In Episode 47 we sit down with Chris Sidoti — veteran Australian human rights lawyer, former Australian Human Rights Commissioner, and current member of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel — for an important examination of accountability, international law, and Australia's moral crossroads.

Sidoti dissects the deeply divisive invitation to Israeli President Isaac Herzog — extended by Prime Minister Albanese via the Governor-General in the wake of the Bondi antisemitic attack — amid calls for its cancellation. He addresses Herzog's widely cited statements (declaring “an entire nation” responsible, “no innocent civilians in Gaza,” and fighting “human animals”) as meeting thresholds for incitement to genocide or collective punishment under international law; the moral and legal case for withdrawal; what an arrest or investigation might look like despite head-of-state immunity; Australia's record on international law and its selective reverence in the 21st century; the protective role of international norms in the absence of a domestic bill of rights; the dangers of cherry-picking enforcement; and the new Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Criminal and Migration Laws) Act 2026 — its offences for promoting racial hatred, hate-group bans, severe penalties (up to 7–15 years), visa powers, and chilling risks to free speech and criticism of Israel.

With tens of thousands killed in Gaza and the West Bank — including Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom and countless professionals — Sidoti confronts the message sent by hosting Herzog, the implications of associated networks (Epstein links), and concrete steps ordinary Australians can take to demand sovereignty, accountability, and alignment with human rights.

Podcast Details:
Duration: ~52m | Release Date: Saturday, 7 February 2026 | Guest: Chris Sidoti – International Human Rights Lawyer, Former Australian Human Rights Commissioner, UN Commissioner

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Keywords: Chris Sidoti Herzog visit Australia 2026, Isaac Herzog incitement genocide, UN Commission Palestine Israel, Albanese Herzog invitation Bondi, Australia international law selective, Combatting Antisemitism Hate Extremism Act 2026, Gaza genocide allegations, Zomi Frankcom, free speech Australia, middle power sovereignty, human rights accountability
#HumanRights #InternationalLaw #HerzogVisit #Gaza #AustraliaForeignPolicy #FreeSpeech #GenocideAccountability #UNInquiry #ChrisSidoti #BondiAttack

In Episode 46 we sit down with Professor Warwick Powell – Adjunct Professor at Queensland University of Technology, expert on global political economy, China’s rise, tariffs as geopolitical tools, and Australia’s place in a fracturing world order – for a clear-eyed, incisive examination of the accelerating rupture in the international system. Powell unpacks Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s dramatic pivot: his January 2026 Beijing visit forging a new strategic partnership with China on energy, agri-food, and trade, followed by a provocative Davos speech declaring the old liberal rules-based order dead and urging middle powers like Canada and Australia to stop pretending and act together against great-power coercion and autarky. Amid Trump’s invite to his “Board of Peace,” the US 2026 National Defense Strategy downplaying China as the explicit threat, and escalating tariff weaponisation, Powell explores the sincerity of Carney’s moves, the viability of a middle-power union, US domestic instability and spillover risks, the credibility crisis for Australia’s neocon establishment, AUKUS under pressure, and whether this is the moment for a bold Australian foreign policy reset toward genuine sovereignty.

Podcast Details:
Duration: ~1h 15m | Release Date: Saturday, 7 February 2026 | Guest: Professor Warwick Powell – Adjunct Professor, Queensland University of Technology

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Keywords: Warwick Powell Carney, Mark Carney Davos 2026, middle powers rupture, Canada China partnership 2026, Trump Board of Peace Canada revoked, US National Defense Strategy 2026 China, Canadian military US invasion planning, Australia foreign policy reset, tariffs geopolitics, multipolar world, AUKUS viability, Global South China, NATO fragility, Australian neocons, sovereign outlook Australia, geopolitics 2026
#BoganIntelligentsia #MiddlePowers #MarkCarney #Davos2026 #MultipolarWorld #AustraliaForeignPolicy #ChinaPivot #Trump2026 #AUKUS #Geopolitics #Sovereignty

In Episode 45 we sit down with Dr Scott Burchill – Honorary Fellow in International Relations at Deakin University, former Senior Lecturer, and longtime analyst of global politics – for a deep, unflinching examination of the ongoing crisis in Iran amid the massive protests that erupted in late December 2025 and continue into 2026. Dr Burchills independent analysis gives a clear-eyed look at the protests' roots in economic collapse and repression, the regime's brutal response, potential US/Trump escalation, Israel's role in regional dynamics, the position of Australia and other middle powers, and the controversial rise of Reza Pahlavi as a figurehead for the opposition.

Podcast Details:
Duration: ~1h 16m | Release Date: Saturday, 24 January 2026 | Guest: Dr Scott Burchill – Honorary Fellow in International Relations, Deakin University

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Keywords: Scott Burchill Iran, Iran protests 2025-2026, Tehran regime crackdown, Trump Iran escalation, Israel Iran dynamics, Reza Pahlavi opposition, Pahlavi monarchy restoration, Australian foreign policy Iran, middle powers Iran crisis, economic protests Iran, IRGC repression, regional tensions Middle East, US intervention Iran

#BoganIntelligentsia #IranProtests #IranCrisis2026 #RezaPahlavi #TrumpIran #IsraelIran #MiddleEast #RegimeChange #Geopolitics #HistoryMatters

In this episode we sit down again with Dr Rodrigo Acuña – independent journalist, Latin America specialist with a PhD on Venezuelan foreign policy, and author of a recent Truthout article – for a sharp, unflinching return conversation amid the explosive US-Venezuela standoff in late December 2025. This is the independent analysis mainstream outlets won’t touch: a clear-eyed look at Trump’s oil tanker seizures and blockade, deadly military strikes, Maduro’s defiance, and why even Venezuelans critical of Maduro overwhelmingly reject foreign-backed regime change.

Episode Details: Duration ~60 minutes | Release Date: Saturday, 27 December 2025 | Guest: Dr Rodrigo Acuña – Latin America analyst, journalist, documentary filmmaker on Venezuela

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Keywords: Rodrigo Acuña Venezuela, US tanker blockade 2025, Trump Maduro confrontation, oil seizures international waters, Venezuelan navy escorts, piracy accusations, regime change opposition, Essequibo Guyana tensions, US sanctions family Maduro, Latin America escalation, Truthout experts regime change, civic-military unity Venezuela

In Episode 43 we sit down again with Yaakov Aharon – Sydney-based journalist, member of the Bondi Jewish community, and connected to Chabad Lubavitch – for a deeply personal and unflinching return conversation after the tragic Sunday shooting attack on the Chabad event in Bondi. This is the raw, insider perspective mainstream outlets won’t platform: a Jewish community voice examining grief, politicisation, and what the tragedy reveals about Australia in late 2025.

Episode Details: Duration ~89 minutes | Release Date: Sunday, 21 December 2025 | Guest: Yaakov Aharon – Sydney journalist, Bondi Jewish community member, Chabad-connected commentator

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Keywords: Yaakov Aharon, Bondi Chabad shooting, Sydney Jewish community 2025, Bondi vigil atmosphere, political exploitation Australia, Christchurch vs Bondi response, Mossad Iran allegations, ASIO intelligence failure, Segal antisemitism report, Australian multiculturalism facade, gun control debate, national unity crisis

Nasser Mashni, President of Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN), shares his powerful Palestinian-Australian migrant journey. From growing up in multicultural Australia, working in milk bars, his father's inspiring resistance legacy, and what fighting for peace looks like in todays world.We also also reflect on the Bondi tragedy, Aussie hero Ahmed al-Ahmed, and what it means to be Australian in multicultural Australia.

Episode Details: Duration ~73 minutes | Release Date: Wednesday, 17 December 2025 | Guest: Nasser Mashni – President of Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN), Palestinian-Australian advocate

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Keywords:

Nasser Mashni, APAN, Palestinian Australian migrant, father's resistance story, Palestinian resistance evolution, Gaza resistance 2025, West Bank Intifada, Marwan Barghouti prisoner, Greater Israel Trump Netanyahu, Israeli society pathology, Australia UNRWA cuts, Palestine recognition 2025, Gaza genocide Australia, Indigenous Palestinian solidarity, Australian activism Palestine

This is the interview Australian campuses and legacy media won’t touch in 2025: from the hidden history of how defensive Zionism became aggressive militarism; from mob violence in Mandatory Palestine to the institutional reasons peace keeps failing; from the personal hell of anti-Zionist Jewish life online to Israel’s influence on global bodies and U.S. elections; to Shaiel’s own IDF regrets and the moral rot inside units like 8200, and his anti-Zionist change that made him persona non grata in pro-Israel circles.

Episode Details: Duration ~97 minutes | Release Date: Tuesday, 9 December 2025 | Guest: Shaiel Ben-Ephraim – ex IDF Intelligence officer, historian, ex-diplomat, author of “Why I Turned My Back on Zionism”

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Keywords: Shaiel Ben-Ephraim, Why I Turned My Back on Zionism, IDF target selection, Israeli militarism origins, U.S.-Israel relations, peace process failure, anti-Zionist Jew, academic censorship, Gaza 2023-2025, Unit 8200 AI targeting, moral reckoning Israel

Episode 40 of the Bogan Intelligentsia Podcast – Prof. Roger Markwick (Honorary Professor of Modern European History, University of Newcastle) breaks thirty years of Australian academic silence on the real origins of the Russia–Ukraine war. This is the forbidden lecture they won’t let you hear on any Australian campus: the actual post-WW2 contest for Europe, the deep historical roots of modern Ukraine, Eurasianism and the real (limited) role of Alexander Dugin, the suppressed timeline of the 2014 Maidan coup, the Odessa Trade Union House massacre that was memory-holed in the West, the eight-year Donbass war that began in 2014, the sabotaged Minsk agreements, and how an oligarch-funded TV comedian with zero political experience was transformed into the West’s Churchillian saint. Layer by layer, Markwick dismantles the “unprovoked aggression” fairy tale that every legacy outlet still parrots in 2025.

If you’ve ever wondered why dissenting academics on this topic can be counted on one hand, this is the episode that explains it.

Episode Details: Duration ~80 minutes | Release Date: Wednesday, 3 December 2025 | Guest: Prof. Roger Markwick – author, Soviet and post-Soviet dissidence specialist, lecturer on the long history of Israel–Palestine

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Keywords: Roger Markwick, Russia Ukraine war origins, NATO expansion lies, Maidan 2014, Odessa massacre, Donbass war 2014-2022, Alexander Dugin, Eurasianism, Zelensky oligarchs, Minsk betrayal, Australian academic censorship, Western propaganda collapse