Hostage families vote, the biography of a disease, and celebrating Sh!t films: 25 October, 2026

With Israel days away from their first national election since the 2023 October 7 terrorist attacks, how will the hostage families vote? In Germany, the Bundestag held a heated debate on whether it should make a national apology to Namibia for crimes during its colonial era. The story of sickle cell anaemia, caused by a genetic mutation originating in sub-saharan Africa - is so interesting that Kevin Davies has written a biography of the disease. As the US midterms approach, social media misinformation campaigns are targeting voters, and they affect us in Australia, too. Plus, the second Boyer Lecture by associate professor Louisa Lim, the Shot on Sh!t Film Festival dedicated to non-professional cameras, and on The Year That Made Me, star of Bollywood and Playschool, Nicholas Brown.