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John Anderson: Conversations

John Anderson: Conversations

By: John Anderson
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Former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia John Anderson sits down with world-leading historians, economists, politicians, and thinkers to examine the ideas shaping our society. Drawing on decades at the highest levels of government, John brings rare depth and civility to conversations that mainstream media won't have. This podcast covers everything from Australia's political future to faith, freedom, and the fragility of Western democracy. Thoughtful, rigorous, and genuinely independent.John Anderson Political Science Politics & Government
Episodes
  • Why Modern Education Is Producing Activists, Not Thinkers | Prof. Simon Haines and Dr. Fiona Mueller
    Jun 19 2026

    In this conversation, John Anderson sits down with Prof. Simon Haines and Dr. Fiona Mueller to examine how Australia's schools and universities stopped teaching children how to think, and what a genuine restoration of education would look like. The results are measurable in falling literacy, rising school refusal, and a curriculum that has prioritised ideological formation at the expense of knowledge.From the classical roots of Western education and the Trivium to the ideological capture of teacher training and university management, Haines and Mueller expose the ideas driving the decline and the institutions already proving a better model is possible. What is at stake is not just educational outcomes, but the capacity of the next generation to reason clearly, to govern themselves wisely, and to pass on what they have inherited.Prof. Simon Haines is the Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts at Campion College Australia, Adjunct Professor at the Australian Catholic University, and a founding Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of the Humanities. He previously served as the inaugural CEO of the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation and is a Director of Humanities for Life.Dr. Fiona Mueller served as Head of ANU College at the Australian National University and as Director of Curriculum at the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), and was named among the five most influential people in Australian education by the Australian Financial Review in 2019. She is an Adjunct Fellow with the Centre for Independent Studies, a Senior Fellow with Advance HE (formerly the Higher Education Academy), and currently serves as Director of Research at the Page Research Centre.

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    1 hr and 19 mins
  • The Renewable Lie: How Australia Was Sold a False Promise | Aidan Morrison & Chris Uhlmann
    Jun 12 2026

    John Anderson joins energy analyst Aidan Morrison and journalist Chris Uhlmann for a forensic examination of Australia's energy crisis. Together, they expose the broken promises behind the renewable transition, the CSIRO modelling built on figures no operating wind farm has achieved, and the legislative blunder that turned the New England Renewable Energy Zone into a multi-billion dollar infrastructure disaster. Drawing on international comparisons, primary documents, and on-the-ground testimony, the panel reveals how Australians were sold a false economic promise — and what the true cost to the nation's bills, industry, and security will be.Aidan Morrison is a leading researcher into Energy Systems and currently the Director of Energy Research at the Centre for Independent Studies. In 2023 he exposed how the famous CSIRO report “GenCost” excluded vast costs required to integrate and firm renewables by treating them as “sunk” costs. In 2024 he was amongst the strongest voices calling for nuclear energy in Australia and was a leading critic of the ‘Integrated System Plan’ (or ISP): Australia’s blue-print for a transition to an energy system dominated by wind and solar. Chris Uhlmann is a Walkley Award winning Australian journalist and news commentator. His career in the media spans over 35 years in radio, print and television. His latest documentary is The Real Cost of Net Zero: The shocking truth of the renewable energy push.

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    1 hr and 41 mins
  • How the State Became the Enemy of the English People | Carl Benjamin
    May 29 2026

    In this interview, podcaster and political commentator Carl Benjamin joins John to explore the accelerating collapse of English identity and the political crisis that has followed.Carl argues that Britain has sleepwalked into a civilisational emergency: mass immigration without a vote, a bureaucratic state that has outgrown democratic accountability, and a native population that has been deliberately disconnected from the culture and heritage it was supposed to carry forward. Carl Benjamin is one of Britain's most followed independent commentators. Widely known online as Sargon of Akkad, Benjamin is the director of the conservative political podcast, Lotus Eaters. He is known for his outspoken criticism of modern feminism, identity politics, Islam, and political correctness.

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    1 hr and 23 mins
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