Sunday Extra - Separate Stories Podcast

When the Apollo 14 mission took off to the moon, one astronaut took along a bag of seeds, which were later planted on earth.

The invasion of Ukraine is part of Vladimir Putin's determination to reframe the historical narrative

Charles Batham has been in hiding for years, and after two narrow escapes the trail goes cold. Then, reporter Erin Parke gets a tip-off that that brings the global investigation back from the brink – but will the truth ever come out about Batham’s dark past?

What makes someone who cruises through life relatively happily different to someone who struggles with mental health issues? At least part of it lies in our genes – and there’s not much we can do about that. But there are other factors that we can control. Mary McMillan is trying to figuring out the divide between the two through a highly scientific process involving ... spit in a cup. First broadcast 28 March 2021.

A group of 45 Fijian abattoir workers who recently arrived in northern NSW have become local heroes of Lismore’s worst flooding in history this week. 

With Australia's borders now reopened there is hope for the recovery of our international education sector, which took a heavy hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. But the federal government's most recent strategy for international education hasn't focused on the global increase in female student enrolments.

After past experiences of having to flee her home, Crimean Tatar language teacher and media producer Zakhida Adylova is now determined to remain in Kyiv and fight for her country with her words- by sharing the situation in Ukraine with the world. She speaks to Sunday Extra from her Kyiv apartment where she is currently sheltering with her 11-year-old daughter and 75-year-old mother.

What it's like to wake up to a war.

This week's mystery caller can gather in great numbers to devour brine shrimp – the Red-necked Avocet.

Growing up as an Arab-Australian Muslim during an era of the Cronulla riots and 9/11, Michael Mohammed Ahmad was determined to challenge negative perceptions of Arab-Australians through his love for literature.

The HMAS Perth was torpedoed by Japan during World War II, now almost 80 years on it has become the subject of contention with a joint Australian-Indonesian plan to open the wreck to marine tourism and diving.

After the de-platforming of controversial speakers on campus, philosophy professor Arif Ahmed forced changes to Cambridge’s free speech policy.    

A tall, eccentric Englishman with a secret double life flees Australia. For nine years he remains on the run. What he doesn't know is that two Australian women are tracking his movements from afar. Reporter Erin Parke was one of them.

Virginia Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas was active in attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election result.

What does it take to peel a banana? It’s something most of us can do without thinking, but imagine making a machine that could operate with that much dexterity. This week, we’re hearing from Geoff Spinks, a materials engineer whose focus is on creating teeny, tiny machines that could fit inside your body.

Colombia has become the latest country in Latin America to expand abortion access, adding to a string of legal victories for reproductive rights in the region. 

Ethiopia has begun generating electricity for the first time from its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the River Nile. The massive hydropower plant is set to transform the country, but it's also been the subject of a decade-long dispute with Sudan and Egypt.

In recent weeks protests against vaccine mandates have brought parts of Canada to a standstill and sparked similar uprisings across the globe but the ‘Freedom Convoy’ protests go to the heart of something bigger than vaccine mandates, with experts concerned about the rise of far-right extremism and right-wing populism. 

Can you guess this week's mystery caller?

For the past decade, Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa's work has provoked important conversations about identity, racism and feminism and led to a nomination for this year's WA Young Australian of the Year.