579 - How Peking Duck and Moutai changed the world
The world is on fire. There's a coup. Inflation is through the roof, and AI is taking our jobs. What does it all mean? Each week, Matt Bevan explains the biggest story in world news while hiding in his basement from assassins and authoritarian regimes.
Recent episodes include an exploration of the relationship between India and China, a closer look at the Saudi Arabian city of NEOM, the conflict in the Middle East, the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, and Ukraine's incursions into Vladimir Putin's Russia. Matt Bevan draws connections between stories from the past and the events of the present to help listeners understand world news and international affairs.
The podcast also features series about big moments in world news; previous series have focused on the United States presidential election, the United Kingdom's 14 years of Conservative Party leadership, Donald Trump's relationship with Russia, Donald Trump's presidency and promise to Make America Great Again, the Mueller Report, Vladimir Putin's scheme to destroy western democracies, how the relationship between Australia and China came to the verge of collapse, and Australia's turbulent history with climate change.
There's a new episode of If You're Listening every Thursday.
579 - How Peking Duck and Moutai changed the world
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The world is on fire. There's a coup. Inflation is through the roof, and AI is taking our jobs. What does it all mean? Each week, Matt Bevan explains the biggest story in world news while hiding in his basement from assassins and authoritarian regimes.
Recent episodes include an exploration of the relationship between India and China, a closer look at the Saudi Arabian city of NEOM, the conflict in the Middle East, the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, and Ukraine's incursions into Vladimir Putin's Russia. Matt Bevan draws connections between stories from the past and the events of the present to help listeners understand world news and international affairs.
The podcast also features series about big moments in world news; previous series have focused on the United States presidential election, the United Kingdom's 14 years of Conservative Party leadership, Donald Trump's relationship with Russia, Donald Trump's presidency and promise to Make America Great Again, the Mueller Report, Vladimir Putin's scheme to destroy western democracies, how the relationship between Australia and China came to the verge of collapse, and Australia's turbulent history with climate change.
There's a new episode of If You're Listening every Thursday.
Episodes
579-
How Peking Duck and Moutai changed the world
Listened
Tue, 09 Jun 2026
578-
Taiwan’s violent, messy, beautiful democracy
Listened
Thu, 04 Jun 2026
577-
Was Taiwan's Olympic champion sabotaged?
Listened
Tue, 02 Jun 2026
576-
Taiwan’s 100 year fight for freedom
Listened
Thu, 28 May 2026
575-
The secret techbro city of the future
Listened
Tue, 26 May 2026
574-
Trump and Xi Jinping’s deadly game of chess
Listened
Thu, 21 May 2026
573-
What is Palantir doing in Australia?
Listened
Tue, 19 May 2026
572-
Will anything stop Palantir?
Listened
Thu, 14 May 2026
571-
The FBI dug a tunnel under the Russian embassy
Listened
Tue, 12 May 2026
570-
How did Palantir get so powerful?
Listened
Thu, 07 May 2026
569-
Matt's producers present the weirdest tales from the basement
Listened
Tue, 05 May 2026
568-
The unexpected loser of the Iran war
Listened
Thu, 30 Apr 2026
567-
How not to cover a radioactive incident
Listened
Tue, 28 Apr 2026
566-
Will the US and Iran make a deal (again)?
Listened
Thu, 23 Apr 2026
565-
When will Australia run out of fuel?
Listened
Tue, 21 Apr 2026
564-
How the Iran war exposed Australia's energy mistakes
Listened
Thu, 16 Apr 2026
563-
Trump’s on-again, off-again negotiations with Iran
Listened
Tue, 14 Apr 2026
562-
The brutal scam compounds of Myanmar
Listened
Thu, 09 Apr 2026
561-
Growing up fighting apartheid
Listened
Tue, 07 Apr 2026
560-
What happened last time we ran out of oil
Listened
Thu, 02 Apr 2026
559-
When Iraq accidentally bombed a U.S. warship
Listened
Tue, 31 Mar 2026
558-
We were warned about the Strait of Hormuz
Listened
Fri, 27 Mar 2026
557-
Why Iran is building their own internet
Listened
Tue, 24 Mar 2026
556-
Iran is running out of water
Listened
Thu, 19 Mar 2026
555-
Life inside the Iranian Revolution
Listened
Tue, 17 Mar 2026
554-
Who is Trump really fighting in Iran?
Listened
Thu, 12 Mar 2026
553-
Kylie Moore-Gilbert says Trump might be stuck in Iran
Listened
Tue, 10 Mar 2026
552-
Trump thinks he can switch off the Iran War
Listened
Thu, 05 Mar 2026
551-
Making sense of Trump’s attack on Iran
Listened
Tue, 03 Mar 2026
550-
Where did Epstein’s money come from?
Listened
Thu, 26 Feb 2026
549-
The Epstein Q&A our lawyers approved
Listened
Tue, 24 Feb 2026
548-
Epstein’s ghost is haunting the UK
Listened
Thu, 19 Feb 2026
547-
The time an astronaut said they weren't coming back
Listened
Tue, 17 Feb 2026
546-
How Epstein and QAnon blew up the justice system
Listened
Thu, 12 Feb 2026
545-
There Will Be Mud (again)
Listened
Tue, 10 Feb 2026
544-
Stephen Miller: Edgelord in Chief
Listened
Thu, 05 Feb 2026
543-
Pod Save America on the endless escalation of Trump
Listened
Tue, 03 Feb 2026
542-
Steven Pinker thinks we’re worried about the wrong things
Listened
Sun, 01 Feb 2026
541-
04 Black Swans | Countdown to Doomsday
Listened
Thu, 29 Jan 2026
540-
Did a 1981 book correctly predict the future?
Listened
Tue, 27 Jan 2026
539-
03 Black Swans | Burning Hill
Listened
Thu, 22 Jan 2026
538-
The city that ten beers built
Listened
Tue, 20 Jan 2026
537-
02 Black Swans | The Australian Dream
Listened
Thu, 15 Jan 2026
536-
01 Black Swans | The Population Bomb
Listened
Thu, 08 Jan 2026
535-
Matt got lost on his way to the costume department