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The Shincheonji church is an international Christian sect which started in South Korea. But the group is being accused of bizarre recruitment strategies at a number of Australian universities and former members have made allegations of ‘coercive control’ tactics that include love bombing and sleep deprivation. Medical editor Melissa Davey speaks to Reged Ahmad about the experiences of families of current members, as well as former members, about life on the inside You can support the Guardian at theguardian.com/fullstorysupport

Blue whales are the largest animals to have ever lived but they were once hunted to the brink of extinction. The international community only agreed to stop hunting them in 1965 when they numbered fewer than 200. Now scientists are using new methods to learn whether the number of blue whales in the wild is increasing – and they are seeing and hearing promising signs. Reporter Luca Ittimani speaks to marine mammal acoustician Brian Miller about the whale’s Antarctic resurgence You can support the Guardian at theguardian.com/fullstorysupport

What happens when the human body is treated like a machine – pushed to its limit – for the sake of a company’s efficiency standards? Former and current staff at Woolworths allege that the supermarket has been cracking down in a way they describe as ‘bullying’ and unsafe, something the company’s supply chain arm denies.Reged Ahmad asks investigations reporter Ariel Bogle if Woolworths’ warehouse tactics are putting their workers’ health and safety at risk

For many years political leaders have condemned violence against women and expressed platitudes about the need for change. But government policies to reduce gender-based violence have failed and frontline services say they are severely underfunded. Journalist and coercive control educator Jess Hill speaks to Nour Haydar about the major paradigm shift that governments still need to make

This year, the gap between the rich and poor got wider in Australia - as the housing crisis deepened and the cost of living hit hard. But while there were moments of despair, there were also times of joy that may give us reason to be hopeful for 2025. Bridie Jabour talks with editor in chief Lenore Taylor head of newsroom Mike Ticher and national news editor Jo Tovey about the highs and lows of 2024 and and what to expect in 2025

Prince Andrew is in trouble again, this time for meeting a businessman who has denied spying for China. In parliament, it has sparked fears about how far the British establishment has been infiltrated by spies. In Beijing, there has been outrage. For Prince Andrew, it has led to him missing Christmas dinner at Sandringham with the rest of the royal family. It is fair to say the accusation that the Chinese businessman Yang Tengbo has been spying for China has caused a serious stir. Dan Sabbagh and David Pegg report

The opposition leader has finally released the Coalition’s costings for its proposal to build seven nuclear power stations in Australia. Peter Dutton says the plan will cost tens of billions of dollars less than Labor’s transition to renewables. But experts say the plan is not credible and fails to address the climate crisis. Climate and environment editor Adam Morton tells Nour Haydar why the plan doesn’t stack up.

This episode originally ran on Monday 19 June 2023. Theodore ‘Ted’ Kaczynski died at the federal prison in Butner, North Carolina, last year at the age of 81. Known as the Unabomber, Kaczynski waged a 17-year bombing campaign from an isolated shack in the Montana wilderness before finally being caught in 1996. One of those who helped apprehend Kaczynski was former FBI agent Jim Fitzgerald. He tells Michael Safi that the arrest was only possible following the publication of the bomber’s manifesto in the Washington Post. It was those words that were recognised by Kaczynski’s brother, who took his concerns to the authorities.

This summer Australian politicians are being encouraged to read more widely on the history of Palestine. Five books were sent to all 227 federal MPs and senators as part of a campaign backed and funded by dozens of Australia’s most prominent authors. And in the bundle is one work of fiction – a novella by a Sydney-based author.Nour Haydar speaks with author of The Sunbird Sara Haddad about the summer reading for MPs initiative, Palestine, and writing as activism

Last Friday, a large blaze engulfed a synagogue in Melbourne — which authorities are treating as an act of terrorism. It prompted the federal government to set up a special taskforce to investigate antisemitism in Australia. But in the aftermath, Peter Dutton was accused of ‘disgusting’ political point-scoring by escalating the Coalition’s already growing criticism of the government’s response and by attacking Jewish Labor MP Josh Burns.Bridie Jabour talks to head of newsroom Mike Ticher, and national news editor Jo Tovey about Peter Dutton’s strongman politics and why he is stoking culture wars

Last week, South Korea’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, shocked the world when he declared martial law.Although the decision was reversed hours later, Yoon had taken the country into a new and unnerving chapter in its young democracy. Reged Ahmad speaks to Seoul-based journalist Raphael Rashid about why the streets have now exploded with anger and whether the country can come back from the brink

The NT coroner has handed down findings in an inquest into the horrific domestic violence deaths of four Aboriginal women. The landmark report exposed systemic failings and made 35 recommendations aimed at stemming what the coroner called an “epidemic of violence”.Nour Haydar speaks to Guardian Australia’s Indigenous affairs editor, Lorena Allam, and Indigenous affairs reporter, Sarah Collard, about the four women at the centre of the inquest and the coroner’s findings

Foreign correspondent William Christou travels to Damascus, hours after Syria’s decades-long dictator Bashar al-Assad is ousted from power, and asks whether the country’s 13-year civil war has finally come to an end Read More: Who are the main actors in the fall of the regime in Syria? I wept and wept as I watched the Syrian regime fall. At last, I have a home again

As rents continue to increase at alarming rates and more Australians are priced out of the housing market, the Guardian put the call out to readers for their experiences from inside the housing crisis. The response was overwhelming. Reporter Daisy Dumas tells Reged Ahmad what 150 readers have to say about how the pressures of both renting and buying have affected their income, relationships and health

What if you could take a pill or a shot that reduced your blood alcohol level and made you feel better in the morning? That’s the promise of a range of wellness products aiming to be the next big hangover antidote. But what exactly are hangovers, and which methods of preventing them are backed by science? Madeleine Finlay speaks to Dr Sally Adams, an alcohol researcher and associate professor of psychology at the University of Birmingham

This week, the story splashed across the front of News Corp’s biggest-selling tabloid newspapers was all about gas. We need to ‘step on the gas’ the papers said, in order to avoid higher bills and blackouts. But the ‘special report’ was actually ‘proudly sponsored’ by the fossil fuel industry.Bridie Jabour talks to Guardian Australia’s editor, Lenore Taylor, and deputy editor Patrick Keneally about how the mining industry – and the media – are trying to shape the election agenda

Despite saying multiple times that he would never do it, President Joe Biden has now pardoned his only surviving son. Hunter Biden was due to face sentencing for his conviction on federal gun charges and a separate tax case, later this month. The decision, as America prepares for the return of the president-elect, Donald Trump, has left some Democratic lawmakers frustrated and disappointed. Reged Ahmad speaks to Washington DC bureau chief David Smith about the ‘heartfelt hypocrisy’ of Biden’s balancing act between country and family You can support the Guardian at theguardian.com/fullstorysupport

Parliament has wrapped for 2024 and politicians are now back in their electorates for the summer. Labor ended the year on a high, striking deals to pass more than 30 pieces of legislation through the Senate in just one day. And while the sitting year is over, speculation is still running hot over when the prime minister will call the federal election. Nour Haydar speaks to chief political correspondent Paul Karp about what the government achieved – and compromised – in the final frenetic sitting day, and what Anthony Albanese could now be weighing up as he decides when voters will head to the polls

In the early hours of 17 May 2023, Sen Constable Kristian White shot 95-year-old Clare Nowland with his Taser in a Cooma nursing home. Last week, after a high-profile trial in which he pleaded not guilty, a jury found White guilty of the manslaughter of the great-grandmother. He now awaits sentencing. Reged Ahmad speaks to reporter Jordyn Beazely about the trial and the unresolved questions around how police officers interact with vulnerable people

The conversation about fluoride’s health benefits has exploded recently after a US federal toxicology report, court ruling and independent scientific review all called for updated risk-benefit analysis. Ian Sample hears from Catherine Carstairs, professor of history at the University of Guelph in Canada, about how attitudes to fluoridation have evolved, and Oliver Jones, professor of chemistry at RMIT University, Melbourne, about where the science stands today You can support the Guardian at theguardian.com/fullstorysupport