Saturday Extra - Separate stories podcast

The Trump administration has released an updated National Security Strategy, which warned, among other things, that Europe faced what it called "the stark prospect of civilisational erasure." The new strategy document also pledged to use "lethal force to defeat drugs cartels" which it said would replace the failed law enforcement-only strategy of the last several decades.It is the use of lethal force against alleged drug boats from Venezuela in the Caribbean that has dominated US politics this week.Meanwhile, the US military build-up off the coast of Venezuela continues, with more ships stationed there since the Cuban missile crisis of the 1960s. What does all of this mean for the people of Venezuela?

It’s a chart topping podcast with millions of downloads around the world. Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland are distinguished historians — Oxford and Cambridge scholars, and bestselling authors. But their global fame comes from hosting the smash-hit podcast The Rest Is History which brings the past to life with gripping storytelling and expert analysis.They caught up with our own historian, Nick Bryant, while in Sydney for their national tour.

This week saw the eagerly anticipated release of the Australian Election Study (AES), compiled by academics at the Australian National University and Griffith University. The survey offers one of the most comprehensive snapshots of voter attitudes in the country.It digs into what drives Australians to vote the way they do — across parties, demographics and key policy areas — and helps explain both the mood of the electorate now and what future election outcomes might look like.

At least 128 people have died and 200 people are still missing. It's the city's deadliest fire in 70 years, and it ripped through a housing complex with 8 tower blocks and about 2000 apartments. An early theory is that construction materials used for a renovation fuelled the blaze.

To discuss the Washington attack and the broader trajectory of the Trump presidency we’re joined by one of the most influential observers of American politics. 

As US negotiators head to Moscow next week, doubts are mounting over what - if anything - Russia is willing to concede in a Ukraine peace deal. New reporting suggests Washington’s proposal clashes with core Kremlin demands, and a leaked call in which envoy Steve Witkoff is heard advising a senior Russian official has ignited political fury in Washington. Meanwhile, Ukraine and its European allies insist any agreement must deliver real security for Kyiv.

China is an engineering state, obsessed with building megaprojects, while America is a lawyerly society, reflexively blocking everything, good and bad. That’s the framework for a new book by Dan Wang which explores the merits and madness of Beijing’s engineering state – and how it compares with Washington.Through personal insights from living in both countries, Dan Wang explores China’s strengths and weaknesses, and offers a critique of how American leadership could lose the technological arms race to its rival.

As the popularity of Indian films surge in Australia,  a new era of bilateral film collaboration is being cemented through a cultural trade deal in India. The International Film Festival of India (IFFI) is on in Goa, and filmmaker Rachel Griffiths is part of an Australian delegation there to sign a historic agreement that will open up new, reciprocal opportunities between the two countries, including a major distribution deal, academic knowledge exchange and program and career development schemes for film makers.

The widow of murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi says she is hurt and disappointed that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a warm welcome at the White House this week.US President Donald Trump fiercely defended the Crown Prince saying he wasn't aware of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, effectively contradicting CIA assessments that the Saudi ruler likely ordered the murder of Khashoggi in 2018.Jamal Khashoggi was critical of the Saudi regime, and his widow says his brutal murder up-ended her life.

As we enter the final parliamentary sitting week of the year Sussan Ley seems to have just survived the political killing season. The Liberal Party leader's climbdown over net zero by 2050 has quelled a mutinous party room, for now at least.With the Coalition in disarray, and One Nation surging in the polls,  the centre has been left wide open for Albanese's Labor government.