Curtin’s Cast Episode 58 - 27 May 2026 - The Alchemy of Leadership with Professor Paul Strangio

Curtin’s Cast Episode 58 - 27 May 2026 - The Alchemy of Leadership with Professor Paul Strangio

No Kos this week — but Nick Dyrenfurth is joined by one of Australia’s leading public intellectuals and scholars of political leadership, Professor Paul Strangio, to unpack one of the defining political questions of our age: Why has democratic politics become so chaotic — and why has Australia, so far at least, resisted full-scale democratic rupture? Drawing on Paul Strangio’s new book ‘The Alchemy of Leadership: Seven Australian Prime Ministers in a Turbulent Twenty-First Century’ (Melbourne University Publishing), this wide-ranging conversation explores the collapse of old political loyalties, revolving-door prime ministers, media fragmentation, hyper-politics, populism, culture wars and the emotional exhaustion now embedded in modern democratic life. From Howard, Rudd and Gillard to Abbott, Morrison, Albanese and the post-2025 political landscape, Nick and Paul examine how leadership itself has changed in the twenty-first century — and whether traditional democratic authority can still survive in the age of algorithms, permanent campaigning and anti-politics. They discuss: * Why Australian politics became permanently unstable after 2007 * John Howard’s role in “smuggling” conservative populism into the mainstream * Pauline Hanson, Trumpism and why Australia avoided full MAGA-style collapse Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.

Curtin’s Cast Episode 57 – 20 May 2026 - Budget Wars, Chasing Pauline & the End of Howard’s Australia

Is Australian politics finally exiting the dead zone of managerialism and re-entering an era of genuine ideological conflict? In Episode 57 of Curtin’s Cast, Nick Dyrenfurth and Australia’s "revered pollster” Kos Samaras unpack the political shockwaves from Labor’s 2026 budget — and why much of the legacy media may be completely misunderstanding what is happening. As newspapers scream “political suicide” and compare the budget to the disastrous 2014 Hockey Budget, Nick and Kos explore why this is not 2001 or 2004 politics anymore. Millennials and Gen Z do not expect miracles — they want proof governments are finally willing to “touch the architecture” on housing, tax and intergenerational fairness. Nick and Kos dive deep into: * why Labor now openly sees under-45s as its electoral base * the collapse of the old Howard-era political settlement * how this is the first serious reform battle in decades * Angus Taylor’s high-risk budget reply and the risks of chasing Pauline Hanson * why the Coalition’s proposal to strip non-citizens of welfare, NDIS and other benefits could detonate support among Chinese-Australian households * how “household voting” works politically in migrant communities * and why anti-Dan Andrews politics is a dead-end for the Victorian Libs Plus: Kos hints at a bombshell new Redbridge/Australian Financial Review poll, predictions on Andrew Hastie and November's Victorian state election

Curtin’s Cast Episode 56 - 13 May 2026 - Angry Young Women feat. Emily Lawford (New Statesman)

For years politics and media have obsessed over angry young men, the manosphere and figures like Andrew Tate. But what if the bigger political story is the radicalisation — and growing pessimism — of ‘Angry Young Women’? This week Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras are joined by New Statesman staff writer Emily Lawford to discuss her major recent cover story on the rise of the Gen Z “femosphere” and the widening political divide between young men and women. They discuss: ▪️ How young women are becoming more politically engaged, but more anxious and pessimistic ▪️ Why these young women are so down on young men, capitalism and animated by issues like Gaza ▪️ The rise of online feminist identity and activism ▪️ TikTok, social media and radicalisation pathways ▪️ Why young men and women are increasingly diverging politically ▪️ The impact on relationships, trust and social cohesion ▪️ What this means for Labor, the Greens and the future of democratic politics Featuring Australian polling and focus-group insights from Kos Samaras and the team at RedBridge. A serious conversation about one of the biggest — and least understood — political shifts reshaping the Anglosphere. Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Curtin’s Cast Episode 55 - 6 May 2026 - Has One Nation Hit Its Ceiling?

One year on from the 2025 federal election, the political landscape is shifting again — and not in ways either major legacy party can fully control. In this episode, Kos Samaras and Nick Dyrenfurth unpack the latest RedBridge/Accent/AFR  polling and the fallout from the Nepean by-election. Has One Nation’s surge peaked? And is there a “Trump dump” effect — where getting too close to Trump and MAGA begins to turn voters off? Nick and Kos also explore Pauline Hanson’s emerging dilemma: a choice between battlers and billionaires, as her party draws support from working Australians while benefiting from the backing of right-wing figures like Gina Rinehart. We also preview the looming Farrer by-election and examine what Nepean signals for both Labor and the Liberals — and the Victorian election ahead.

Curtin’s Cast Episode 54 - 29 April 2026 - AI, Jobs & the Coming Political Reckoning

In this episode, Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras break down why AI anxiety is already political — not hypothetical — and why governments are at risk of repeating the biggest mistake of the last economic transition. We’ve seen this movie before. It didn’t end well. Over 70% of Australians think AI will cost jobs — and this time, the fear hits before the impact. Based off new Redbridge polling and the John Curtin Research Centre's new policy report, 'For All of Us: Making Artificial Intelligence Work for Working People', the argument is simple: if workers don’t share in the gains, they won’t accept the change. And if they don’t accept it, they’ll vote against it.