The Populist

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About the show

Latest episodes

• The Populist: Social contract | Episode 4

  October 4, 2026 · 1 hr 18 min

  One Nation was the first Australian political party with a website, and its online game today is recognised as some of the most effective in the business. The party specialises in shareable anti-immigration messaging – and in bypassing…

• The Populist: Money nation | Episode 3

  September 27, 2026 · 1 hr 14 min

  One Nation receives millions in public funding, but former members have accused the party of leaving candidates out of pocket, ‘funny money deals’ and letting donations get ‘lost in the system’. When senior correspondent Sarah Martin…

• The Populist: The favourite son | Episode 2

  September 20, 2026 · 1 hr 5 min

  Most Australians know the story of Pauline Hanson: the fish and chip shop, the maiden speech, the ‘please explain’. But Hanson’s top adviser James Ashby wields as much – if not more – power over One Nation as Hanson herself. When the party…

• The Populist: Aeroplanes and bulldozers | Episode 1

  September 13, 2026 · 1 hr 1 min

  ‘If you’re trying to say I’m being funded by Gina Rinehart, the answer is no.’ That’s what the One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, told the Guardian’s senior correspondent Sarah Martin in February. We now know that’s not true. Over months…

• The Populist: Pauline Hanson’s divided nation

  September 8, 2026 · 1 min

  Around the globe, rightwing politicians pushing nationalist and anti-immigration policies are on the rise. The Populist explores the growing appeal of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation – a party that has imported the modus operandi of the…

• Gina: A day in court – episode 8

  April 17, 2026 · 25 min

  In this bonus episode of the Walkley-nominated series about Australia’s richest person, Guardian Australia senior correspondent Sarah Martin and producer Joe Koning examine Wednesday’s landmark court ruling that ends a 15-year-court battle…

• Broken trust: why police are failing to learn from their own mistakes

  November 17, 2025 · 49 min

  Ben Smee, Guardian Australia’s Queensland correspondent, has been reporting on the national crisis of domestic and family violence, as well as the culture and attitudes inside the Queensland police, for years. In the final episode of this…

• Broken trust: how police failed Hannah Clarke and her children

  November 16, 2025 · 48 min

  Ben Smee, Guardian Australia’s Queensland correspondent, has been reporting on the national crisis of domestic and family violence, as well as the culture and attitudes inside the Queensland police, for years. In the first episode of this…