Curtin’s Cast

For years politics and media have obsessed over angry young men, the manosphere and figures like Andrew Tate.

But what if the bigger political story is the radicalisation — and growing pessimism — of ‘Angry Young Women’?

This week Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras are joined by New Statesman staff writer Emily Lawford to discuss her major recent cover story on the rise of the Gen Z “femosphere” and the widening political divide between young men and women.

They discuss:

▪️ How young women are becoming more politically engaged, but more anxious and pessimistic

▪️ Why these young women are so down on young men, capitalism and animated by issues like Gaza
▪️ The rise of online feminist identity and activism
▪️ TikTok, social media and radicalisation pathways
▪️ Why young men and women are increasingly diverging politically
▪️ The impact on relationships, trust and social cohesion
▪️ What this means for Labor, the Greens and the future of democratic politics

Featuring Australian polling and focus-group insights from Kos Samaras and the team at RedBridge.

A serious conversation about one of the biggest — and least understood — political shifts reshaping the Anglosphere.

Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

One year on from the 2025 federal election, the political landscape is shifting again — and not in ways either major legacy party can fully control.

In this episode, Kos Samaras and Nick Dyrenfurth unpack the latest RedBridge/Accent/AFR  polling and the fallout from the Nepean by-election. Has One Nation’s surge peaked? And is there a “Trump dump” effect — where getting too close to Trump and MAGA begins to turn voters off?

Nick and Kos also explore Pauline Hanson’s emerging dilemma: a choice between battlers and billionaires, as her party draws support from working Australians while benefiting from the backing of right-wing figures like Gina Rinehart.

We also preview the looming Farrer by-election and examine what Nepean signals for both Labor and the Liberals — and the Victorian election ahead.

In this episode, Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras break down why AI anxiety is already political — not hypothetical — and why governments are at risk of repeating the biggest mistake of the last economic transition. We’ve seen this movie before. It didn’t end well. Over 70% of Australians think AI will cost jobs — and this time, the fear hits before the impact. Based off new Redbridge polling and the John Curtin Research Centre's new policy report, 'For All of Us: Making Artificial Intelligence Work for Working People', the argument is simple: if workers don’t share in the gains, they won’t accept the change. And if they don’t accept it, they’ll vote against it.

On this episode, Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras are joined by leading scholars of nationalism and European politics expert Associate Professor Ben Wellings (Monash University) to unpack the forces reshaping the UK and Europe. From the collapse of the political centre to the rise of populists and Greens alike, this is a continent in flux. We cover:

▪️ The UK’s shift to five-party fragmentation with Greens and Reform surging
▪️ Trump Bump 2.0 reshaping European politics in real time
▪️ Hungary after Orbán — liberal reset or just a populist pause?
▪️ Scottish and Welsh elections and Keir Starmer’s future

Essential listening for anyone trying to understand where Western politics is heading — and why the old rules no longer apply.

Australia isn’t experiencing one populist surge, but two. In this episode of Curtin’s Cast, Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras unpack new RedBridge and Accent Research polling revealing a striking political reality: under the same economic pressures, different generations are breaking in completely different directions.

Among financially stressed Gen X voters, One Nation is surging. Among Gen Z voters under that same pressure, the Greens are rising just as sharply. Same system. Same frustration. Completely different political outcomes.

This isn’t just volatility — it’s something deeper. The unravelling of the class-based political system that has defined Australia for more than a century.

But here’s the paradox: as the system fragments, Labor remains dominant. Why? Drawing on Nick’s ‘Trump Bump 2.0’ thesis, the episode explores how voters are shifting from blaming governments to asking a different question — who looks like the “adult in the room” in an age of global instability. Nick and Kos break down:

Why Australia now has two competing populisms

The generational divide reshaping politics

Why One Nation is insurgent but not a governing force

The Coalition’s accelerating collapse

How Labor is holding on amid fragmentation

Is class politics is being replaced by generation and education

This is a conversation about a political system coming apart — and what might replace it.