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Have you ever heard of water cremation? It sounds like a misnomer but it is an increasingly popular way of cremating the dead, which its proponents choose for it's gentle effect on their loved ones, and the environment.  The death industry in Australia mostly consists of funeral homes as we’ve known them, but business owners like Luke Cripps have begun to offer new options for grieving Australians. Guest: Luke Cripps is a Director of Alluvium Water Cremations in Tasmania: one of the few businesses in Australia offering the service of water cremation.

This week's mystery caller is a common, aerobatic predator of small insects – the Welcome Swallow.

John Birmingham is perhaps best known for his documentation of the "horror and madness" of Australian share-house living in his 1994 book He Died With A Felafel In His Hand. His book Leviathan: An Unauthorised Biography of Sydney won the Australian National Prize for Non Fiction Award in 2002, and his (self-called) “airport novels” including The Axis of Time series are loved across the world. 1989 was an eventful year for John, which set him up for the Felafel book and the successful writing career he has today. He reflects on life in Bjelke-Petersen Queensland, the amount of couches he's slept on, his gonzo stints on the streets of Kings Cross and a Brisbane jail cell, and meeting his wife in the midst of a violent student protest.

A group of researchers have been (gently) scouring works of art and objects connected to the great Renaissance painter and inventor Leonardo da Vinci in a search for his DNA. 

Tyree Barnette arrived in Australia in 2012 with rose-coloured glasses for the laid-back, multicultural, egalitarian nation. But he soon found that being African-American on stolen land was more complex than he could imagine. Guest: Tyree Barnette, author of Stolen Man on Stolen Land.

Thailand will be heading into a snap general election on February 8.  Will the reformist party leading the polls make it first across the finish line? And what are the issues resonating with Thailand's voters? Guest: Aim Sinpeng, Senior Lecturer in Comparative Politics and International Relations at the University of Sydney

Amid escalating tension between the US and Iran, how does Iraq navigate the election of a new Prime Minister that will satisfy both sides? Guest: Dr Marsin Alshamary, assistant professor of political science at Boston College

The trial is likely to see CEOs including Meta's Mark Zuckerberg take the witness stand to testify about what they knew of the potential dangers of their platforms. 

Summer is the season for flies, and while some species may be an annoyance, flies also perform an import role in natural ecosystems. 

This week's mystery caller is common, widespread and definitely not a Magpie! – it's the Magpie-Lark.

L-FRESH The Lion is one of the luminaries of the vibrant cultural scene of Sydney’s western suburbs. Hip-hop artist, music producer, and creative director of the Conscious program at Campbelltown Arts Centre, which mentors and platforms the next generation of Western Sydney's hip-hop and RnB artists. Born and raised in South West Sydney into a Sikh family who migrated from Punjab, India, L-FRESH has been at the forefront of change in the Australian hip hop scene for almost two decades. A powerful experience in 2006 changed his life, and started him on the path that has seen him support American rapper Nas, sit on the Australian jury for Eurovision, perform at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, and compose and perform the team song of the Sydney Kings Basketball team.  L-FRESH joins us on The Year That Made me to reflect on the diverse cultural influences that have shaped his life, artistry and career.

When we think about the universe, how to we conceptualise numbers so large they are beyond our imagination? Mathematician Ian Le shares the mysteries of a vigintillion, a googolplex, and nameless numbers gigantic proportions.  Guest: Ian Le, Senior Lecturer at ANU’s Mathematical Sciences Institute

One of the people in the running — literally and figuratively — for this year's Young Australian of the Year award is Nedd Brockmann. In 2022, Nedd was a 23-year-old sparkie from Forbes who decided to run across the continent to raise money for people experiencing homelessness. He started in Perth and was greeted by thousands at Bondi Beach 46 days later, having raised over $2 million for homelessness charity We Are Mobilise. Since then Nedd has pushed himself further, by completing an excruciating 1,609km run in 10 consecutive days, and encourages others to push themselves, and raise money to help end homelessness, through Nedd's Uncomfortable Challenge. The Australian of the Year awards will be live on ABCTV at 7:30pm AEDT on Sunday January 25. Guest: Runner, ambassador for people experiencing homelessness, and NSW Young Australian of the year Nominee, Nedd Brockmann.

Each 25th of January marks the night of the Burns Supper, celebrated in Scotland and across the globe to honour the birthday, life and legacy of Scotland's National Bard, Robert Burns.  Professor of Robert Burns Studies at the University of Glasgow Pauline Mackay joins us to discuss all things Burns, and the evolving international celebration of the Burns Supper.  Are you holding a Burns Supper this year? Participate in the Burns Supper at 225 years, Scottish Tradition, Global Reinvention project survey here!  Guest: Pauline Mackay, Professor of Robert Burns Studies and Cultural Heritage at the University of Glasgow

In 2022, investigative journalist Charlotte Grieve was sued for defamation by renowned surgeon Dr Munjed al Muderis, a celebrity doctor from Iraq who came to Australia as a refugee and went on to become a specialist in a novel area of orthopedic surgery called osseointegration.