Rear Vision — How History Shaped Today

The crisis in the Middle East has once again thrown a spotlight on the Houthis, a militia group from Yemen who, in conjunction with Iran, have been disrupting international shipping and global supply chains. The Houthis have long been derided as an Iranian "proxy", but their recent attacks against Saudi Arabia and capture of the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb show they are a formidable force in their own right. In this episode we examine the Houthis origins and rising influence.Jane Kinninmont - Middle East specialist, United Nations Association, UK Baraa Shaban - Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services InstituteMartin Smith - Producer and correspondent for PBSIsel van Zyl – Coordinator of the AVERT Research Network, Deakin University

More than 30 years after apartheid ended in South Africa, why is it still the most unequal country in the world?Guests:Bulelwa Mabasa - Director and Head of Land Reform, Werksmans AttorneysProfessor Ruth Hall  - Director, Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies at University of the Western CapeWandile Sihlobo - Chief Economist, Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa and South Africa’s Presidential Envoy on Agriculture and Land

The English language is dotted with expressions that betray a distrust of time – we talk of “racing against time” or we express a frustration that “time is not on our side”. In this episode of Rear Vision, we look at the history of time as a concept. Why time from the Industrial Revolution onwards became wedded to ideas of progress and productivity. And how at both a personal and societal level time became a means of constraint as much as organisation.Guests:Dr Adrian Bardon – Professor of Philosophy, Wake Forest University Dr Emily Thomas – Professor and Head of the Department of Philosophy, Durham UniversityDr Iwan Rhys Morus – Professor of History and Welsh History, Aberystwyth UniversityJudith Shulevitz – American journalist, editor and culture criticDr David Henkin – Professor of History, University of California, BerkeleyTom Greene – Atlanta-based syndicated columnist and podcaster

Depending on who you talk to the American Israel Lobby is either one of the most powerful forces in US politics or an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory.In this Rear Vision we explore the history and ask if the Israel Lobby exist? And if it does what impact it may have had on US politics and US foreign policy in the Middle East.

Once again communities in Central Africa are plagued by Ebola and the current outbreak shows no sign of being brought under control any time soon. What have medical researchers and practitioners learnt about the nature of the virus over its fifty-year history and just as importantly, how it’s spread? Given its deadly nature, why isn’t there more concern about the possibility of global transmission?Guests:Dr Holly Seale – Professor of Social Science, School of Population Health, University of New South Wales Dr Seth Judson - Assistant Professor-in-Residence, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of California Los AngelosDr Paul Griffin – Professor of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, University of Queensland

Drug trafficking across the Pacific. Why is it increasing and can it be stopped?

Separatist sentiments are stirring in the Canadian province of Alberta. Voters will soon cast their ballots in a referendum on whether to begin moves to formally separate from the rest of the nation. We look at the history of separatism in Canada and at the pernicious impact of foreign interference.Guests:Marcus Kolga - Director of DisinfoWatch. Senior fellow, Macdonald-Laurier Institute Robert Currie – King’s Counsel. Professor of Law, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie UniversityRandy Boissonnault - former Member of the Canadian Parliament for Edmonton CentreDr Ryan Griffiths – Professor of Political Science, Syracuse University

How a Cold War listening post in outback Australia has become a  nerve centre of U.S. surveillance

Our understanding of the past has always been contentious and ripe for argumentation. How we think and write about historic events changes as new sources of information are found, and fresh details emerge about people and events. In this episode, as part of ABC Radio National’s Top 100 Australian Books, we hear from three leading Australian authors about the history of Australian history. Guests:Dr Anna Clark – Professor of History, University of Technology SydneyDr Tim Rowse – Emeritus Professor, Western Sydney UniversityDr Michelle Arrow – Professor of Modern History, Macquarie University, Immediate Past President of the Australian Historical Association

Today the Red Sea’s crucial choke-point at the Bab el-Mandeb is becoming as infamous as the Strait of Hormuz.