The island of Taiwan, just off the coast of China, is shaping up as the most likely spark for the next global conflict. China's president Xi Jinping wants to claim all the territory he thinks belongs to China, without triggering a nuclear war. It's a century-old civil war, which has been frozen in place for decades. It's an almost unimaginably dangerous situation, and one mistake could lead to catastrophe. This is a repeat episode. It was first broadcast on the 6th July, 2021 as part of the China, If You're Listening series. If you want to listen to the whole series you can find it here, or sc ..read more

Earlier this week the President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash in bad weather. Raisi was a phenomenally important figure in Middle Eastern politics — not just Iran's President, but the likely next Supreme Leader of Iran. He got there through acts of extreme brutality, showing his willingness to do anything to defend the Iranian status quo. How did Ebrahim Raisi become the heir-apparent to the Iranian Supreme Leadership, and what could happen now he's gone? Listen to our other episodes about Iran: Iran, Israel and the calculus of revenge The Ayatollah who dreamed of an Iranian ..read more

Australia's first domestic violence shelter Elsie opened in the 1970s, and researchers have been analysing the problem ever since. In the last three decades more than 1,500 women have been killed by intimate partners in Australia and we're still no closer to finding out why. Campaigner Rosie Batty has compared domestic violence to terrorism, and called for similar levels of funding. Is that comparison extreme, or is it the best way to get us closer to fixing the problem? Subscribe to If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app. Check out our series on YouTube ..read more

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 ..read more

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. Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VRUVQz-Dlw ..read more

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. But with a military campaign against Gaza and tensions with Iran rising, it could also change the fate of the war in the Middle East. For m ..read more

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. So why is he so sensitive to criticism, and aggressive in pursuing his detractors? In this final episode, Avani learns of the consequences of her own reporting on Modi after so many months searching for the truth ..read more

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. So, when the game of chess begins, how does it end? Last time the revenge cycle started to turn, Donald Trump was in the White House, and the whee ..read more

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 ..read more

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. How did he manage to survive such a high-profile catastrophe, and what is the legacy of those terrifying riots today ..read more