Pearlcast episode

Pearlcasts

As we review 2025, the temptation is to look for neat summaries and settled conclusions.

Go to Pearlcasts
History shows Iran is not easily defeated
Robin Derricourt

History shows Iran is not easily defeated

Iran’s long history shows a pattern of resistance and resilience against external powers.

Why delaying the Trump-Xi Summit could anchor global stability
Christopher Tang,  Mark S Pirie

Why delaying the Trump-Xi Summit could anchor global stability

The postponement of a US–China summit reflects domestic constraints and shifting global leverage – not just competing priorities – and may open space for recalibration with China.

UN experts urge Israel to free Gaza doctor amid reports of ‘severe torture’
Al Jazeera Staff

UN experts urge Israel to free Gaza doctor amid reports of ‘severe torture’

UN experts say a Palestinian doctor detained by Israel has been denied medical care and subjected to serious human rights abuses.

Treason in the futures markets
Paul Krugman

Treason in the futures markets

Unusual market activity before a sudden US policy reversal on Iran raises serious questions about insider knowledge and government integrity.

Serious times call for serious leaders
Allan Patience

Serious times call for serious leaders

In a time of global instability and mounting crises, Australia is being led by an unserious leadership class across politics, business and beyond.

Underfunded public schools, overfunded private ones – the gap grows
Trevor Cobbold

Underfunded public schools, overfunded private ones – the gap grows

Private schools are pulling further ahead as funding policies deepen inequality across Australia’s education system.

Does Iran already have a nuclear deterrent?
Julian Cribb

Does Iran already have a nuclear deterrent?

Iran may already have the materials and delivery systems to deter a nuclear strike – raising the stakes in an escalating conflict.

John Menadue

Support our independent media with your donation

Pearls and Irritations leads the way in raising and analysing vital issues often neglected in mainstream media. Your contribution supports our independence and quality commentary on matters importance to Australia and our region.

Donate
Patriotism or politics – the fight over the flag
Marian Sawer

Patriotism or politics – the fight over the flag

As populism rises, the Australian flag is being used as a political tool – defining patriotism and drawing lines around national identity.

Budget savings for Chalmers – fix the bloated pay system at the top of the public service
Paddy Gourley

Gourley on Government

Budget savings for Chalmers – fix the bloated pay system at the top of the public service

As the government looks for budget savings, the biggest opportunity lies at the top. Senior public service pay and structures have become costly, inconsistent and hard to justify.

Tuberculosis remains the world’s deadliest infectious disease – Australia’s regional leadership matters
Kate Thwaites,  Sophie Scamps

Tuberculosis remains the world’s deadliest infectious disease – Australia’s regional leadership matters

Tuberculosis is preventable and curable, yet remains the world’s deadliest infectious disease. Australia’s regional role is critical to changing that.

Kharg Island – a dangerous gamble in a war with Iran
Eugene Doyle

Kharg Island – a dangerous gamble in a war with Iran

A US move on Iran’s Kharg Island would be a high-risk military gamble that could escalate rapidly and destabilise global energy.

The greatest danger is not war – it is planetary breakdown
Julian Cribb

The greatest danger is not war – it is planetary breakdown

Human activity is pushing Earth beyond safe planetary limits, raising the risk of climate breakdown, ecological collapse and systemic global failure.

India’s Iran calculus – Part 3
Ramesh Thakur

India’s Iran calculus – Part 3

In a new three-part series, Ramesh Thakur examines dimensions of the Iran war. In part three, he takes a look at India's contemporary and historic relations with Iran.

Time for tax reform – and this may be the moment to act
Michael Keating

Time for tax reform – and this may be the moment to act

With inequality rising and budget pressures mounting, a rare political window has opened for meaningful tax reform – if the government chooses to act.

Labor’s 2025 landslide – but Australia remains divided
John Warhurst

Labor’s 2025 landslide – but Australia remains divided

A new book on the 2025 election reveals Labor’s commanding win – but also a fragmented electorate, a weakened opposition and a volatile political landscape.

Read our series

A Year in Review 10 Anti China Media Watch 20 Australia in Our Region 14
Best of 2025 136 Gourley on Government 13 History 1
Review 11 The Dismissal at 50 28 The UN at 80 4
Year in Review 2 Young Global Leaders 6

Latest on Palestine and Israel

UN experts urge Israel to free Gaza doctor amid reports of ‘severe torture’
Al Jazeera Staff

UN experts urge Israel to free Gaza doctor amid reports of ‘severe torture’

UN experts say a Palestinian doctor detained by Israel has been denied medical care and subjected to serious human rights abuses.

Free speech and antisemitism: drawing the line
Gareth Evans

Free speech and antisemitism: drawing the line

In this extract from his submission to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion Gareth Evans argues that it is crucial that protest language claimed to be inherently antisemitic be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, taking into account context and intent.

Jewish Australians speak – and contradict the government's antisemitism report
Gwenaël Velge

Jewish Australians speak – and contradict the government's antisemitism report

A new grassroots study of Jewish Australians challenges the government-backed antisemitism report, exposing contradictions in its methodology and conclusions.

Randa Abdel-Fattah wins Jerusalem Peace Prize
Stuart Rees

Randa Abdel-Fattah wins Jerusalem Peace Prize

Randa Abdel-Fattah has been awarded the 2026 Jerusalem Peace Prize, recognising her advocacy for Palestinian rights amid mounting political and institutional pressure.

Israel is caught in a permanent state of war
C.J. Polychroniou,  Idan Landau

Israel is caught in a permanent state of war

An interview with Israeli academic and activist Idan Landau, who says “as long as the US and Europe continue to insulate Israel from the moral consequences of its policies,” things are likely to go from bad to worse.

Keeping your chin up – Message from the Editor
Catriona Jackson

Keeping your chin up – Message from the Editor

Around our dinner table we volunteer our ‘best bits’ for the day. My eldest daughter started it with her boys, and it has now become an evening ritual for us all. It forces you to articulate the good bits of the day, and to listen to what have been the good bits for others. So I thought I would start doing that with readers as well. Each week, as I filter through the hundreds of articles, podcasts, and Instagram posts that inform our coverage, I will pick a best bit. If you are reading this on social media I would...

I am 25 – wars shaped my consciousness and memory
Refaat Ibrahim

I am 25 – wars shaped my consciousness and memory

From childhood to adulthood, Refaat Ibrahim recounts a life marked by repeated war, displacement and loss – a personal testimony of a generation growing up under siege in Gaza.

The anti-Zionism of Sir Isaac Isaacs
Derek McDougall

The anti-Zionism of Sir Isaac Isaacs

Sir Isaac Isaacs warned in the 1940s that Zionism risked deep and lasting conflict. Decades on, those arguments about justice and prudence remain sharply relevant.

John Menadue's book on Israel's war against Gaza

Israel's war against Gaza

Media coverage of the war in Gaza since October 2023 has spread a series of lies propagated by Israel and the United States. This publication presents information, analysis, clarification, views and perspectives largely unavailable in mainstream media in Australia and elsewhere.

Download the PDF

Latest on China

Why delaying the Trump-Xi Summit could anchor global stability
Christopher Tang,  Mark S Pirie

Why delaying the Trump-Xi Summit could anchor global stability

The postponement of a US–China summit reflects domestic constraints and shifting global leverage – not just competing priorities – and may open space for recalibration with China.

Sanctioned Rubio to take part in Trump’s China trip
Dewey Sim

Sanctioned Rubio to take part in Trump’s China trip

The US secretary of state, previously sanctioned by Beijing, is expected to accompany Donald Trump on a visit to China as both sides prepare for high-level talks.

China’s tech ambitions, Nepal’s political upheaval and the BTS comeback – Asian Media Report
David Armstrong

China’s tech ambitions, Nepal’s political upheaval and the BTS comeback – Asian Media Report

Five-year-plan stresses AI, Xi-Trump summit still on track, K-pop sensation’s global comeback, landslide win in Nepal elections, security risks self-radicalise online, and Manila drops Nobel laureate charges.

More from Pearls and Irritations

Labor’s 2025 landslide – but Australia remains divided
John Warhurst

Labor’s 2025 landslide – but Australia remains divided

In South Australia One Nation surges and the Liberals slide – but the shake-up has limits
Binoy Kampmark

In South Australia One Nation surges and the Liberals slide – but the shake-up has limits

Silence facilitates climate disinformation, and the government is complicit
David Spratt

Silence facilitates climate disinformation, and the government is complicit

Australia’s superannuation pivot to America: prudent strategy or moment for pause?
Warwick Powell

Australia’s superannuation pivot to America: prudent strategy or moment for pause?

Jewish Australians speak – and contradict the government's antisemitism report
Gwenaël Velge

Jewish Australians speak – and contradict the government's antisemitism report

Crippling or buttressing Iran’s nuclear ambition – Part 2
Ramesh Thakur

Crippling or buttressing Iran’s nuclear ambition – Part 2

The lies that fuel war
David Shoebridge

The lies that fuel war

The most liberal of Judges – Anthony Mason
Greg Barns

The most liberal of Judges – Anthony Mason

Albanese risks losing the voters who put him there
Jack Waterford

Albanese risks losing the voters who put him there

The WTO is dead? Long live the WTO
Gary Sampson

The WTO is dead? Long live the WTO

The sinking of IRIS Dena: will hubris meet nemesis? Part 1
Ramesh Thakur

The sinking of IRIS Dena: will hubris meet nemesis? Part 1

Randa Abdel-Fattah wins Jerusalem Peace Prize
Stuart Rees

Randa Abdel-Fattah wins Jerusalem Peace Prize

Latest letters to the editor

Time to accept the mantle of climate leadership

Chris Young — Surrey Hills, Vic

The news from the Senate inquiry on climate change and energy, that four senior government ministers in a position to take a climate lead are declining to present the climate challenge openly, provides confirmation that the Albanese government is reluctant to make clear the threats that we, as a nation, face. It’s not as if they needed to fear mass resistance to the idea of climate crisis: Spratt cites reports that confirm that the majority think government must do more. It’s as though the government is avoiding any sort of confrontation. We are being swept headlong towards a climate...
Confusion about antisemitism

keith mitchelson — queensland

The article states that those most vocal/committed to opposing genocide in Gaza in Australia, in Britain and elsewhere are not antisemitic, but are instead anti-zionist. Yet the article seems to slide into repeating the accusation that such people are antisemitic. There is reference to surveys produced by pro-Israeli lobby groups with data claiming that antisemitism is on the rise. This is propaganda which unaccountably is not refuted nor analysed. It ignores the reality that the pro-Israel lobby claim all anti-genocidal expression as antisemitism, not as anti the actions of successive Israeli governments.
Drivers want help to buy electric trucks

Lesley Walker — Northcote

Pearls and Irritations readers might be interested to know that the Australian Trucking Association (11 industry associations representing 60,000 trucking businesses and 200,000 people working in the road freight sector) backs the move to electric trucks. Before last year’s election the ATA wrote: “The science is in. The world’s greenhouse gas emissions are changing the climate, and a global effort is needed to reduce emissions. . . That’s why the next Australian Government should (among other things) encourage new truck purchasers to buy electric with a voucher scheme covering half the price gap between comparable electric and conventional truck...
The politics of grievance

Fiona Colin — Melbourne

While the Coalition may be “building their own irrelevance”, perhaps it is not via its climate-change denial, as this did not deter last weekend around 22 per cent of South Australians voting One Nation first. The fact that SA is a global leader in renewable energy was not on the minds of voters, just ‘the vibe’ of Pauline Hanson’s politics of grievance. She utterly rejects the science of climate change, believing there is insufficient evidence on which to base catastrophic predictions – never mind overwhelming scientific consensus to the contrary. The 2025 Senate inquiry on Information Integrity on Climate...

Catch up on other sections

Arts 151 China 1272 Climate 1510 Commendations 24 Defence 2508 Economy 2930 Education 739
Employment 39 Finance 5 Health 1558 History 85 Immigration 994 Indigenous Affairs 390 Israel Palestine 1551
Media 1918 Pearlcast 4 Podcast 43 Policy 283 Politics 19523 Racism 19 Religion 1254
Review 67 The Human Future 79 Our Top Five Each Week 2512 USA 733 World 1699