So Now What? with Waleed Aly

Covid-19 has impacted all aspects of all our lives and global politics is no exception. Like all nations, the two superpowers have had their 2020 shaped by the virus. For the US, the mishandling of the pandemic has cost hundreds of thousands of lives, while China is widely seen as the source.But as the first vaccines begin their rollout just what will the world stage look like once the virus passes? Will how countries handled Covid-19 have long term repercussions? And what will that mean for their economies? And where will countries like Australia fit into the new political landscape?Featuring:Professor Rana Mitter, Oxford UniversityKim Hoggard, former White House senior staffer

When Covid-19 hit almost a million Australians lost their jobs, millions more were forced to work from home, and at the height of the crisis it seemed even our most hardened industrial warriors were ready to find a middle-ground.Now with life after the virus beginning to emerge just what kind of work and workplaces will we find on the other side?Will we see better opportunities or worse for workers?Will there be more work, or will millions of Australians still struggle to get the hours they want?We're looking into the future of working Australia as we ask So Now What?Featuring Dr Jim Stanford, Director of the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future WorkDom Price, resident Work Futurist, Atlassian

When Covid-19 sent the world into lockdown in March, global carbon emissions plummeted - an almost 10 per cent fall in the first half of the year. But as we start thinking of a world beyond the virus, can we expect things to bounce back to where they were, or worse, will emissions rise even higher as people and industries rush to make up for lost time? Or can we capitalise on the global upheaval for some good? With our climate future at a crossroads, we ask if it's possible to use one crisis to help overcome a much bigger one.Featuring:Simon Holmes a Court, Senior Advisor to the Climate and Energy College at Melbourne University.Brynn O'Brien, Executive Director of the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility

When Covid-19 took off, the arts and entertainment industries were the among the first to be hit, and the hardest.Across Australia and the world, theatres and cinemas were shuttered, concerts and festivals cancelled.But as the lights slowly start to flicker back on for show and gigs and we make our first tentative steps back to socially distant stands, just what will entertainment look like? Will we still want to be entertained like we did before and will those who have kept us entertained still do so in the same way?Featuring:Ben Folds, musician, singer-songwriterDebra Oswald, author, creator of OffspringAlan Cross, broadcaster, and historian

Australia has always been a nation of immigrants with an incredible one in ten of us arriving in just the last decade. However, thanks to Covid-19 our migration rate has gone from near record levels to almost zero. Combined with a falling birth rate, for the first time in a century, Australia's population is set to fall. The economic and cultural fallout will be profound. In this episode we explore just what challenges we'll face and how we can overcome them once the pandemic has passed.Featuring:Dr Liz Allen, Australian National University’s Centre for Social Research and Methods Abul Rizvi, former Immigration Department Deputy Secretary

Even before Covid-19 the patterns of human interaction were changing. More of us were living alone than ever before with lives increasingly lived online contributing to record rates of loneliness.Then the pandemic and with it forced isolation and separation. The most basic of human experiences and contacts ripped from our lives. Handshakes became elbow bumps, workplaces reduced to zoom meetings, many of us forced to lock ourselves away at home far from friends and family.The changes to our lives and our communities have been comprehensive but as we start to open up, just how normal will our new normal be? From workplace to dating, from socialising with friends and family to interacting with strangers, we explore what our social world will look like beyond the pandemic.Featuring:Author and commentator Sarah Wilson, whose most recent book, This One Wild and Precious Life, tackles the disconnection of modern life.  Psychologist Sabina Read, whose podcast Human Cogs explores all the things that bring us together and tear us apart.