Our new look in 2025

This week, we were thrilled to launch ABC Radio National's new programming for 2025.

We welcomed Hilary Harper and Cassie McCullagh as the voices of Radio National, accompanying you through your day, in between programs. We also heard Sally Sara as the new presenter of Radio National Breakfast and Fran Kelly — a much-loved presenter at the network for many years — in her new role as host of The Radio National Hour.

For those hungry for something new, our programming this year will not disappoint.

If you're keen on arts and culture, follow Arts in 30 with Daniel Browning for a weekly round-up, or tune into MediaLand for a media deep-dive with Tim Burrowes and Vivienne Kelly. If history or economics is more your speed, check out Rewind, our new feed for all things history-related, or The Economy, Stupid, a show about the finance world, hosted by Peter Martin. And if you have an appetite for food or science, try Every Bite with Jonathan Green or Lab Notes with Belinda Smith.

We also launched two new series within existing programs.

For those fascinated by sport and its ethical quandaries, we have The Minefield's School of Sport, which sees Scott Stephens and Waleed Aly explore a series of profound moral dilemmas with some of Australia's most accomplished athletes. And for book lovers, we've got a special series by The Book Show. It's called My Biggest Book and it features some of the world’s most beloved authors reminiscing about their most popular books — and how they changed their lives.

Finally, you may have noticed that our newsletter looks different this week and that it came from ABC Radio National, rather than ABC RN. We hope you enjoy our refreshed look — and don't forget to follow us on Instagram and Facebook to see more exciting new content.

In their frequent displays of superiority and demand for adulation, elite athletes mark themselves as a class apart. Should we be surprised when these athletes do not want to be bound by the normal laws of human behaviour?

Surrogacy has been around since biblical times, and today it's a multi-billion-dollar industry. Some experts warn the practice is exploitative, others view it as "empowering".

Over the years, Robert F Kennedy Jr has repeatedly pushed the claim that childhood vaccines cause autism spectrum disorder — a theory that's been well and truly debunked. So where did this idea come from? And what might the US expect with an anti-vaxxer at the helm of health and human services?

Audrey Niffenegger reflects on her debut novel, The Time Traveler's Wife. The 2003 book about time-travelling librarian Henry and his artist wife Clare was an instant bestseller. It’s been adapted to the screen twice, as a film in 2009 and a TV series in 2022.

It's 1865 in remote central west NSW. A police officer is fatally shot by a man he believes is a Chinese bushranger. Two weeks later, Sam Poo is arrested for murder — but all is not as it seems.

Australia is not alone in confronting growing anti-Semitism, so how are other nations responding and what can we learn from each other?

In the wake of the fires in Southern California, with the loss of private collections and the threat to the Getty Museum, how are Australia's cultural institutions protecting their collections in an era of climate change?

Asking young people to contribute more to the home isn't just teaching them about financial literacy, it can also be necessary to run a house.

The use of AI to influence voters was in the spotlight across major elections around the world last year. Now, the Australian Electoral Commission is grappling with similar challenges, as our federal election looms large.

The discovery that scurvy, a debilitating illness caused by vitamin C deficiency, could be treated with citrus fruit transformed 19th century naval exploration around the world.