Latest Programs
Monday 18 August 2008
Listen Now - 18082008 |
Download Audio - 18082008
Parliament tends to get overlooked in this era of government by press release and sound bites. Nonetheless Counterpoint asks who might be shaping up as the parliamentarians of the year for 2008?
Read Transcript
Post-modernism, post-structuralism and the analysis of discourse are three sides of the phenomenon called Theory. Professor Gavin Kitching in his new book, The Trouble With Theory says that 'a certain kind of theory does active intellectual damage to young people'. So what is wrong with Theory ?
Why is it that with all the western money reported to be pouring into Russia, the former Soviet Union doesn't seem to be moving much closer to the ethos and ideals of the west or even, as we've just seen, feel restrained in its military action.
Monday 11 August 2008
Listen Now - 11082008 |
Download Audio - 11082008
You may think that we've now seen most of the bad debt exposed or written off as a result of the subprime credit crunch, but a former industry insider warns that the next stage, what he calls Alt- A mortgages, which are those loans slightly less risky that the subprime, are about to hit the system. Richard Bitner also tells why he thinks the subprime system failed.
When you hear about a corporation under attack where do your sympathies lie?
The common perception is that it's a bit like a David and Goliath battle, the big corporation is always the bad guy. But public relations consultant Eric Dezenhall says it's not quite that simple.
Read Transcript
Commentator, cartoonist and humorist Patrick Cook with his unofficial take on the Olympics.
It was a small-time website that got bigger, in fact really big. The man behind it is Christian Lander, who lampoons and mocks elite, educated, upper middle class Americans.
Monday 04 August 2008
Listen Now - 04082008 |
Download Audio - 04082008
This week sees the anniversary of the dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima in 1945, and we revisit the argument about just why that was done.
Prolific writer and commentator Professor Frank Furedi discusses fear, authority, the new demonology and changing attitudes to children.
Read Transcript
Food has become very politicised, there's slow food, food miles, as well as a great interest and concern about the production, distribution and consumption of food. This analysis often contains bad news and drips with guilt. But doctoral candidate John Schwenkler from Berkeley says that a fundamental re-evaluation of our attitudes to food and culinary culture is needed.
Monday 28 July 2008
Listen Now - 28072008 |
Download Audio - 28072008
Is there a conflict emerging between rhetoric and reality when it comes to Australia's policy on carbon?
What is to be done about our automotive industry? The industry review, commissioned by the federal government and headed by Steve Bracks, delivers its report this week. A Productivity Commission report, released in June, said that reducing tariffs would produce significant gains for the economy.
But a Lateral Economics modelling project with Monash University suggests that the benefits from earlier tariff cuts would not be repeated.
Is there a contradiction between advocating a cut in the country's total carbon emissions while, at the same time, actively supporting immigration policies that will see Australia's population increase by almost 50 per cent by 2050? Bob Birrell and John Coulter discuss this dilemma.
Read Transcript
More Past Programs...
9pm AEST