Jack Schmidt

LSD is a relatively new drug, compared to many others. And its history has been influenced by some unlikely groups.

In the recent US election, Donald Trump made significant gains amongst young male voters aged 18-29. Some 56% of this cohort voted for Trump, compared with 41% in 2020. Journalist Jamie Tahsin, who has spent years investigating a part of the Internet known as the "manosphere", believes Mr Trump's media appearances with various young male online influencers boosted his campaign. And his 18 year old son Barron may have been a useful advisor. 

Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch's traces the complex and contradictory origins of Christian moral attitudes to sex and sexuality, from 3000 years ago, to now.  Guest: Diarmaid MacCulloch, Emeritus Professor of the history of the church at Oxford University, author of Lower than the Angels: A history of Sex and Christianity

80 years ago, an exciting new poet by the name of Ern Malley burst onto the Australian literary scene. As it turned out, Ern was a hoax, concocted by two conservative poets intent on humiliating the country’s literary avante garde.  This story originally aired on 20 August 2024.

In recent decades, as rates of obesity have soared around the world, beverage giant Coca-Cola and its industry peers have sought to insulate themselves from regulatory interventions by investing in corporate "product defence" science. This science contends that it is a lack of exercise - not sugary drinks and junk food - driving the problem. Whilst this science has been increasingly challenged and exposed in the United States, it continues to prevail in China, where obesity rates have skyrocketed. 

Surrogacy has been around since biblical times, and today it's a multi-billion-dollar industry. Some experts warn the practice is exploitative, others view it as "empowering".

Many American cities have dire public transport systems, but it hasn't always been this way. How did they get so bad and how does Australia compare?

In 1891, 29 year old Lilian Cooper arrived in the city of Brisbane, recruited from London as Queensland's first female doctor. Alongside her life partner Josephine Bedford, the pair became beloved local figures. Lilian- a tall, smoking, no-nonsense practitioner - was fiercely independent, highly skilled and deeply admired by her patients. Her story is the subject of an award-winning musical, A Girl's Guide to World War, now on tour in regional Queensland. 

The small town of Stawell in regional Victoria is busy preparing for the 143rd running of the Stawell Gift - Australia's richest and oldest footrace. The history of th Gift is full of drama, intrigue, and occasional controversy.  Guest: Robert Irvine, committee member, Stawell Athletic Club 

Nobody knows precisely where the game of cricket was born, but test cricket as we know it has been played for nearly 150 years. The so-called gentleman's game has not always been accessible to all - indeed the sport's development in the early years reflected prevailing attitudes to race, class and empire in the 19th Century. It's a sport full of marvels and contradictions, that continues to appeal to this day. Guest: Tim Wigmore, journalist and author of Test Cricket: A history