Advertise on podcast: Global Roaming with Geraldine Doogue and Hamish Macdonald

A Russian spy? Secret kompromat? The latest Epstein file drop, the most comprehensive since the notorious sex offender's death, has us questioning everything. But one thing is clear. New files alleging shared information between the former UK ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson and Jeffrey Epstein could be a scandal big enough to sink Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Geraldine Doogue and Hamish Macdonald speak to The News Agents' Jon Sopel about spiralling headfirst into the Epstein conspiracy, the new allegations against Bill Gates, and what the Kremlin has to do with Epstein island. Guest: Jon Sopel, former BBC News North America editor. Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 

It's the biggest humanitarian disaster in the world right now, yet few outside the conflict are aware of it. But Sudan's brutal civil war, which has displaced millions and turned cities like El Fasher into a mass grave, has found unlikely backers in the region. So why are Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates lining up to pick sides?  Latika Bourke and Kylie Morris speak to journalist Mat Nashed about who stands to gain from drawing out the conflict, and his warning against middle power imperialism.  Guest: Mat Nashed, freelance journalist covering Sudan Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 

As nuclear talks begin between the Islamic Republic of Iran and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump's armada of ships off Iran's coast are proving an effective negotiating tool. But for the people of Iran calling for intervention and regime change, the results of these talks may offer little relief. And as the staggering death toll of January's protests is starting to come into focus, how many of its own citizens is the regime is willing to shoot in order to crush an uprising? Geraldine Doogue and Latika Bourke speak to Iranian-American expert Holly Dagres about why the Iranian regime has reached a point of no return, even if the US chooses not to act.  Guest: Holly Dagres, senior fellow at the Washington Institute's Programme on Iran and US Policy. Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 

With the Winter Olympics about to kick off in Milano-Cortina, the news that Team USA will be joined by officers from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has caused a stir.  It sends a mixed message to the world, especially given that in July, the notoriously anti-immigration Trump administration will host millions of international visitors for the biggest sporting event on the planet, the FIFA World Cup.  Hamish Macdonald and Kylie Morris speak to journalist Nahal Toosi about the collision of MAGA and sports, and why an "America First" World Cup is riddled with contradictions. Guest: Nahal Toosi, senior foreign affairs correspondent for POLITICO Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Hamish and Geraldine dig into the questions you actually want answered. From how to break out of our political and cultural echo chambers, to making sense of Donald Trump’s behaviour, to the lessons history offers about what middle powers can achieve - inspired, no doubt, by Canada PM Mark Carney. Plus, we look ahead to a very particular VIP visit from the Middle East to Australia. Suggested reading/watching mentioned in this episode: The Kaiser At Mar A LagoLowy Interpreter Middle Powers Can’t Run The WorldUnHoly - Two Jews On The News Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 

With the purging of another top general, China's President Xi Jinping has ripped a hole in the People's Liberation Army leadership. Only two of his nine top generals remain in office. It's been explained as an anti-corruption move, but what's really going on? And how will it impact Beijing's behaviour towards Taiwan?  Guest: Neil Thomas, Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis Mentions: "China's top general accused of giving nuclear secrets to US" - Wall Street Journal  "The demise of Zhang Youxia hits different" - Drew Thomson, Substack article. Recommendations: Geraldine: It was just an accident - film, dir. Jafar Panahi Hamish: But also John Clarke - documentary, ABC iView Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.  

The former UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, has spent his working life on the frontline of humanitarian crises - from the "catastrophic" situation in Sudan, to Syria in the Middle East. But with the international rules-based order facing an existential crisis of its own, is the UN still up to scratch? As he steps down from his role, Filippo talks to Kylie Morris and Latika Bourke about why the world shouldn't turn away from Sudan, and why Trump's Gaza 'Board of Peace' will never replace the UN - for all its flaws. Guest: Filippo Grandi, former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Standing ovations are rare at Davos, the annual World Economic Forum conference. But Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney tore the roof down with a speech calling on the world's middle powers to forge a united path away from the hegemony of American power. And Trump isn't happy about it.  Geraldine Doogue and Latika Bourke speak to former Canadian Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff about how much Australia and Canada have in common, and why Europe and Great Britain are the middle powers to watch.  Guest: Michael Ignatieff, Professor at the Central European University in Vienna and former leader of the Liberal Party of Canada Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is a China hawk, and if she wins February's snap election, she'll use that mandate to prepare for conflict over Taiwan. So says the former Japanese ambassador to Australia, who's a foreign policy whisperer, well connected to the Prime Minister. But is President Trump on board? And what about Canberra? Guest: Shingo Yamagami, former Japanese ambassador to Australia  Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 

The 24 hour international news cycle often leaves us with more questions than answers, so in this episode of Global Roaming Hamish and Geraldine will be exploring the things YOU actually want to know. Like whether we should be following the money when it comes to Venezuela - does President Trump have a personal financial stake which helps explain his actions there? And if Australia's international fuel supplies were to be cut off by an act of sabotage or war, how many days could we continue to function? Turns out the answer is more surprising than you think...  Plus Hamish and Geraldine discuss what they've been thinking deeply about - from the inner workings of the US Republican Party, to the history of the international radical Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is now caught up in the Australian government's moves to target to hate groups.  Suggested reading/watching mentioned in this episode: Middle East Forum: Hizb ut-Tahrir: Political Doctrine, Global Reach, and Challenge to the International OrderThe Australian - Amanda Hodge: Why banning radical Islamist Hizb ut-Tahrir is only half the battleForbes: How Trump’s Attack On Venezuela May Have Made Him MoneyABC 7:30: Concerns over how long Australia’s fuel supplies would last in an emergency Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.

When UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer came to power in 2024, he was seen as a safe, if slightly boring, pair of hands. Now, UK Labour is threatened by the return of an unlikely figure - the man known as the 'father of Brexit': Nigel Farage.  Geraldine Doogue and Hamish Macdonald sit down with Channel 4 News anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy to chat about why Keir Starmer is failing to cut through, whether Reform UK could win the next election and what England's loss at the Boxing Day test reveals about the state of the country. Recommendations: Krishnan - Younger - TV series on Netflix  Geraldine - My Brother's Band - Film Hamish - Tehran - TV series on Apple TV  Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.

Since the Cuban Missile Crisis of the 1960s brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, the Caribbean island has been a geopolitical plaything of the major global powers. Now, after US President Donald Trump's stunning Venezuela intervention, could Cuba be back in America's sights?  Kylie Morris and Latika Burke (The Nightly) speak to Latin American correspondent Jon Bonfiglio about the mood in Cuba, and why US secretary of state Marco Rubio says Havana should be "worried". Guest: Jon Bonfiglio, Latin American correspondent based in Mexico

The cornerstone of NATO is that an attack on "one of us" is an attack on "all of us". But what happens when the alliance is threatened by one of it's own? As tensions over Greenland reach a breaking point, and Trump remains bitter about not winning a Nobel Prize, the US-Europe relationship is being tested to it's limit.  Geraldine Doogue and Latika Burke (The Nightly) speak to former NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu about the cards Europe has yet to play when it comes to salvaging the broken relationship.  Guest: Oana Lungescu, former spokesperson for NATO and distinguished fellow at RUSI, the Royal United Services Institute in London. Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Myanmar's election ends this weekend, but there'll be no prizes for guessing the outcome. It's the first time the junta has held elections since the 2021 coup and Hamish Macdonald and Kylie Morris speak to democracy activist Mon Zin about what it means for the people of Myanmar, and the surprising connection between the Hunger Games and Myanmar's youth-led Spring Revolution.  Plus, they explore why China's leader Xi Jinping is watching the outcome more closely than most...  Guest: Mon Zin, Myanmar democracy activist based in Australia Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Even after weeks of protests, the Iranian regime looks like it has a firm grip on power and its unclear whether Trump will follow through on threats of American intervention. What is it that Iranians themselves want to happen next? And just how realistic is change?  Plus, Global Roaming has changed in 2026. We give you a taste of what we have in store.  Guest: Barbara Slavin - distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington and a lecturer in international affairs at George Washington University.   Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected] Find all the episodes of Global Roaming now via the ABC Listen App or wherever you get your podcasts.