Saturday Extra - Full program podcast

Iran-US peace talks face steep obstacles

Understand Australia and the world with Nick Bryant.

What did the Gulf states make of Trump's prime time address?

As a search and rescue mission is underway for a crew member from a US fighter jet that was downed in southern Iran, Gregg Carlstrom, the Middle East Correspondent for The Economist, joins Saturday Extra with the latest news from the region.To the stars and the Artemis moon mission with Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.David McCloskey, the co-host of podcast THE REST IS CLASSIFIED takes us into the world of his fourth novel, The Persian.The Queensland outback town of Winton becomes an official Dark Sky Place making it one of the best places on earth to star gaze.Eurovision is expanding into Asia, and the power of Bach's St John Passion this Easter weekend.

What would it take to end the Iran war?

Understand Australia and the world with Nick Bryant.

Thousands more US Marines head to Middle East as conflict escalates

The Pentagon is sending more US Marines to the Middle East as the war with Iran escalates and widens  -  Professor Robert Pape explains how the US is falling into an "escalation trap".Economist Stephen Koukoulas on how the oil shock is hitting the Australian economy and whether the government may use the crisis to bring forward economic reform.Andrew Day from The American Conservative, on how the decision to go to war is dividing President Trump's MAGA support base. How weight loss drugs are changing the world and might they become available to adolescents?Plus the ABC's Annabel Crabb on the South Australian election.

Who's winning the war in the Middle East?

Understand Australia and the world with Nick Bryant.