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Medical workers move a woman, who is suspected of having Ebola, upon her arrival at Meioxeiro Hospital, in Vigo, northwestern Spain, 28 October 2015. SALVADOR SAS (EPA)/ AAPHumans have had to deal with infectious diseases for centuries. Ancient Greeks and Egyptians suffered from smallpox, leprosy and tuberculosis. And when an outbreak occurs, it can be devastating. Pandemics like the Black Plague, Spanish Flu and HIV have killed millions of people around the world. While improved sanitation and a better understanding of how infections spread has helped halt some pandemics, we are never truly safe. Recent outbreaks of Ebola in Western Africa and the Zika virus in the Americas show how vulnerable we are. William Isdale speaks with Melbourne University Professor and Nobel prize winner Peter Doherty about how infectious diseases start and spread, and what can be done by governments, health organisations and individuals to minimise the threat of a pandemic. Subscribe to The Conversation’s Speaking With p

Russian line guard march prior to a military parade in Moscow. Yuri Kochetkov/EPATony Kevin first went to the Soviet Union in 1969. He was 25 years old and working in the Australian Embassy in Moscow at the peak of the Cold War. Embassy staff were told to be aware that every discussion was probably being recorded, and that they should avoid any interactions with locals. Forty-eight years later he returned to Russia and found a very different country from the one he left. In his new book, Return to Moscow, Kevin describes the changes in Russian society since the fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of Vladimir Putin. The political and societal differences are stark. William Isdale spoke to Kevin about his new book, his memories of living in Russia and why he thinks so much distrust and fear of the nation still exists in the West. Tony Kevin’s Return to Moscow is out now from UWA Publishing. Subscribe to The Conversation’s Speaking With podcasts on iTunes, or follow on Tunein Radio. Additional musi

Imagine a world where artificial intelligence is in control and humans are brink of extinction. What went wrong? What could we have done? ShutterstockThis is the first episode of a special Speaking With podcast series titled No Problem Too Big, where a panel of artists and researchers speculate on the end of the world as though it has already happened. It’s not the world we grew up in. Not since artificial intelligence. The machines have taken control. Three fearless researchers gather in the post-apocalyptic twilight: a computer scientist, a mechanical engineer and a sci-fi author. Together, they consider the implications of military robots and autonomous everything, and discover that the most horrifying post-apocalyptic scenario might look something like unrequited robot love. Joanne Anderton is an award-winning author of speculative fiction stories for anyone who likes their worlds a little different. More information about Joanne and her novels can be found here. No Problem Too Big is created a

Mia Woodruff at the November 2016 launch of the Herston Biofabrication Institute, a collaboration between QUT and the Metro North Hospital and Health Service. AAP3D printing is fundamentally changing the way we make many objects – from construction materials to toys and even food. And being able to 3D-scan the environment, even our own bodies, means that tools and prosthetics that were once mass-produced can now be custom-made for the people they’re designed to help, at a low cost. What if one of the most essential items in the hospital of the future is a 3D printer? William Isdale speaks with Queensland University of Technology’s Mia Woodruff about the work she and her team are doing to explore the use of 3D-printed bio-gels and scaffolds in healing cartilage and bone injuries, and looking to a future where biological functions for those currently on organ donor lists might be fulfilled by bio-compatible machines created in a lab. Subscribe to The Conversation’s Speaking With podcasts on iTunes, or fo

Parisians gather at the Bataclan nightclub on November 13, 2016, to commemorate the one-year anniversary of terror attacks that took 130 lives across Paris. Philippe Wojazer/ReutersSince the start of 2015, more than 230 people have died in France as the result of terror attacks. Christopher Dickey in a cafe in Paris’ Latin Quarter with Colleen Murrell. Colleen Murrell, Author provided The three major attacks – the shootings at the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, the co-ordinated assaults on the night of November 13, 2015, (including the storming of the Bataclan Theatre), and the piloting of a truck down the Promenade des Anglais in Nice on Bastille Day 2016 – have left the French rattled and led to an increase in security across the country. Colleen Murrell, senior journalism lecturer and researcher at Monash University, speaks with The Daily Beast’s Paris-based world news editor, Christopher Dickey, about what

Peter Green joins the millions of Christmas Island red crabs in their migration. Greg Miles, Author providedEvery year tens of millions of Christmas Island red crabs migrate from the island’s dense forest to the cliffs to spawn. It’s a phenomenon that literally stops traffic and draws tourists from around the world to the tiny Australian territory. But while there are still tens of millions of red crabs on the island, in recent years their numbers have dipped by around a third as they compete for space with (and struggle to fend off) a recently introduced pest: the yellow crazy ant. The ants are having a significant impact on the island’s biodiversity, which relies on the red crab to maintain the forest understorey and keep the forest floor clean. So what can be done to save Christmas Island’s biodiversity from yellow crazy ant supercolonies? For the past few years a team of scientists have been hatching a plan to introduce a parasitical wasp to the island to cut the ant’s food supply. And in December t

The former state secretary of the Builders Labourers Federation, Jack Mundey, in front of the Sirius building. Dean Lewins/AAPSydney’s iconic Sirius building was scheduled for demolition by the New South Wales government in 2015. The building – a prominent Australian example of brutalist architecture – contains 79 apartments for public housing tenants, and residents are furious that they are being moved on to make way for 250 luxury apartments at the gateway of the city. But this isn’t the first time a NSW government has targeted the Millers Point and Rocks areas for redevelopment. When the Askin government proposed development of the area in the late 1960s, residents’ groups formed an alliance with the Builders Labourers Federation (BLF). Through a series of co-ordinated strikes (or “green bans”), they worked to guarantee affordable housing and community spaces for generations of working-class and union families. Following in the BLF’s footsteps, the CFMEU and Unions NSW put a green ban on the Sirius site

SerialBy now almost everyone has heard – or heard of – This American Life’s blockbuster podcast series Serial. The first series, originally published in 2014, covered the incarceration and possible wrongful conviction of Adnan Syed for the murder of schoolgirl Hae Min Lee in Baltimore. In June this year Syed was granted a new trial for the murder, based at least partially on the renewed scrutiny of the case by the Serial team. So what does it take to make a podcast that has had over 243 million downloads over two series? What decisions have to be made about pacing, music, how to represent the real-life characters involved and the impact it will have on its subjects’ lives? And in a Trump-led post-truth world, what role can podcasting play to inform public conversations? The University of Wollongong’s Dr Siobhan McHugh (who was recently a consulting producer on Fairfax’s successful Phoebe’s Fall podcast) talks to Julie Snyder, Serial’s Executive Producer and co-creator, about th

Chinese Australians have been in Australia for more than a century, but they are invisible in our records. Shutterstock/The ConversationWe tend to think of Australia as having a largely European population in the years dominated by the White Australia policy. But the truth is Chinese-Australians have been contributing to our national character since the 1850s. Women – and women from non-European backgrounds in particular – have often been excluded from both research and our historical records thanks to patriarchal attitudes to women’s work. And the hidden histories of Chinese-Australian women during the era of the White Australia policy – many of whom are still alive today – have a lot to tell us about the realities of migration and Australian culture. Dallas Rogers speaks with the University of Western Sydney’s Alanna Kamp about her research on the forgotten lives of Chinese-Australian women in the 20th century, the silence in our census records about their experiences, and why it matters for our understan

The super rich are a symbol of growing wealth inequality. ShutterstockThe “1%” – the super elite who hold a disproportionate amount of global wealth – have been the subject of reality TV, protests, media speculation and best-selling books in recent years. Private jets, multi-million-dollar apartments and cars worth the value of most people’s homes: these are the symbols we associate with them, but is there really a defining culture of the super rich? And are the extremely wealthy to blame for growing inequality? Or do our own aspirations make us complicit in their dominance of politics and commerce? Dallas Rogers speaks with Ilan Wiesel from the University of Melbourne and the City University of Hong Kong’s Ray Forrest about the impact the super rich have on our cities and culture. Subscribe to The Conversation’s Speaking With podcasts on iTunes, or follow on Tunein Radio. Additional audio CNBC: “Secret Lives of the Super Rich - Gil Dezer” Music Audioblocks - “New Frontiers” Audioblocks - “eCo

Ben Goldacre says that greater transparency on research findings could increase the public's faith in essential medicines. ShutterstockWe are living in a time where we have greater access to lifesaving medicines and treatments than ever before. But we’re also seeing a surge in the rejection of the medical research and the scientific community in general, with anti-vaccination activists and climate change sceptics building followings and taking seats in government. How do we bridge the divide to those who have lost trust in science? Dr Ben Goldacre – epidemiologist, columnist and author of the books Bad Pharma and Bad Science – believes that greater transparency around the data used in research and better communication of results is the answer. And he thinks the public can understand a lot more about scientific research than either the media or academia gives them credit for. The University of New South Wales’ Dr Darren Saunders spoke to Dr Goldacre about his first forays into writing a

What can life on Antarctica tell us about future colonies on Mars or other planets? www.shutterstock.comLast month, a team of scientists emerged from a year-long experiment to test what survival might look like for the first colonists on Mars. But while setting up a human colony on Mars seems like a journey into the unknown, the research community in the Antarctic is already encountering – and in some cases solving – many of the same problems we might face on new worlds. And those problems are not all environmental. Dallas Rogers speaks with Western Sydney University Associate Professor Juan Francisco Salazar about his use of documentary film to study the way humans interact with each other and their environment in Antarctica, and what it might mean for colonising new planets. Subscribe to The Conversation’s Speaking With podcast on iTunes, or follow on Tunein Radio. Additional Audio FreeSound - Morosopher, “Rumbling wind & ice skating” FreeSound - Cobratronik, “Wind Arctic Cold” Music Foota

Recent studies have revealed an emerging understanding of the benefits of birthing relationships through the childbearing process. ShutterstockRecent studies have revealed an emerging understanding of the benefits of birthing relationships through the childbearing process. Creating a healthy mental state through pregnancy, birth and postnatal care can have an important and tangible effect on the health of both child and mother. Midwifery, one of the oldest professions in the world, has been increasingly overshadowed by technological development and obstetricians. But the benefits a midwife can provide through comfort, empowerment and understanding are something that can’t (yet) be emulated by medical science. Dallas Rogers spoke with Hannah Dahlen, Professor of Midwifery and Higher Degree Research Director in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Western Sydney University, about encouraging a healthy pregnancy through relationships and empowerment, while also balancing this with traditional medical care.

Battle On Saturday, Australians will finally go to the polls to decide who will lead the country after one of the longest election campaigns in recent history. But no matter which major party wins government, they look set to be sharing power – particularly in the Senate – with a range of new faces from the likes of Nick Xenophon’s and Jacqui Lambie’s political parties. So, which seats should we be following with interest on election night? And how have the major parties gone at selling their policies? University of Western Australia political analyst Natalie Mast sits down again with “Poll Bludger” William Bowe to talk about how the campaign has played out and what the polls are telling us about the likely result. Subscribe to The Conversation’s Speaking With podcasts on iTunes, or follow on Tunein Radio. Additional Audio: ABC - Lateline, “‘Poll Position’: Senator Nick Xenophon” Sydney Morning Herald, “Liberal launch, instability scare” Associated Press, “European Union referendum results announceme

original In May 2015 the mayor of the City of Blacktown, Stephen Bali, denounced the SBS documentary series Struggle Street – produced in the Blacktown suburb of Mount Druitt – labelling it as “public funded poverty porn” and staging a creative protest which saw a dozen garbage trucks blockade the broadcaster’s head offices. The second series of Struggle Street will be filmed in Queensland and Victoria in 2016, and there has already been significant backlash to the announced plans. While poverty porn is a term used to describe media that appears to exploit impoverished communities and individuals for entertainment, supporters of shows such as Struggle Street argue that the genre can generate sympathy, engagement and ultimately have a positive effect on the community. Dallas Rogers spoke with Deb Warr, Associate Professor from the McCaughey Centre for Community Wellbeing at the University of Melbourne, about the role the media plays in creating narratives around poverty and the importance of varied methods o

AAP/Tracey NearmyIn this podcast, University of Western Australia political analyst Natalie Mast speaks with “Poll Bludger” William Bowe about the election campaign so far. The conversation focuses on the latest polling and whether there is evidence of a nationwide swing large enough to unseat the Coalition government. They touch on the possible impact state issues – particularly in Western Australia and South Australia – will have on the election. William also speaks about his recent modelling of possible outcomes for the Senate. The upper house is not only facing a double-dissolution election but a new method of voting. Subscribe to The Conversation’s Speaking With podcasts on iTunes, or follow on Tunein Radio. Additional Audio: Channel Ten, 1998 Australian Federal election coverage Channel Ten, Eyewitness Newsbyte 26 April 2016 Liberal Party of Australia, Our Plan for a Strong New Economy Youtube user: Voltscomissar, Adam Bandt victory speech in full. Re-elected MHR

Smaller class sizes do not make a difference the quality of education. from www.shutterstock.comDo we actually know what works when it comes to improving the quality of education in schools? A new four-part ABC documentary series, Revolution School, looks at what the research tells us about what works in education – and what doesn’t. It tells the story of how a typical suburban high school in Victoria, Kambrya College, managed to turn around from rock bottom to being in the top 25% of study scores in the state. Smaller class sizes, private schooling, homework and discipline do not make a difference to the quality of education, explains education expert John Hattie – “what really matters is interaction with teachers, clinical teaching, constantly measuring each student’s knowledge and responding to their individual needs”. Maxine McKew speaks with John Hattie about what we need to be doing to improve the quality of education in Australian schools – and the kind of debates we really should be having. Subs

original The writs have been issued, the stage has been set: Australians are about to go to an election. You can almost smell the sausages sizzling at local primary schools and scout halls, and it’s only a matter of time until the how-to-vote cards start to make their way into our hands and letterboxes. When we talk about the fundamental elements of representative democracy, we tend to defer to grand themes such as accessibility, representation, prevention against corruption, and equality. But democracy in Australia (and in other parts of the world) is as much about where we vote, when we vote and how long we have to vote as those more lofty concepts. And what about that humble sausage in bread? William Isdale speaks with professor Graeme Orr about the festival of elections, the heritage of voting in Australia and what might be lost in the culture of our democracy if we are all able to vote securely from our mobile phones at some stage in the near future. Orr’s book, Ritual and Rhythm in Electoral Syst

RTR I MJ The terror attacks on the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001, changed the way we think about politics, society and safety as the world entered the 21st century. But as the world learned the identities of the attackers, the response affected one community much more acutely: Muslims. The media coverage of the 2001 attack and other subsequent incidents in our region, including the Lindt Cafe siege in Sydney’s Martin Place in December 2014, increased the feeling among many in the Muslim community that they are not welcome or safe in the Australian cities that they call home. So, in this increasingly tense climate, how does it feel to navigate the city as a young Muslim? Dallas Rogers spoke with Western Sydney University PhD candidate Rhonda Itaoui about her research examining the Islamophobia young Muslims experience in Australia. She also explores her own experiences as a young Muslim woman and the success of campaigns like #illridewithyou in countering Islamophobia. Subscribe to The Conve

In late 2015, the Greater Sydney Commission was established to oversee metropolitan planning and development in Sydney. The commission is intended to function as a partnership between state and local governments, with both the power to create overarching planning proposals and the mandate to work with local governments on local planning controls. NSW Premier Mike Baird has tasked the commission with delivering 680,000 new homes by 2031, with the aim of tackling the city’s unfolding housing affordability crisis. In December, Lucy Turnbull was announced as the inaugural chief commissioner for the Greater Sydney Commission. In addition to a successful career in commercial law and investment banking, Turnbull has a history in local government – in 2003 she became the first female lord mayor of Sydney – and is the author of the 1999 book Sydney: Biography of a City. Since 2010 she has been the deputy chair of the Coalition of Australian Governments’ City Expert Advisory Panel. Dallas Rogers spoke with Lucy Tu