Mann — Presidential Distinguished Professor of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania, with a secondary appointment in the Annenberg School for Communication. Author of The New Climate War and Our Fragile Moment.

Elizabeth Kolbert — journalist and Pulitzer prize winning author for The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural history. Her latest book is H is for Hope: Climate Change from A to Z.

Mark Madison —  Chief Historian, US Fish and Wildlife Service. 

John Hersey's Hiroshima revealed the true horror of the 1945 nuclear bombing of Japan. Following the lives of six ordinary people from the moment of impact, the American journalist brought home the reality of the destruction and suffering caused by the atomic bombings. 

First published in The New Yorker Magazine in 1946 it soon came out as a standalone book and became a bestseller. Some have argued that it lead to the beginning of the disarmament and counter-proliferation movement.

This is the third title in the series, The Books That Changed Us which takes a fresh look at five influential books of the 20th century.

GuestsLesley Blume — author of Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World

MG Sheftall — Professor of modern Japanese cultural history and communication at the Faculty of Informatics of Shizuoka University, author of Hiroshima: The Last Witnesses.

Tilman Ruff — Board member, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (Nobel Peace Prize 1985); Founding international and Australian Chair, co-founder, Australian Committee member, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN, Nobel Peace Prize 2017); Honorary Principal Fellow, School of Population and Global Health, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne 

Championed by business tycoon Warren Buffett, utilised by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and exploited by the murderous cult leader, Charles Manson, the self help book, How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie is almost 90 and has sold many millions of copies since 1936. 

It was a surprise bestseller when it was first published in depression era United States to a readership hungry for advice for making it big in corporate America. It spawned a self-help industry and built its advice on the principle of smiling and sincerity. But is it really selling a form of manipulation?

It's the second title in the series, Books That Changed Us which takes a fresh look at five influential books of the 20th century.

GuestsJoe Hart — CEO, Dale Carnegie training

Adam Ferrier — behavioural psychologist and founder of creative agency, Thinkerbell. He's the author of The Advertising Effect: How to Change Behaviour and Stop Listening to the Customer: Try Hearing Your Brand InsteadGeorge Mladenov — lawyer and political staffer, he's best known for being a two time contestant on the reality TV show, Survivor. His book is How to Win Friends and Manipulate People. 

The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud introduced us to the concepts of the unconscious, hidden desires and repressed sexuality and is the first in our new series, The Books That Changed Us which takes a fresh look at five influential books of the 20th century.

The series begins with a book that was published at the dawn of the 20th century and is coming up to its 125th anniversary. Today it's influence it everywhere and can be seen in psychology, art, literature and cinema. 

GuestsJamieson Webster — a New York based clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst and is a faculty member of the New School for Social Research. Her latest book is Disorganization and Sex and her forthcoming title is On Breathing: Care in a Time of Catastrophe. 

Mark Polizzotti — an author, translator, editor-in-chief at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. He is the recipient of a 2016 American Academy of Arts and Letters award for literature. His book is Why Surrealism Matters. 

Daniela Finzi — Research Director, Sigmund Freud Museum, Vienna 

In this final episode of The King of Kowloon, Hong Kong is being remade at warp speed. In this national security era, its politicians have been jailed and its citizens are moving overseas into exile. Yet even in this new age, there is a resurgence in interest — and attention — in that eccentric old icon, the King of Kowloon, who still has lessons for Hong Kongers.

With thanks to TED for the use of "Kacey Wang: The Art of Protest"

On June 9, 2019, Hong Kong convulses, as a million people march on the streets in protest against a proposed extradition law. The King had used his misshapen calligraphy to speak of dispossession, and now his descendants are doing the same. Millions of colourful post-it notes cover the city, protesting the end of Hong Kong's autonomy and rule of law. Art is everywhere, serving as a tool of protest and a record of defiance.

With thanks to Thomas DGX YHL for use of the song Glory to Hong Kong

The King of Kowloon is an old man now; lying frail in a hospital bed. Outside, on the streets, there is trouble. A protest at the demolition of Queen's Pier, then another at a street famous for printing wedding cards. Popular anger coalesces around the destruction of physical sites, then shifts into a battle about ideas and values. Hong Kongers begin to discover their legacy of resistance.

With thanks to South China Morning Post and Associated Press for use of news footage

In 2000, Hong Kong has been under Chinese rule for three years. At first glance, it seems that not much has changed. The King's star continues to rise — no longer seen as a dishevelled old crank, he is an artist, a fashion muse, a star of TV advertisements. The King is now a commodity — loved by everyone. Except for those that matter most to him.

As Hong Kong hurtles towards the transition from British colony to Chinese territory, the king becomes an unlikely celebrity artist. Governor Chris Patten prepares to hand back Hong Kong to the Chinese, and as talks between the global powers take place, the people of Hong Kong are consigned to be spectators, powerless over their own future. Louisa continues her quest to discover the truth behind the king's claims of dominion, and meets a man who might provide some answers.

With thanks to Getty for use of news footage.

The King's calligraphy once covered Hong Kong, but now it has all but disappeared. Louisa searches for traces of the King, and for any truth to his claims of dominion over Kowloon. In this quest, she goes to the heart of his kingdom — Kwun Tong is an area full of high-rise factories, churning out t-shirts and souvenirs. There she discovers the first of the King's courtiers; and begins to understand that the search for the king is the search for Hong Kong itself.

He called himself the King of Kowloon and, for almost half a century, he used his misshapen Chinese characters to wage a calligraphic campaign claiming his dominion over Hong Kong. Journalist Louisa Lim follows the trail of a man who was first known as a crank, then an artist, then a most unlikely icon.

The decision to get cosmetic enhancement is complicated. It could be triggered by childhood bullying, influenced by social media, or stem from a belief that you’re not good enough.The beauty industry encourages you to tie your self-identity to your appearance. It promises to empower you.In the final episode of Face Value, we delve further into why so many people are driven to change the way they look. Who are they doing it for? And do cosmetic procedures make people happier or more confident?

Cosmetic enhancement comes with plenty of risks. Botched surgeries, safety breaches, and in the worst-case scenario, fatal results. They've been reported for decades. Horror stories aside, chasing your aesthetic ideal is no easy task. Beneath every Insta-perfect photograph is a tonne of time, energy and money that's often glossed over. And that's not to mention the pain and prolonged recovery that can come with invasive procedures.

Why are so many people willingly submitting themselves to putting this much effort into how they look?

For the longest time, Western beauty has been celebrated. The desire and pressure to look more 'Western' has led to skin whitening products, nose jobs and double eyelid surgery. But the tide is turning. Celebrities like the Kardashians are leaning into an ethnically ambiguous aesthetic.

Is this cultural appropriation or cultural appreciation? What do people of colour, who've often been racially vilified for their appearance, have to say about others cherry-picking their features?

COVID-19 has changed the way we do things. We're relying on video platforms to work and to connect. And it turns out that seeing our faces on-screen everyday has triggered more people to seek cosmetic enhancement than ever before. Couple that with the constant stream of impossibly beautiful — and heavily edited — people on social media, and you have the perfect storm to create appearance insecurity. Where is all this leading us to?

The cosmetic enhancement industry is booming. Injectables and surgical procedures promise age-defying beauty. But they come with real risks. From anti-wrinkle injections and fillers, to nose jobs and Brazilian Butt Lifts, why are so many people choosing to enhance their appearance?

By some estimates, 15 per cent of Americans believe in QAnon, the conspiracy movement connected to the storming of the US Capitol in January this year. QAnon can be all-consuming, ending relationships and splitting families. So what's it like to climb back out of its embrace?

Alex's bible classes started taking over his life — then he discovered who was really running them. Emma's mum went from crystals to a clique that believes in aliens and past lives. And Tim and his dad fell into QAnon together, but what happened when one wanted to leave? We find out how cults and conspiracy theories can isolate you from your family, friends, even flatmates. And we hear what it's like to lose a loved one to a dangerous belief system.

Why do people spread information that isn't true on social media? Especially when they know that's what they're doing?

Equality is for ugly losers. Feminism is cancer. #submissivehousewife. Welcome to the world of tradwives, a movement with two distinct subcultures: one wholesome, one harmful. For many, it's about cooking from scratch, caring for children, and getting back to nature. But there's also an insidious side.

Scrolling #tradwife on social media exposes a loose thread in an otherwise tightly knit image of happy family life. Pull the thread, and ugly things reveal themselves

What do you believe? There’s some very weird stuff out there. From fringe ideas to full-blown conspiracy theories, we dive into the rabbit hole to find out why it’s so human to fall for them. We hear what motivates those who spread misinformation and what is it like for the families when someone they love goes all in on a cult. We meet people who got out of QAnon and learn how to immunise against false information. 

In 1789, a disease tore through Aboriginal communities around Sydney Cove, or Warrane, leaving dead bodies floating in the harbour, and scattered along the shorelines. Some think that this outbreak was a fire that was deliberately lit.

A six-year old boy in Papua New Guinea wakes up one day and is suddenly unable to stand by himself. Less than a year later, children in three other Asia Pacific nations are experiencing the same alarming symptoms. A disease that was eradicated from these countries is back -- and it appears to be spreading.

You’re a doctor faced with a dilemma: your patient isn’t responding to treatment. In fact, they’re getting worse. You run through a list of what might be wrong, but nothing seems to fit. And then suddenly — whatever is wrong appears to be spreading. It’s a race against time, and a medical mystery that only a seasoned disease detective can solve.

A sleepy suburb in Brisbane is the scene of a gruesome disease outbreak, where the streets literally run with blood. Unravelling the mystery of where this disease comes from will have far-reaching implications — and help us track down the origins of COVID-19.Guests:Dr Peter ReidEquine vetA/Prof Linda SelveyPublic health physician and epidemiologist at the University of QueenslandDr Kim HalpinVeterinary virologist at the CSIROHelen ThomasJournalist, horse-racing commentator, and authorProf Linfa WangDirector of the Emerging Infectious Diseases Program at Duke-NUS Medical School in SingaporeHost:Olivia WillisProducers:Jane Lee, Cheyne AndersonSenior Producer:Carl SmithExecutive Producer:Joel WernerSound Design:Tim Jenkins

This is the big one. The history we’re living. From Melbourne to Munich, Lombardy to Wuhan and all the way back again: this episode is about what happened when we faced those first coronavirus cases. Where things went well, where they didn’t — and whether there’s anything we could have done to stop it.

Three transplant patients die within a week of each other and alarm bells start ringing.Guests:Fiona PepperActor, playing the part of Rae MoranDr Mike CattonDeputy Director, Doherty Institute for Infection and ImmunityDr Dominique MartinAssociate Professor in Bioethics, Deakin UniversityHost:Olivia WillisProducers:James Bullen, Cheyne AndersonExecutive Producer:Joel WernerSound Design:Tim Jenkins

A junior doctor uncovers a mystery that rewrites the story of a famous epidemic — and we learn the troubling origins of 'patient zero' as a concept.Guests:Dr John GerrardDirector of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Gold Coast University HospitalProfessor Sharon LewinDirector, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and ImmunityPhil CarswellFounding president, Victorian AIDS CouncilBill BowtellAdjunct professor, University of New South WalesHost:Olivia WillisProducers:Cheyne Anderson, James BullenExecutive Producer:Joel WernerSound Design:Tim Jenkins

Disease is spreading in the wake of a natural disaster on the Caribbean nation of Haiti — and everyone thinks they know where it's coming from… (Spoiler: They don't).

Guests:Jonathan M. KatzFreelance journalist and author, The Big Truck That Went ByDr Louise IversExecutive Director, Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Global Health; Associate Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical SchoolNelson Junior CeranorHost:Olivia WillisProducers:James Bullen, Cheyne AndersonExecutive Producer:Joel WernerSound Design:Tim Jenkins

Even big diseases start small.A co-production of ABC Science and Radio National, Patient Zero tells the stories of disease outbreaks: where they begin, why they happen and how we found ourselves in the middle of a really big one. Host:Olivia WillisProducers:James Bullen, Cheyne AndersonExecutive Producer:Joel WernerSound Design:Tim Jenkins

An extra episode in the series about High Court cases which have changed Australia. Series producer Jane Lee unpicks the origins and uses of Section 51(26) of the Australian Constitution, which gives the Federal Parliament the power to make special laws for a particular race of people.

In the second part of the long running and divisive case known as the Hindmarsh Island bridge affair, the battle heads inside the High Court.

Ever wondered how the term "secret women's business" entered the Australian lexicon? It's part of a bitter legal battle over land, culture and history in South Australia.

How much power does the Federal Government have to protect Australians from international threats?

The High Court showdown over religious freedom that could help you understand how schools are funded to this day.

It might surprise you to learn that until 1997, a man could go to jail for up to 21 years for having sex with another man in Australia.

Despite all the gridlock on Australia's climate policy, there are moves towards a decarbonised economy. The exit from coal is gathering pace in the finance and insurance sectors. On the technology front, cheaper renewables are driving new green hydrogen projects that could make Australia an energy super power. And there's the kids - the Climate Strike generation will soon be voting and they want action. Perhaps there's a chance we can really change.

There's more to our climate politics than the circus of losing a succession of Prime Ministers. Export earnings, donations, access, revolving doors between politics and industry mean that both sides of politics are close to the fossil fuel sector. In our tight Parliament, mining regions have become crucially important. And actions like the recent Stop Adani Convoy have only deepened climate change divisions.

The fossil fuel industries ignored their own research as far back as the 1960s and then denied climate change was going on. We hear how a small group of think tanks and a compliant media pushed our buttons, undermined the science, and turned it into a controversy.

What it is about us, all of us, that makes climate change hard to get our heads around and even harder to do something about? We talk to people who understand that climate change is a real danger and people who don’t. And we hear from researchers looking at why we are the way we are.

It’s been over three decades since most of us first heard about global warming. Meanwhile, the 20 hottest years on record have all occurred in the last quarter century. We’re had heatwaves, storms, drought and bushfires on an unprecedented scale. Why has it been so hard to agree and take action on climate change? How can we rise to meet the challenge?

150 years ago thousands of young men were taken from the Pacific Islands. Today the scars are still being felt.