Rear Vision — How History Shaped Today

Gerrymandering is endemic in the United States and could determine the outcome of this year's mid-term elections. It has been a feature of the American political system since the beginning of the republic, according to Princeton University's Samuel Wang. So, how did the self-styled “world’s greatest democracy” end up with a system that former California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, says is being rigged by both major parties?
Guests:
Dr John Hart – School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National University
Dr Samuel Wang – Professor of Neuroscience and Head of the Princeton Gerrymandering Project, Princeton University 
Dr Ben Reid – data analyst and researcher, Australian and European history, Parliament of Victoria 
Dr Melissa Rogers – Professor, Politics & Policy and Co-Director, Inequality and Policy Research Center, Claremont Graduate University

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz continues to affect economies around the world.  But Russia has not only escaped the financial fallout, but has prospered.

It may surprise you to know that the Australian parliament has no real say over whether the country goes to war. In the United States its effectively the same, with analysts saying the US Congress has now basically ceded its war powers to the president. A process, by the way, that began long before the arrival of Donald Trump. In this episode we look at how that happened and why calls for war powers reform have had so little success.
Guests:
Dr Russell Berman – Professor in the Humanities, Stanford University 
Dr Sarah Percy – Associate Professor of International Relations, University of Queensland
Dr Sarah Burns – Rochester Institute of Technology 
Dr Alison Broinowski - Australians for War Power Reform
Dr Nicole Townsend - lecturer in War Studies – University of New South Wales, Canberra

The Federal Government is hoping tax reform will help address the widening generational wealth gap and rebalance the tax system in favour of younger people.One policy being targeted for an overhaul in this year's budget is the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount.
Australia started taxing capital gains in the mid-1980s to tackle tax avoidance and evasion which was a huge problem at the time.So why in 1999 did the Howard government introduce a discount on that tax? 
And why does the concession encourage investment in established housing stock? 
Guests:Chris Evans - Emeritus Professor UNSW Business SchoolPeter Martin - economist and presenter of The Economy StupidRick Krever - taxation law and policy specialist at UWACraig Emerson - economist and former Federal Labor MP Joe Aston - author and business journalistPeter Tulip - Chief Economist at the Centre for Independant StudiesRichard Holden - Scientia Professor of  Economics at UNSW Business School

In 1707 the Scottish national parliament was disbanded, not to be reconvened until 1999. How and why Scotland regained its own Assembly is the story of rising Scottish nationalism and Westminster’s attempts to dampen such feelings and keep Scotland in the Union. On May 7th, Scots go to the polls, and the outcome could impact significantly on both the nationalist cause in Scotland and on the ongoing viability of Keir Starmer’s Labour government at Westminster.
Guests:
Dr Clement Macintyre – Professor Emeritus, School of Society and Culture, Adelaide University
Dr Nicola McEwen – Professor of Public Policy and Governance, University of Glasgow 
Alyn Smith – Former UK MP and MEP, candidate for the 2026 Scottish parliamentary elections, Scottish National Party 
Tom Chidwick – Manager, Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London