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If You’re Listening — News & Politics
If You’re Listening

The world is on fire. There’s a coup. Inflation is through the roof, and AI is taking our jobs. What does it all mean? Each week, Matt Bevan explains the biggest story in world news while hiding in his basement from assassins and authoritarian regimes.

Recent episodes include an exploration of the relationship between India and China, a closer look at the Saudi Arabian city of NEOM, the conflict in the Middle East, the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, and Ukraine’s incursions into Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Matt Bevan draws connections between stories from the past and the events of the present to help listeners understand world news and international affairs.

The podcast also features series about big moments in world news; previous series have focused on the United States presidential election, the United Kingdom’s 14 years of Conservative Party leadership, Donald Trump’s relationship with Russia, Donald Trump’s presidency and promise to Make America Great Again, the Mueller Report, Vladimir Putin’s scheme to destroy western democracies, how the relationship between Australia and China came to the verge of collapse, and Australia’s turbulent history with climate change.

There’s a new episode of If You’re Listening every Thursday.

Latest Episodes:

Was Jeffrey Epstein a Mossad agent? Jul 31, 2025

Show notes

The Jeffrey Epstein rabbit hole has opened into a cavernous rabbit abyss and it seems no one is safe. Conspiracy theorists and right-wing podcasters are following a particularly spicy lead: that Epstein was actually Israeli intelligence.

It explains the curious circumstances around his death, the suppression of his so-called client list, and why Donald Trump seems keen to bury the story entirely. But where did the Mossad rumours come from and are they all just an elaborate smoke screen?

If you're in Canberra and interested in coming to our live show on the 21st of August at the Canberra Theatre Centre you can buy tickets here: https://canberratheatrecentre.com.au/show/if-youre-listening-live-25/

Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.

Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

How to avoid abduction by a Mossad honeypot Jul 29, 2025

Show notes

Forty years ago, a man named Mordecai Vanunu came very close to exposing Israel’s secret nuclear enrichment facility in a bible group in the heart of Sydney. But before he could speak to journalists, he was lured to Rome by a beguiling blonde named Cindy. In this bonus episode of If You’re Listening we take a closer look at “Cindy” the mysterious Mossad honeypot who abducted Vanunu and changed the course of his life forever.

If you're interested in watching Stanley Hanin's tyre company advertisement you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-zCM_8APc0

If you're in Canberra and interested in coming to our live show on the 21st of August at the Canberra Theatre Centre you can buy tickets here: https://canberratheatrecentre.com.au/show/if-youre-listening-live-25/

Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.

Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

Israel’s not-so-secret nuclear weapons Jul 24, 2025

Show notes

It’s widely accepted that Israel has nuclear weapons.

How many? Well, it’s impossible to know because to this day the Israeli government has never officially confirmed or denied that it possesses a nuclear arsenal at all, instead it maintains a policy of “strategic ambiguity”.

In truly one of the most extraordinary stories we’ve told on this show - we get to the bottom of how Israel hides its nukes, how we found out about them, and why the global community seems to be fine with it.

If you're in Canberra and interested in coming to our live show on the 21st of August at the Canberra Theatre Centre you can buy tickets here: https://canberratheatrecentre.com.au/show/if-youre-listening-live-25/

Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.

Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

How Ayatollah Khomeini changed Iran Jul 17, 2025

Show notes

With Iran still in the news, we thought we would revisit the man who created the regime that so many in the Israeli and American political establishments would love to topple: Ayatollah Khomeini. This is the man who came back from 16 years in exile to be the Supreme Leader of Iran’s fundamentalist Islamic regime and overthrew the 2500 year old monarchy.

This episode was originally published on the 22nd February 2024.

Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.

Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

How a cancer diagnosis ended the US-Iran relationship Jul 10, 2025

Show notes

Before Iran was the Islamic theocracy it is today, it was a monarchy for two and a half thousand years. The last Shah or king of Iran was overthrown in 1979.

In this episode of If You're Listening we hear about the Shah’s battle with cancer that resulted in a Shakespearean tragedy that brought about the end of the Iranian monarchy and shaped the Middle East conflict we see today.

This episode was originally published on the 15th February 2024.

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Check out our series on YouTube: https://youtu.be/vOsdbCwS5qQ?si=ye2_zy0TOkLRMZLi

Has the US busted Iran’s nuclear bomb plans? Jul 03, 2025

Show notes

The chaotic 12 days of the Israel-Iran war ended with the United States dropping bombs on Iran’s nuclear facilities, then quickly brokering a ceasefire.

But there are still many questions about the conflict: Has Iran really been mere months away from building a bomb for the last fifteen years, as Israel claims? Did the US’s strikes bust all plans for an Iranian nuke? And what does an American bowling alley company have to do with Tehran’s nuclear program? That’s this week on If You’re Listening.

Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.

Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert on the bombing of Iran’s Evin prison Jul 01, 2025

Show notes

Israel recently bombed Iran’s notorious Evin prison, a place that Dr Kylie Moore Gilbert came to know all too well. The political scientist and author was imprisoned in Iran for 804 days and eventually released in a prisoner swap in November 2020.

In this chat with Matt Bevan, Kylie talks about solitary confinement, Iranian cheetahs, how her first cellmate was a spy, and why the regime is cracking down on dissidents right now.

Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.

Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

Why Israel's drones have changed the future of war Jun 26, 2025

Show notes

For the last century, since the rise of mechanised and then nuclear warfare, defence budgets are designed to stop big existential attacks. Ships, planes, submarines.

But cheap, retail store level technology - drones - have changed the game in the conflicts involving Ukraine and Israel. There’s no real way to immunise against a drone swarm that’s been smuggled into your country and hidden in a truck.

These covert attacks are relatively cheap to deploy and incredibly effective. Like the nuclear bomb, the machine gun, and the crossbow - drones mean the traditional way we fight wars is finished.

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Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

Can the US Air Force bust Matt’s studio bunker? Jun 24, 2025

Show notes

The United States has dropped some very large bombs on Iran, inserting itself into what we are currently calling the Israel-Iran War, despite Donald Trump saying just days earlier that he was going to spend two weeks thinking about it.

The bombs they dropped managed to destroy or at least severely damage a nuclear facility buried 90 metres underground. Which kind of makes Matt’s studio basement bunker superfluous.

So what’s next? Matt is joined by Emma Shortis, Director of the Australia Institute’s International and Security Affairs Program and host of podcast and book After America to chat about what this means for the Middle East, and whether Australia will get pulled into the conflict.

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Have ICE protests cracked Trump? Jun 19, 2025

Show notes

There is violence on the streets of America as anti-ICE protesters push back hard against the Trump Administration’s immigration policies.

In the early months of the Trump presidency it seemed like everything was going his way but now that’s changing and fast as his executive orders are challenged in the courts.

When it comes to stopping mass deportations Americans are learning that protests can actually work. These protesters aren’t backing down… but neither is Trump so what does that mean for undocumented immigrants across the country and the future of the Trump Administration’s deportation plans?

Follow If You're Listening on the ABC Listen app.

Check out our series on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDTPrMoGHssAfgMMS3L5LpLNFMNp1U_Nq

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