Foreign policy, carefully argued from Australia.
Lowy Institute gathers researchers, officials, authors, and policy specialists for sustained conversations about international affairs. Its episodes move carefully from current crises to the historical and strategic assumptions beneath them.
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Lowy Institute is a broad audio channel for serious international-affairs analysis from an Australian vantage point. Its centre of gravity is the policy conversation: researched, moderated, and comfortable with complexity. Episodes often begin by naming the institution, the speaker, the venue, and the stakes before turning to the argument itself. That structure gives the show a formal cadence, but it also creates useful context. A discussion of the Strait of Hormuz becomes a lesson in how language shapes strategy, because a guest distinguishes between a waterway being closed and ships being deterred. A conversation with Parag Khanna uses the Iran war to think about multipolarity, rogue states, China, Russia, and the emerging world order. Other episodes test the meaning of America First, not as a slogan alone, but as a theory of power, fear, respect, allies, and reassurance. The show returns repeatedly to the United States because Washington's signals matter for Australia. It also looks closer to home. Southeast Asia appears as a strategic blind spot, a region Australia cannot treat as peripheral while its security and economic assumptions shift. The format is flexible. Some instalments are interviews, some are live events, and some are lectures followed by questions or moderator reflection. The speakers are often named with care and introduced through their institutional or professional background. That can make the show feel formal, but it is part of the appeal. It is designed for listeners who want to know why a policy distinction matters before deciding what should be done. The pacing is measured. The questions are rarely built for quick outrage. War, drones, tariffs, democratic resilience, alliances, domestic extremism, maritime security, and great-power competition are handled as connected problems rather than isolated stories. Australia remains the implied test case throughout: what should a middle power notice, prepare for, and say when the larger order is unsettled?
Made for: For listeners who follow geopolitics, defence, diplomacy, and Australian strategy with patience for detail. It suits policy professionals, students, journalists, and internationally minded citizens who prefer context over quick takes.
What sets it apart: Lowy Institute combines think-tank formality with access to officials, authors, researchers, and public-event conversations. Its strength is the way it links immediate crises to the deeper strategic assumptions shaping Australia's choices.
The Lowy Institute is a leading international think tank that looks at the world from Australia’s perspective.This channel aggregates audio from across all of our event and podcast channels.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Lowy Institute makes geopolitical strategy legible by pressing policy claims against their economic costs, alliance consequences and underlying assumptions.
Lowy Institute turns foreign-policy arguments into sustained, public examination. Its mix of lectures, moderated discussions and host-guest conversations keeps attention on the assumptions beneath policy: why the United States contests China's power in Asia, how "America First"…
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
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This episode discusses the Strait of Hormuz crisis following US military action against Iran, exploring its impact on global shipping and energy markets, with insights from a former Royal Australian Navy officer on maritime strategy and Australia's role.
Parag Khanna discusses how the Iran war reflects emerging multipolarity in global affairs and Asia's role in shaping the future world order.
British Cabinet Minister Darren Jones discusses his working-class upbringing, entry into politics through Labour policies like the National Minimum Wage, and his role in the UK government.
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The Lowy Institute opens the evening with a formal welcome to Steve Biegun.
Michael Fulilove opens the lecture by placing Owen Harries at the center of the evening, recalling his work as an academic, a prime ministerial adviser, Australia’s Ambassador to UNESCO, and the founding editor of the National Interest, while repeating Harries’s advice to think big and swim in deep water.
This episode features a discussion with Professor Michael Wesley about Australia's tendency to overlook Southeast Asia in its geopolitical and economic considerations, exploring why the region matters and what Australia should do to address this blind spot.
The conversation examines the economic implications of the war in Iran and the global energy price shock now unfolding.
Lowy Institute Conversations marks International Women's Day with Lydia Khalil hosting Susanna Patton and Serena Sasingian on women, security, power, and policy.
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