Saturday Extra
Saturday Extra brings you a lively array of stories and features covering a range of topics including international politics and business.
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4 Episodes of this Podcast:
Saturday Extra - 2009-11-21
Published: 2009-11-20 09:00:00Don't forget copper.... SUMMARY: At a Lowy Institute function earlier this week Marius Kloppers, head of the world´s biggest mining company, BHP Billiton, mentioned, in glowing terms, that oft forgotten metal, copper. 'Forgotten´ because in our collective imagination iron ore and even zinc spell `Big Business´, `Resources Boom´ and `Good Investments´. So time (we thought) to reacquaint ourselves with a base metal that -- as its long history shows -- has always been going places and going into thousands of products. Under threat: the Mekong river SUMMARY: One of the critiques of all the climate change discussions leading up to Copenhagen is that it averts our gaze from major pre-existing environmental challenges that are robbed of coverage. Take the Mekong River for instance, that critical waterway that runs from China to Vietnam and underpins the lives of many millions of people. Its whole character has already been heavily affected by dam-building in its northern reaches from the 1980s onwards, all these controlled by China...but you might be surprised to learn there are plans underway for 11 more, in the river´s lower reaches, right down into south-east Asia. Michael Palin SUMMARY: From Monty Python to films -- including A Fish called Wanda where he plays the stuttering and hapless `chips up the nose´ Ken -- Michael Palin has featured in a treasure trove of memorable comedy. His new book charts his life as the Python years were ending and a permanent stay as a comic actor in Hollywood seemed possible. But then his career took a very different turn. Al Qaeda in Yemen SUMMARY: Part of the whole purpose of statecraft is to act as an early warning system for world trouble spots in order to avert a dissent into overt wars. And one part of the world that is entirely appropriate to discuss here...that doesn´t necessarily get a lot of coverage here in Australia is Yemen. Eco-friendly holidays SUMMARY: Summer is fast approaching and for many of us a few weeks of sun and surf is just around the corner. Ken Eastwood spent six months researching a variety of Australia´s most sustainable holidays. From Tassie to the Top End he´s explored some of the best places to visit and how to get there with minimal impact.
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Saturday Extra - 2009-11-14
Published: 2009-11-13 09:00:00The Fort Hood shooting SUMMARY: Major Nidal Malik Hassan has been charged with 13 murders at the Fort Hood army base. There are obvious casualties, the dead and wounded plus their families---and maybe also a less obvious casualty, pluralism in the US Armed Forces. Kevin Sheedy: Western Sydney, here I come... SUMMARY: We meet a sporting man (think Aussie Rules) who -- at the tender age of 61 -- continues to push hard his professional boundaries. The announcement this week that Kevin Sheedy, the former star Richmond player and legendary Essendon coach, was drafting himself right into the heart of Rugby League territory, Sydney´s western suburbs, surprised many. On the other hand, the move is true to 'Sheedy' form: gutsy and flamboyant. Kevin Sheedy has, to say the least, a challenging three years ahead of him. His job? Coaching a second Sydney AFL team all the way into its first season in 2012. Video: The Future of Coal SUMMARY: A special Saturday Extra forum on the future for Australian coal. Coal is a crucial fuel and it´s growing in importance even though it is one of the key emitters of greenhouse gases. So how do we simultaneously invest in a safe climate, keep the lights burning here and elsewhere, keep Australians working, and ensure we don´t send the problem to others to fix up? It´s what they call a `wicked´ problem, whenever you come up with a solution, it seems to present other problems.
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Saturday Extra - 2009-11-07
Published: 2009-11-06 09:00:00Fall of the Berlin Wall: Dr Jens Reich SUMMARY: It was quite literally a world changing event. Twenty years ago on 9 November 1989, the starkest symbol of the Cold War, the 96 miles of the Berlin Wall fell. The Fall of the Berlin Wall: the cultural differences SUMMARY: Now to an overview of the knitting of the two societies, rejoined after the Wall´s fall. Yes both German...but to all intents and purposes, quite separate communities in many, many ways.....over the last 20 years, it´s bit a bit like an anthropological experiment-in-action...and by all accounts, it´s very much a work-in-progress. The Fall of the Berlin Wall: international implications SUMMARY: Well occasionally in history, certain key events really do change the world around them far beyond what could have been imagined. At the beginning of 1989 the global strategic map looked much like it had since the end of World War II. By the end of 1989 the future would 'be at hand'. The UN: No Enchanted Palace SUMMARY: Mark Mazower highlights the somewhat capricious nature of historical moments in his new book on that labyrinthine organisation the United Nations. He suggests the UN emerged in the aftermath of the Second World War not necessarily as a guardian of a peaceful new world order but was created and developed in the face of sharply conflicting interests. Water Cooler Conversation: Dressing up, dressing down? SUMMARY: Our first Saturday of the month Water Cooler Conversation comes at the end of a week where all things fashion -- both the `glory´ and the `gory'-- have been firmly under the microscope. Racing always gives Australian women the change to strut their best -- and their worst. For particularly young women, there´s much tension around what can be the thin line between presenting as sexy and presenting as quite something else!
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Saturday Extra - 2009-10-31
Published: 2009-10-30 10:00:00Media 140 Sydney SUMMARY: How is the new social media landscape -- like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube -- changing traditional media? Online publications, like Crikey.com, include reporting by professional reporters and user-generated information. But are more fundamental changes for journalism afoot? Australian cities - In trouble? SUMMARY: This week the prime minister, Kevin Rudd, ruffled a few feathers in state parliaments around the country when he announced federal plans for greater involvement in the planning of our cities. His statement came hot on the heels of the speech by the Treasury secretary, Ken Henry, on population growth and city infrastructure. And many wonder just how cities like Sydney and Melbourne can cope with populations of over 7 million apiece. So this is life SUMMARY: In her new book, author Anne Manne remembers the circumstances of her growing up: her family´s momentous split when she was but seven and their subsequent move from suburban Adelaide to rural Victoria. It´s turned into a very impressive memoir. Professor Harvey Chochinov: dignity therapy SUMMARY: Over the years there´s been much research into how people feel and react when death is near. But Professor Harvey Chochinov has put right at the centre of this complex equation another element: medical professionals. Professor Chochinov, from the department of psychiatry at the University Of Manitoba, is known as the founder of Dignity Therapy. Royal Geographical Society SUMMARY: The Royal Geographical Society, whose core activity once upon a time was to run its own data collecting expeditions of world class importance, has in the past decade 'shifted its focus towards academic geography and away from exploration and field research.' Arts round-up: Katrina Strickland SUMMARY: This is the first of Saturday Extra's arts round-ups with the arts editor of The Australian Financial Review, Katrina Strickland. On the last Saturday of the month, Katrina will review some of the best exhibitions and theatre happening around the country.
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