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Fourth Estate

Fourth Estate

2SER 400 Episodes Jun 19, 2026

Every week, Fourth Estate discusses how the media has covered the news and analyses issues affecting the industry, featuring some of the biggest names in journalism in Australia and around the world. The podcast is broadcast live on Sydney's 2SER 107.3FM, with financial assistance from the Community Broadcasting Foundation.

Episodes

Please Explain: Pauline Hanson, One Nation and the Media's 30-Year Dilemma Jun 19, 2026 3899 Thirty years ago, Pauline Hanson exposed a fault line in Australian politics that never really went away. This week, following Hanson's first National Press Club address and amid signs One Nation is enjoying its strongest political moment in years, Fourth Estate asks what the media got right, what it got wrong, and whether we've ever truly understood the Australia that keeps bringing Hanson back.
Profile: In Conversation with Barrie Cassidy (Part 1) Jun 14, 2026 6499 When Barrie Cassidy arrived in Canberra in 1979, Malcolm Fraser was Prime Minister, the political shockwaves of the 1975 dismissal were still reverberating through Australian politics, and Fraser was already fending off the leadership ambitions of a rising Andrew Peacock. The press gallery was smaller, the media landscape less fragmented, and for a young reporter who had discovered a passion for
The Stories We Tell Ourselves: China, America and Australian Self-Reliance Jun 5, 2026 4104 For decades, China was seen in Australia as an opportunity. Today, it's more often described as a threat. But how much of Australia's understanding of China reflects reality — and how much is shaped by the stories we tell ourselves? As Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks of an "ideological disagreement" with the United States, and as global tensions expose vulnerabilities in supply chains and
Sarah Wilson on Complexity, Collapse and Making Art in the Apocalypse May 28, 2026 4046 Sarah Wilson has lived through almost every era of modern media — from becoming a newspaper columnist in her early 20s, to editing Cosmopolitan magazine and hosting MasterChef Australia, writing bestselling books, podcasting and independent publishing. But in recent years, her focus has shifted toward much bigger questions: how do we live meaningfully in an age of ecological crisis, political ins
One From the Archives: Sophie McNeill and We Can't Say We Didn't Know May 21, 2026 2537 As the war in Gaza continues — and journalists covering the conflict are being killed at unprecedented rates — we return to the Fourth Estate archives for a conversation that now feels more urgent than ever. In this 2020 interview, former ABC Middle East correspondent Sophie McNeill joins then-Fourth Estate host Sharon Davis to discuss McNeill’s book We Can’t Say We Didn’t Know: Dispatches From A
Red Scares: The Budget and the Backlash May 14, 2026 3860 From accusations of “broken promises” to cries of socialism, class warfare and even communism, the media reaction to the Albanese Government’s federal budget has been fierce. But how radical are the reforms actually being proposed? This week, Tina Quinn examines the political and media framing surrounding the budget — from the rhetoric around debt, aspiration and intergenerational burden, to the
Blunt Tools: Rate Rises and Media Tropes May 7, 2026 3645 Are we asking enough questions about the way Australia manages inflation, and the way the media reports on it? Every Reserve Bank decision is treated like a national event. Interest rates rise, borrowers brace, and economists debate whether inflation expectations remain “anchored”. But has economic journalism become too narrowly framed around the logic of the Reserve Bank? And are governments esc
A Woman Who Won: Antoinette Lattouf on Taking on the ABC — and Winning Apr 30, 2026 2946 In December 2023, Australia’s national broadcaster made the decision to dismiss one of its radio presenters, claiming she had brought the Australian Broadcasting Corporation into disrepute after sharing a social media post from Human Rights Watch highlighting atrocities in Gaza. Within hours, The Australian had reported on her removal. But it was her decision to challenge the dismissal in court t
2SER on the Brink and Remembering James Valentine Apr 23, 2026 2335 Community radio station 2SER could be off the air within months, after the withdrawal of long-standing university funding. In this episode of Fourth Estate, we examine how the station reached this point — from the timeline of key decisions to growing concerns from staff, volunteers and alumni about transparency and leadership. Former 2SER Program Director and Fourth Estate host Anthony Dockrill
Ben Roberts-Smith: How Journalism Took on a War Hero Apr 9, 2026 3297 This week, one of Australia’s most decorated soldiers, Ben Roberts-Smith, was arrested and charged with multiple counts of war crime murder. The charges follow years of investigative reporting by journalists at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald — and a landmark defamation case that tested that reporting in court. In this episode of Fourth Estate, Tina Quinn speaks with two of the journalists
Dispatches from the Picket Line: Behind the ABC Strike Apr 3, 2026 2689 More than 2,000 ABC staff walked off the job in the broadcaster’s first strike in 20 years. While the dispute centred on pay, progression and job security, it also exposed deeper concerns about culture, leadership and editorial independence. In this episode of Fourth Estate, Tina Quinn speaks with current and former ABC journalists, including Michael Slezak, Fran Kelly, Quentin Dempster, Emma Fi
Profile: In Conversation with Virginia Trioli (Part 2) Mar 29, 2026 7169 "She seems unaware of just how inexperienced she is," was how one media commentator described Virginia Trioli when she first took her place behind the microphone of the Drive program on 774 ABC Radio Melbourne. She had by that point more than a decade of experience as a journalist — but was still relatively new to the art of broadcasting. But Trioli was a quick study, and in the 25 years that fo

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