Pearlcast episode

Pearlcasts

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

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Iran debacle is Suez moment for US-Australia alliance
James Curran

Iran debacle is Suez moment for US-Australia alliance

While there is already introspection both in the US and among its allies as to the long-term effects of this crisis on American capabilities and capacities, will Canberra seize the moment to reflect?

Defund, don’t debate – the playbook for silencing dissent
Sue Barrett

Defund, don’t debate – the playbook for silencing dissent

The closure of the Grace Tame Foundation exposes a troubling pattern – dissent isn’t debated, it is defunded through pressure applied behind the scenes.

Albo’s signature secrecy will ultimately bring him down
Jack Waterford

Albo’s signature secrecy will ultimately bring him down

A court-ordered release of the Pezzullo report is a win for transparency – but it exposes a deeper culture of secrecy and institutional failure.

Australia’s pre-emptive strike against Iranian asylum seekers
Peter Hughes

Australia’s pre-emptive strike against Iranian asylum seekers

A new law allows Australia to block entire groups of visa holders from entering the country – a sharp break from past practice with major consequences for asylum policy.

Pope Leo reframes the moral language of war
Antonio Spadaro

Pope Leo reframes the moral language of war

Leo may help break a trend that has dominated American Catholicism – less religion as national glue, more faith as a critique of power.

Orbán out – Hungary votes to end 16 years of rule
Brett Wilkins

Orbán out – Hungary votes to end 16 years of rule

Hungary’s election has ended Viktor Orbán’s 16-year grip on power, with voters backing a conservative challenger promising a return to democratic norms and a closer European path.

A costly rewrite of R&D – with no price tag
John H Howard

A costly rewrite of R&D – with no price tag

Proposed changes to Australia’s R&D tax system would expand eligibility beyond genuine research, concentrate benefits among a narrow group of firms, and proceed without clear costings.

John Menadue

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Closing Afghanistan’s embassy serves no Australian interest
William Maley

Closing Afghanistan’s embassy serves no Australian interest

Australia’s decision to close the Afghan Embassy risks aiding the Taliban, undermining diaspora communities, and weakening future diplomatic options in a volatile region.

Job-ready Graduates has failed – a first step to fixing it is on the table
Adam Lucas,  James Guthrie

Job-ready Graduates has failed – a first step to fixing it is on the table

The Job-ready Graduates reforms have increased student debt, failed to shift enrolments, and entrenched inequality across Australia’s higher education system.

Why “drill baby drill” won’t solve Australia’s energy problem
Sophie Vorrath

Why “drill baby drill” won’t solve Australia’s energy problem

Calls to expand fossil fuel production ignore Australia’s real energy vulnerabilities, while electrification and renewables offer a clearer path to lower costs and greater security.

The world acts for oil – but not for human life
Refaat Ibrahim

The world acts for oil – but not for human life

Global powers moved quickly to end a war that threatened energy supplies, while years of mass civilian suffering in Gaza has failed to prompt meaningful action.

Punishment alone won’t fix youth crime
John Frew

Punishment alone won’t fix youth crime

Tougher penalties dominate the politics of youth crime, but without addressing how young people – particularly First Nations children – learn, relate and develop, punishment risks deepening the very problems it seeks to solve.

Overpopulation is pushing Earth past breaking point
Julian Cribb

Overpopulation is pushing Earth past breaking point

Scientific evidence shows humanity has exceeded Earth’s long-term carrying capacity, placing growing strain on the systems that sustain life and increasing the risk of global instability.

China’s response to war is strategy, not opportunism
Jocelyn Chey

China’s response to war is strategy, not opportunism

As war disrupts the Middle East, China is focused on stability and long-term strategy – but much of the commentary in Australia continues to misread its intentions.

Robodebt for the environment? AI will not fix Australia’s broken environmental laws
David Lindenmayer

Robodebt for the environment? AI will not fix Australia’s broken environmental laws

Using artificial intelligence to speed up environmental approvals risks entrenching flawed laws, poor data and declining biodiversity outcomes.

Read our series

A Year in Review 10 Anti China Media Watch 20 Australia in Our Region 14
Best of 2025 134 Gourley on Government 14 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

The world acts for oil – but not for human life
Refaat Ibrahim

The world acts for oil – but not for human life

Global powers moved quickly to end a war that threatened energy supplies, while years of mass civilian suffering in Gaza has failed to prompt meaningful action.

Identity, influence and division – Australia’s Jewish community in a time of tension
John Warhurst

Identity, influence and division – Australia’s Jewish community in a time of tension

Amid rising tensions and a national inquiry into antisemitism, understanding the complexity of Australia’s Jewish community is essential to any serious conversation about social cohesion.

Pope 1, Trump 0 – Message from the Editor
Catriona Jackson

Pope 1, Trump 0 – Message from the Editor

You think things can’t get any worse and then they do!

Ending Israel’s war on peace
Jeffrey D. Sachs,  Sybil Fares

Ending Israel’s war on peace

To make lasting peace in the Middle East, the US must end its blank cheque to Israel’s perpetual wars and join with the rest of the world to force Israel to live within its internationally recognised borders of 4 June, 1967.

US disapproval of Israel hits an all-time high
Julia Conley

US disapproval of Israel hits an all-time high

Public support for Israel in the United States has dropped sharply, with younger voters driving a significant shift that could reshape future politics.

Jewish voices challenge the war on Iran
Awni Etaywe

Jewish voices challenge the war on Iran

Dissenting Jewish organisations are challenging support for war on Iran, reframing Jewish identity around justice, international law and the equal value of all lives.

The language of war is built on lies
Stuart Rees

The language of war is built on lies

The language used by Trump and Netanyahu turns violence into virtue, framing war as moral, necessary and inevitable while masking its human cost.

From Gaza to Minab – children are paying the price of war
Ramzy Baroud

From Gaza to Minab – children are paying the price of war

The scale of children killed, wounded and orphaned in modern conflicts demands more than outrage – it requires a refusal to accept their deaths as normal.

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

China’s response to war is strategy, not opportunism
Jocelyn Chey

China’s response to war is strategy, not opportunism

As war disrupts the Middle East, China is focused on stability and long-term strategy – but much of the commentary in Australia continues to misread its intentions.

How to take down a US F-35 over Iran? Chinese engineer’s tutorial goes viral
Chao Kongin

How to take down a US F-35 over Iran? Chinese engineer’s tutorial goes viral

china,  politics,  usa,  world

Technically skilled Chinese civilians are sharing open-source military analysis online, targeting US power in Iran’s war.

Why the west keeps misreading China’s strategy
Zenel Garcia

Why the west keeps misreading China’s strategy

Western analysis often assumes China operates like the United States. That misreading obscures a more transactional, less entangled approach to global partnerships.

More from Pearls and Irritations

Robodebt for the environment? AI will not fix Australia’s broken environmental laws
David Lindenmayer

Robodebt for the environment? AI will not fix Australia’s broken environmental laws

Environment: Nature is in decline – and we are funding the damage
Peter Sainsbury

Environment: Nature is in decline – and we are funding the damage

Pentagon threatened Pope after he condemned Trump’s military attacks
Julia Conley

Pentagon threatened Pope after he condemned Trump’s military attacks

Do people still care about opera? An insider raises some doubts
Peter Tregear

Do people still care about opera? An insider raises some doubts

Identity, influence and division – Australia’s Jewish community in a time of tension
John Warhurst

Identity, influence and division – Australia’s Jewish community in a time of tension

Pope 1, Trump 0 – Message from the Editor
Catriona Jackson

Pope 1, Trump 0 – Message from the Editor

War talks, danger for peacekeepers, and the ‘great insulation’ – Asian Media Report
David Armstrong

War talks, danger for peacekeepers, and the ‘great insulation’ – Asian Media Report

Ending Israel’s war on peace
Jeffrey D. Sachs,  Sybil Fares

Ending Israel’s war on peace

Cost of living? We should be more concerned about something else
Ross Gittins

Cost of living? We should be more concerned about something else

Populism grows where inequality is ignored
Allan Patience

Populism grows where inequality is ignored

Australia is giving away billions in gas profits
Matt Pollard,  Tim Buckley

Australia is giving away billions in gas profits

The Farrer by-election is a test of One Nation’s rise
David Solomon

The Farrer by-election is a test of One Nation’s rise

Latest letters to the editor

Trump, the unabashed war criminal

Richard Llewellyn — Colo Vale

Jeffrey Sachs' article covers a lot of ground with its examination of the psychological motives to the actions of Trump and Netanyahu – and there is a vast quagmire to be covered. Personally, I think that Trump is closer to Mussolini than to Hitler – his braggadocio, malignant narcissism, abuse of even the most basic of societal mores while claiming to uphold Holy principles, malignancy, mendacity, avid pursuit of revenge against both actual and imagined slights, utter amorality – channels Mussolini. Netanyahu is evil. Nobody would consider Netanyahu as other than a high-functioning sociopath, leaching off virtue capital...
I protested. I was not celebrating

Hal Duell — Alice Springs

It is becoming increasingly clear that for peace to settle across West Asia regime change in Israel has to come first. Historically they destroy, they immiserate and then they deny the proof when that's presented. The proof lies in the photos. Look at Gaza, look at Lebanon and now look at Iran. Everywhere Israel rears its head, razed buildings and dead bodies lie in windrows like dead leaves in the Autumn. That Israel's ambassador was invited to speak at the National Press Club shows us just how deeply the Zionist lobby has infiltrated the Australian political sphere. For some...
You may well ask why

Bob Pearce — Adelaide SA

“Why didn’t China develop capitalism during the Song dynasty?” ( 960 to 1279) Could it be that it has taken the western world until 2026 to recognise capitalism and its evolutionary Bastard democracy for the disaster that they are, not only for the planet but the majority of living things on the planet?
AI and education fighting against disinformation

Raymond Peck — Hawthorn

As Anne Delaney writes, “[The inquiry into climate misinformation] has brought to light compelling evidence that misinformation and disinformation are not fringe phenomena, but structural features of today’s information ecosystem, amplified by digital platforms, political incentives and coordinated campaigns.” While Australians can feel proud that the inquiry is a world first, it did not go far enough. Without truth in political advertising laws, Australians will continue to be fed disinformation with impunity. AI-driven bots on social media now have the widest reach, but AI is also being used to fight back. It can detect fake accounts and coordinated swarms...

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