The Radio National Hour

It’s an ominous warning of a tech takeover, where society abandons ‘government by consent, for government by machine’. Historian and journalist Jill Lepore's new book, The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State is an urgent appeal to stop sleepwalking into an automated future.Fitting in or sticking out? Choreographer and dancer Yuiko Masukawa and street dance artist and accessibility advocate Geoffrey Lim were celebrated on Thursday at the Asian-Australian Leadership Awards, They share how they've overcome the Bamboo Ceiling in Australia’s corporate and arts world, and whether it’s changing.Singer-songwriter Tash Sultana has had a tough couple of years - but when life gave them lemons, they turned them into Sonic Alchemy, the very fitting title of their new album.

Security experts are warning that a recent spate of cyber attacks and bomb hoaxes in Europe and the UK are of an escalating pattern of disruption and threats known as hybrid-warfare. Acts designed not to necessarily kill and maim but sow fear and confusion. A severe winter storm in Gaza has brought catastrophic flooding, displacing tens of thousands of people from their make-shift camps. Brisbane anaesthetist Dr Mary O'Shea has been working there for just a week and says Israel is still blocking desperately needed equipment and supplies. The Prime Minister has urged nations to do more to reduce their emissions in his opening address to the United Nations Climate conference, but Australia’s own record is under scrutiny. Among the the most carbon intensive projects currently being considered for approval is Woodside’s 30 billion dollar Browse gas field off Western Australia’s coast. 

Sandpaper gate was a moment of cultural reckoning for Australia's national cricket team. Eight years on from the international sporting scandal, revelations from retired test player Usman Khawaja in his new book have knocked the scab off an old wound. Journalist and writer Gideon Haigh says its been a poorly kept secret for a long time that everyone was up to it and this was a policy not a plot. The risks and benefits of hormone therapy for menopausal women have been the subject of hot debate for decades, but now scientists are excited about the potential effects of estrogen on women’s ageing brains. Neurobiologist Dr Anna Marseglia says its still early days but the early signs are positive. And it’s Remembrance Day, when we’re asked to reflect on the sacrifices made by servicemen and women in defence of our nation and democratic values. But why are some histories embedded in our national memory, while others remain uncomfortable, contested or forgotten?  

Nvidia boss Jensen Huang has admitted to an affair with a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy. Could an alleged honey trap reshape the US-China race for AI supremacy? The Democrats have swept back into control of the US Congress after a resounding midterm victory, the question on many people's minds now is whether they will they pursue an agenda of retribution against the Trump administration or focus on the key issues - like cost of living - that drove voters to them. South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas is warning Australia is heading towards an aged-care crisis that will place increasing pressure on public hospitals around the country. So how severe is this crisis and what will it take to stop thousands of older Australians being stranded in public hospitals?

It’s a disease that afflicts nearly half a million Australians. Dementia is often spoken about as a scourge. But for the past five years, dementia rehabilitation has become a new buzzword, changing how people accept and move forward after their diagnosis. The US President Donald Trump is digging in after last week's midterms but Michael Fullilove, the executive director of The Lowy Institute says his power and influence on the international stage is diminished and that leaders will now be imagining at post-Trump world. 

They call her ‘Q’ and she’s here to shake up New Zealand politics. Qiulae Wong is the leader of New Zealand's Opportunity Party which is tipped to pick up its first seats in the parliament at tomorrow's general election. And that might just make her a Kingmaker.Not many of us get to fall in love with a 300-year-old but, Cello virtuoso Mischa Maisky has enjoyed one particularly enduring love affair - with his instrument - built in the age of Bach. He's touring Australia and performing with his pianist daughter Lily Maisky. And true crime author and podcaster Vikki Petraitis talks about watching her novel come to life on the ABC in the new hit series Dustfall. 

David Jones is fighting for its life after entering voluntary administration today. The iconic retailer has survived 188 years, but can it weather its biggest crisis yet? And is there any future for up-market department stores, like DJs?A new report has found that more than 8,200 sharks and rays have died as a result of South Australia's algal bloom, potentially making it one the largest natural mass mortality events for these species ever recorded. Vincent Raoult, Senior Lecturer in Marine Ecology at Griffith University says it's just one of many human-made crisis threatening the sharks. After three decades probing and exposing the biggest stories of our time Investigative journalist Sally Neighbour has turned her gaze to the sixteenth century court of Suleyman the Magnificent for her latest project a work of historical fiction. 

First came South Carolina, then Texas, followed by the once unthinkable - Kansas. One by one these deep red states flipped, as Americans turned out in record numbers to cast their ballots in the midterm elections, delivering a stunning repudiation of President Donald Trump. Veteran political commentator E J Dionne says the historic result marks the end of the Trump era. A crowd funded, community inquiry into AUKUS has delivered its verdict calling for the $368 billion project to be sunk. Immediately. Former chief of the Australian Defence Force retired Admiral Chris Barrie says the project is a costly mistake that undermines our sovereignty. Iran’s regime is continuing to terrorise its citizens, making an example of athletes who joined the protests earlier this year. At least two have been executed in the past month and there are grave fears for another seven waiting on death row. Dr Zohreh Abdollahkhani, a former member of Iran’s national ice-climbing team and the chair and founder of Human Rights for Sport is campaigning to save them in exile in Norway. 

The Reserve Bank has moved again, pushing the cash rate to the highest level in 18 years whilst warning that inflation will remain above 3 percent for the coming year. Former NAB chief economist Alan Oster says The government insists its world-first social media ban is protecting children from harmful content online. NSW Libertarian MP John Ruddick say it’s a violation of their right to free speech and he's challenging the ban in the High Court.And for decades the US state of Texas has been the shiniest red ruby in the Republican political crown, but that could all change after tomorrow's midterm elections. Will a blue wave wash over the Lone Star State or will the Democrats have their hearts broken again?     

Arab-Israeli voters turned out in record numbers for last week’s Knesset elections in Israel, now as the opposition resists their calls to form a coalition, many fear that vote will count for little. The earth’s frozen regions are experiencing the worst impacts of a warming planet. With the world on track to overshoot 1.5 degrees of warming, a new report reveals that the impact on Earth’s cryosphere, will likely be irreversible for generations, even if we bring down temperatures quickly. Dr James Kirkham is the Chief Science Adviser at the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative says the world needs to start reducing emissions by 5% every year starting now. Sky news special correspondent Alex Crawford waited five years to return to Afghanistan after the Taliban swept to power again. She’s just released a powerful documentary, Banished: The Taliban’s War on Women, exposing how the regime has systematically erased women and girls from society.