Curtin’s Cast

This week on Curtin’s Cast, Nick Dyrenfurth is joined by award-winning historian Ross McMullin, author of the definitive history of the Australian Labor Party, The Light on the Hill.

Thirty-five years after its original publication, McMullin has returned to his landmark work, updating Labor’s extraordinary story through Keating, Rudd, Gillard and the leadership wars to Anthony Albanese’s historic 2025 victory.

What has changed about Labor — and what has endured across 135 years? Where do Keating and Albanese sit in the Labor pantheon? What was the party’s greatest mistake? And who are the underrated, overrated and forgotten characters of Labor history?

A fascinating long-form conversation about Labor, history, leadership and the craft of writing political history.

This week on Curtin's Cast, Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras are joined by one of Australia's foremost political journalists and historians, Paul Kelly, Paul Kelly, Editor-at-Large, The Australian and author of the new book, The Twilight of Exceptionalism: The Liberal and Conservative Era (Melbourne University Publishing).

Has Australia entered a fundamentally new political era? Why has reform become so difficult? What explains the decline of trust in institutions, the fragmentation of politics, and the rise of populism?

The conversation explores:

The end of Australia's "exceptional" political era

Why the Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison governments failed

The future of the Liberal Party, Hansonism and the Teals

Anthony Albanese, Labor and the coming Victorian election

The changing nature of political leadership and journalism

Whether Australian democracy can rediscover its reforming spirit

A wide-ranging discussion on Australia's past, present and future with one of the country's leading political thinkers.

Buy Paul's book here: https://www.mup.com.au/books/the-twilight-of-exceptionalism/9780522882339

🚨 WE'RE BACK! Curtin's Cast returns – EARLY RELEASE 🎙️

Victoria's election campaign has just been blown wide open.

In a dramatic day of escalating political tension, Deputy Premier Ben Carroll has advised Premier Jacinta Allan that he intends to be a candidate for the Labor leadership should a spill occur.

With just four months until polling day, is Victoria now heading towards both an election and a Labor leadership crisis?

In Episode 63, Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras break down:

🔴 The latest Victorian polling
📉 Labor's deteriorating position
⚠️ The leadership speculation engulfing Spring Street
📈 One Nation's extraordinary surge and whether it holds
🔵 Why the Liberals still can't put the election away
🇦🇺 A quick federal polling check-in and what it means for Anthony Albanese

This is one of the most timely Curtin's Cast episodes we've recorded.

🎧 Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

#CurtinsCast #VicPol #SpringSt #AusPol #VictorianElection #Labor #OneNation #Polling #Politics

Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras are joined by acclaimed author, pianist and incoming ANAM Artistic Director Anna Goldsworthy to discuss her new Quarterly Essay, The God We Made: The Threat and Promise of Artificial Intelligence out now with Schwartz Media

Is AI another technological revolution, or something far more profound? What remains uniquely human in an age of machines? Why do we still crave imperfection, authenticity and live experience? And are we repeating the mistakes we made with the industrial revolution and social media?

From music, art and education to work, politics and existential risk, this wide-ranging conversation explores how artificial intelligence is reshaping our world — and what it means to remain human within it.

Listen wherever you get your podcast goodies!

Could the 2026 Victorian election mark the beginning of the end of Australia's century-old two-party system? One Nation is now leading or tied in most national polls. Leadership whispers around Victorian Labor Premier Jacinta Allan are growing. But is this bigger than one premier — or even one party?

On Curtin's Cast Episode 61 Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras unpack:

🔥 Why replacing leaders won't stop deeper political forces
📊 What Redbridge modelling reveals about Labor & Coalition heartland seats
🗳️ Why One Nation's rise threatens BOTH major parties
💥 Why moral denunciation alone won't reconnect voters

🚨 If Victoria can produce a One Nation breakthrough, nowhere in Australia is immune.  Episode 61 of Curtin's Cast is out now! 🎧