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Israelis head to the polls tomorrow in an election that’s being described as ‘existential’. After nearly 20 years in power, strongman Benjamin Netanyahu is pitching for the security vote, but his rivals say he’s a threat to democracy. Mairav Zonszein, an Israel analyst with the International Crisis Group, says Israelis want change but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unlikely to go quietly into the night.  Only two months ago, a group called Compassion in Politics Australia gained the first signatory to its "Civility Pledge" - Helen Haines. The organisation, based on a similar foundation in the United Kingdom, aims to turn the tide of toxic debate and build a better politics. Josie Gibson is the group's co-director. Nearly two hundred years ago a rebellion broke out at the Parramatta Female Factory; over sugar. In her new book Unravelled, historian and author Heather Garnsey tells this rollicking tale of Australia’s early colonial history through the eyes of a pioneering woman and her distant relative Elizabeth Fulloon.

. Generation Z is angry - in Asia, Africa and more recently Europe. They say governments aren’t listening to their concerns - about housing, jobs and the future they’re inheriting. Oxford University economist Tim Vlandas says his theory of ‘Gerontonomia’ explains the dilemma facing many countries. President Donald Trump is on a frenzied mission to win friends and influence people ahead of the midterms but almost half of all US Ambassadorial roles are currently vacant. Tracey's guest for The Diplomats, Ambassador Donald Hevlin says there is no substitute for eyes and ears on the ground. And how well do we really know North Korea and its people? A new book, Miss Kathi: Saving Lives in North Korea, written by veteran foreign correspondent Mike Chinoy and Swiss aid worker Kathi Zellweger tells the story of the ordinary people living beneath one of the world’s most repressive governments, and asks whether isolating the regime ultimately means abandoning the people.

Two thirds of the world’s websites use an open source programming language called PHP. For years we’ve known it has some security flaws, but no one was smart enough to exploit them - until - artificial intelligence cracked the code. Now the race is on to patch the problem before hackers get their first. Johanna Weaver, Executive Director of the Tech Policy Design Institute says it's another reminder of the need for better regulation and guardrails.  Who's a good refugee? A deserving migrant? They’re questions usually answered by people who have never had to flee their homeland. Lawyer, advocate and founder of the Islamophobia register Mariam Veiszadeh did just that, escaping Afghanistan as a seven year old. Decades on she’s still having to prove herself worthy of Australia and says the ground rules for refugees need changing.  And Award-winning Canadian songwriter Old Man Luedecke is bringing his clawhammer banjo and his wry lyrics to Australia this month for the Festival of Small Halls. He’ll be filling country town halls across the Sunshine State with his traditional folk sound, with just a dash of calypso influence.

Helen Haines' husband Phil has given a heartbreaking update on his wife's condition, confirming she has now had both legs amputated. We take you into her electorate of Indi and speak to the woman who preceded her as local member, Cathy McGowan. From diagnosing disease to wearables that warn of looming medical threats, AI promises to transform medicine. But how much should we trust it with decisions about our health?  And it's time to get twitching again. Conservationist, comedian and Bird Nerd Sean Dooley joins Fran to talk about the annual Aussie Bird Count and why Birdlife Australia want people to count common garden variety birds.

As the independent member for Indi Helen Haines fights for her life in a Melbourne hospital the Governor General of Australia Sam Mostyn reflects on the ugly forces working to undermine Australian democracy and urges Australians to 'show kindness and enter into debates better'. Amid warnings of escalating threats of violence against politicians, was this atrocity predictable? Liesbeth Long a councillor with the Central Goldfields Shire Council in Victoria and its former Mayor says she's been confronted with vile slurs and death threats throughout her career.  He’s one of the most important British artists of the last century, famous for his explosive colours and light and visions of shimmering pools, now Australians are being invited to take a deep dive into the world of the late, great David Hockney as his acclaimed immersive exhibition comes to Sydney.

Democrats are being urged not to count their chickens after the latest Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll, which shows President Trump's approval rating has plummeted to a new low of 33%. The Democrats now hold an eight point lead nationally among registered and likely voters. Scott Clement the polling director for The Washington Post says midterms tend to be a referendum on the president and many Americans aren't happy with theirs.  While many Americans are turning off politics, Israelis are flying across the world to cast their ballots in what’s considered by some as an election for the nation’s very identity. Jonathan Barsade is the founder and president of the America-Israel Democracy Coalition which has been organising charter flights and supporting people wanting to fly in for the ballot.  And it’s a vast engine; the largest repository of human knowledge ever created, all sustained by volunteers. Journalist and author Richard Cooke has written a definitive history of Wikipedia, which he calls The last best place on the Internet.

It’s one of the most scrutinised jobs in the world. On Tuesday Donald Trump’s new press secretary, Katie Zacharia stepped up to the lectern for her first press briefing, an awkward exchange in which she confused her husband with the president and took just three questions. We look back at the history of the people who speak for the president with long-time White House correspondent Brian Karem. 14 years ago former American Marine Corp veteran Austin Tice disappeared on a freelance reporting trip in Syria and hasn’t been seen since. A new podcast is seeking answers. In Where is Austin Tice? award-winning journalist Josh Baker us inside the Assad’s regimes industrial complex of disappearance and torture and asks whether escape was ever an option.  And our guest on The Diplomats' former Italian ambassador Andrea Canapari talks about the unifying power of food.

Paul Keating once said, "anyone who’s any good never writes about themselves.” Luckily, plenty of others have and last weekend Fran sat down in front of a live audience, with celebrated journalists - Kerry O'Brien, Laura Tingle and Lorena Allam – to talk about great political writing. From the Yirrkala bark petitions, to Gough’s memoir, and the many leadership spills, what are the political books that have shaped the way we think about politics and the people who govern us.

We’re told it’s bigger - much bigger - than any technology revolution that’s come before, but are we buying the AI hype or, perhaps more crucially, are we willing to pay for it? Chief business correspondent Ian Verrender explains why markets around the world are getting the jitters.     They’re the invisible workforce: more than 3 million Australians who work (unpaid) as carers for loved ones with mental illness, disabilities and the elderly. As we mark National Carer’s Week, carer Laura Knight and Jonathan Harms, CEO of Mental Health Care NSW share their experiences. More than 50 years after Monty Python and the Holy Grail farted in our general direction, the award winning musical it spawned - Spamalot - is back on Australian stages, starring Steven Curry and Marney McQueen.

In 2023 oncologist Ophira Ginsburg blew the whistle on the scandal of millions of women dying prematurely because of medical misogyny in cancer care. Three years on she says progress is being made but too many women in the developing world are relying on miracles instead of science for a cure.  ACCC boss Gina Cass-Gottlieb has launched action against some of Australia’s biggest egg producers accusing them of colluding for years to choke the supply and drive up the price of eggs. And schools out for the 2026 Sydney Symphony Fellows, cellist Noah Lawrence and trumpet player Sophie Kukulies.

More than a decade ago, neuroscientist Rafael Yuste made a startling discovery: enabling the technology that is now being used to read and manipulate human minds. Now he's working to ensure that our neural privacy is protected in legislation. Angry 'Cockroaches' are being encouraged to take to the streets of India's capital New Delhi. That's the name given to a highly motivated and mobilised youth-led movement that has the country's ruling government spooked.  A documentary about a Port Arthur survivor became something its filmmaker never expected: the story of his own descent into the world of conspiracy theories. Jared Nicholson, discusses his new film Aftermath and confronting his own conspiratorial tendencies.

When Jenny Bloomfield arrived in Australia from Greece at the age of 12 she felt like an alien landing on a strange planet, little did she know three decades later she would be representing her adopted home as its Ambassador to Greece, just one chapter in a diplomatic career that took her across the world. Tsar Samuel, the Emperor of Bulgaria, conquered the Balkans more than one thousand years ago. Now, after years of negotiations, what are believed to be his remains have finally been laid to rest in Sofia. But his old bones have become a political flashpoint with North Macedonia also claiming him as their own.  And in his new book A World Appears acclaimed American writer and journalist Michael Pollan explores the miracle of consciousness and how humans are squandering this gift.

Fran Kelly brings you compelling conversations on issues that challenge,entertain and inspire us.

Fran Kelly brings you compelling conversations on issues that challenge,entertain and inspire us.

It's like something out of a Dickens novel: Australians sleeping rough, veterans, migrants and those suffering severe mental health are being buried in unmarked, mass graves in New South Wales and Queensland because they're unable to afford a proper burial or relatives can't be identified. In an exclusive investigation The Guardian's chief investigative correspondent Christopher Knaus has identified more than 100 graves & Rev Bill Crews says state government's have failed to properly identity the dead for years.  After relinquishing the on hosting rights for this year's UN Climate Conference to Turkiye, the Australian Government is determined to make this week's Pre-COP meeting in Fiji a meaningful exercise. But minister Chris Bowen is copping heat over Australia's continued fossil fuel expansion.   Successive waves of migration have transformed and tantalised Australian palates, elevating our cuisine to the world stage. Now chef, writer and broadcaster Adam Liaw is on a quest to find the Recipe of The Year, a new show celebrating the stories and flavours that nourish modern Australia.