If You're Listening
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The world is on fire. There's a coup. Inflation is through the roof, and AI is taking our jobs. What does it all mean? Each week, Matt Bevan explains the biggest story in world news while hiding in his basement from assassins and authoritarian regimes. Recent episodes include an exploration of the relationship between India and China, a closer look at the Saudi Arabian city of NEOM, the conflict in the Middle East, the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, and Ukraine's incursions into Vladimir Putin's Russia. Matt Bevan draws connections between stories from the past and the events of the present to help listeners understand world news and international affairs. The podcast also features series about big moments in world news; previous series have focused on the United States presidential election, the United Kingdom's 14 years of Conservative Party leadership, Donald Trump's relationship with Russia, Donald Trump's presidency and promise to Make America Great Again, the Mueller Report, Vladimir Putin's scheme to destroy western democracies, how the relationship between Australia and China came to the verge of collapse, and Australia's turbulent history with climate change. There's a new episode of If You're Listening every Thursday.
Location:
United States
Description:
The world is on fire. There's a coup. Inflation is through the roof, and AI is taking our jobs. What does it all mean? Each week, Matt Bevan explains the biggest story in world news while hiding in his basement from assassins and authoritarian regimes. Recent episodes include an exploration of the relationship between India and China, a closer look at the Saudi Arabian city of NEOM, the conflict in the Middle East, the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, and Ukraine's incursions into Vladimir Putin's Russia. Matt Bevan draws connections between stories from the past and the events of the present to help listeners understand world news and international affairs. The podcast also features series about big moments in world news; previous series have focused on the United States presidential election, the United Kingdom's 14 years of Conservative Party leadership, Donald Trump's relationship with Russia, Donald Trump's presidency and promise to Make America Great Again, the Mueller Report, Vladimir Putin's scheme to destroy western democracies, how the relationship between Australia and China came to the verge of collapse, and Australia's turbulent history with climate change. There's a new episode of If You're Listening every Thursday.
Language:
English
Episodes
Where did Epstein’s money come from?
2/25/2026
Where did Jeffrey Epstein get his vast fortune from? Of all the questions surrounding this labyrinthine saga, the source of Epstein’s millions has been one of the most enduring, with the least available evidence.
Now, the deposition of billionaire businessman Les Wexner has provided a potential answer - Epstein simply scammed rich clients who didn’t know any better. Could the truth be so straightforward? And can we take Wexner at his word?
If you're interested in seeing the If You're Listening live show in Newcastle you can buy tickets here: https://www.newcastlewritersfestival.org.au/events/if-youre-listening-declassified/
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Duration:00:26:00
The Epstein Q&A our lawyers approved
2/23/2026
Matt and Kara try to answer your questions about the Epstein files without being sued... with only limited redactions.
They get into the consequences for the Royal family, whether Epstein could possibly be “Q”, and whether they’ve changed their view on the claim Epstein was a Mossad agent.
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Duration:00:24:00
Epstein’s ghost is haunting the UK
2/18/2026
A dark Epstein storm cloud is settling in over Europe — and it’s drifting straight across Westminster. As the newly released Epstein files reach London, Keir Starmer faces mounting pressure from within his own ranks, accused of knowing more than he’s let on.
Meanwhile, Lord Mandelson’s long-rumored association with Epstein is now headline material, raising questions about how deep the connections really go. In the UK, proximity to Epstein is proving politically lethal, even when guilt isn’t proven.
But across the Atlantic, in the United States it’s barely a footnote. So what happens when the same revelations shake two democracies, but only one starts to crumble?
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Duration:00:24:00
The time an astronaut said they weren't coming back
2/16/2026
Space travel is a serious physical and mental challenge by all accounts. But what happens when an astronaut goes rogue mid-flight?
Matt is joined by Fiona Pepper, co-host of the Science Friction podcast, to discuss a weird story the team stumbled across when researching flights leading up to the 1986 Challenger disaster.
You can listen to The Challenger Legacy, the latest season of the Science Friction podcast, here, or wherever you get your podcasts
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Duration:00:22:08
How Epstein and QAnon blew up the justice system
2/11/2026
When news first broke of a billionaire sex offender with a private island… the story didn’t erupt through traditional media — instead it circulated through online message boards like 4chan. What began as internet trolling and fragmented rumour became fuel for something much bigger.
The Epstein case fed directly into the rise of QAnon, a conspiracy movement built on the belief that a hidden elite was operating above the law. Now, after years of pressure and public obsession, millions of Epstein-related documents have been released by the U.S. government.
The Epstein Files have exposed networks, associations, and uncomfortable truths. But instead of restoring trust in institutions, they’ve underscored how fragile that trust has become.
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Duration:00:24:00
There Will Be Mud (again)
2/9/2026
That's right, we're talking soil again. Is there a field of Ukranian chernozem soil sitting in rural New South Wales? Producer Pat joins Matt to finally find an answer.
Plus, rumours of a chernozem black market… is it true, or just a dirty lie?
Thanks to the New South Wales Soil Knowledge Network!
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Duration:00:21:58
Stephen Miller: Edgelord in Chief
2/4/2026
For a long time, no matter which party was in power - the US government has operated within pretty defined guardrails… that is, until Donald Trump returned to the White House for a second term. The bold new direction is largely due to people like Stephen Miller: Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff and the key driver behind his immigration policy.
Stephen Miller has spent his entire political career working hard to systematically dismantle and destroy the guardrails that keep the US government in check. So who is this dude? How did he rise to such a position of power? And is there anything that can get in his way?
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Duration:00:25:00
Pod Save America on the endless escalation of Trump
2/2/2026
Jon Lovett has been following the daily minutia of U.S. politics for a decade on his podcast Pod Save America. Ahead of their Australian tour, Jon joined Matt for a wide-ranging chat on how to deal with Trump, and whether the U.S. has a few lessons to learn from the Australian political system.
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Duration:00:21:30
Steven Pinker thinks we're too worried about the future
1/31/2026
Matt is joined by psychologist and science writer Steven Pinker to discuss doomsday predictions, climate anxiety, and how best to split the balance between pessimistic fatalism and naïve optimism when considering the future.
Listen to the full 1959 'Letters to the Unborn'
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Duration:00:24:00
04 Black Swans | Countdown to Doomsday
1/28/2026
In the midst of the Cold War, it was a very real fear that a nuclear winter would obliterate life as we know it. Now, fortunately, that never happened.
But ironically fast forward to 2026 and the sense of dread of a nuclear war has been replaced by the impending threat of climate change, or being overrun by our AI overlords. So are we destined to feel doomed?
This is the final episode of Black Swans a four-part series by If You're Listening.
67 years ago, the ABC recorded a collection of predictions about the future—the one we’re living in now, in 2026. Their forecasts are truly extraordinary - Intergalactic super speed travel, future pod houses, Nuclear fallout, but strangely all of them are wrong. In Black Swans, host Matt Bevan gets to the bottom of why we’ve always been so bad at predicting the future.
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Duration:00:31:00
Did a 1981 book correctly predict the future?
1/26/2026
Matt and Kara discuss the book that inspired the Black Swan series… but didn’t make it into the final cut! Can experts, soothsayers, and psychics really predict what’s going to happen?
Duration:00:23:33
03 Black Swans | Burning Hill
1/21/2026
In 1959 a flight to London took days and cost half a year’s average salary. But things were changing rapidly. The invention of the Concorde meant that you could fly from Adelaide to London in just under seven hours. Travel was getting faster and many expected we’d be routinely zipping around the world and travelling to other planets in no time. But now, aside from planes, most of our transport is not much faster than it was back then, so why are we still so slow?
Duration:00:28:18
The city that ten beers built
1/19/2026
Matt and Kara delve deeper into the story of town planner Alex Ramsay, and the bizarre deal he struck to purchase the land that would become Elizabeth, SA.
Duration:00:28:22
02 Black Swans | The Australian Dream
1/14/2026
In the 1950s three quarters of Australians were homeowners, most lived on a quarter-acre block, with a mortgage that could be covered with one income while someone stayed at home to look after the children. Nowadays, house prices have sky rocketed and younger generations largely feel locked out. So where did it all go wrong?
Duration:00:31:00
01 Black Swans | The Population Bomb
1/7/2026
Until recently people were scared our planet would be outstripped by the weight of a colossal population. Experts feared that by 2026, there would be so many people that we would be starved of resources, and eat ourselves to death. Ironically we now find ourselves in a world where we’re not scared about having too many babies, but rather too few. So what happened?
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Duration:00:28:00
Matt got lost on his way to the costume department
1/6/2026
We made a TV show! Kara and Matt take you behind the scenes of putting the series together, and how hard it is to find a iron when you need one.
The Black Swans series kicks off this Thursday 8th January on podcast, and hits television on Saturday 10th January.
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Duration:00:27:05
Trump’s playbook for Nicolás Maduro and Venezuela
1/5/2026
In a post on Truth Social, US President Trump announced that he had captured the Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro and his wife, and that the pair would face drug charges in New York. The legality of this seizure is certainly questionable, but surprisingly, an operation like this is not entirely unprecedented.
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Duration:00:31:00
NEOM: The world's dumbest megaproject
12/31/2025
The massive infrastructure project NEOM sits in the Saudi Arabian desert, and the jewel in its crown is The Line, a futuristic city which looks insane. The AI-generated ads depict a car-free city, for 9 million people housed between two mirrors, stretching along the desert. Despite promises of millions of residents by 2030, the project has been scaled back by 98 per cent. The Line will be more like a dot. So what the hell happened? And was it all just a scam?
This episode was originally broadcast in September 2024
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Duration:00:14:00
What's the deal with fluoride?
12/24/2025
Putting fluoride in drinking water has often been called one of the most successful public health measures in human history. But since the very beginning of fluoridation programs in the 1940s, it’s been plagued by misinformation and furious opposition.
Now with Robert F Kennedy Jr at the helm of the US Department of Health, the Trump Administration is leading the charge to get states to ban the use of fluoride in water - and he’s succeeded in Utah and Florida. So when did this anti-fluoride scepticism kick off? And can it be stopped?
This episode was originally broadcast in June 2025
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Duration:00:20:00
How good are Australia’s gun laws really?
12/17/2025
Australians are very proud of our gun laws, and we have good reason to be. The laws are world famous and frequently referenced in the wake of almost every mass shooting in the United States. And yet, we have now seen two men terrorise Australia’s Jewish community at a Hanukkah event at Bondi beach with legally-owned high-powered guns.
Despite almost universal support for stricter gun control, there are more guns in Australia now than there were before the famous gun laws were introduced.
So, what are the specifics of Australia's laws? Are they really as water-tight as we all like to believe? And if they are about to change what will that actually accomplish?
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Duration:00:25:00