Curtin’s Cast

Curtin's Cast Episode 13 - 21 May 2025 - Prof Paul Strangio

With time and space for more considered reflection on the federal election that was, Kos Samaras and Nick Dyrenfurth sat down with one of the doyens of political history and significant public intellectual in Australia, Monash University's Professor Paul Strangio. We deep dived into the election that was, why voters voted the way they did, where 2025 sits in the pantheon of Labor victories, ask is this finally the end of Howardism, and explore the depth of the Liberal Party's troubles especially in Victoria. 
About Paul
Paul Strangio is Emeritus Professor of Politics in the School of Social Sciences at Monash University. Paul specialises in Australian political history, with a particular focus on political leadership and political parties. He’s an author and editor of 11 books, including Keeper Of The Faith: A biography of Jim Cairns, studies of the Australian prime ministers, Neither Power Nor Glory: 100 Years of Political Labor in Victoria, 1856–1956 and, with Nick Dyrenfurth, edited Confusion: The Making of the Australian Two-Party System. He’s been a frequent commentator on Australian politics in the print and election media, including a regular column for The Age, and for a number of years has had a regular segment on ABC Radio Melbourne.

Curtin's Cast Episode 12 - 14 May 2025 - Andrew Hastie MP

We've got a cracking episode of Curtin's Cast this week featuring Liberal Party rising star and MP for Canning in Western Australia, Andrew Hastie, who was their only metropolitan adjacent seat holder to record an increase in his primary and 2 party preferred vote. Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras chatted to Andrew about his early life and family as the son of a clergyman and grandson of soldiers, the importance of faith, his service in the Army's SAS, the battle of ideas and why he might be best described ideologically as a Red Tory, the life of West Australian MP and mates in politics including the much missed Senator Kimberley Kitching, the Liberal party's recent struggles and future leadership aspirations.

Curtin's Cast Episode 11 - 7 May 2025 - Kos and Nick Unpack Election 2025

The 2025 Australian federal election has been won - in a big and history-making way by Anthony Albanese's Labor Party - and lost in a humiliating manner for the Liberal-National Coalition led by Peter Dutton, who lost his own seat on May 3. On episode 11, Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras unpack virtually every element of the campaign that was - what Labor did well, why the Libs tanked, the disastrous Greens' performance, the One Nation/Trumpet of Patriots flop, state-based results and key seats, how gender, age and ethnicity played out, as well as the key issues which swung the campaign. This Curtin's Cast is your one-stop shop review of all things democracy sausage!

Curtin's Cast Episode 10 - 30 April 2025 - Mega Election Preview with Shaun Ratcliff

Curtin's Cast MEGA federal election preview!On tomorrow's episode of our podcast with Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras we are joined by psephological superstar Shaun Ratcliff of Accent Research. We discuss all things democracy sausage including who will win and why, the key seats to watch, does it matter whether party leaders know how much a carton of eggs cost, what respective campaign HQs will be up to in the final days and much more!

Curtin's Cast Episode 9 - 23 April 2025 - Drew Westen

We have a fantastic episode of Curtin's Cast this week featuring Professor Drew Westen, well-known US political psychologist and author of the super influential 2007 book, 'The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation'. We spoke to Drew about his book – including receiving praise from Bill Clinton (which he initially thought was a hoax!) - why feelings trump facts every time, what the Left gets wrong about voters, Trumpism and much more!About Drew Westen
Drew Westen is a Professor in the Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry at Emory University and formerly taught at the University of Michigan and Harvard Medical School. He is founder of Westen Strategies a strategic messaging consulting firm that serves nonprofits and political organizations and the author of three books and countless scholarly articles, including The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation. The book has been widely used by political candidates and leaders around the world and is credited as having influenced campaign strategies in a number of races, beginning with the 2008 Presidential race. President Bill Clinton described it as one of the most significant books in politics he had read in a decade. He has advised a range of organizations, from presidential and prime ministerial campaigns in the US and internationally.

Curtin's Cast - Episode 8 - 16 April 2025 - Kos and Nick Mid-Election Pulse

On Episode 8 of Curtin's Cast, Nick Dyrenfurth and Kosmos Samaras take the pulse of the federal election halfway through the campaign. Kos gives us an update on what the polls are telling us drawing on his decades of experience, how campaign launches work, key seats watch from across the continent, what's behind Peter Dutton's seeming implosion and competing party machines, while Nick and Kos trade contrarian takes on housing policy and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price's MAGA-phone. Is this the worst federal election Liberal campaign in modern history? Listen to Curtin's Cast at your favourite streaming service to find out the answer!

Curtin's Cast - Episode 7 - 9 April 2025 - Dai Le

We have a powerful, compelling episode of Curtin's Cast Episode 7 for your listening pleasure this week featuring the Independent MP for Fowler in in Sydney's outer southwestern suburbs, Dai Le Co-Hosts Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras chatted to Dai about her arresting back story, from her dramatic departure from Vietnam in April 1975, life as a refugee family first in the Philippines and then Australia, her career in journalism and finally becoming a politician at a local and then federal level, the first Vietnamese-Australian MP to sit in the nation's parliament.

Curtin's Cast - Episode 6 - 2 April 2025 - Nick and Kos on Election Week 1

On Episode 6 of Curtin's Cast, Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras unpack Week One of the federal election. Kos tells what to take from the avalanche of new polling, key seats to watch in the outer suburbs and inner-cities, Liberal woes and the "Trump bump", plus they deep dive into a major research project the John Curtin Research Centre and RedBridge Group are undertaking on right-wing populism. Listen to Curtin's Cast Episode 6 at your favourite streaming service!

Curtin's Cast - Episode 5 - 26 March 2025 - Kos and Nick on the Budget and Election 2025

On this week's episode of Curtin's Cast Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras deep dive into the looming federal election, what the polls are telling us, Donald Trump's tariff wars, the future of the two-party system in Australia and the 2025 Budget.Listen to Curtin's Cast Episode 5 at your favourite streaming service!

Curtin's Cast - Episode 4 - 19 March 2025 - Clare O'Neil

We have an amazing new episode of Curtin's Cast with the the brilliant Minister for Housing and Homelessness, Clare O'Neil MP.Nick Dyrenfurth and Kos Samaras yarned with Clare about family including her convict relatives, her childhood raised by publisher parents, modern life and being a working Mum of three in politics, and plenty of policy focusing (not surprisingly!) on housing. Some say if you want a friend in politics get a dog! We asked Clare if she had friends from the non-Labor side and response was super interesting!Listen to Curtin's Cast Episode 4 at your favourite streaming service:Applehttps://lnkd.in/gM8HyBjRSpotifyhttps://lnkd.in/gJRCtZPEYouTubehttps://lnkd.in/gJZrEdbH