The Long-Read Essay: Democracy, Power and Australia at the Crossroads

The Long-Read Essay: Democracy, Power and Australia at the Crossroads

2025 was the year the comforting myths finally fell away. In this long-read essay, we trace how democratic institutions – globally and in Australia – proved far more fragile than many assumed, as misinformation, authoritarian politics and media failure reshaped the political landscape. From Trump’s return and Elon Musk’s political interference, to the catastrophic war on Gaza and Australia’s own shallow election campaign, the year exposed a deep crisis of leadership, media courage and moral clarity. Yet amid the disillusionment, there are faint but real signs of renewal: growing scepticism of mainstream media, the rise of independent voices, and a questioning of Australia’s place in a changing world. This long-read episode asks a simple but urgent question: at the crossroads revealed in 2025, will Australia choose to continue to drift, or seek a democratic renewal? #AUSPOL

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Song listing:
  1. ‘La Femme d’Argent’, AIR.

Episoder(311)

Week 4 Election Wrap, Labor Launch, Albanese At The Kitchen Table, The Economy And Corruption

Week 4 Election Wrap, Labor Launch, Albanese At The Kitchen Table, The Economy And Corruption

Four weeks into the campaign and real votes are being cast, with the acceptance of postal votes and the prepoll period commencing soon. In 2019, Labor won the two-party preferred vote – but lost the v...

6 Mai 202246min

Week 3 Election Wrap, A Missing Leader, ANZAC Day And Peter Dutton’s War On China

Week 3 Election Wrap, A Missing Leader, ANZAC Day And Peter Dutton’s War On China

Anthony Albanese was missing from the election campaign for one week, and didn’t the media have a field day. Unfortunately, the media has it in for Albanese, and instead of the predicted nightmare dis...

30 Apr 202245min

Week 2 Election Wrap And The Fine Art Of The Scare Campaign

Week 2 Election Wrap And The Fine Art Of The Scare Campaign

Scare campaigns need to have a semblance of truth behind them to work effectively and Labor’s strategy of making pensioners think they’ll have their income managed through the cashless debit card if t...

22 Apr 202242min

Week 1 Election Wrap And Media Behaving Badly. Very Badly.

Week 1 Election Wrap And Media Behaving Badly. Very Badly.

A very hostile first media conference for Anthony Albanese in the marginal seat of Bass in Tasmania, where he couldn’t answer or gave the wrong answers to two questions from a journalist: what’s the R...

15 Apr 202233min

Big Pre-election Special And Talking Politics With The Very Reason-able Jane Caro

Big Pre-election Special And Talking Politics With The Very Reason-able Jane Caro

We’ve never seen a government in so much trouble entering an election campaign and it’s just a question of whether Scott Morrison has the political skills to turn matters around. But before everyone s...

8 Apr 202259min

Budget 2022 And A Wrecking Ball Government

Budget 2022 And A Wrecking Ball Government

The Budget was announced this week, and not only was it one of the most political ever, it was also one of the most expensive job applications in history for the federal Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, wh...

1 Apr 202258min

SA election, Labor factions, and the beginning of the end of Morrison

SA election, Labor factions, and the beginning of the end of Morrison

The electorate in South Australia has removed a one-term Liberal Party government and installed a Labor government under Peter Malinauskas. And with a state election so close to a federal election, wi...

25 Mar 202240min

Attacking Albanese, The Media Plunge To A New Low, And We Take A Look At The Fusion Party

Attacking Albanese, The Media Plunge To A New Low, And We Take A Look At The Fusion Party

It was Anthony Albanese’s turn to appear on 60 Minutes, but not as much enthusiasm as they displayed for Scott Morrison, even though more people tuned in to watch Albanese, compared to Morrison’s epis...

18 Mar 202257min

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