If You're Listening

Michael Cohen is the star witness in the Trump 'hush-money' trial. He was once Trump's personal attorney and said he would "take a bullet" for his boss, but then everything changed. He has served years in prison for lying, tax fraud, bank fraud and campaign finance violations. But he thinks everything he's gone through will be worth it if he can take Trump down. Subscribe to If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app. Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqPubAjtbc4

Plans for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics are not going well. It's a political quagmire, with plans for billion-dollar stadium upgrades or massive new venues being thrown around like confetti. There are concerns that Brisbane is going to blow its budget. Fifty years ago, the 1976 Montreal Olympics suffered a financial disaster so massive it nearly heralded the end of the Olympic Games. Is Brisbane repeating the mistakes of the past? Subscribe to If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. He is doing everything he can to stay in office, because if he holds office, he can't be thrown in jail. Sound familiar? It's a bit like Donald Trump's situation in the United States. But Netanyahu's case has an old-school flavour. It's a fierce battle between media tycoons, and it even involves Australian media nepo baby James Packer. It's a rollicking tale...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. He is doing everything he can to stay in office, because if he holds office, he can't be thrown in jail. Sound familiar? It's a bit like Donald Trump's situation in the United States. But Netanyahu's case has an old-school flavour. It's a fierce battle between media tycoons, and it even involves Australian media nepo baby James Packer. It's a rollicking tale...

Narenda Modi loves to promote India's status as the largest democracy in the world, and experts agree that the country's elections are free and fair for all. Modi is now an unbackable favourite to win a third term as Prime Minister in the weeks ahead, with polls suggesting he is heading for another  victory...

Iran and Israel are caught in a cycle of revenge. On April Fools' Day, there was a huge escalation in the conflict when an Israeli air strike killed 16 people, including two Iranian Generals. Two weeks later, the skies over Israel lit up with a counterattack. It might seem like in this conflict, anything goes, but each response and retaliation is a calculated move. Israel knew the attack was coming and almost every drone and missile was intercepted...

Lifting Indians out of poverty lies at the core of Narendra Modi's wildly popular political strategy. And it's worked: during his Prime Ministership, India has risen from the tenth largest economy in the world to the fifth. But this rising tide has also widened the gap between the rich and the poor in India, and has raised questions about Modi's ties to business leaders who have turned the nation's rise to their own advantage.

People don't like wind farms. They say they're bad for wildlife, they affect property values and they create pollution. But are any of these claims true? Today, the wind farm debate and how it nearly tore the small Australian community of King Island apart. This episode of If You're Listening is a live recording from the Newcastle Writers Festival. Subscribe to If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app. Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ-9hfWk8TI

In 2002, Narendra Modi's carefully crafted political story was rocked by a series of deadly attacks in his home state of Gujarat, where he was the highly popular Chief Minister. Thousands were killed in a wave of riots that lasted for three days and became a major national scandal. Modi's role in the violence has been heavily contested in the decades since, but he has never been able to shake the association in the minds of some Indians...

The Duterte and Marcos families are the Montagues and Capulets of the Philippines. They are, depending on who you ask, the country's most famous statesmen, thieves, murderers or heroes. They have tussled for power for nearly 60 years, and now there are talks of secession splitting the country in two. Could this family feud literally tear the Philippines apart? Subscribe to If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app. Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5pPcV54kiQ