Curtin's Cast Episode 27 - 27 August 2025 - Former Liberal MP Keith Wolahan
This week’s Curtin’s Cast features the thoughtful and formidable former Liberal MP Keith Wolahan. Kos Samaras and Nick Dyrenfurth discussed Keith’s Irish Catholic working-class roots in Dublin, his childhood in suburban Melbourne and education at Ringwood Secondary College, through to his academic achievements at Melbourne, Monash and Cambridge and career as a barrister.
Our conversation delved into his two decades of military service including the elite 1st Commando Regiment, deployments to East Timor and Afghanistan, and the loss of close friends in combat that shaped his reflections on leadership, sacrifice and ethics. We unpacked his pivotal preselection contest against Kevin Andrews in the seat of Menzies and his brief time in federal parliament, with Keith providing some raw and super interesting insights into modern political life.
We also explored the lessons of defeat after Menzies turned red in 2025, his honesty in taking responsibility, and his vision for a Liberal Party that must reconnect with urban voters – especially professionals, women, younger Australians and migrant communities. Keith spoke candidly about his family life, his values, and whether a political comeback might lie ahead alongside his work at the Bar.
This is a conversation not to be missed.
Check out a preview which is running in Nine Media's The Age and SMH:
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/canavan-leads-group-of-five-demanding-coalition-debate-now-on-scrapping-net-zero-20250826-p5mpvo.html
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Curtin's Cast Episode 26 - 20 August 2025 - South Australian Labor Premier Peter Malinauskas
In a competitive field we think this week's Curtin's Cast might be the best yet featuring the super impressive South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas. Kos Samaras and Nick Dyrenfurth discussed Peter's upbringing in Adelaide, his career as a unionist rising from the Woolies shopfloor to become state secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association representing retail, fast-food and warehousing workers, and journey from becoming SA Labor Opposition leader to Premier during the Covid years. Our conversation spanned artificial intelligence and productivity, housing, social media policy, the end of woke and anti-woke politics, Labor connecting better with disillusioned young men and Australians of faith, and the deteriorating geopolitical environment.
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Curtin's Cast Episode 25 - 13 August 2025 - Dom Meagher (JCRC Deputy Director & Chief Economist)
We are very fortunate to have the one of the brightest and most innovative economists in Australia as part of our team - Dr Dominic Meagher. He's our latest guest on Curtin's Cast with Kos Samaras discussing the finer details of our recently released paper co-authored with Nick Dyrenfurth - 'Innovation Nation: Powering Australian Productivity in the 2020s and Beyond'. On this episode we get to the core of what productivity actually is and why Australian growth is now at its lowest in 60 years, mostly as the result of the old playbook of cutting costs, deregulation, and squeezing workers being no longer fit for purpose, and deep dive into the JCRC's bold, practical and distinctively social democratic blueprint for a more dynamic, resilient, and fair economy with productivity the means by which we can realise rising real wages and better living standards.
Read the entire report here:
https://lnkd.in/ga2xad8J
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Curtin's Cast Episode 24 - 6 August 2025 - Liberals' Existential Crisis (Kung Fu Kos Is Back!)
The great 'Kung Fu' Kos Samaras is back with Curtin's Cast co-host Nick Dyrenfurth discussing the post-election environment and the crisis of the Liberal-National Party.
This week's Curtin's Cast is a ripper featuring Gautam Raju, Global Director, Policy & Advocacy – Programs with Movember. Gautam, as listeners will discover is a ripper bloke talking about an issue Australian society is slowly but surely confronting - bloke's health, whether mental or physical well-being. Nick Dyrenfurth and Redbridge's Simon Welsh covered a smorgasbord of topics from Gautam's work co-leading the United Nations Secretary General campaign response to combat misinformation on COVID-19 which has reached over 1 billion people to big topics from the state of play in 2025, the usefulness of terms such as toxic masculinity, sport and male role models, the online world and social media influencers including right-wing populist types, and what political progressives and those on the left of politics need to do better in these spaces. A big thanks to Simon for filling in for Kos Samaras these past few weeks. Enjoy episode 23!
Welcome to Curtin’s Cast, the John Curtin Research Centre’s podcast of politics, culture and ideas brought to you by JCRC Executive Director Nick Dyrenfurth and Redbridge Director and former Victorian Labor assistant secretary Kos Samaras. Each fortnight we bring you the freshest and most challenging conversations from the world of Australian and global politics with leaders, activists, and thinkers.
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