Anthony Albanese’s meeting with Xi Jinping this week is a crucial opportunity to strengthen relations with our biggest trading partner.

But it comes at a time when Australia is trying to break China’s grip on the supply chain of critical minerals.

China’s global domination has been in the works for decades – a grand plan that gives China ready access to materials essential for everything from fighter jets to wind turbines. It also gives Beijing extraordinary leverage over Western economies and defence forces.

Today, columnist for Australian Foreign Affairs Ian Verrender, on China’s long game on critical minerals domination – and the old pile of mining waste in Western Australia which could upend it.

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Guest: Columnist for Australian Foreign Affairs Ian Verrender

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The Liberal Party knows it needs to change. But the battle over how is already tearing the party apart. Sussan Ley has declared herself a “zealot” for getting more women into parliament.

But she faces stiff resistance from the conservative wing of the party, including from some of its older statesmen which see quotas as undemocratic and an attack on the idea of ‘merit’,

But gender imbalance is not the only problem they’re facing. Liberal insiders say unless the party finds a way to broaden its appeal it will continue to suffer “a spiral of disaster that feeds on itself” which will render itself incapable of ever returning to government.

Today, national correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe, on why the Liberal party can’t agree on how to save itself.

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Guest: National correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe

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Spotify has transformed how the world listens to music. But as it’s grown, the company behind it, and its founder Daniel Ek, have been reshaping more than just the music industry.

Ek has become a key figure in the global defence industry, investing more than a billion dollars into military technology based on artificial intelligence. Meanwhile, Spotify itself has embraced AI in ways that many artists say undermine their work.

Today, author of Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist Liz Pelly, on how Spotify’s pursuit for power and profit is changing music, and what listeners can do to take back control.

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Guest: Author of Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist Liz Pelly

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