Rear Vision - ABC RN

PNG has hundreds of languages groups, almost a thousand tribes and is one of only four nations globally that doesn't have any women in parliament. Over three weeks the country is holding its national election – the 10th since it gained its independence from Australia in 1975. The PNG political system, like Australia's, is based on a Westminster model but that's just about where the similarities end. How do PNG elections work, who are the key political figures and just how free and fair have their elections been over the past 50 years?

Australia has everything it needs to produce electricity - coal, gas, sun, and wind. Yet we've wound up with energy shortages and huge price hikes. How did we get here - why is our energy system in such a mess? And what can we do to fix it?

The selection of a new justice to the United States Supreme Court is frequently controversial and almost always political. It's a 'captain's pick' for the US president and one that can shape American society long after the president's gone.

None of us need to be told that prices are going up or that interest rates are following. We are clearly now in a period of inflation which may or may not lead to a recession. But what exactly is inflation, why does it occur, how does it relate to interest rates and what if anything can we learn from past inflationary periods?

Despite being the closest of neighbours, for the last decade there's been a worsening Trans-Tasman spat as New Zealanders in Australia are refused basic services and often deported. The new Albanese government has signalled this may be about to change, but what caused the spat in the first place, and was race the underlying issue?

It's hard-to-understand America's relationship with guns. Gun deaths and school shooting are commonplace in American communities – yet US politicians seem incapable or powerless to implement any type of gun reform. So, what's going on and what role has the NRA, played in this political debate?

We take for granted the accuracy of predictions and warnings put out by our weather forecasters. Once, weather predictions were the butt of jokes but today the Bureau of Meteorology can accurately forecast the weather for the next seven to ten days. How did this happen?

While the rest of the world is learning to live with COVID-19, China is still following its zero-COVID policy with citywide lockdowns, mass testing and quarantine. But there's a social and economic cost and, potentially, also a political one. Why is the Chinese leadership sticking with the policy?

Street protests and violence have accompanied Sri Lanka's worst economic downturn since independence in 1948. What is behind the blackouts and acute shortages of food and fuel?

The recent signing of the security pact between China and the Solomon Island has sent shock waves through the Federal election campaign. Questions are being asked about our relationship with the Solomon Islands and with other Pacific nations. What is behind Australia's relationship with the Pacific nations?

If Ferdinand Marcos Junior wins this week's presidential election as expected, it will cap off a most remarkable come-back for a family exiled in the 1980s after stripping the country of billions and driving the economy into the ground.

A draft ruling leaked to the press suggests the US Supreme Court is preparing to overturn Roe v Wade, the landmark ruling guaranteeing abortion rights. This Rear Vision was first broadcast in June, 2019.

For over one hundred years, the Ruhr region was the grimy, polluted heart of Germany's coal and steel. Today it has no coal mines. Instead, it is a cultural hub more than fifty museums and is a centre for green energy innovation. How did they do it?

In this year's election campaign, well-funded independents are arguing for a better approach to managing climate change. What might this mean for the political party that's been urging action on climate change for years – the Australian Greens?

Chocolate is one of our most popular indulgences but there is a darker side to the industry – one connected with colonialism, the industrial revolution and modern-day slavery.

Five years ago, Emmanuel Macron became France's youngest-ever president at the age of thirty-nine. It was a stunning victory, the result of a bold strategy and a solid dose of good luck. Can he pull it off again?

Human history is littered with atrocities and genocides committed during war and for centuries civilised nations have struggled to deal with this kind of violence.

The two far-right candidates, Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour, are expected to do well in the forthcoming French presidential election. Why is the Right so strong in France and what is its connection with the Nazi occupation in World War II?

Brisbane is a city all too familiar with floods, despite decades of dredging, straightening and dam building. Although each flood is remembered for the community spirit and resilience shown by the people who endured it, they reveal the risks inherent in a city built on a flood plain.

Cyclone Tracy hit Darwin early on Christmas morning in 1974. Within hours, a coordinated national response was underway and within three years the city had been rebuilt - better than before. How did they do it?

At thirty-six, Chile's new president is only just old enough to hold the job. Does he have what it takes to help Chile finally escape the shadow of Pinochet's military dictatorship?

China and Russia have what they describe as a very special relationship, one that some analysts claim is establishing a new world order. What role did it play in Russia's decision to invade Ukraine and what does it mean for the rivalry between the United States and China?

In November, Barbados, a tiny Caribbean island, replaced the Queen as its head of state with a Barbadian president. How did Barbados succeed where Australia failed and what does it mean to be a republic in the Commonwealth?

For weeks, Russian troops have massed on the Ukrainian border. It's still unclear if Europe will be plunged into war or if a diplomatic solution can be found. What role has NATO—the West's military alliance—played in the crisis?

As Fortress Australia crumbles, Rear Vision dusts off the history of the passport.

Since the onset of the Covid pandemic, state and territory leaders have emerged as key players in dealing with the crisis. They have also increasing taken the lead on issues like climate change, gay marriage, and voluntary euthanasia. Are we seeing a fundamental shift in the power balance between the two levels of government?

Most of the drug companies that developed Covid vaccines have made massive profits. But where does the money and scientific research for these medical breakthroughs come from and who shares in the profit?

China is one of the key diplomatic and economic power on the planet today. Yet just 50 years ago it was one of the poorest and most isolated nations on earth. So how and when did that isolation end and did President Richard Nixon visit in 1972 play a role.

Around the world there is a rapidly growing body of scientific evidence suggesting that psychedelic drugs are safe and highly effective when used under medical supervision. Why did promising treatments first become illegal and how did drugs once seen as possibly leading to madness or death become once again treatments for mental illness?

For fifty years, governments have cut taxes for corporations and the wealthiest people, arguing that this will stimulate the economy and lead to prosperity for us all. Known as trickle-down or supply-side economics, does it make any sense, and has it worked?

Barnaby Joyce's return to the leadership of the National Party is bound to stir things up in Australian politics. Where does he fit in the story of one of Australia's oldest and most unusual political parties?

The Suez Canal is one of the world's most vital trade routes. It's the shortest sea link between Asia and Europe and about 12% of global trade passes through it each year. But the Canal is situated in one of the most volatile regions in the world and its history has been defined by that geography.  

Prince Harry's decision to renounce his royal role was not the first time a member of the British monarchy decided to opt out. Almost a century ago, King Edward VIII gave up the crown to marry Wallis Simpson, an American divorcée. These two decisions, several generations apart, engulfed the monarchy in turmoil and sent the media into meltdown. What do these two stories tell us about the British monarchy?

Have you ever wondered what a Calorie is, what it supposed to measure and if eating fewer calories does lead to weight loss? The curious story of the Calorie and why it's not quite what it appears to be.

Fifty years ago, a genocidal crackdown, a war of liberation, an overwhelming flood of refugees and finally, military conflict between India and Pakistan, gave birth to a new nation.

Despite popular belief, medical conspiracy theories aren't new. What can we learn from their ancient history and about the people who believe in them?

Pharmacists stopped making their own medicines and began selling ready-made drugs almost a century ago. In Australia, it led to an unusual arrangement that has put chemists at odds with doctors and supermarkets.

Commentators are talking about a new Cold War between the world's two great powers but are there any similarities between the Cold War – between the Soviet Union and the United States – and the tensions today between China and the US?

What role do these agencies play in ensuring that politicians and the rest of our public sector behave the right way?

Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, elected earlier this year, is taking a strong stand on climate change, challenging the Australian government to do more to cut carbon emissions.

The e-book has turned the book industry upside down affecting bookshops, publishers, authors, libraries and readers.

Taiwan is one of the world's key economies, yet it belongs to no international organisations and isn't a member of the UN. Why is Taiwan diplomatically isolated and how does it survive economically?

While working from home during the pandemic has been a novel and sometimes difficult experience for office workers, companies and their employees have been experimenting with teleworking for decades.

While cybercrime and cybersurveillance are commonplace today, how many of us understand their effect our everyday lives? What's revealed in the history of cybercrime, from its rudimentary beginnings in the 1980s to today?

Many Germans have only ever known one chancellor – Angela Merkel. Voters are about to choose a new leader for the first time in sixteen years and the election is being described as the most open and uncertain Germany has ever had.

The spread of the delta variant of Covid from the cities to rural and regional Australia has exposed weaknesses in the health system. Rear Vision traces the story of rural health care from bush medicine through to the pandemic.

Almost three thousand people died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States. All planes were grounded and rumours and conspiracy theories swept the internet as a shocked nation tried to make sense of what happened.

The federal government believes the way to lower Australia's carbon emissions is through technology and one of the technologies it is backing is carbon capture and storage or CCS. What is CCS, how and why was it developed and, most importantly, does it work?

Barnaby Joyce's return to the leadership of the National Party is bound to stir things up in Australian politics. Where does he fit in the story of one of Australia's oldest and most unusual political parties?

Afghanistan has been invaded by foreign armies five times in less than 200 years. Every occupation ultimately failed. What can we learn from this history?

The Taliban emerged from the rubble of the Soviet-Afghan war and in turn were ousted by the US War on Terror. With the Americans and their allies gone, the Taliban threaten to take over Afghanistan again. Who are the Taliban and what would their return to power mean?