Podcasts about australian

Israel's defence minister has called for a 'comprehensive plan' to defeat Hamas if it reneges on the ceasefire. The Palestinian group has said that it's committed to the deal but it needs help to recover bodies from the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza. Also: the families of people who disappeared during the civil war in Syria are still seeking justice as graves of victims are discovered; the Australian swimmer and four-time Olympic champion, Ariarne Titmus, retires at 25; the Grand Sumo Tournament, which has left Japan for only the second time, is in London where 40 wrestlers will be seen at the Royal Albert Hall.The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: globalpodcast@bbc.co.uk

This is a shortened preview of Sherele Moody's new podcast, She Matters. Click here to listen to the full episode, as well as other episodes honouring the lives of Australian women lost to violence.Show notes:A man heard the violence behind the wall. He did not help her. Her sister found the single mum days later. The smell of her favourite human decaying forever lingers in her memory. Her murder warranted no more than three lines in one newspaper. Her killer still walks among us.Her name is Kelly Williams (Duffy). She was only 31. You've never heard of her but it's not for want of trying. Kelly's sister Paula has spent the past 23 years trying to get journalists to tell her story.Today she gets that wish. Presenter: Sherele Moody.Producer: Dash Made StudiosExecutive producers: Bravecasting Podcasting Network. ❤️SUPPORT MY WORK: The RED HEART Campaign and Australian Femicide Watch are unfunded services providing support for families of femicide, housing for women leaving violence, ethical media training for journalists, rallies and vigils and - most importantly - documenting the stories of women and children lost to violence. To fund my work, you can donate or grab a RED HEART t-shirt! 100% of money raised funds everything I do to save lives and end the epidemic of violence. ❤️Donate: https://australianfemicidewatch.org/support/❤️Shop: https://australianfemicidewatch.org/shop-2/IF YOU NEED HELP:❤️1800 Respect (1800 737 732)❤️Women's Crisis Line: 1800 811 811❤️13YARN (13 92 76) ❤️Rainbow Helpline: 1800 497 212❤️Men's Referral Service: 1300 766 491❤️Mensline: 1300 789 978❤️Lifeline (24 hours): 131 114SOCIALSINSTAGRAM: sherelemoodyfemicidewatchX: @ShereleMoodyFACEBOOK: sherelemoodyfemicidewatchFACEBOOK: TheREDHEARTCampaign/TIKTOK: @femicidewatchaustraliaWEBSITE: https://australianfemicidewatch.org/EMAIL: Sherele@AustralianFemicideWatch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Historian and bookseller Edmund Goldrick on the hair-raising, forgotten tale of the escaped Australian prisoners of war who stumbled into another, hidden genocide, and tried to stop it.Early in the World War Two, Australian soldiers who had been captured by the Germans escaped by leaping from a moving train.They found themselves in unfamiliar territory, in the lands of Yugoslavia.The Australians on the run found themselves in the company of dangerous men, who planned to use the cover of war to commit genocide.One of the Australians fell in with a Serbian Royalist group, and when he discovered their leader's plans, he acted as a double agent in their ranks, determined to find a way to warn the Allies that their man in Serbia was determined to conduct mass murder.Anzac Guerillas is published by Hachette.Edmund will be giving a talk on Remembrance Day at the Goulburn Library, and again on Saturday, 6 December at Sydney's Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park.This episode of Conversations was produced by Meggie Morris. Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison.It explores war, POWs, Germany, former Yugoslavia, Serbia, Croatia, Turkey, Catholic, Orthodox, Roma people, Jewish, Islamic, Chetniks, Partisans, genocide, civil war, death, escape, spies, double agents, allied forces, war crimes, international war tribunal, guerilla warfare, murder, assassination, holocaust, Italy, Greece, fascism, tyranny, Bosnia, Nazi, Hitler.To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you'll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

Dave and Chuck the Freak talk about emailer letting old Asian lady into her house, Halloween candy, road rage with chainsaw, skydiver dies after colliding with another skydiver, update on helicopter crash, thieves pose as home cleaners, massage parlor busted, cat survived trip from China inside shipping container, coffee maker disaster, MLB playoffs, guy collapsed at Bills game, D’Angelo passed away, Kevin Fetterline book, SKIMS thong with pubic hair, more people watching everything with subtitles, woman stabbed another customer at Marshalls, stabbing after order mix-up at Whataburger, man lost his mind when wife wouldn’t go to Chili’s with him, Australian dad in undies chases home invaders, 14-year-old causes car crash, ChatGPT allowing erotica, man hit his dad over prostitute, update on Monster-In-Law, AI home invasion prank, dog bit lithium battery, adults scared of the dark, delivery robots, and more! This episode of Dave & Chuck is brought to you in part by Profluent http://bit.ly/4fhEq5l

This week Justin is joined by Matt McConkey (Heathers, Bajillion Dollar Propertie$)! We're talking Comedy Store ghost stories, Katy Perry + Justin Trudeau, and the late great Diane Keaton. Did we mention hot Australian firefighters? Follow Matt - https://www.instagram.com/themattgrassi Visit https://www.forhers.com/SAYIN to get a personalized, affordable plan that gets you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does time exist? Cuz I'd like really wanted to know. Literal Vaporware with Tom. One Way Or Your Mother. PTO: Pocket Time Off. Didgeridon't. Koalas aren't BEARS. I'll be with you in one GLORP. Probably italian. Koalas, Australian for Chlamydia. It Means Nothing To Me. Shrimp on the Barbie. Deep Down in My Pleasure Bone. K-pop Ibbott Attenders. It Runs the Water Through The Heatsinks or It Gets The Hose Again. It's hard out here for a Trimpe and more on this episode of The Morning Stream. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the first episode of Sherele Moody's new podcast, She Matters, which honours the lives of Australian women lost to violence. Click here to listen to more episodes and hear their stories.Show notes:A man heard the violence behind the wall. He did not help her. Her sister found the single mum days later. The smell of her favourite human decaying forever lingers in her memory. Her murder warranted no more than three lines in one newspaper. Her killer still walks among us.Her name is Kelly Williams (Duffy). She was only 31. You've never heard of her but it's not for want of trying. Kelly's sister Paula has spent the past 23 years trying to get journalists to tell her story.Today she gets that wish. Presenter: Sherele Moody.Producer: Dash Made StudiosExecutive producers: Bravecasting Podcasting Network. ❤️SUPPORT MY WORK: The RED HEART Campaign and Australian Femicide Watch are unfunded services providing support for families of femicide, housing for women leaving violence, ethical media training for journalists, rallies and vigils and - most importantly - documenting the stories of women and children lost to violence. To fund my work, you can donate or grab a RED HEART t-shirt! 100% of money raised funds everything I do to save lives and end the epidemic of violence. ❤️Donate: https://australianfemicidewatch.org/support/❤️Shop: https://australianfemicidewatch.org/shop-2/IF YOU NEED HELP:❤️1800 Respect (1800 737 732)❤️Women's Crisis Line: 1800 811 811❤️13YARN (13 92 76) ❤️Rainbow Helpline: 1800 497 212❤️Men's Referral Service: 1300 766 491❤️Mensline: 1300 789 978❤️Lifeline (24 hours): 131 114SOCIALSINSTAGRAM: sherelemoodyfemicidewatchX: @ShereleMoodyFACEBOOK: sherelemoodyfemicidewatchFACEBOOK: TheREDHEARTCampaign/TIKTOK: @femicidewatchaustraliaWEBSITE: https://australianfemicidewatch.org/EMAIL: Sherele@AustralianFemicideWatch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Does time exist? Cuz I'd like really wanted to know. Literal Vaporware with Tom. One Way Or Your Mother. PTO: Pocket Time Off. Didgeridon't. Koalas aren't BEARS. I'll be with you in one GLORP. Probably italian. Koalas, Australian for Chlamydia. It Means Nothing To Me. Shrimp on the Barbie. Deep Down in My Pleasure Bone. K-pop Ibbott Attenders. It Runs the Water Through The Heatsinks or It Gets The Hose Again. It's hard out here for a Trimpe and more on this episode of The Morning Stream. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Doug McHoney (PwC's International Tax Services Global Leader) is joined by Sarah Hickey, a PwC Australia International Tax Partner and the Australian tax desk leader in New York City. Doug and Sarah discuss Australia's corporate tax landscape (30% headline rate; new thin-cap at 30% of tax EBITDA with a retrospective integrity rule on related‑party debt), investment incentives, the two‑speed CFC regime and “use it or lose it” foreign tax credits, and dividend, interest, and royalty withholding. They cover the diverted profits tax (40% rate; 12‑month evidence window), Pillar Two timing, public CbCR and short‑form restructure disclosures due by end‑2025, and indirect taxes including non‑resident CGT and stamp duty. Finally, they unpack the High Court's Pepsi decision—no royalty derivation by the US, a 4–3 win on royalties and DPT—and why contract wording anchors royalty analyses. 

ONE HOT FEST – ADELAIDE FILM FESTIVAL is a special mini-series from One Heat Minute Productions, diving into Australia's most charismatic celebration of cinema. Host Blake Howard takes you inside the Adelaide Film Festival — from filmmaker interviews and festival dispatches to reviews and discussions with guests and critics — relaying the energy, stories, and spirit that make it one of Australia's most electric film events.In this episode, we talk to the CEO & Creative Director of the Adelaide Film Festival, Mat Kesting, about the identity and personality of the fest and its growing connection with the community. Mat Kesting GAICD - CEO & Creative DirectorMat Kesting is a festivals and programming specialist having worked in the sector since the late 1990s. Named as a one of Screen International's Future Leaders, Mat has led the Adelaide Film Festival since 2019 as CEO & Creative Director. In this time, he has curated the AFF Investment Fund investments overseeing more than 50 commissions, driven year on year box office and audience growth, a doubling of the AFF Investment Fund and overseen AFF's transition from biennial to annual presentation. Mat has held an association with AFF since 2008 in various programming roles and has a deep love for the organisation and championing Australian cinema.Previously, Mat was Exhibition Manager at the Mercury Cinema and Program Manager at the Brisbane International Film Festival. Mat has also produced the 15/15 Film Festival and worked with the AFTRS, Lumiere Cinemas, ACMI and various other arts festivals. Mat is Deputy Chair, Festival City Adelaide and has a passion for the Adelaide's renown cultural life.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/one-heat-minute-productions/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Before cementing her status as a bonafide comedic talent, Rose Byrne (Bridesmaids, Neighbors) was known for more dramatic roles. Now, the Australian actor is combining those skills in the new comedy-drama, “If I Had Legs I'd Kick You.” During this year's Toronto International Film Festival, Rose sat down with Tom Power to discuss the film and what it was like co-starring with Conan O'Brien in his first serious acting role. She also told us how she broke out of her shell as a shy kid, how she and Heath Ledger helped each other out as young Australians in Hollywood, and what she thinks about her one line from “Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones.”

First CISO Charged by SEC: Tim Brown on Trust, Context, and Leading Through Crisis - Interview with Tim Brown | AISA CyberCon Melbourne 2025 Coverage | On Location with Sean Martin and Marco CiappelliAISA CyberCon Melbourne | October 15-17, 2025Tim Brown's job changed overnight. December 11th, he was the CISO at SolarWinds managing security operations. December 12th, he was leading the response to one of the most scrutinized cybersecurity incidents in history.Connecting from New York and Florence to Melbourne, Sean Martin and Marco Ciappelli caught up with their longtime friend ahead of his keynote at AISA CyberCon. The conversation reveals what actually happens when a CISO faces the unthinkable—and why the relationships you build before crisis hits determine whether you survive it.Tim became the first CISO ever charged by the SEC, a distinction nobody wants but one that shaped his mission: if sharing his experience helps even one security leader prepare better, then the entire saga becomes worthwhile. He's candid about the settlement process still underway, the emotional weight of having strangers ask for selfies, and the mental toll that landed him in a Zurich hospital with a heart attack the week his SEC charges were announced."For them to hear something and hear the context—to hear us taking six months off development, 400 engineers focused completely on security for six months in pure focus—when you say it with emotion, it conveys the real cost," Tim explained. Written communication failed during the incident. People needed to talk, to hear, to feel the weight of decisions being made in real time.What saved SolarWinds wasn't just technical capability. It was implicit trust. The war room team operated without second-guessing each other. The CIO handled deployment and investigation. Engineering figured out how the build system was compromised. Marketing and legal managed their domains. Tim didn't waste cycles checking their work because trust was already built."If we didn't have that, we would've been second-guessing what other people did," he said. That trust came from relationships established long before December 2020, from a culture where people knew their roles and respected each other's expertise.Now Tim's focused on mentoring the next generation through the RSA Conference CSO Bootcamp, helping aspiring CISOs and security leaders at smaller companies build the knowledge, community, and relationships they'll need when—not if—their own December 12th arrives. He tailors every talk to his audience, never delivering the same speech twice. Context matters in crisis, but it matters in communication too.Australia played a significant role during SolarWinds' incident response, with the Australian government partnering closely in January 2021. Tim hadn't been back in a decade, making his return to Melbourne for CyberCon particularly meaningful. He's there to share lessons earned the hardest way possible, and to remind security leaders that stress management, safe spaces, and knowing when to compartmentalize aren't luxuries—they're survival skills.His keynote covers the different stages of incident response, how culture drives crisis outcomes, and why the teams that step up matter more than the ones that run away. For anyone leading security teams, Tim's message is clear: build trust now, before you need it.AISA CyberCon Melbourne runs October 15-17, 2025 Coverage provided by ITSPmagazineGUEST:Tim Brown, CISO at SolarWinds | On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-brown-ciso/HOSTS:Sean Martin, Co-Founder, ITSPmagazine and Studio C60 | Website: https://www.seanmartin.comMarco Ciappelli, Co-Founder, ITSPmagazine and Studio C60 | Website: https://www.marcociappelli.comCatch all of our event coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/technology-and-cybersecurity-conference-coverageWant to share an Event Briefing as part of our event coverage? Learn More

On the other side of the world lives Franziska Iseli. “Frankie”, as her friends call her, has built a life around chasing fear and turning it into freedom. The Swiss-born Australian entrepreneur has much in common with Ryan. She is a co-founder (Basic Bananas and Ocean Lovers), an author to a book about courage (The Courage Map) and an eternal optimist. Frankie joins Ryan to talk about what it means to live courage; not just write about it. She shares how a 12,000-kilometer motorcycle journey led to her book along with why she believes courage and curiosity belong together. She also opens up about conflict avoidance, kindness as a leadership tool, and how daily discomfort builds lasting confidence.

You can now text us anonymously to leave feedback, suggest future content or simply hurl abuse at us. We'll read out any texts we receive on the show. Click here to try it out!This week, the dads head down under for Chopper — the semi-biographical crime film that introduced the world to Eric Bana's raw, terrifying range. Directed by Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford), it tells the story of Mark “Chopper” Read, Australia's most notorious criminal, self-mythologising psychopath and folk hero rolled into one.Part prison horror, part dark comedy, Chopper opens with its antihero stabbing a rival inmate 15 times for crossing a line, and somehow only escalates from there. Over 90 intense minutes, we follow his chaotic life of stabbings, betrayals, botched kidnappings and baffling logic — punctuated by moments of grim humour and unexpected lucidity.In this episode we get into: 

Is Human Design a shortcut to finding your purpose and becoming your authentic self? Josh Trent welcomes Emma Dunwoody, Human Design Expert, to the Wellness + Wisdom Podcast, episode 776, to reveal how Human Design helps you break free from conditioning, trust your intuition, reconnect with the subtle energy guiding your purpose, and empower you to live in full alignment with who God designed you to be. Join The Decode Your Design Masterclass You don't need another strategy or another plan: you need the truth, a breakthrough, a moment where it all clicks, and you finally understand why success has felt so hard. And that breakthrough you've been looking for? It's not outside of you. It's in your Human Design. This masterclass will shift you from burnout to alignment, from doubt to deep self-trust, and from strategy addiction to inner authority, in under 90 minutes. Because when you stop fighting against who you are and start working with your design, everything changes. Join Emma's Masterclass Today + Get 20% off with Code "JOSH20" In This Episode, Emma Dunwoody Uncovers: [01:10] Use Human Design to Become More Authentic Why Human Design serves as a permission slip to be ourselves. How Human Design bypasses the mind that tells us who we think we are. The role of neutrinos in imprinting ourselves in the moment. Why Emma used to be skeptical of Human Design. How Human Design was invented. Resources: Emma Dunwoody Human Design Made Simple by Emma Dunwoody Decode Your Design Masterclass - 20% off with Code "JOSH20" [07:50] How to Integrate What You've Learned Why transformation is not easy. How Emma's healing her childhood trauma with the help of Human Design. Why we need to integrate the information we learn about ourselves in order to transform our lives. [12:35] How to Find Your Purpose How a chart has more than 2 billion expressions. Why we don't have to change anything based on our chart reading. How Emma's son's energy helped her improve her mental health. Why our purpose is to be ourselves. [17:20] Human Design + Plant Medicine How Josh and Emma's Human Design revealed their design is to go through difficult challenges. Why manifesting generators can be seen as too much by others. What is a personal Human Design profile. The gift of gate 64. [26:10] What's Blocking Your Transformation Why only our ego can stop our transformation. How Human Design and Gene Keys show us our shadows. Why Emma never wanted to stick to one career path. How we can turn our shadows into indicators. [30:20] Learn to Listen to The Subtle Energies Why we're meant to become our own guide. How it's become very difficult to differentiate between right and wrong. Why some people are not designed to make quick decisions. How we're disconnected from the subtle energies and signals of our bodies. Why Emma can't use muscle testing on herself. [37:20] How to Trust Yourself Why we need to rise above the male and female archetypes. How Human Design taught Emma to trust herself. Why she didn't realize she was talking to God until she was in her 30s. How she struggled to find one thing to focus on. [41:40] The 5 Human Design Archetypes How we only need to understand the surface information about ourselves. Why manifestors are not designed to finish what they've started. How generators are here to build a new world. The role of manifesting generators. Why projectors are the guides that make others better. How only 1% of the population is reflectors. [49:30] The Purpose of Human Design Where the Human Design truly came from. How we're entering the gate of intimacy and abundance. Why the purpose and meaning of intimacy have been changing. How Human Design can help us evolve. [53:20] Heal Your Trauma with Human Design The issue with genetic determinism. How each Gene Key is associated with a part of the body, which is translated as "gates" in Human Design. What it was like for Emma to grow up with parents who were alcoholic and anorectic. How Human Design can help us start healing our trauma. The difference between Gene Keys and Human Design gates. Why Emma used to live in the masculine role. [01:01:50] Human Design Helps Raise Empowered Children The importance of raising our children according to their Human Design. How we're conditioned and taught to change ourselves. Why we're too attached to right and wrong. [01:07:00] Evolution of Humanity Why Emma's mission is to make Human Design mainstream. How we're moving from thinking doers to feeling be-ers. Why getting into our body is the most important thing we can do right now. How indigenous Australians pass down their knowledge through stories. What Emma does to empower her son. [01:13:50] Alignment Creates Flow Why projectors can have a bad reputation. How successful people are in alignment with who they truly are. What helped Emma to finish writing her book. How the process of writing and publishing her book was in alignment with her design. Leave Wellness + Wisdom a Review on Apple Podcasts All Resources From This Episode Emma Dunwoody Human Design Made Simple by Emma Dunwoody Decode Your Design Masterclass - 20% off with Code "JOSH20" Power Quotes From Emma Dunwoody "Human design bypasses the mind. It goes straight to the energetic blueprint that's coded in your DNA. This energetic blueprint happened at your birth, as subatomic particles moved through your body and imprinted your DNA. It's the map that's going to lead you back to the most authentic version of you." — Emma Dunwoody "We think we know who we're meant to be and what we're meant to do and we really don't. We can't see that big picture. When you start living more in alignment with your Human Design, you learn to tap into the body, and you're constantly told in every moment what is right for you and what isn't." — Emma Dunwoody "Our purpose is bigger than the job that we do. Our purpose is our energy. Our greatest purpose is just to be our most authentic self, because then we are fulfilling the puzzle piece we need to fulfill to move to this new world." — Emma Dunwoody

In today's episode, I'm excited to introduce C, an Australian living in Canada who shares his incredible journey from making hip hop music to running a craft beer podcast and social media agency. C talks about growing up in Melbourne, his musical influences, and the twisty road that led him to Canada. We dive into his venture BOS Podcast, where he explores the intricacies of craft beer, and discuss the ever-changing landscape of the beer industry. Plus, get an insider's perspective on the challenges and triumphs of balancing music, business, and passion. https://www.baospodcast.com/ https://www.highseasonco.com/ 00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome 00:27 Guest Background: From Australia to Canada 01:15 Musical Influences and Early Life 08:21 Discovering Hip Hop 13:55 Starting a Music Career 18:02 Moving to Canada and Musical Journey 24:24 Craft Beer Podcast Origins 27:55 The Unexpected Beer Journey 28:16 Podcast Format Evolution 29:17 Beer Tasting Rituals 36:09 Challenges in the Beer Industry 39:08 Creative Pursuits in Music 42:11 Social Media and YouTube Ambitions 49:18 The Mary Question and Final Thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If AI can do a $440k job better than Deloitte, what does that mean for consultants?Of all the industries that are on the chalkboard for major disruption by AI, the consulting sector must be high up in the batting order.You'd think that, right now, consulting firms would be keener than ever to demonstrate their value, and extend their longevity: anything to prolong the mystique that surrounds what they do.Interesting, then, to read about the report that Deloitte submitted to an Australian federal government department, which had been largely generated by AI. And they charged the client $440,000 for the privilege!Is this public relations nightmare a distant early warning for the consulting industry? Is it the shape of things to come in an AI-driven world?————————

Thank you for tuning into this episode of Hot Goss here on New Hope Underground! Special guest, Connections Director, Amanda Emmerich Shamhart is back on the podcast!This week, we cover some of the exciting things coming up at New Hope including the Partner Course! Be sure to visit New Hope Now to learn more and get registered for the Course that's taking place at your campus!We also share our Mount Rushmores of our Favorite Non-Food Smells and play another round of Hot Goss Trivia Showdowwwwnnnnn. If you're able to make it all the way through this episode, you're a real one!––––Quick Links:— Visit our website: http://newhopechurch.cc— Fill out the Connect Card: http://newhopenow.cc— Join a Serve Team: http://newhopenow.cc— See what's happening now: http://newhopenow.cc––––The New Hope Podcast Network:— New Hope Podcast: https://newhopechurch.cc/newhopepod— New Hope Underground: https://newhopechurch.cc/underground— SOMA Bible Study Podcast: https://newhopechurch.cc/somapodcast— The Parent Podcast: https://newhopechurch.cc/parentpodcast––––Like us on Facebook (http://facebook.com/newhopechurchcc) and follow us on Instagram (http://instagram.com/newhopechurchcc) for the most up to date information on all New Hope ministries and events!––––Thank you for giving generously at New Hope. It's because of your giving that we are able to share Jesus with our community and further our vision of seeing a greater movement of Jesus in each new generation! If you'd like to give this week, you can do so at https://newhopechurch.cc/give, by mail to PO Box 57 Effingham, IL 62401, or through the Church Center App. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In July 1942, as Australia's armed forces were about to begin what would become the legendary battle for the Kokoda Track, in another occupied part of New Guinea, the brave Aussie coastwatcher Con Page was desperately trying to evade a huge force of Japanese soldiers that was systematically hunting him down.It's easy to get a free trial that will give you access to ad-free, early and bonus episodes. Hit either of these links:Patreon: patreon.com/forgottenaustraliaApple: apple.co/forgottenaustraliaWant more original Australian true crime and history? Check out my books!They'll Never Hold Me:https://www.booktopia.com.au/they-ll-never-hold-me-michael-adams/book/9781923046474.htmlThe Murder Squad:https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-murder-squad-michael-adams/book/9781923046504.htmlHanging Ned Kelly:https://www.booktopia.com.au/hanging-ned-kelly-michael-adams/book/9781922992185.htmlAustralia's Sweetheart:https://www.booktopia.com.au/australia-s-sweetheart-michael-adams/book/9780733640292.htmlEmail: forgottenaustraliapodcast@gmail.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What if birth didn't need to be managed, induced, or controlled? In this episode, Karen sits down with Dr. Melanie Jackson, known as Melanie the Midwife, to unpack why the modern maternity system so often views women's bodies as “a ticking time bomb” and how that fear drives the epidemic of unnecessary inductions.With 17 years of experience as an Australian midwife, Melanie brings evidence-based wisdom and a rebellious spirit to the conversation. She shares what she discovered in her PhD on birth outside the system, the truth about “preventative inductions,” and why trusting the design of birth might be the most radical act of all.Tune in to hear:The surprising philosophy driving unnecessary inductionsWhy 45% of first-time mothers in Australia are being inducedHow fear of women's bodies shapes modern maternity careWhat questions to ask before agreeing to an inductionThe truth about stillbirth statistics and relative vs. actual riskWhy “going with the flow” often means going with hospital protocolThe hormonal design of physiological birth (and how hospitals disrupt it)How to prevent obstetric violence and over-medicalizationThe sacred transformation of matrescence (from maiden to mother) Connect with Melanie:@melaniethemidwife @thegreatbirthrebellionThe Great Birth Rebellion podcast https://www.melaniethemidwife.com/Use code PODCAST to get $50 off the Pain Free Birth E-course HERECONNECT WITH KAREN:Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/painfreebirth Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/painfreebirth/ Spotify Podcast - https://open.spotify.com/show/5zEiKMIHFewZeVdzfBSEMS Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/pain-free-birth/id1696179731Website - https://painfreebirth.com/ Email List https://pain-free-birth.mykajabi.com/website-opt-in

The boys attended their 10 year high school reunion and brought some yarns from the night. Sen has some tales from Singapore including being continuously mugged off by JB Hi Fi. Ro has an ambitious plan to become a part time postie before Sen rants about his new iPhone.Got some “Corporate News” this week as we talk about some red hot topics in the world of Australian corporates - this week we discuss Western Sydney Uni's dismal security, Deloitte got caught using AI and Sora 2.We end with an old faithful - “Compare and Contrast,” as we tier list the best lunch spots in the Sydney CBD.___________________________________________________________FULL PODCAST EPISODES

Australian biohacker and author Camilla Thompson dives into what it really takes to get well—beyond the gadgets, green juices, and “optimized” routines. We unpack how biohacking is evolving in Australia and New Zealand, why wellness feels elitist, and how to make it more accessible. We also get real about detoxing in a toxic world, the hormonal cost of our environments, and how to find balance between data and intuition in biohacking. If you're a health-curious woman craving grounded wellness—less obsession, more embodiment—this episode is for you. WE TALK ABOUT:  06:40 – Biohacking in Australia: Accessibility, regulation, and cultural gaps 10:30 – Health and food quality in New Zealand vs. Australia 14:10 – The elitism of biohacking and how to democratize it 20:10 – Women, research gaps, and the cost of getting well 24:50 – Camilla's personal story of mold illness and recovery 31:15 – Women's retreats, emotional healing, and slowing down 38:00 – Motherhood, modeling health for kids, and finding balance 48:00 – Hormones, perimenopause, and environmental toxins 54:20 – Detoxing, binders, and realistic biohacks that actually work SPONSORS: CaloCurb (get 10% OFF) is my go-to, 100% plant-based alternative to Ozempic—helping you feel full sooner, snack less, and finally trust your body again without needles, drugs, or yo-yo diets. Join me in Costa Rica for Optimize Her, a 5-night luxury women's retreat in Costa Rica with yoga, healing rituals, and biohacking workshops—only 12 spots available. RESOURCES: Trying to conceive? Join my Baby Steps Course to optimize your fertility with biohacking. Free gift: Download my hormone-balancing, fertility-boosting chocolate recipe. Explore my luxury retreats and wellness events for women. Shop my faves: Check out my Amazon storefront for wellness essentials. Camilla Thompson's website and Instagram LET'S CONNECT: Instagram, TikTok, Facebook Shop my favorite health products Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music

This week the American figurative abstract painter and writer Sophie Kipner who primarily uses the blind contouring technique. Sophie was born in Santa Monica in 1982 into an artistically musical family; her English mother Lizzie was a singer and dancer, her Australian father Steve, a songwriter, musician and producer, her grandfather, a songwriter and producer, and her brother Harrison, also a songwriter, musician and producer. Sophie however was to take a different route with an early interest in art, particularly sketching and learning portraiture, which would carry her through to her professional career.  Her parents emphasized self expression as a learning tool, encouraging her creativity. While attending Viewpoint High School in Calabasas she developed an interest in photography. Sophie was the first member of her family to attend college and she chose The Annenberg School at the University of Southern California to study journalism and public relations, graduating magna cum laude with a BA in 2005. Her earliest exposure to art and artists included visits to galleries in Europe with her mother, which is where the abstract work of Picasso caught her eye and subconsciously imprinted an influence that would later become apparent in her own work. After graduating Sophie spent time working for her aunt at Apogee Electronics where she learned a number of skills that would help her later in her own business. Her love of writing, especially short stories, became an important and relevant aspect of her career. From 2013-15 she worked at The Society Club in London. It was during this time that she introduced sketching games to her dinner parties, which unlocked her love of art again after many years focusing on her writing. After moving back to LA Sophie began showing her work on social media and taking commissions. This eventually led to her decision to become a full time artist and since 2015 she has had her works shown in multiple solo and group gallery exhibitions and sold into commercial and private collections globally, including the Salam Art Collection in Iraq. Her writing was also gaining momentum and in 2017, her first book, The Optimist, a satirical look at the extremity of romantic desperation, was published by Unbound in the UK and later in the US and Canada in 2021. The novel was named a “Best Summer Read” by The Daily Mail and optioned for film and television adaptation. Sophie was also the subject of the Oscar-shortlisted short documentary, “Sophie and The Baron”, which chronicles Sophie's friendship and artistic collaboration with legendary Rolling Stone Magazine photographer Baron Wolman. The award-winning film, directed by Alexandria Jackson, premiered at SXSW Film Festival and was acquired by Disney as their first original documentary, and is now streaming worldwide on Disney Plus. Sophie lives and works in Santa Monica, CA. Sophie's links:https://www.sophiekipner.com/https://www.sophiekipner.com/bookhttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt13084870/https://www.instagram.com/skipner Some of Sophie's favorite female artists:Paula RegoAlice NeelKatherine BradfordCristina BanBanHilda PalafoxFrida KahloRobin F Williams Host: Chris StaffordProduced by Hollowell StudiosFollow @theaartpodcast on InstagramAART on FacebookEmail: theaartpodcast@gmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wisp--4769409/support.

In this episode, we delve deep into Bring Her Back (2025), the Australian horror film from Danny & Michael Philippou (of Talk to Me fame). We explore its themes of grief, trauma, foster care, and occult rituals; break down key scenes and symbolism; assess the cast's performances (especially Sally Hawkins, Billy Barratt, and Sora Wong); and compare this film to their earlier work. Is Bring Her Back a pure shock horror flick, or is there something more emotionally complex lurking under the gore and ritual? Join us as we unearth what makes this film both disturbing and hauntingly resonant.

We're continuing our month of movie monsters with a look at Jennifer Kent's 2014 cult classic The Babadook! Join in as we discuss the movie's dismal emotions and colors, its outsized impact compared to its tiny box office, the movie's varying levels of Australian-ness, and Sam's "bad kid" status. Plus: How did the Babadook become a queer icon? Is this monster a murderer? What is Acorn TV? And, most critically, what do the worms represent? Make sure to rate, review, and subscribe! Next week: Leprechaun (1993)------------------------------------------------------Key sources and links for this episode:"How Jennifer Kent Made The Babadook" (SBS Australia)"Homespun Horror: The Making of The Babadook" (FilmInk)"The Babadook: 'I Wanted to Talk about the Need to Face Darkness in Ourselves'" (The Guardian)"Boogeyman Nights: The Story behind this Year's Horror Hit The Babadook" (Rolling Stone)The Babadook Kickstarter Page (includes Kent's earlier short film Monster)"How The Babadook became the LGBTQ Icon We Didn't Know We Needed" (Vox)"The Bird Box Effect: How Memes Drive Users to Netflix" (The Ringer)"The True Story behind the Greatest Halloween Tweet of All Time" (Intelligencer)"Weapons is Why We Go to the Movies" (The Big Picture)The Babadook published picture book

This week the American figurative abstract painter and writer Sophie Kipner who primarily uses the blind contouring technique. Sophie was born in Santa Monica in 1982 into an artistically musical family; her English mother Lizzie was a singer and dancer, her Australian father Steve, a songwriter, musician and producer, her grandfather, a songwriter and producer, and her brother Harrison, also a songwriter, musician and producer. Sophie however was to take a different route with an early interest in art, particularly sketching and learning portraiture, which would carry her through to her professional career.  Her parents emphasized self expression as a learning tool, encouraging her creativity. While attending Viewpoint High School in Calabasas she developed an interest in photography. Sophie was the first member of her family to attend college and she chose The Annenberg School at the University of Southern California to study journalism and public relations, graduating magna cum laude with a BA in 2005. Her earliest exposure to art and artists included visits to galleries in Europe with her mother, which is where the abstract work of Picasso caught her eye and subconsciously imprinted an influence that would later become apparent in her own work. After graduating Sophie spent time working for her aunt at Apogee Electronics where she learned a number of skills that would help her later in her own business. Her love of writing, especially short stories, became an important and relevant aspect of her career. From 2013-15 she worked at The Society Club in London. It was during this time that she introduced sketching games to her dinner parties, which unlocked her love of art again after many years focusing on her writing. After moving back to LA Sophie began showing her work on social media and taking commissions. This eventually led to her decision to become a full time artist and since 2015 she has had her works shown in multiple solo and group gallery exhibitions and sold into commercial and private collections globally, including the Salam Art Collection in Iraq. Her writing was also gaining momentum and in 2017, her first book, The Optimist, a satirical look at the extremity of romantic desperation, was published by Unbound in the UK and later in the US and Canada in 2021. The novel was named a “Best Summer Read” by The Daily Mail and optioned for film and television adaptation. Sophie was also the subject of the Oscar-shortlisted short documentary, “Sophie and The Baron”, which chronicles Sophie's friendship and artistic collaboration with legendary Rolling Stone Magazine photographer Baron Wolman. The award-winning film, directed by Alexandria Jackson, premiered at SXSW Film Festival and was acquired by Disney as their first original documentary, and is now streaming worldwide on Disney Plus. Sophie lives and works in Santa Monica, CA. Sophie's links:https://www.sophiekipner.com/https://www.sophiekipner.com/bookhttps://www.imdb.com/title/tt13084870/https://www.instagram.com/skipner Some of Sophie's favorite female artists:Paula RegoAlice NeelKatherine BradfordCristina BanBanHilda PalafoxFrida KahloRobin F Williams Host: Chris StaffordProduced by Hollowell StudiosFollow @theaartpodcast on InstagramAART on FacebookEmail: theaartpodcast@gmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/aart--5814675/support.

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Actress Rose Byrne feels delighted about being Conan O'Brien's friend. Rose sits down with Conan to discuss her Australian comic influences, her friendship with Heath Ledger, and playing patient and therapist opposite one another in their new genre-defying film If I Had Legs I'd Kick You. Plus, Conan recalls his earliest showbiz days as an awards show seat filler. For Conan videos, tour dates and more visit TeamCoco.com.Got a question for Conan? Call our voicemail: (669) 587-2847. Get access to all the podcasts you love, music channels and radio shows with the SiriusXM App! Get 3 months free using this show link: https://siriusxm.com/conan. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When seven backpackers vanished in the early 1990s, the vast Australian bush became the hunting ground of a sadistic killer. For years, hikers stumbled upon shallow graves in Belanglo State Forest—each revealing new horrors and the same gruesome pattern of torture and execution. The man responsible, truck driver Ivan Milat, would become known as the “Backpacker Murderer,” one of Australia's most infamous serial killers. This week, we dive into his brutal crimes, the survivor who helped catch him, and the darkness hiding along the open road.Merch and more: www.badmagicproductions.com Timesuck Discord! https://discord.gg/tqzH89vWant to join the Cult of the Curious PrivateFacebook Group? Go directly to Facebook and search for "Cult of the Curious" to locate whatever happens to be our most current page :)For all merch-related questions/problems: store@badmagicproductions.com (copy and paste)Please rate and subscribe on Apple Podcasts and elsewhere and follow the suck on social media!! @timesuckpodcast on IG and http://www.facebook.com/timesuckpodcastWanna become a Space Lizard? Click here: https://www.patreon.com/timesuckpodcast.Sign up through Patreon, and for $5 a month, you get access to the entire Secret Suck catalog (295 episodes) PLUS the entire catalog of Timesuck, AD FREE. You'll also get 20% off of all regular Timesuck merch PLUS access to exclusive Space Lizard merch. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

7. The Tree Sparrow: Mao's Folly and the Emu Wars AUTHOR: Stephen Moss BOOK TITLE: 10 Birds That Changed the World This excerpt details Mao's 1958 "Four Vermin" campaign targeting the Tree Sparrow. Maoordered the sparrows killed, believing they consumed grain; however, because sparrows feed their young on insects, their eradication led to an insect population boom. The subsequent crop failures caused a famine that resulted in potentially 45 to 50 million deaths, making it the worst human-created disaster in history. The segment contrasts this tragedy with the "Emu Wars" in 1930s Australia, where highly adaptable Emussuccessfully defeated the Australian army. 1938

Need a slang term that can replace just about any noun? Try chumpie. If you're from Philadelphia, you may already know this handy placeholder word. And there's Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Manhattan, and . . . The Bronx? Why do we add the definite article to the name of that New York borough? The answer lies in the area's geography and local family lore. Plus, an Australian bullfrog that sounds like a banjo? Yup! It's called a pobblebonk. Also: get the pips, down your Sunday throat, jubous, dinor vs. diner, stepped out of a bandbox, a Carl Sandburg poem, quemacocos, sirsee, and a punny puzzle about doing well. Hear hundreds of free episodes and learn more on the A Way with Words website: https://waywordradio.org. Be a part of the show: call or text 1 (877) 929-9673 toll-free in the United States and Canada; elsewhere in the world, call or text +1 619 800 4443. Send voice notes or messages via WhatsApp 16198004443. Email words@waywordradio.org. Copyright Wayword, Inc., a 501(c)(3) corporation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Etiquette, manners, and beyond! This week, Nick and Leah are enjoying a well-deserved break, but they'll be back soon with an all-new episode. In the meantime, here's one of their favorite episodes from the archives in which they answer listener questions about picking the correct utensil for mac and cheese, spelling like an Australian, lingering in stores after they're closed, and much more. Please follow us! (We'd send you a hand-written thank you note if we could.)Have a question for us? Call or text (267) CALL-RBW or visit ask.wyrbw.comQUESTIONS FROM THE WILDERNESS:What is the correct utensil for eating macaroni and cheese?Should we let our best friends know in advance that we plan on giving them a Christmas gift?I'm an American living in Australia...should I use Australian spelling rules?When driving down a busy street, is it proper to slow down to allow cars to exit parking spaces?Is it rude for customers to stay in a small store past closing time?THINGS MENTIONED DURING THE SHOWKraft Mac & CheeseSpork on WikipediaCommodore 64YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO...Support our show through PatreonSubscribe and rate us 5 stars on Apple PodcastsCall, text, or email us your questionsFollow us on Instagram, Facebook, and TwitterVisit our official websiteSign up for our newsletterBuy some fabulous official merchandiseCREDITSHosts: Nick Leighton & Leah BonnemaProducer & Editor: Nick LeightonTheme Music: Rob ParavonianADVERTISE ON OUR SHOWClick here for detailsTRANSCRIPTEpisode 165See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Last time we spoke about the Battle of Taierzhuang. Following the fall of Nanjing in December 1937, the Second Sino-Japanese War entered a brutal phase of attrition as Japan sought to consolidate control and press toward central China. Chinese defense prioritized key rail corridors and urban strongholds, with Xuzhou, the JinPu and Longhai lines, and the Huai River system forming crucial lifelines. By early 1938, Japanese offensives aimed to link with forces around Beijing and Nanjing and encircle Chinese positions in the Central Yangtze region, threatening Wuhan. In response, Chiang Kai-shek fortified Xuzhou and expanded defenses to deter a pincer move, eventually amassing roughly 300,000 troops along strategic lines. Taierzhuang became a focal point when Japanese divisions attempted to press south and link with northern elements. Chinese commanders Li Zongren, Bai Chongxi, Tang Enbo, and Sun Lianzhong coordinated to complicate Japanese plans through offensive-defensive actions, counterattacks, and encirclement efforts. The victory, though numerically costly, thwarted immediate Japanese objectives and foreshadowed further attritional struggles ahead.   #171 The Flooding of the Yellow River Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. We last left off with a significant event during the Xuzhou campaign. Three Japanese divisions under General Itagaki Seishiro moved south to attack Taierzhuang and were met by forces commanded by Li Zongren, Sun Lianzhong, and Tang Enbo, whose units possessed a decent amount of artillery. In a two-week engagement from March 22 to April 7, the battle devolved into a costly urban warfare. Fighting was vicious, often conducted in close quarters and at night. The urban environment negated Japanese advantages in armor and artillery, allowing Chinese forces to contend on equal terms. The Chinese also disrupted Japanese logistics by resupplying their own troops and severing rear supply lines, draining Japanese ammunition, supplies, and reinforcements. By April 7, the Japanese were compelled to retreat, marking the first Chinese victory of the war. However both sides suffered heavy losses, with around 20,000 casualties on each side. In the aftermath of this rare victory, Chiang Kai-Shek pushed Tang Enbo and Li Zongren to capitalize on their success and increased deployments in the Taierzhuang theater to about 450,000 troops. Yet the Chinese Army remained hampered by fundamental problems. The parochialism that had crippled Chiang's forces over the preceding months resurfaced. Although the generals had agreed to coordinate in a war of resistance, each still prioritized the safety of his own troops, wary of Chiang's bid to consolidate power. Li Zongren, for example, did not deploy his top Guangxi provincial troops at Taierzhuang and sought to shift most of the fighting onto Tang Enbo's forces. Chiang's colleagues were mindful of the fates of Han Fuju of Shandong and Zhang Xueliang of Manchuria: Han was executed for refusing to fight, while Zhang, after allowing Chiang to reduce the size of his northeastern army, ended up under house arrest. They were right to distrust Chiang. He believed, after all, that provincial armies should come under a unified national command, which he would lead. From a national-unity perspective, his aspiration was not unreasonable. But it fed suspicion among other military leaders that participation in the anti-Japanese war would dilute their power. The divided nature of the command also hindered logistics, making ammunition and food supplies to the front unreliable and easy to cut off. By late April the Chinese had reinforced the Xuzhou area to between 450,000-600,000 to capitalize on their victory. However these armies were plagued with command and control issues. Likewise the Japanese licked their wounds and reinforced the area to roughly 400,000, with fresh troops and supplies flowing in from Tianjin and Nanjing. The Japanese continued with their objective of encircling Chinese forces. The North China Area Army comprised four divisions and two infantry brigades drawn from the Kwantung Army, while the Central China Expeditionary Army consisted of three divisions and the 1st and 2nd Tank Battalions along with motorized support units. The 5th Tank Battalion supported the 3rd Infantry Division as it advanced north along the railway toward Xuzhou. Fighting to the west, east, and north of Xuzhou was intense, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides. On 18 April, the Japanese advanced southward toward Pizhou. Tang Enbo's 20th Army Corps, together with the 2nd, 22nd, 46th, and 59th corps, resisted fiercely, culminating in a stalemate by the end of April. The 60th Corps of the Yunnan Army engaged the Japanese 10th Division at Yuwang Mountain for nearly a month, repelling multiple assaults. By the time it ceded its position to the Guizhou 140th Division and withdrew on 15 May, the corps had sustained losses exceeding half of its forces. Simultaneously, the Japanese conducted offensives along both banks of the Huai River, where Chinese defenders held out for several weeks. Nevertheless, Japanese artillery and aerial bombardment gradually tilted the balance, allowing the attackers to seize Mengcheng on 9 May and Hefei on 14 May. From there, the southern flank split into two parts: one force moved west and then north to cut off the Longhai Railway escape route from Xuzhou, while another division moved directly north along the railway toward Suxian, just outside Xuzhou. Simultaneously, to the north, Japanese units from north China massed at Jining and began moving south beyond Tengxian. Along the coast, an amphibious landing was made at Lianyungang to reinforce troops attacking from the east. The remaining portions of Taierzhuang were captured in May, a development symbolically significant to Tokyo. On 17 May, Japanese artillery further tightened the noose around Xuzhou, striking targets inside the city.  To preserve its strength, the Nationalist government ordered the abandonment of Xuzhou and directed its main forces to break out toward northern Jiangsu, northern Anhui, and eastern Henan. To deter the Japanese army's rapid westward advance and penetration into northern Henan and western Shandong, many leading military and political figures within the Nationalist government proposed breaching dams over the Yellow River to delay the offensive, a strategy that would have been highly advantageous to the Nationalist forces at the time. Chiang Kai-shek vetoed the proposal outright, insisting that the Nationalist army could still resist. He understood that with tens of millions of Chinese lives at stake and a sliver of hope remaining, the levee plan must not be undertaken. Then a significant battle broke out at Lanfeng. Chiang also recognized that defeat could allow the elite Japanese mechanized divisions, the 14th, 16th, and 10th, to advance directly toward Zhengzhou. If Zhengzhou fell, the Japanese mechanized forces on the plains could advance unimpeded toward Tongguan. Their southward push would threaten Xi'an, Xiangfan, and Nanyang, directly jeopardizing the southwest's rear defenses. Concurrently, the Japanese would advance along the Huai River north of the Dabie Mountains toward Wuhan, creating a pincer with operations along the Yangtze River.  Now what followed was arguably the most important and skillful Chinese maneuver of the Xuzhou campaign: a brilliantly executed strategic retreat to the south and west across the Jinpu railway line. On May 15, Li Zongren, in consultation with Chiang Kai-shek, decided to withdraw from Xuzhou and focus on an escape plan. The evacuation of civilians and military personnel began that day. Li ordered troops to melt into the countryside and move south and west at night, crossing the Jinpu Railway and splitting into four groups that would head west. The plan was to regroup in the rugged Dabie Mountains region to the south and prepare for the defense of Wuhan. Li's generals departed reluctantly, having held out for so long; Tang Enbo was said to have wept. Under cover of night, about forty divisions, over 200,000 men, marched out of Japanese reach in less than a week. A critical moment occurred on May 18, when fog and a sandstorm obscured the retreating troops as they crossed the Jinpu Railway. By May 21, Li wired Chiang Kai-shek to report that the withdrawal was complete. He mobilized nearly all of the Kuomintang Central Army's elite units, such as the 74th Army, withdrawn from Xuzhou and transferred directly to Lanfeng, with a resolute intent to “burn their boats.” The force engaged the Japanese in a decisive battle at Lanfeng, aiming to secure the last line of defense for the Yellow River, a position carrying the lives of millions of Chinese civilians. Yet Chiang Kai-shek's strategy was not universally understood by all participating generals, who regarded it as akin to striking a rock with an egg. For the battle of Lanfeng the Chinese mobilized nearly all of the Kuomintang Central Army's elite forces, comprising 14 divisions totaling over 150,000 men. Among these, the 46th Division of the 27th Army, formerly the Central Training Brigade and the 36th, 88th, and 87th Divisions of the 71st Army were German-equipped. Additionally, the 8th Army, the Tax Police Corps having been reorganized into the Ministry of Finance's Anti-Smuggling Corps, the 74th Army, and Hu Zongnan's 17th Corps, the new 1st Army, equipped with the 8th Division were elite Nationalist troops that had demonstrated strong performance in the battle of Shanghai and the battle of Nanjing, and were outfitted with advanced matériel. However, these so-called “elite” forces were heavily degraded during the campaigns in Shanghai and Nanjing. The 46th Division and Hu Zongnan's 17th Corps sustained casualties above 85% in Nanjing, while the 88th and 87th Divisions suffered losses of up to 90%. The 74th Army and the 36th Division also endured losses exceeding 75%. Their German-made equipment incurred substantial losses; although replenishment occurred, inventories resembled roughly a half-German and half-Chinese mix. With very limited heavy weapons and a severe shortage of anti-tank artillery, they could not effectively match the elite Japanese regiments. Hu Zongnan's 17th Corps maintained its national equipment via a close relationship with Chiang Kai-shek. In contrast, the 74th Army, after fighting in Shanghai, Nanjing, and Xuzhou, suffered heavy casualties, and the few German weapons it had were largely destroyed at Nanjing, leaving it to rely on a mix of domestically produced and Hanyang-made armaments. The new recruits added to each unit largely lacked combat experience, with nearly half of the intake having received basic training. The hardest hit was Li Hanhun's 64th Army, established less than a year prior and already unpopular within the Guangdong Army. Although classified as one of the three Type A divisions, the 155th, 156th, and 187th Divisions, it was equipped entirely with Hanyang-made firearms. Its direct artillery battalion possessed only about 20 older mortars and three Type 92 infantry guns, limiting its heavy firepower to roughly that of a Japanese battalion. The 195th Division and several miscellaneous units were even less prominent, reorganized from local militias and lacking Hanyang rifles. Additionally, three batches of artillery purchased from the Soviet Union arrived in Lanzhou via Xinjiang between March and June 1938. Except for the 52nd Artillery Regiment assigned to the 200th Division, the other artillery regiments had recently received their weapons and were still undergoing training. The 200th Division, had been fighting awhile for in the Xuzhou area and incurred heavy casualties, was still in training and could only deploy its remaining tank battalion and armored vehicle company. The tank battalion was equipped with T-26 light tanks and a small number of remaining British Vickers tanks, while the armored vehicle company consisted entirely of Italian Fiat CV33 armored cars. The disparity in numbers was substantial, and this tank unit did not participate in the battle.  As for the Japanese, the 14th Division was an elite Type A formation. Originally organized with four regiments totaling over 30,000 men, the division's strength was later augmented. Doihara's 14th Division received supplements, a full infantry regiment and three artillery regiments, to prevent it from being surrounded and annihilated, effectively transforming the unit into a mobile reinforced division. Consequently, the division's mounted strength expanded to more than 40,000 personnel, comprising five infantry regiments and four artillery regiments. The four artillery regiments, the 24th Artillery Regiment, the 3rd Independence Mountain Artillery Regiment, the 5th Field Heavy Artillery Regiment, and the 6th Field Heavy Artillery Regiment, possessed substantial heavy firepower, including 150mm heavy howitzers and 105mm long-range field cannons, placing them far in excess of the Nationalist forces at Lanfeng. In addition, both the 14th and later the 16th Divisions commanded tank regiments with nearly 200 light and medium tanks each, while Nationalist forces were markedly short of anti-tank artillery. At the same time, the Nationalist Air Force, though it had procured more than 200 aircraft of various types from the Soviet Union, remained heavily reliant on Soviet aid-to-China aircraft, amounting to over 100 machines, and could defend only a few cities such as Wuhan, Nanchang, and Chongqing. In this context, Japanese forces effectively dominated the Battle of Lanfeng. Moreover, reports indicate that the Japanese employed poison gas on the battlefield, while elite Nationalist troops possessed only a limited number of gas masks, creating a stark disparity in chemical warfare preparedness. Despite these disparities, Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist government were initially unaware of the updated strength and composition of the Doihara Division. Faced with constrained options, Chiang chose to press ahead with combat operations. On May 12, 1939, after crossing the Yellow River, the IJA 14th Division continued its southward advance toward Lanfeng. The division's objective was to sever the Longhai Railway, disrupt the main Nationalist retreat toward Zhengzhou, and seize Zhengzhou itself. By May 15, the division split into two columns at Caoxian and moved toward key nodes on the Longhai Line. Major General Toyotomi Fusatarou led two infantry regiments, one cavalry regiment, and one artillery regiment in the main assault toward Kaocheng with the aim of directly capturing Lanfeng. Doihara led three infantry regiments and three artillery regiments toward Neihuang and Minquan, threatening Guide. In response, the Nationalist forces concentrated along the railway from Lanfeng to Guide, uniting Song Xilian's 71st Army, Gui Yongqing's 27th Army, Yu Jishi's 74th Army, Li Hanhun's 64th Army, and Huang Jie's 8th Army. From May 15 to 17, the Fengjiu Brigade, advancing toward Lanfeng, met stubborn resistance near Kaocheng from roughly five divisions under Song Xilian and was forced to shift its effort toward Yejigang and Neihuang. The defense near Neihuang, including Shen Ke's 106th Division and Liang Kai's 195th Division, ultimately faltered, allowing Doihara's division to seize Neihuang, Yejigang, Mazhuangzhai, and Renheji. Nevertheless, the Nationalist forces managed to contain the Japanese advance east and west of the area, preventing a complete encirclement. Chiang Kai-shek ordered Cheng Qian, commander-in-chief of the 1st War Zone, to encircle and annihilate the Japanese 14th Division. The deployment plan mapped three routes: the Eastern Route Army, under Li Hanhun, would include the 74th Army, the 155th Division of the 64th Army, a brigade of the 88th Division, and a regiment of the 87th Division, advancing westward from Guide); the Western Route Army, commanded by Gui Yongqing, would comprise the 27th Army, the 71st Army, the 61st Division, and the 78th Division, advancing eastward from Lanfeng; and the Northern Route Army, formed by Sun Tongxuan's 3rd Army and Shang Zhen's 20th Army, was to cut off the enemy's retreat to the north bank of the Yellow River near Dingtao, Heze, Dongming, and Kaocheng, while attacking the Doihara Division from the east, west, and north to annihilate it in a single decisive operation.  On May 21, the Nationalist Army mounted a full-scale offensive. Yu Jishi's 74th Army, commanded by Wang Yaowu's 51st Division, joined a brigade of Song Xilian's 71st Army, led by the 88th Division, and drove the Japanese forces at Mazhuangzhai into retreat, capturing Neihuang and Renheji. The main Japanese force, more than 6,000 strong, withdrew southwest to Yangjiji and Shuangtaji. Song Xilian, commanding Shen Fazao's 87th Division, launched a sharp assault on Yejigang (Yifeng). The Japanese abandoned the stronghold, but their main body continued advancing toward Yangjiji, with some units retreating to Donggangtou and Maoguzhai. On May 23, Song Xilian's 71st Army and Yu Jishi's 74th Army enveloped and annihilated enemy forces at Donggangtou and Maoguzhai. That evening they seized Ximaoguzhai, Yangzhuang, and Helou, eliminating more than a thousand Japanese troops. The Japanese troops at Donggangtou fled toward Lanfeng. Meanwhile, Gui Yongqing's forces were retreating through Lanfeng. His superior strength, Jiang Fusheng's 36th Division, Li Liangrong's 46th Division, Zhong Song's 61st Division, Li Wen's 78th Division, Long Muhan's 88th Division, and Shen Ke's 106th Division—had held defensive positions along the Lanfeng–Yangji line. Equipped with a tank battalion and armored vehicle company commanded by Qiu Qingquan, they blocked the enemy's westward advance and awaited Japanese exhaustion. However, under the Japanese offensive, Gui Yongqing's poor command led to the loss of Maji and Mengjiaoji, forcing the 27th Army to retreat across its entire front. Its main force fled toward Qixian and Kaifeng. The Japanese seized the opportunity to capture Quxingji, Luowangzhai, and Luowang Railway Station west of Lanfeng. Before retreating, Gui Yongqing ordered Long Muhan to dispatch a brigade to replace the 106th Division in defending Lanfeng, while he directed the 106th Division to fall back to Shiyuan. Frightened by the enemy, Long Muhan unilaterally withdrew his troops on the night of the 23rd, leaving Lanfeng undefended. On the 24th, Japanese troops advancing westward from Donggangtou entered Lanfeng unopposed and, relying on well-fortified fortifications, held their ground until reinforcements arrived. In the initial four days, the Nationalist offensive failed to overwhelm the Japanese, who escaped encirclement and annihilation. The four infantry and artillery regiments and one cavalry regiment on the Japanese side managed to hold the line along Lanfeng, Luowangzhai, Sanyizhai, Lanfengkou, Quxingji, Yang'erzhai, and Chenliukou on the south bank of the Yellow River, offering stubborn resistance. The Longhai Railway was completely cut off. Chiang Kai-shek, furious upon hearing the news while stationed in Zhengzhou, ordered the execution of Long Muhan, commander of the 88th Division, to restore military morale. He also decided to consolidate Hu Zongnan's, Li Hanhun's, Yu Jishi's, Song Xilian's, and Gui Yongqing's troops into the 1st Corps, with Xue Yue as commander-in-chief. On the morning of May 25, they launched a determined counterattack on Doihara's 14th Division. Song Xilian personally led the front lines on May 24 to rally the defeated 88th Division.  Starting on May 25, after three days of intense combat, Li Hanhun's 64th Army advanced to seize Luowang Station and Luowangzhai, while Song Xilian's 71st Army retook Lanfeng City, temporarily reopening the Longhai Line to traffic. At Sanyi Village, Gui Yongqing's 27th Army and Yu Jishi's 74th Army captured a series of outlying positions, including Yang'eyao, Chailou, Cailou, Hezhai, Xuelou, and Baowangsi. Despite these gains, more than 6,000 Japanese troops offered stubborn resistance. During the fighting, Ji Hongru, commander of the 302nd Regiment, was seriously wounded but continued to fight, shouting, “Don't worry about my death! Brothers, fight on!” He ultimately died a heroic death from his wounds. By May 27, Chiang Kai-shek, concerned that the forces had not yet delivered a decisive victory at Lanfeng, personally reprimanded the participating generals and ordered them to completely encircle and annihilate the enemy west of Lanfeng by the following day. He warned that if the opportunity was missed and Japanese reinforcements arrived, the position could be endangered. The next day, Chiang Kai-shek issued another telegram, urging Cheng Qian's First War Zone and all participating units to press the offensive. The telegram allegedly had this in it “It will forever be a laughingstock in the history of warfare.” Meanwhile on the other side, to prevent the annihilation of Doihara's 14th Division, the elite Japanese 16th Division and the 3rd Mixed Brigade, totaling over 40,000 men, launched a westward assault from Dangshan, capturing Yucheng on May 26. They then began probing the outskirts of Guide. Huang Jie's Eighth Army, responsible for the defense, withdrew to the outskirts of Guide that evening. On May 28, Huang Jie again led his troops on his own initiative, retreating to Liuhe and Kaifeng, leaving only the 187th Division to defend Zhuji Station and Guide City. At dawn on May 29, Peng Linsheng, commander of the 187th Division, also withdrew his troops, leaving Guide a deserted city. The Japanese occupied Guide without a fight. The loss of Guide dramatically shifted the tide of the war. Threatened on the flanks by the Japanese 16th Division, the Nationalist forces were forced onto the defensive. On May 28, the Japanese 14th Division concentrated its forces to counterattack Gui Yongqing's troops, but they were defeated again, allowing the Japanese to stabilize their position. At the same time, the fall of Shangqiu compelled Xue Yue's corps to withdraw five divisions to block the enemy in Shangqiu, and the Nationalist Army shifted to a defensive posture with the 14th Division holding Sanyizhai and Quxingji. To the north of the battlefield, the Japanese 4th Mixed Brigade, numbering over 10,000 men, was preparing to force a crossing of the Yellow River in order to join with the nearby 14th Division. More seriously, the 10th Division, together with its 13th Mixed Brigade and totaling more than 40,000 men, had captured Woyang and Bozhou on the Henan-Anhui border and was rapidly encircling eastern Henan. By the time of the Battle of Lanfeng, Japanese forces had deployed more than 100,000 troops, effectively surrounding the Nationalist army. On May 31, the First War Zone decided to withdraw completely, and the Battle of Lanfeng ended in defeat for the Nationalists, forcing Chiang Kai-shek to authorize diverting the Yellow River embankment to relieve pressure. The consequence was a deteriorating strategic situation, as encirclement tightened and reinforcement options dwindled, driving a retreat from the Lanfeng front. The National Army suffered more than 67,000 casualties, killed and wounded more than 10,000 Japanese soldiers, Lanfeng was lost, and Zhengzhou was in danger.  As in Nanjing, this Chinese army might have lived to fight another day, but the effect on Xuzhou itself was horrific. The city had endured Japanese bombardment since August 1937, and the population's mood swung between cautious hope and utter despair. In March, Du Zhongyuan visited Xuzhou. Before he left Wuhan, friends told him that “the city was desolate and the people were terrified, all the inhabitants of Xuzhou were quietly getting on with their business … sometimes it was even calmer than Wuhan.” The Australian journalist Rhodes Farmer recalled a similar image in a book published at war's end, noting the “ordinary townsfolk who became wardens, fire-fighters and first-aid workers during the raid and then went back to their civil jobs.” Yet the mid-May departure of Nationalist troops left the city and its outskirts at the mercy of an angry Imperial Army. Bombing continued through the final days of battle, and a single raid on May 14, 1938 killed 700 people. Around Xuzhou, buildings and bridges were destroyed—some by retreating Chinese forces, some by advancing Japanese troops. Taierzhuang, the scene of the earlier iconic defense, was utterly destroyed. Canadian Jesuits who remained in Xuzhou after its fall recorded that more than a third of the houses were razed, and most of the local population had fled in terror. In rural areas around the city, massacres were repeatedly reported, many witnessed by missionaries. Beyond the atrocities of the Japanese, locals faced banditry in the absence of law enforcement, and vital agricultural work such as planting seed ground to a halt. The loss of Xuzhou was both strategic and symbolic. It dealt a severe blow to Chiang's attempt to hold central China and to control regional troop movements. Morale, which Taierzhuang had briefly boosted, was battered again though not extinguished. The fall signaled that the war would be long, and that swift victory against Japan was no longer likely. Mao Zedong's Yan'an base, far to the northwest, grasped the meaning of defeat there. In May 1938 he delivered one of his most celebrated lectures, “On Protracted War,” chiding those who had over-optimistically claimed the Xuzhou campaign could be a quasi-decisive victory and arguing that, after Taierzhuang, some had become “giddy.” Mao insisted that China would ultimately prevail, yet he warned that it could not be won quickly, and that the War of Resistance would be protracted. In the meantime, the development of guerrilla warfare remained an essential piece of the long-term strategy that the Communist armies would pursue in north China. Yet the loss of Xuzhou did not necessarily portend a long war; it could, instead, presage a war that would be terrifyingly short. By spring 1938 the Chinese defenders were desperate. There was a real danger that the entire war effort could collapse, and the Nationalist governments' notable success as protectors of a shrinking “Free China” lay in avoiding total disaster. Government propaganda had successfully portrayed a plan beyond retreat to foreign observers, yet had Tokyo captured Wuhan in the spring, the Chinese Army would have had to withdraw at speed, reinforcing perceptions of disintegration. Western governments were unlikely to intervene unless convinced it was in their interests. Within the Nationalist leadership, competing instincts persisted. The government pursued welfare measures for the people in the midst of a massive refugee relief effort, the state and local organizations, aided by the International Red Cross, housed large numbers of refugees in 1937–1938. Yet there was a harsher strain within policy circles, with some officials willing to sacrifice individual lives for strategic or political ends as the Japanese threat intensified. Throughout central China, the Yellow River, China's “Sorrow”, loomed as the dominant geographic force shaping history. The loess-laden river, notorious for floods and shifting channels, was banked by massive dikes near Zhengzhou, exactly along the line the Japanese would traverse toward Wuhan. Using the river as a military instrument was discussed as a drastic option: Chiang and Cheng Qian's First War Zone contemplated diverting or breaching the dikes to halt or slow the Japanese advance, a measure that could buy time but would unleash enormous civilian suffering. The idea dated back to 1887 floods that cost hundreds of thousands of lives, and even in 1935 Alexander von Falkenhausen had warned that the Yellow River could become the final line of defense. In 1938 Chiang, recognizing the futility of defeating the Japanese by conventional means at Zhengzhou, considered unleashing the river's force if necessary to impede the invaders. The political and strategic calculus was stark: protect central China and Wuhan, even if it required drastic and morally fraught measures. A more humane leader might have hesitated to break the dikes and spare the dams, allowing the Japanese to take Wuhan. But Chiang Kai-shek believed that if the dikes were not breached and Wuhan fell within days, the Nationalist government might be unable to relocate to Chongqing in time and would likely surrender, leaving Japan in control of almost all of China. Some have compared the choice to France's surrender in June 1940, underscoring that Chiang's decision came during the country's most terrifying assault, with Chinese forces much weaker and less trained than their European counterparts. The dilemma over whether to break the Yellow River dikes grew out of desperation. Chiang ultimately ordered General Wei Rulin to blow the dike that held the Yellow River in central Henan. There was no doubt about the consequences: floods would inundate vast areas of central China, creating a waterlogged barrier that would halt the Japanese advance. Yet for the plan to succeed, it had to be carried out quickly, and the government could offer no public warning in case the Japanese detected it and accelerated their movement. Xiong Xianyu, chief of staff in the 8th Division at the time, recorded the urgency of those hours in his diary. The Japanese were already on the north bank of the Yellow River, briefly delayed when the Chinese army blew up the railway bridge across the river. The destruction of the dikes was the next step: if the area became a sea of mud, there would be no way the Japanese could even attempt to reconstruct the bridge. Blasting the dikes proved easier in theory than in practice. Holding back such a massive body of water required substantial engineering, dams thick and well fortified. The army made its first attempts to blow the dike at the small town of Zhaokou between June 4 and 6, 1938, but the structure proved too durable; another nearby attempt failed as well. Hour by hour, the Japanese moved closer. Division commander Jiang Zaizhen asked Xiong Xianyu for his opinion on where they might breach the dams. Xiong wrote “I discussed the topography, and said that two places, Madukou and Huayuankou, were both possible.” But Madukou was too close to Zhaokou, where the breach had already failed, presenting a danger that the Japanese might reach it very soon. The village of Huayuankou, however, lay farther away and on a bend in the river: “To give ourselves enough time, Huayuankou would be best.” At first, the soldiers treated the task as a military engineering assignment, an “exciting” one in Xiong's words. Xiong and Wei Rulin conducted their first site inspection after dark, late on June 6. The surroundings offered a deceptive calm: Xiong recounted “The wind blew softly, and the river water trickled pleasantly.” Yet gauging the water level proved difficult, hampered by murky moonlight and burned-out flashlights. They spent the night in their car to determine precisely where to break the dike as soon as day broke. But daylight seemed to bring home the consequences of what they planned to do, and the soldiers grew increasingly anxious. Wang Songmei, commander of the 2nd Regiment, addressed the workers about to breach the dike: “My brothers, this plan will be of benefit to our country and our nation, and will lessen the harm that is being done to the people.In the future, you'll find good wives and have plenty of children.” Wang's words were meant to reassure the men of the political necessity of their actions and that fate would not, in the traditional Chinese sense, deny them a family because of the enormity of their deeds. General Wei confirmed that Huayuankou was the right spot, and on June 8 the work began, with about 2,000 men taking part. The Nationalist government was eager to ensure rapid progress. Xiong recorded that the “highest authorities”,, kept making telephone calls from Wuhan to check on progress. In addition, the party sent performers to sing and play music to bolster the workers' spirits. Senior General Shang Zhen announced to the laborers that if they breached the dam by midnight on June 8, each would receive 2,000 yuan; if they achieved it by six the next morning, they would still be paid 1,000 yuan. They needed encouragement, for the diggers had no artificial assistance. After the initial failures at Zhaokou, Wei's troops relied entirely on manual labor, with no explosives used. Yet the workers earned their payments, and the dike was breached in just a few hours. On the morning of June 9, Xiong recorded a rapid shift in mood: the atmosphere became tense and solemn. Initially, the river flow was modest, but by about 1:00 p.m. the water surged “fiercely,” flowing “like 10,000 horses.” Looking toward the distance, Xiong felt as though a sea had appeared before him. “My heart ached,” he wrote. The force of the water widened the breach, and a deadly stream hundreds of feet wide comprising about three-quarters of the river's volume—rushed southeast across the central Chinese plains. “We did this to stop the enemy,” Xiong reflected, “so we didn't regret the huge sacrifice, as it was for a greater victory.” Yet he and the other soldiers also saw a grim reality: the troops who had taken on the task of destroying the railway bridge and the dikes could not bear the flood's consequences alone. It would be up to the government and the people of the nation to provide relief for the countless households uprooted by the flood. In fact, the previous evening Commander Jiang had telephoned to request assistance for those flooded out of their homes.   Wei, Xiong, and their troops managed to escape by wooden boats. Hundreds of thousands of farmers trapped in the floods were far less fortunate. Time magazine's correspondent Theodore White reported on the devastation a few days later “Last week “The Ungovernable” [i.e. the Yellow River] lashed out with a flood which promised to change not only its own course but also the course of the whole Sino-Japanese War. Severe breaks in the dikes near Kaifeng sent a five-foot wall of water fanning out over a 500-squaremile area, spreading death. Toll from Yellow River floods is not so much from quick drowning as from gradual disease and starvation. The river's filth settles ankle-deep on the fields, mothering germs, smothering crops. Last week, about 500,000 peasants were driven from 2,000 communities to await rescue or death on whatever dry ground they could find”. Chiang's government had committed one of the grossest acts of violence against its own people, and he knew that the publicity could be a damaging blow to its reputation. He decided to divert blame by announcing that the dike had been broken, but blaming the breach on Japanese aerial bombing. The Japanese, in turn, fiercely denied having bombed the dikes. White's reporting reflected the immediate response of most foreigners; having heard about the atrocities at Nanjing and Xuzhou, he was disinclined to give the Japanese the benefit of the doubt. Furthermore, at the very time that the Yellow River was flooding central China, the Japanese were heavily bombing Guangzhou, causing thousands of casualties. To White, the Japanese counterargument—that the Chinese themselves were responsible, seemed unthinkable: “These accusations, foreign observers thought, were absurd. For the Chinese to check the Japanese advance at possible sacrifice of half a million lives would be a monstrous pyrrhic victory. Besides, dike-cutting is the blackest of Chinese crimes, and the Chinese Army would hardly risk universal censure for slight tactical gains.” But, of course, that is exactly what they had done. During the war the Nationalists never admitted that they, not the Japanese, had breached the dikes. But the truth quickly became widely known. Just a month later, on July 19, US Ambassador Johnson noted, in private communication, that the “Chinese blocked the advance on Chengchow [Zhengzhou] by breaching the Yellow River dikes.” Eventually some 54,000 square kilometers of central China were inundated by the floods. If the Japanese had committed such an act, it would have been remembered as the prime atrocity of the war, dwarfing even the Nanjing Massacre or the Chongqing air raids in terms of the number of people who suffered. Accurate statistics were impossible to obtain in the midst of wartime chaos and disaster, but in 1948 figures issued by the Nationalists themselves suggested enormous casualties: for the three affected provinces of Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu, the number of dead was put at 844,489, with some 4.8 million becoming refugees. More recent studies place the numbers lower, but still estimate the dead at around 500,000, and 3–5 million refugees. In contrast, the devastating May 1939 air raids on Chongqing killed some thousands. Xiong reflected in his diary that the breaching of the Yellow River dikes was a sacrifice for a greater victory. Even to some Japanese it seemed that the tactic had been successful in the short term: the first secretary at the US Embassy in Wuhan reported that the flood had “completely checked the Japanese advance on Chengchow” and had prevented them taking Wuhan by rail. Instead, he predicted, the attack was likely to come by water and along the north shore of the Yangtze. Supporters of the dike breaches could argue that these acts saved central China and Chiang's headquarters in Wuhan for another five months. The Japanese were indeed prevented from advancing along the Long–Hai railway toward Wuhan. In the short term the floods did what the Nationalists wanted. But the flooding was a tactic, a breathing space, and did not solve the fundamental problem: China's armies needed strong leadership and rapid reform. Some historians suggest that Chiang's decision was pointless anyway, since it merely delayed the inevitable. Theodore White was right: no strategic advantage could make the deaths of 500,000 of China's own people a worthwhile price to pay. However, Chiang Kai-shek's decision can be partly explained, though not excused, by the context. We can now look back at the actions of the Nationalists and argue that they should not have held on to Wuhan, or that their actions in breaching the dam were unjustifiable in the extreme. But for Chiang, in the hot summer of 1938, it seemed his only hope was to deny Japan as much of China for as long as possible and create the best possible circumstances for a long war from China's interior, while keeping the world's attention on what Japan was doing. The short delay won by the flooding was itself part of the strategy. In the struggle raging within the soul of the Nationalist Party, the callous, calculating streak had won, for the time being. The breaking of the dikes marked a turning point as the Nationalists committed an act whose terrible consequences they would eventually have to expiate. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. In late 1937, China's frontline trembled as Japanese forces closed in on Wuhan. Chiang Kai-shek faced a brutal choice: endure costly defenses or unleash a desperate gamble. Chiangs' radical plan emerged: breach the Yellow River dikes at Huayuankou to flood central China, buying time. The flood roared, washing villages and futures away, yet slowing the enemy. The battlefield paused, while a nation weighed courage against civilian suffering, victory against devastating costs.

Who Knew It with Matt Stewart is a comedy game show podcast hosted by Australian comedian Matt Stewart. Episode 161 features comedians Geraldine Hickey, Bron Lewis and Oliver Hunter!Check out Matt's new stand up special: https://youtu.be/ZgukEPerWZc?si=SW8PttGAB-ly_GF8And his last stand up special: https://youtu.be/cWStRpI-BhESupport the show via http://patreon.com/dogoonpod and you can submit questions for the show!See the podcast/Matt live: https://www.mattstewartcomedy.com/Check out Matt's podcast network: https://dogoonpod.com/Theme song by Evan Munro-Smith, Logo by Murray Summerville and edited by Connor Schmidt! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sports Geek Rapid Rundown is a daily sports business podcast curated by Sports Geek Reads. We publish it on Sports Geek twice per week. In this episode: FIFA's controversial 2026 World Cup ticketing system faces criticism, Netflix considers Champions League rights bid, and athlete-owned media companies drive billions in value. Plus Ticketmaster's $100m Australian deal and Google's LA28 Olympics partnership - all curated by Sports Geek Reads. Subscribe at https://sportsgeekhq.com/rapidrundown

This episode contains graphic descriptions of violence. If any of the topics discussed is triggering for you, please seek help by visiting Lifeline's website at https://www.lifeline.org.au/ or by calling 13 11 14. Surya McEwen is one of six Australians who made headlines recently after being kidnapped from international waters and detained by Israeli forces. He sat down with Abbie after only 2 days back in Australia to talk about time he's spent on the ground in the West Bank, his journey with the Flotilla, and the treatment he and others faced in their detention. LINKS Follow Surya McEwen @surya.sails.for.gaza Listen to the episode with Dr Mohammed Mustafa https://play.listnr.com/podcast/its-a-lot-with-abbie-chatfield/episode/dr-mohammed-mustafa-we-need-to-humanise-gazans Check out @itsalotpod on IG at https://bit.ly/itsalot-instagram Review the podcast on Apple Podcasts https://bit.ly/ial-review Follow LiSTNR Entertainment on IG @listnrentertainment Follow LiSTNR Entertainment on TikTok @listnrentertainment Get instructions on how to access transcripts on Apple podcasts https://bit.ly/3VQbKXY OTHER RESOURCES MENTIONED Beau Spirim's Frontier War Stories https://open.spotify.com/show/62EVJzHijzm9uYjDErGC4P Youth of Sumud https://www.instagram.com/youthofsumud/?hl=en Eye on Palestine https://www.instagram.com/eye.on.palestine/?hl=en Radiance in Pain and Resilience by Dr Samah Jabr https://www.wakefieldpress.com.au/product/radiance-in-pain-and-resilience/ CREDITS Host: Abbie Chatfield @abbiechatfield Guest: Surya McEwen @surya.sails.for.gazaExecutive Producer and Editor: Amy Kimball @amy.kimballDigital and Social and Video Producer: Oscar Gordon @oscargordon Social and Video Producer: Justin Hill @jus_hillIt's A Lot Social Media Manager: Julia ToomeyManaging Producer: Sam Cavanagh Find more great podcasts like this at www.listnr.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Your values and philosophy about why you do things are your North Star; without them your decisions will be wishy-washy.”   This is a special episode only available to our podcast subscribers, which we call The Mini Chief. These are short, sharp highlights from our fabulous CEO guests, where you get a 5 to 10 minute snapshot from their full episode. This Mini Chief episode features Neil Craig, Former AFL Coach and England Rugby High Performance Manager. His full episode is titled High performance environments, your North Star and decision-making under pressure. You can find the full audio and show notes here:

Footy finals are over, so this week The Betoota Advocate is broadening the scope. Natalie Kyriacou joins BETOOTA TALKS to discuss her work as an Australian environmentalist, author and a storyteller that shares the most eccentric facts and phenomenas that relate to our natural world. Tune in for some hard truths about deforestation, birdwatching and obscure mating rituals.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Few scandals have shaken Australia's justice system like the Lawyer X affair. At the center was a prominent barrister who secretly worked as a police informant, all while representing some of the country's most notorious criminals. Her name was tied to dozens of figures on both sides of the law, leaving behind a trail of questions about loyalty, ethics, and justice.By living a double life, she jeopardised the very foundation of the courts. Convictions were thrown into doubt, appeals were launched, and the credibility of the entire legal system was called into question. The scandal not only exposed corruption and desperation in law enforcement, but also highlighted the dangers of blurred boundaries between lawyers and their clients.In this series, we dig into how one lawyer's choices spiraled into one of the biggest legal crises in Australian history. From the underworld connections to the Royal Commission, we explore how the Lawyer X scandal redefined trust, justice, and the rule of law in Victoria.***Linked Episodes:- 309-312 - L'Onorata Societa, the Calabrian Mafia- 188 & 189 - The Death of the Vampire Gigolo- 351-358 - The Gangland Wars- 76 & 77 - The Walsh St Shooting- 61 & 62 - Old Melbourne GaolBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/weird-crap-in-australia--2968350/support.

A huge summer of cricket is here, and Menners kicks things off with a packed episode recorded at the Kayo Sports and Fox Cricket launch. He breaks down Pat Cummins' fitness update and selectors' sensitivity over the story before chatting with three major names in the game — Ravi Shastri, Kerry O'Keefe, and Rachael Haynes. From Ashes insights to the future of Indian cricket, selection debates, and exclusive news on Babar Azam's BBL status, this episode sets the tone for a massive season ahead. (0:53) – Intro and Kayo launch recap (1:20) – Cummins injury update and selectors' frustration (3:01) – Tony Dodemaide bites back at Ben Horne (8:57) – Interview: Ravi Shastri on India's tour and Ashes prospects (13:59) – Interview: Kerry O'Keefe on the Ashes, team balance, and his ideal Aussie XI (22:08) – Interview: Rachael Haynes on the Sixers, Babar Azam, and the BBL/WBBL season (23:49) – Babar Azam update after PCB NOC withdrawal (29:40) – Haynes on the state of Australian women's cricket We've launched our official Cricket Unfiltered merch store thanks to a brilliant partnership with Exactamundo, a longtime supporter of the show.

This week on Australia Wide, Kylie Cuff reports from Darwin, about the November arts and craft indoor Christmas market, and the fishing competition offering a prize of one million Australian dollars, running until 31st March next year. - 国内各地の話題や情報をお伝えするコーナー「オーストラリアワイド」。今週はダーウィンから海里カフさんのリポートです。クリスマスプレゼント探しにもなる11月の手作りアートクラフトマーケットと、来年３月31日まで開催される賞金100万オーストラリアドルの釣り大会についてお伝えします。

President Donald Trump has declared an end to the war in Gaza; One in seven Australians poverty-stricken; There's a major city-country divide in miscarriage support in Australia; Katy Perry kissed Justin Trudeau – and liked it. Support independent women's media CREDITS Host/Producer: Cassandra Green Audio Production: Taylah Strano Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As spring has arrived in Australia, a leading food safety advocate group is calling Australians to also conduct a spring clean for their fridges, freezers and pantries. The call comes as a recent survey finds over half of Australians see food-borne illness as their main food safety concerns, but less than half consumers consistently perform food safety behaviours when preparing food at home. And with a hot summer approaching, advocates and health experts say Australians need to be more careful about food poisoning this year - ผลสำรวจพบคนออสเตรเลียไม่ถึงครึ่งปฏิบัติตามหลักความปลอดภัยในการเตรียมอาหาร องค์กรรณรงค์ด้านความปลอดภัยทางอาหารเตือนให้โละของเสียในตู้เย็น ช่องแช่แข็ง และตู้เก็บอาหารในครัว ก่อนฤดูร้อนจะมาถึง เพื่อป้องกันเหตุอาหารเป็นพิษ

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High-performing women know how to hustle — but what happens when that constant push starts blocking the very life you want?In this powerful conversation with Nadia Zaal — mother, entrepreneur, and leader, we explore why ambitious women secretly struggle to access their feminine energy. We unpack the hidden blocks that keep us in overdrive, the stigma around slowing down, and how learning to let go can actually open the doors to deeper success, balance, and fulfillment.

This week's J-Pop Hub features ‘Luminance' by Marihiko Hara feat. Satoru Iguchi (King Gnu), the theme song for the smash-hit Japanese film ‘Kokuho'. This film also will be screened in Australia as the opening film for this year's Japanese Film Festival, which commences across Australian cities from 27th October. - 今週の J-Pop Hub で取り上げるのは、大ヒット中の日本映画「国宝」の主題歌、原摩利彦 feat. 井口理（King Gnu）による「Luminance」です。「国宝」は10月27日からオーストラリア各都市で順に始まる今年の日本映画祭（Japanese Film Festival）のオープニング作品でもあります。

0:25 — Official show intro: "Wrestling Soup" with Anthony Thomas and Joey Numbers.0:50 — Banter about the "Crown Jewel Post Show" and some lighthearted police siren jokes.Roman Reigns & Bronson Reed Match1:30 — Discussion about the opening match: Roman Reigns vs. Bronson Reed.3:20 — Anthony and Joe debate the match's pacing, outcome, and the ongoing Bloodline storyline.7:00 — Reflections on the "Australian Street Fight" and how it compares to other street fights.10:00 — Commentary on the house show feel of the event and the crowd's reaction.Women's Crown Jewel Championship14:50 — Transition to the women's match: Tiffany Stratton vs. Stephanie.15:50 — Analysis of the match, both hosts noting Tiffany's regression and Stephanie's role as the aggressor.18:00 — Discussion about Triple H's involvement and the awkwardness of the post-match celebration.Audience & WWE Creative20:00 — Commentary on WWE's creative direction, Triple H's TED talk, and the challenges of keeping the product fresh.22:00 — Banter about Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch, and the need for stronger storylines and character development.John Cena vs. AJ Styles27:00 — Recap of the John Cena vs. AJ Styles match, comparing it to a "greatest hits" performance.30:00 — Reflections on the significance of AJ Styles' and John Cena's careers, especially for Australian fans.33:00 — Discussion of the match's many finishers and the crowd's reaction.Women's Tag Team Match38:00 — Analysis of the women's tag match: EO Sky & Rhea Ripley vs. Asuka & Kairi Sane.41:00 — Thoughts on the end of the Kabuki Warriors feud and the future direction for the women's division.Main Event: Seth Rollins vs. Cody Rhodes44:50 — Main event discussion: Seth Rollins vs. Cody Rhodes.47:00 — Critique of the match's length, pacing, and outcome, with both hosts feeling the wrong person won.50:00 — Reflections on the lack of crowd energy and the need for Becky Lynch at ringside.Closing Thoughts55:00 — Final thoughts on the event, best and worst matches, and the overall direction of WWE.58:20 — Outro: Thanks to listeners, Patreon plug, and sign-off.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/wrestling-soup--1425249/support.