Black Box

The Guardian

At some point in the past few years, humanity collided with a new kind of intelligence. And things are getting strange. People are being accused of crimes by algorithms; falling in love with digital beings; pioneering new ways to fight old diseases; turning to machines for comfort in their worst moments, and using artificial intelligence to commit - and hide from - terrible crimes. The Guardian’s Michael Safi investigates the story of a technology so complex that its own creators have no idea what it is thinking, and captures a snapshot of the era when people first made contact with AI

  • 42 minutes 32 seconds
    The Birth Keepers: Death plan – episode six
    A backlash against FBS grows and Emilee and Yolande respond to the growing crisis. This is episode six of a year-long investigation by Guardian journalists Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne
    10 December 2025, 6:59 pm
  • 31 minutes 49 seconds
    The Birth Keepers: FBS goes global – episode five
    Emilee and Yolande had grown an ideology and seeded it globally. A reach investigative reporters Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne could not have fathomed when they started reporting on the story. They set out to see just how far FBS has spread. This is episode five of a year-long investigation
    10 December 2025, 6:58 pm
  • 42 minutes 59 seconds
    The Birth Keepers: Growing an empire – episode four
    Within months of the death of Lorren’s baby, Journey Moon, and the public backlash against the Free Birth Society that followed, Emilee Saldaya took the FBS membership private, turning the business into a global multimillion dollar empire. This is episode four of a year-long investigation by Guardian journalists Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne
    10 December 2025, 6:58 pm
  • 34 minutes 40 seconds
    The Birth Keepers: Journey Moon – episode three
    When Lorren Holliday got pregnant in 2018, she joined Emilee Saldaya’s Facebook group and quickly became hooked on the Free Birth Society podcasts. It was a decision that led to tragedy. This is episode three of a year-long investigation by Guardian journalists Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne
    10 December 2025, 6:56 pm
  • 40 minutes 52 seconds
    The Birth Keepers: When Emilee met Yolande – episode two
    Who is Emilee Saldaya, the woman behind the Free Birth Society movement? And how did she meet her business partner Yolande Norris-Clark? Do either woman have the credentials they are claiming? This is episode two of a year-long investigation by Guardian journalists Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne
    10 December 2025, 6:55 pm
  • 36 minutes 34 seconds
    The Birth Keepers: I choose this – episode one
    The Free Birth Society was selling pregnant women a simple message. They could exit the medical system and take back their power. By free birthing. But Nicole Garrison believes FBS ideology nearly cost her her life. This is episode one of a year-long investigation by Guardian journalists Sirin Kale and Lucy Osborne
    10 December 2025, 6:54 pm
  • 1 hour 15 minutes
    Gina: a real life Succession story, episode 8
    At 13, Gina Rinehart read a book that would help shape her worldview – Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. The novel’s capitalist underpinnings promote the idea that people should strive to be their best industrial selves. In this episode, we explore how these values are playing out in Rinehart’s life today, including her proposal to build a coalmine in Canada’s Rocky Mountains. And we hear how author and environmental campaigner Tim Winton views her efforts to prevent an overhaul of Australia’s environmental laws
    23 October 2025, 5:35 am
  • 1 hour 14 minutes
    Gina: a real life Succession story, episode 7
    Gina Rinehart’s father, Lang Hancock, is well known as a pioneer of Australia’s iron ore industry but few realise Hancock started his mining career on a smaller scale and digging for a different substance – blue asbestos. Hancock and his partner started the mining operation at Wittenoom in the 1940s before selling it to CSR, which mined the area for 20 more years. Wittenoom has become synonymous with the tragedy that unfolded for the thousands who lived and worked there after exposure to asbestos fibres. In this episode of Gina, we interrogate some of the stories her family chooses to celebrate – and others they don’t
    23 October 2025, 5:30 am
  • 18 minutes 11 seconds
    Gina: a real life Succession story, episode 6
    In the previous episode, we covered historical claims made over the years that Lang Hancock, Gina’s father, had two unacknowledged daughters with separate Indigenous women. Now, the daughter of Sella Robinson, one of the Indigenous women who claimed to be Hancock’s daughter, speaks publicly for the first time
    23 October 2025, 5:25 am
  • 1 hour 12 minutes
    Gina: a real life Succession story, episode 5
    It’s the portrait of Gina Rinehart that launched 1,000 memes, went viral globally and became Australia’s Mona Lisa. But it’s also a symbol of how wealth intersects with other areas of life, including art and sport. How does Rinehart use her money to control her image – and what would she rather you don’t see? This episode is about power and control, and the colonial history of Australia. It contains references to outdated offensive language and events that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people may find distressing. It also contains the names of Indigenous Australians who have died
    23 October 2025, 5:20 am
  • 45 minutes 4 seconds
    Gina: a real life Succession story, episode 4
    Twenty years ago, John Hancock had dinner with his mother, Gina Rinehart. He says it’s the last positive interaction he had with her. In an in-depth interview, he explains how his relationship with her fell apart and discusses a high-stakes legal case that could threaten the foundations of her empire
    23 October 2025, 5:15 am
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