You can be soaring silently with no engine at all for around five thousand dollars, or working two years toward an airline captain's seat for two hundred thousand. First in a new series comparing pilot licensing around the world, this episode covers the full Australian picture: gliding, gyrocopters, and the powered aeroplane ladder from RAAus through to a commercial licence. Hours, real costs, medical requirements, and how each pathway connects to the next.

Look! Squirrel! Your attention span is selective, not short.

An unscheduled episode. Dolly Parton died this week at 80, and I sat down to talk through her journey from a one-room Tennessee cabin to global icon, the songs, the Imagination Library, and why her death has hit so many people so hard. Curiosity, unfiltered, unapologetic, this time with a lump in the throat.

https://donate.imaginationlibrary.com/

In 1946, the Nuremberg Tribunal declared the Waffen-SS a criminal organisation. Then it carved out an exception for one group of soldiers wearing the same uniform.

This episode covers the Latvian Legion, roughly eighty thousand men, most of whom never chose to be there, caught between two occupying powers in the middle of World War Two. The history of conscription, the small minority who genuinely volunteered and committed real atrocities, and why this is still a live political argument in the Baltics today.

Content note: this episode covers Nazi occupation, forced conscription, and war crimes, including the Holocaust in Latvia. Not one for the kids.

Look! Squirrel! Your attention span is selective, not short.

A four-hour grid battery in Australia now delivers power for roughly a third of the price of a new gas peaker plant. This episode breaks down the real cost numbers behind Australia's nuclear-versus-renewables debate, straight from CSIRO's own GenCost data, including the genuine pushback from nuclear advocates on how those numbers get calculated, and why gas peakers are losing ground to batteries even on their own turf.

Look! Squirrel! Your attention span is selective, not short.

Twenty-eight new car brands have entered Australia in the past five years, most of them electric. The question nobody asks at the dealership: how many will still be here in five years to honour your warranty? This episode covers buying an EV in Australia right now, the genuine benefits, the honest split between city and regional range anxiety, and how to vet a brand before you hand over your deposit.

Look! Squirrel! Your attention span is selective, not short.

My car was on a boat, unreachable, when the Australian Government quietly pulled it off the list of vehicles allowed into the country. This week: the full story of importing a 2023 Suzuki Spacia Custom from Japan, a turbo, hybrid, all-wheel-drive, fully-optioned car for less than a base model Kia or Toyota. How the broker process actually works, the real all-in landed cost, and the government safety scare that stranded my car in limbo for weeks. Everything you need to know before considering a grey import of your own.

Look! Squirrel! Your attention span is selective, not short.

Your super is safe. Australia isn't broke. And no, the government isn't plotting to seize your retirement savings, whatever your Facebook feed is telling you this week.

This episode busts the latest superannuation panic doing the rounds online, and digs into the real story behind it: a genuine, current policy debate about super funds and domestic investment that's a lot less dramatic than the conspiracy theory it's fuelling. Plus, why fear-based misinformation keeps finding an audience no matter how many times it gets debunked.

Look! Squirrel! Your attention span is selective, not short.

You've got a battery. Now someone wants to pay you to let them borrow it.

In the final episode of the energy series, I break down Virtual Power Plants: what they actually pay, the big myth about whether you're forced to join one, and the fine print that decides whether it's a genuinely good deal or a battery that's half-drained the one night you actually need it.

Six questions to ask before you sign anything. All of them worth asking.

🎧 "Virtual Power Plants" is out now.