The Radio National Hour

The Radio National Hour

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

Foreigners defy Kremlin orders to leave Kyiv amid threat of attacks

The Kremlin has urged foreigners in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, to leave the city now, with threats of a systematic attacks targeting ‘decision-making centres and command posts’. But diplomats in Kyiv are staying put, saying they won’t be intimidated by Russia’s threats.   As he Pope calls for a go slow on AI, environmental and community groups are also for a pause on data centre approvals in Australia, amid concerns about their electricity and water use. By one estimate, the AI infrastructure now in the pipeline will consume the same amount of power as all of Tasmania by 2030.  And on the eve of his Australian tour, musician Brian Jackson pays tribute to the godfather-of-rap Gil Scott Heron. Their musical partnership, forged in the crucible of black power and civil rights activism in the seventies continues to inspire the hip-hop stars of today.

'Our position in Australian society is uncertain' — Mick Dodson reflects on 'Sorry' failure

Sorry doesn’t cut it, that’s the overwhelming message from Indigenous leaders today as the nation marks the anniversary of the apology to the stolen generations. Twenty Nine years ago Professor Mick Dodson delivered the landmark Bringing Them Home report on the plight of Stolen Generations; today he describes the government’s response to its recommendations as a ‘woeful failure’. Pope Francis has just released his first encyclical – a pastoral letter to Catholic faithful – urging humanity not to become slaves to the machine in the age of AI.  The exploits of Andrew Mounbatten Windsor and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson were revealed in sordid detail by historian Andrew Lownie last year. Now, in the wake of fresh revelations and more material, Lownie is re-releasing Entitled: the Rise and Fall of the House of York.

How much money is Big Tech really making from your data?

As the world waits for an agreement between Iran and the US, another middle east peace deal is hanging by a thread. Six months on from the ceasefire in Gaza, with hundreds more civilians dead, US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace is failing in its mission to disarm Hamas and begin the reconstruction of the bombed out territory, leaving two million Palestinians stuck in limbo.   If you use the internet, you know Big Tech is harvesting your data with every click, but did you know that information is worth more than two-hundred and twenty thousand dollars over your lifetime? And with the advent of AI, human data has an even higher premium. So, is surveillance the price we pay for technology, or is there a way to take back control?  A new documentary, We Are Not Powerless, screening at the Sydney Film Festival tells the story of two young Afghan refugees stranded in Indonesia but determined not to waste a moment.

Democracy after Donald Trump

He’s been exporting chaos and testing democratic norms across the world but journalist, author and podcaster Jon Sopel reckons we’re about ready to switch off from the Donald J Trump presidential psychodrama.  And where do the wild horses roam? In Western Sydney apparently. DNA analysis shows that animals descended from the Przewalski horse dating back to the time of Genghis Khan are alive and well and hiding out right here in our backyard.