If You're Listening

The Bananas in Pyjamas’ doomed trip to Moscow

26 oct 2026, 14:00 · 25 min

<p>In 1998, the Bananas in Pyjamas visited Moscow as part of a promotional tour. Things did not go to plan. Today, Eric Campbell, the ABC’s Russia correspondent at the time, joins Matt to try to piece together what really happened. Eric also talks about meeting Boris Yeltsin in a broom cupboard, the changing face of Russian media, and why Russian politicians took aim at Peppa Pig.</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@IfYoureListeningABC">https://www.youtube.com/@IfYoureListeningABC</a></p>

Lenin's WWII goo adventure

24 oct 2026, 14:00 · 25 min

<p>Surprise! We're popping in on a Sunday to answer your questions, many of which were about goo and the Canadian state of Alberta this month.</p><p>Kara also tells Matt an incredible story from Russia during World War II — the Weekend at Bernie's-style odyssey that kept Vladimir Lenin's corpse safe. </p><p>We're going to do this regularly, so if you have questions for Matt and Kara send them through as emails or voice notes, to ifyourelistening@abc.net.au.</p><p>And to ask Matt questions live as the US midterm election results roll in on November 4 at 3PM AEDT, subscribe to our brand new YouTube channel here: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@IfYoureListeningABC">https://www.youtube.com/@IfYoureListeningABC</a></p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p>

Is Trump going to bomb the bond market?

21 oct 2026, 14:00 · 29 min

<p>Donald Trump recently said that if his treasury secretary can’t get bond yields down, the next move might be the military. It sounds absurd, but the US bond market is the quiet foundation underneath almost every price in the global economy, from your mortgage to a company’s loan. When investors lose faith in a government’s ability to manage its money, as happened under the UK’s Liz Truss in 2022, bond yields spike, and borrowing gets more expensive for everyone, instantly. Trump’s tariffs, his war in Iran and his promised $5,000 dividend cheques have investors nervous all over again, and bond yields are climbing. Unlike Liz Truss, Trump has nobody above him to sack him over it. So who actually pays when the bond market loses faith in Donald Trump?</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

My name is Inigo Jones. Prepare for rain.

19 oct 2026, 14:00 · 23 min

<p>Before we knew about El Niño, La Niña and the other patterns scientists now use to make long-range weather forecasts, there were men like Inigo Jones, whose prediction methods owed more to astronomy than to meteorology. Farmers, construction companies and brides-to-be all turned to these unorthodox weathermen, who charted the cycles of the planets and the spots on the surface of the sun.</p><p>Today, producer Jess O’Callaghan tells Matt about the wild west of weather forecasting, before we really knew how to do it.</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

The apocalyptic El Niño we didn't see coming

14 oct 2026, 14:00 · 26 min

<p>Toxic smoke haze is blanketing Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, after weeks of fires in Indonesia. In central Chile, flash flooding has trapped people on their roofs, and already Australia’s spring is unusually hot. Scientists have confirmed it’s an El Niño year, and it’s expected to be one of the worst on record, tipping the odds for these extreme weather events. But we haven’t always had this warning — in 1982 there was a whole heap of apocalyptic weather, and no unifying theory to bring it all together. That “super El Niño” would totally change how we think about forecasting the weather. Now climate change threatens to send us back to the 1980s.</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

A day out at the Hezbollah theme park

12 oct 2026, 14:00 · 19 min

<p>Over recent decades, Hezbollah has become deeply embedded in southern Lebanon. It runs everything from hospitals and schools to infrastructure projects, and even has its own theme park.</p><p>Naturally, when an email landed in our inbox from listener Alex who’s actually been to that theme park, we wanted to know every detail. So Matt gave him a call.</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

Putin's billion-dollar quest for immortality

7 oct 2026, 14:00 · 26 min

<p>A hot mic caught Putin telling Xi that organ transplants could bring immortality. It's not just talk, and it's not new either: Russian leaders have spent nearly a century chasing eternal life, with some genuinely bizarre results.</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

The US-Canada border fight over a pig

5 oct 2026, 14:00 · 23 min

<p>With tensions between Donald Trump and Mark Carney heating up, it's the perfect excuse to revisit another time things got tense on the US-Canadian border… back before Canada was Canada.</p><p>In June 1859, on a small island wedged between what's now Washington State and Vancouver Island, an American farmer raised his rifle at a pig that kept eating his potatoes, and pulled the trigger. Within weeks, that one dead pig had brought the United States and the British Empire to the brink of war. It became known as the Pig War.</p><p>No One Saw It Coming host Marc Fennell tells Matt how it all played out, and why it took the German Kaiser to settle it.</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

Can AI predict the future?

30 sept 2026, 15:00 · 25 min

<p>The US-Israel war with Iran. The UK leadership kerfuffle. Who’d finish the top of the ladder in the AFL. At the start of 2026 none of these things would have felt all that predictable. But as Matt experiments with AI stuck in the recent past, he finds computers have gotten good at predicting certain kinds of futures — and he investigates what that means for us, and for Donald Trump. </p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

Thatcher's Falklands PSYOP radio station

28 sept 2026, 15:00 · 21 min

<p>The 1982 Falklands War wasn't just fought on land and at sea, but also over the airwaves. Radio was part of the strategy on both sides of the conflict, with Britain launching its own covert radio station as a form of 'grey' psychological warfare. Global Roaming producer Pat Sunderland tells Matt the story of Operation Moonshine.</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

Are the UK and Argentina about to go to war…again?

23 sept 2026, 15:00 · 27 min

<p>In 1982, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, and Britain took them back by force. But it was messier behind the scenes than it looked… leaked tapes, real and fake, revealed Ronald Reagan secretly urging Margaret Thatcher not to humiliate Argentina, even as the US publicly stood by its closest ally. More than 40 years later, the islands are back in the headlines, and Argentina's president Javier Milei, one of Donald Trump's closest ideological allies, is talking about claiming them. But this time things have changed, this time the US might not automatically side with Britain. A Pentagon memo has reportedly floated reconsidering support for UK sovereignty over the islands, after Britain refused to help with the war in Iran. So which ally does Trump actually pick?</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

Why there are abandoned tunnels under Dallas

21 sept 2026, 15:00 · 17 min

<p>We love a tunnel on this show. A few months ago Kara told Matt all about the FBI's secret tunnel under the Russian embassy in Washington. Today Matt takes Kara back underground, digging into the rise and fall of the pedway: an infrastructure idea that spread through North America in the 1960s and 70s, from Montreal to Dallas to Calgary, with mixed results.</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

Is Trump cracking Canada?

16 sept 2026, 15:00 · 28 min

<p>Donald Trump's trade war with Canada has renamed lakes, threatened to make Canada the 51st state, and slapped tariffs on everything from steel to snowmobiles. The surprising part is what it's doing to the country itself. Quebec, home to Canada's oldest and fiercest separatist movement, has been hit hardest by the tariffs, and yet, support for leaving Canada has dropped to its lowest level in decades. Meanwhile in oil-rich Alberta, largely spared by Trump's tariffs and booming from high oil prices, a once-fringe separatist movement is gaining ground, with a referendum on leaving Canada looming in October. As far as Trump is concerned, he doesn't care where the cracks appear…as long as Canada eventually caves in.</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

How we feel about the AI apocalypse

14 sept 2026, 15:00 · 19 min

<p>In this highly anticipated mailbag episode, Matt and Kara finally answer the most-asked question in the If You're Listening inbox. Plus, they talk dirty bombs, whether or not Matt is qualified to be doing this, and give their takes on AI insiders’ warnings about humanity’s destruction.</p><p>P.S. Please stop emailing us about mugs</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

How 9/11 shaped the man behind Trump's tariffs

11 sept 2026, 15:00 · 25 min

<p>On September 11, 2001, Howard Lutnick's firm Cantor Fitzgerald lost 658 employees, including his brother and best friend, when the World Trade Center collapsed. Days later, he became a national pariah for cutting off their salaries, a gamble to keep the company alive long enough to eventually give their families a quarter of its future profits. It worked. Twenty five years on, that same billionaire is Donald Trump's Commerce Secretary, and the man driving his global tariff war. Lutnick's business thrives on chaos rather than growth, and having survived and profited from the worst days of his life, he seems entirely unafraid of the economic wreckage his tariffs are causing. So what happens when a man built to bet everything on volatility gets his hands on the entire US economy?</p><p>This episode was originally broadcast May 2025.</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

Why Guantanamo Bay is so hard to close

9 sept 2026, 15:00 · 29 min

<p>It’s been 25 years since the September 11 attacks, and Guantanamo Bay is still open. But its use as a legal grey zone predates the War on Terror by a decade. In the early 1990s, thousands of Haitians fleeing a coup were held at Guantanamo, including hundreds of HIV-positive refugees held there indefinitely until Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins called it out at the Oscars. </p><p>A US court ruling from that saga established that America's constitution doesn't apply on the base, because while the US has complete control there under a 1903 treaty, Cuba technically retains sovereignty. That's the same loophole the Bush Administration used when it opened a detention centre there in 2002, and 25 years on, the US still hasn't figured out how to close it.</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

The cat that broke Einstein’s brain

7 sept 2026, 15:00 · 26 min

<p>So, there’s a cat in a box and it’s trapped. Most people have at least heard of the term Schrodinger’s cat. But many of us don’t actually know what it is.</p><p>Science reporter Jacinta Bowler might have the answers... They spent months with their head in quantum physics land for Dead and Alive, a series of Science Friction on ABC Radio National.</p><p>Today we’re unpacking what this all means, and how it could lead to a technological revolution... That could solve the world’s biggest problems: feeding more people, curing disease, optimising public transport so there are never any delays ever again...That is... If it ever gets off the ground.</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

Nepal's glacier time bomb

2 sept 2026, 15:00 · 25 min

<p>In August, a glacier collapse in Nepal triggered a catastrophic flood, and the danger still isn't over. Fragile new lakes have formed from the debris, and authorities are warning that another flood could burst through at any moment, putting rescuers still working in the area at risk. It's called a Glacier Lake Outburst Flood, and unlike most disasters, it doesn't really have an aftermath… the same lake can collapse again and again for years. </p><p>These floods are becoming more common as the climate warms. But there's also a rare bit of good news: a decade ago, Nepal's own army successfully defused a similar lake, flying equipment up a mountain to build a permanent drain. Alaska's capital Juneau has the same problem and the same fix on the table. It just hasn't built it.</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

The mystery of the Monkey Man

31 ago 2026, 15:00 · 24 min

<p>There was a very curious crime wave recently in India... a number of victims presented to the hospital with scratches and bites - like they'd been attacked by something. When questioned by police, they all described the perpetrator as a "Monkey Man". A short, half-monkey, half-man, dressed in a monkey-sized police uniform, and he was causing havoc.</p><p>ABC Journalist Ann Jones has been looking into this Monkey Man for her new series, "Nature's Most Wanted".  Check it out here: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/what-the-duck/natures-most-wanted/106620406</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

Will Trump's weird obsession break the US Navy?

26 ago 2026, 15:00 · 28 min

<p>Sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln have spent more than 250 consecutive days at sea without a single port call, a new US Navy record. Leaked photos show broken toilets and meals of mystery mush, the result of being trapped on the wrong side of Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. But the real story is much bigger. </p><p>The Navy's next-generation carriers were built around untested electromagnetic catapults that took over a decade and billions more than planned to get working, contributing to a shipbuilding backlog linked to a spike in sailor suicides. Now Donald Trump, who's long hated electric catapults, wants to switch back to old-fashioned steam, a call engineers say could make the mess a whole lot worse.</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

The scam queen of the Philippines

24 ago 2026, 15:00 · 24 min

<p>Earlier this year, we took a deep dive into the seedy underbelly of the scam centres of Cambodia and Myanmar. And there was one story that our producer, Pat Sunderland, uncovered that we couldn't really fit in. It's the story of a beloved mayor whose fall from grace changed the political landscape of the Philippines.</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

Is the Secret Service too broken to protect Trump?

19 ago 2026, 15:00 · 27 min

<p>The Secret Service was created to hunt counterfeit money, and only started guarding presidents after three assassinations forced Congress's hand in 1901. More than a century later, agents still split their careers between protecting the President and investigating fake twenties. The agency is understaffed by over 20 percent, and burnt-out staff are hitting mandated overtime pay caps by the thousands. </p><p>It's already led to scandal, security lapses, and a botched response to the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, the threats are multiplying and becoming even more complex; domestic militia plots and foreign intelligence operatives are becoming more common. So can an agency stretched this thin actually keep up?</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

Jonathan Swan on the real Trump White House

17 ago 2026, 15:00 · 36 min

<p>New York Times reporter Jonathan Swan has spent more than a decade covering Donald Trump, and he says nothing compares to this term. His new book, Regime Change, co-written with Maggie Haberman, argues Trump's second presidency is being run unlike any other in living memory: driven by gut instinct over briefings, staffed by loyalists chosen for devotion rather than experience, and designed to move faster than Congress, the courts or the media can keep up with. </p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

Why MAGA is turning on Russia

12 ago 2026, 15:00 · 25 min

<p>Last month Ukrainian drones struck an Iranian ship in the Caspian Sea, the first direct link between the wars in Ukraine and Iran, and proof of a secret arms pipeline between Moscow and Tehran. The strike came amid an extraordinary shift inside MAGA world. </p><p>Pro-Trump influencer Laura Loomer, who once called Zelenskyy an authoritarian and said Ukraine needed to be "denazified", has spent months touring Kyiv and doing friendly interviews with the Ukrainian president. Now Zelenskyy is using his new MAGA allies to argue Ukraine can help Trump too, which is good timing because the US has nearly run out of missiles.</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

What happens when AI commits a crime

10 ago 2026, 15:00 · 21 min

<p>Last month, a new AI model from OpenAI made headlines when it hacked into another AI company's servers during testing. Nobody asked the AI to hack anything. It just decided that was the fastest way to get the answers it needed.</p><p>Now the ABC's national AI reporter Cam Wilson has uncovered the first case of an autonomous AI hack here in Australia. Cam joins Matt to explain what happened, and who's responsible when an AI agent breaks the law.</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

Who's really bankrolling Nigel Farage?

5 ago 2026, 15:00 · 21 min

<p>Nigel Farage has some…strange revenue streams. The leader of Reform UK has been paid about £700,000 to front ads for a gold bullion company. His fixer, Posh George, once advertised money laundering on the dark web and served time in a US prison. His biggest Brexit donor Arron Banks claimed his fortune came from South African diamond mines that, when reporters checked, weren't actually operating. Now Farage's newest backers are crypto players, and he's using his platform to talk up both gold and cryptocurrency, the two assets favoured by people convinced the financial system is about to collapse. So who benefits when a powerful politician is bankrolled by people who profit from instability?</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

How to become an Albanian superstar

3 ago 2026, 15:00 · 19 min

<p>In 1995, 80-year-old British comedian Norman Wisdom stepped off the plane in Albania for the first time, to a crowd of cheering fans. Over four days he was swarmed in the streets, men came up to kiss him, and he met the president. Today, producer Adair Sheppard tells Matt the story how Wisdom became one of the most famous people in Albania without knowing it.</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

Dua Lipa and Ivanka Trump go head to head in Albania

29 jul 2026, 15:00 · 26 min

<p>Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump found what they call an untouched private island while swimming off a friend's superyacht near Albania. But it wasn't quite as private as they thought… turns out it’s actually a regular day-trip spot for locals. Despite that, the pair now want to build a luxury resort there along a protected coastal lagoon that's a key nesting site for migrating flamingoes, and Albania's government has fast-tracked approval. Many Albanians aren’t happy and thousands have taken to the streets to protest in what's become known as the Flamingo Revolution, including pop star Dua Lipa. </p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

Polymarket’s dumbest betting market

27 jul 2026, 15:00 · 21 min

<p>On Polymarket, you can bet on almost anything. Today Matt is speaking to Supervising Producer Kara Jensen-Mackinnon about one of the strangest markets the site has ever run: one that turned WNBA games into a target for flying sex toys.</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

How to get away with selling classified information

22 jul 2026, 15:00 · 27 min

<p>There's a Polymarket account called Magamyman that's terrible at picking elections, but it's made $800,000 betting on exactly when the US would strike Iran, cashing in within minutes of the bombs actually falling… and it’s not alone. Donald Trump's own teleprompter operator is under investigation for betting on his boss's speeches, and a US soldier allegedly bet on capturing Nicolas Maduro days before doing it himself. </p><p>Prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi have exploded into a $20 billion industry, and they're built on a simple promise: that crowds are smarter than any individual, and secrets are worth cashing in on. But, with Trump's own son advising both platforms and regulators standing down, who's actually watching for insider trading?</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

What it takes to put a question to Trump

20 jul 2026, 15:00 · 26 min

<p>We've been looking into the remarkable amount of money Donald Trump is making in his second term, so today Matt is sitting down with a man who asked the president about it directly. ABC's Americas editor John Lyons takes Matt behind the scenes of the exchange that made headlines, revealing what it takes to ask the most powerful man in the world a question.</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

Trump's rise from bunker boy to billionaire

15 jul 2026, 15:00 · 25 min

<p>In 2020, Secret Service agents rushed Donald Trump to the White House bunker as protests raged outside. Trump was down on his luck…the media nicknamed him “Bunker Boy” and he had a measly $92 million in the bank. </p><p>Fast forward to his second term, and financial disclosures show he made more than $2.2 billion in a single year. The man who once dismissed crypto as a scam found his fortune transformed by meme coins, a hype-driven venture called World Liberty Financial, and a cast of podcast bros and pickup artists selling access to the most powerful man in the world. So is this just what being president looks like now?</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

Is Trump pushing more countries toward nuclear weapons?

13 jul 2026, 15:00 · 25 min

<p>President Trump promised he'd negotiate a better nuclear deal with Iran than the one struck under Barack Obama, which he's described as "the worst deal ever negotiated." But after another Trump-brokered ceasefire appears to have broken down, that looks increasingly unlikely.</p><p>So what did it take to get the 2015 deal over the line? Matt sits down with former US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, one of its lead negotiators, to talk about negotiating with Iran, Trump's approach to diplomacy, and how worried we should be about the risk of nuclear conflict.</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

What’s Under Trump’s Ballroom?

8 jul 2026, 15:00 · 26 min

<p>Presidents have always left their mark on the White House. Harry Truman rebuilt it from the inside out. John F. Kennedy restored its elegance. Jimmy Carter installed solar panels… then Ronald Reagan removed them. By that standard, Donald Trump's plan to build a grand ballroom isn't all that unusual. In fact, it's something he's talked about for years. The real story isn't the renovation; it's the reaction.</p><p>After years of fuelling conspiracy theories about Washington elites and corruption, Trump has created an audience primed to question everything. So when he announces his biggest White House project yet, many of his own supporters assume there's far more to it. Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

Criminals, if you're listening

6 jul 2026, 15:00 · 23 min

<p>In last Thursday's episode, we talked about one of the most sophisticated intelligence operations in recent history, when Israel planted bombs in thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah.</p><p>But it wasn't the first time something like this has happened. Today, Matt and Kara trace the long history of people accidentally spying on themselves: from the CIA's best-selling encryption machines, bought by governments around the world, to the "secure" phones that tricked organised criminals into incriminating themselves.</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

Why is Netanyahu sabotaging Trump?

1 jul 2026, 15:00 · 26 min

<p>Israel's campaign against Hezbollah began with one of the boldest intelligence operations in recent memory. The pager attacks devastated the group's leadership, and Benjamin Netanyahu declared Hezbollah had been crushed. But eliminating a leader is one thing, defeating an ideology is another.</p><p>In southern Lebanon, Hezbollah is woven into daily life. After decades of conflict and a weak central government, it provides schools, healthcare and social services alongside its military wing. </p><p>That leaves Bibi Netanyahu and Donald Trump facing the same problem. Netanyahu needs enough security for evacuated Israelis to return to the north before the Israeli election in October. Trump needs a lasting peace deal before the mid-terms in November. The trouble is, both men need different endings to the same war.</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

Matt finally gets to talk about Sealand

29 jun 2026, 15:00 · 23 min

<p>Last Thursday's episode touched on the relatively short-lived, Israel-backed microstate of Free Lebanon. For Matt, that's all the excuse he needs to tell the story of his favourite ever micronation: the Principality of Sealand. Especially because, when he mentioned Sealand in an episode last year, so many of you wrote in to say you shared his enthusiasm.</p><p>So here we finally are. Today, Matt is telling producer Adair the story of the radio pirate turned actual pirate who declared himself Prince of a rusting gun platform in the North Sea.</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

Why Israel-Hezbollah threatens Trump’s Iran peace plan

24 jun 2026, 15:00 · 27 min

<p>Donald Trump wants a historic deal with Iran. The problem is that some of the biggest obstacles aren't in Tehran or Washington. They're on the border between Israel and Lebanon. </p><p>In this two-part special, we trace the conflict that keeps dragging the region back into crisis. From Israel's invasion of Lebanon and the creation of a security zone in the south, to the rise of Hezbollah and years of cross-border fighting, this frontier has remained one of the Middle East's most dangerous flashpoints. More recently, Hezbollah attacks forced tens of thousands of Israelis from their homes, challenging assumptions about security in the country's north. </p><p>As diplomats pursue a new agreement with Iran, one question looms large: can this conflict be contained, or will it derail the deal before it's signed? </p><p>Listen to our 2023 episode on the history of Hezbollah: <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/if-youre-listening/who-is-hezbollah-the-group-backing-hamas/103040512">https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/if-youre-listening/who-is-hezbollah-the-group-backing-hamas/103040512</a></p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

Trump’s grand designs for the White House

22 jun 2026, 15:00 · 24 min

<p>The construction of Trump's new White House ballroom would make for maybe the best episode of Grand Designs ever made. The budget has blown out, a historic wing of the house has been demolished, and it's putting a strain on President Trump and Melania's relationship.</p><p>Sadly, Kevin McCloud wasn't available for this episode. Instead, Matt is talking to White House reporter for the Washington Post, Dan Diamond, who has watched, and heard, all of it go down.</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>

Trump’s unbreakable bond with the UFC

17 jun 2026, 15:00 · 25 min

<p>Before it was a billion-dollar sporting empire, the UFC was fighting for survival. Regulators wanted it banned, broadcasters kept their distance.  The company was down for the count. Then Donald Trump stepped in. When few venues would host the sport, he opened the doors of the Trump Taj Mahal, giving the sport a much-needed lifeline and UFC President Dana White never forgot it.Decades later, the relationship may have come full circle. After January 6, Trump's approval rating was collapsing, and some of his first major public appearances were cage-side at UFC events, reconnecting him with the young male audience that helped power his 2024 victory. Now, as new political challenges emerge, the UFC is back by Trump's side. But can it save him again?</p><p>Follow If You're Listening on the <a href="https://radio.abc.net.au/help/apps">ABC Listen app</a>.</p><p>Check out our series on YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq</a></p>