PODCAST · society
RN Presents
by ABC listen
From stories of disease outbreaks to myths of war and understanding how power actually works — RN Presents is the home of great storytelling that helps you better understand what’s going on in the world.
Episodes
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06 | The Home Front: The intentional home
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...
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05 | The Home Front: Lessons from afar
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...
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04 | The Home Front: Money money money
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...
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03 | The Home Front: One roof, many lives
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…
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02 | The Home Front : Lessons in living
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,...
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01 | The Home Front: Owning the Dream
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...
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INTRODUCING — The Home Front with Anthony Burke
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.
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05 The Books That Changed Us — The Female Eunuch
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...
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04 The Books That Changed Us — Silent Spring
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…
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03 The Books that Changed Us — Hiroshima
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...
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02 The Books That Changed Us — How to Win Friends and Influence People
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.…
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01 The Books that Changed Us — The Interpretation of Dreams
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…
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06 | The King of Kowloon — Reinvention
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…
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05 | The King of Kowloon — Defiance
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,...
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04 | The King of Kowloon — Legacy
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...
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03 | The King of Kowloon — Search
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...
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02 | The King of Kowloon — Transition
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...
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01 | The King of Kowloon — Disappearance
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...
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INTRODUCING — The King of Kowloon: A Most Unlikely Icon
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…
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04 | Face Value Empowerment or exploitation?
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...
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03 | Face Value — Killer curves and harsh realities
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,...
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02 | Face Value — Ethnic ambiguity and the Kardashian effect
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...
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01 | Face Value — Beauty boom in the age of Zoom
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...
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INTRODUCING — Face Value
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?
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04 | This Much Is True — Getting Out
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?
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03 | This Much Is True — Cults, QAnon and those left behind
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...
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02 | This Much is True — Dream weavers
Why do people spread information that isn't true on social media? Especially when they know that's what they're doing?
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01 | This Much Is True — Tradwife rabbit hole
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...
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INTRODUCING — This Much Is True
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...
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08 | Patient Zero: First Outbreak
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.
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07 | Patient Zero: Back From The Brink
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...
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06 | Patient Zero: Ticking Time Bomb
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...
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05 | Patient Zero: Spillover In Suburbia
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...
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04 | Patient Zero: How We Got Here
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…
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03 | Patient Zero: The December Transplant
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…
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02 | Patient Zero: Basement Files
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...
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01 | Patient Zero: Something In The Water
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...
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INTRODUCING — Patient Zero
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...
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06 | Section 71 — The Race Power
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.
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05 | Section 71 — The Hindmarsh Island Bridge Affair (Part 2)
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.
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04 | Section 71 —The Hindmarsh Island Bridge Affair (Part 1)
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.
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03 | Section 71 — Communists, Terrorists and the High Court
How much power does the Federal Government have to protect Australians from international threats?
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02 | Section 71 — The High Court Dog-Fight on Schools Funding
The High Court showdown over religious freedom that could help you understand how schools are funded to this day.
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01 | Section 71 — Tasmanian crime of gay sex
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.
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04 | Hot Mess — Hope
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…
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03 | Hot Mess — Party lines
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…
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02 | Hot Mess — Spin Cycle
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.
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01 | Hot Mess — Human frailties
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.
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INTRODUCING — Hot Mess: Why haven’t we fixed climate change?
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…
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04 | Shifting Cultures: Vanuatu's stolen generation
150 years ago thousands of young men were taken from the Pacific Islands. Today the scars are still being felt.
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
From stories of disease outbreaks to myths of war and understanding how power actually works — RN Presents is the home of great storytelling that helps you better understand what’s going on in the world.
HOSTED BY
ABC listen
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does RN Presents have?
RN Presents currently has 71 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is RN Presents about?
From stories of disease outbreaks to myths of war and understanding how power actually works — RN Presents is the home of great storytelling that helps you better understand what’s going on in the world.
How often does RN Presents release new episodes?
RN Presents has 71 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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You can listen to RN Presents on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts RN Presents?
RN Presents is created and hosted by ABC listen.
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