Newcastle Writers Festival 2025: Politics in the Age of Anxiety with Lech Blaine

In his Quarterly Essay Bad Cop, which explored Peter Dutton’s rise to power, Lech Blaine pinpointed the opposition leader’s raison d’être: ‘Make Australia afraid again’. As a BBC foreign correspondent, Nick Bryant was posted in Washington, South Asia, Australia, and New York to cover the Trump years. Ahead of the federal election, they share their observations of the interplay of power and politics in Canberra as well as their predictions about where we’re headed. Hosted by Virginia Trioli.