John Anderson: Conversations

Dr. John Coyne, inaugural director of ASPI’s National Security Program and national security analyst, discusses why diesel and urea shortages threaten Australian agriculture. He traces how globalization and just-in-time policy created vulnerabilities. The conversation covers reserve shortfalls, refinery limits, on-farm storage challenges, cascading supply risks and tough policy tradeoffs needed to restore resilience.

Brendan O'Neill, chief political writer and former editor of Spiked and author of After the Pogrom, discusses Western reactions to October 7 and campus unrest. He explores why intellectuals turned on Israel, how Israel became a civilizational scapegoat, hypocrisy over Iran, media gullibility, campus radicalization, and the limits of hate‑speech laws.

Rodger Shanahan, a Lowy Institute fellow and former Australian Army officer with Middle East expertise. He discusses whether strikes aim at nuclear rollback, proxy networks, or regime change. He explores Iran’s ideology, proxy strategy, and how airpower struggles to reshape politics. The conversation weighs escalation risks, limits of precision warfare, and what this means for regional stability.

Mike Newman, former NSW Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner with four decades in North Asia, critiques Australia’s oversized public service. He discusses booming public payrolls, cost blowouts on major projects, regulatory barriers to investment, and cultural drivers of bureaucracy. He contrasts effective frontline services with sprawling administration and examines political and accountability failures.

Dan Paterson, pastor and founder of Questioning Christianity, and Wes Huff, New Testament scholar and Apologetics Canada VP, discuss a cultural turn toward meaning and belief. They talk about podcasts and influencers shaping young men, the decline of new atheism, online role models filling mentorship gaps, and how parents and churches might respond to this search for transcendence.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, writer and former Dutch MP known for critiques of political Islam and advocacy for women’s rights. She discusses the Bondi Beach attack and rising antisemitism. They explore how secular decline creates a moral vacuum, Islam’s conquest narrative versus Christian nonviolence, risks of Sharia tribunals, and political consequences of large-scale Muslim immigration.

Henry Ergas, economist and public intellectual with OECD experience and teaching at Harvard, warns about the loss of shared history and rising ideological extremism. He discusses how fragmented public spheres and campus echo chambers fuel distorted narratives. He critiques multicultural policy shifts and the freedom-versus-order dilemma that threaten social cohesion.

Join Gerard Holland, CEO of the Page Research Centre, Freya Leach from Sky News Australia, and Jossiah Langton of FORM Australia Ltd. as they tackle the pressing issues confronting Gen Z. They delve into the challenges of housing affordability and its impact on family formation. The trio critiques the current intergenerational policy bias favoring retirees and explores how alarmist climate messaging fuels anxiety among youth. With a call for community, faith, and mentorship, they emphasize the need for personal responsibility to combat rising radicalism and restore shared values.

John Anderson speaks with James Orr to examine the deeper moral, cultural, and institutional pressures shaping Britain and the wider Western world. Drawing on political philosophy, social analysis, and recent events, Orr challenges the prevailing assumption that economic management and procedural politics can sustain a stable society. He argues that questions of identity, belonging, and shared obligation now sit at the centre of national renewal. This conversation traces the erosion of social trust, the limits of rights-based politics, and the consequences of demographic and cultural fragmentation. It is a measured discussion that reorients political debate toward the moral and cultural foundations required for long-term national stability, rather than short-term policy adjustments. Dr. Orr holds a PhD and MPhil in Philosophy of Religion from the University of Cambridge and a BA in Classics from Oxford. He is a political philosopher, writer, and commentator whose work focuses on conservatism, political theology, identity, and the cultural preconditions of liberal democracy, with particular attention to Britain’s institutional and civilisational inheritance.

John Anderson speaks with Ted Baehr, founder of Christian film review site Movieguide, to examine what contemporary film choices reveal about the moral instincts of society. Drawing on decades of data, Baehr challenges the prevailing narratives around the relationship between a film's content and its success. He argues that popular entertainment is quietly moving in a different direction from elite commentary, with films centred on family, moral clarity, and hope consistently outperforming darker and more transgressive content.This conversation traces the historical rhythms of Hollywood, from early moral storytelling to periods of decline and renewal. This is a grounded conversation that reorients the cultural debate around what audiences reward rather than what critics promote. Dr. Ted Baehr is Founder and Publisher of Movieguide: The Family Guide to Movies and Entertainment and Chairman of the Christian Film & Television Commission ministry, as well as a noted critic, educator, lecturer, and media pundit. His life’s purpose is to be used of God to redeem the values of the media while educating audiences on how to use discernment in selecting their entertainment.