Thomas Wright: From the White House to world disorder

The public’s anxiety about artificial intelligence appears to be growing, with high-profile data security breaches and opposition towards data centres attracting negative attention. Yet a more hopeful view is also gaining ground: that the technology could help rebuild struggling democratic institutions. In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Lydia Khalil speaks with Beth Noveck, author of Reboot: AI and the Race to Save Democracy, about public AI, digital sovereignty, diplomacy and the role middle powers such as Australia can play in shaping how it is governed. More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Official development finance to Southeast Asia has fallen to its lowest level in a decade, just as the region faces a run of overlapping economic shocks. Contrary to some expectations, China isn’t stepping into the gap left by retreating traditional donors, such as Japan and the United States. In this episode of Development Futures, the Lowy Institute's Lead Economist and Director of the Indo-Pacific Development Centre Roland Rajah speaks with Rahul Nath and Taili Ni, two of the researchers behind the Lowy Institute’s Southeast Asia Aid Map, about what the latest data shows and what developments to watch. You can read the full report or explore the interactive map at https://seamap.lowyinstitute.org/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite being close neighbours, Australia and Papua New Guinea have only recently become formal allies through the Pukpuk Treaty. But what does this new alliance mean beyond government-to-government ties? In this episode of Lowy Institute Conversations, Dominic De Moura McCarthy, President and Founder of the Pacific-Australia Youth Association, and Sharon Bala Woruba, Environment and Sustainability Manager for PNG at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, join the Institute's Sarah Thompson to discuss the future of the bilateral relationship.They discuss PNG's forthcoming NRL team, the Chiefs; what real economic opportunity for small businesses and grassroots communities looks like; the underused potential of diaspora communities in places like North Queensland; and why formal exchange and education programs matter at every stage of life. The conversation lands on a bigger question: what would it take for everyday Australians and Papua New Guineans to feel genuine ownership of this relationship, rather than watching it play out at the top? Dominic De Moura McCarthy and Sharon Bala Woruba were participants in the Australia–PNG Network's 2026 Emerging Leaders Dialogue. You can read the recommendations of the emerging leaders in a joint communiqué published by the Lowy Institute. More episodes of the Lowy Institute's podcasts are available on your favourite podcast apps, including Spotify, YouTube and Apple. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the 2026 Lowy Institute Media Award dinner, former ambassador and intelligence chief Dennis Richardson AC traced five decades at the sharp end of government-media relations, from running the Commonwealth's first media monitoring unit in 1972 to advising ambassadors on when to dodge the cameras. He's blunt on AUKUS and the government's reluctance to sell it, sharper still on what he sees as media silence in the face of rising anti-Semitism after the Bondi attack, and unsparing about a public service he says too often confuses self-censorship for prudence. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Lowy Institute was delighted to welcome Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to Bligh Street for a roundtable discussion, chaired by the Institute's Executive Director Michael Fullilove.