Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny

Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny

Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny

Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny Podcast

Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is a weekly podcast produced by the Australian Studies Institute and ANU (Communications & Engagement).

Episodes deconstruct politics and public affairs at the national and international level, drawing on researchers at ANU and beyond as well as press gallery journalists.

About Mark Kenny

Mark Kenny is Director of the Australian Studies Institute at the Australian National University and the inaugural FASIC Australia-in-China Fellow.

He joined ANU after a high-profile journalistic career culminating in 6 years as chief political correspondent and national affairs editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and The Canberra Times.

A popular columnist, Kenny is a fixture on the ABC's Insiders program and is a sought-after broadcast commentator within Australia and across the world.

Based in Canberra for nearly three decades, he has reported from locations as diverse as Kandahar and Copenhagen, Bucharest, Beijing and Berlin.

A continuing member of the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery, he also served as an elected director of the National Press Club for over a decade.

Kenny was made a Visiting Fellow at ANU in 2018 and took up a full-time academic post at the Australian Studies Institute in 2019.

His research interests include national politics, democracy, and the rise of authoritarian populism. Democracy Sausage is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Episodes

29
Sep
2026

Democracy Sausage Episode: The Alchemy of Leadership

What did John Howard understand about survival and self-correction that his six successors never quite grasped? Why do so many of our prime ministers trace their drive back to fiercely ambitious…

21
Sep
2026

Democracy Sausage Episode: Forty Years On

What are the five forces reshaping Australia's economy and society over the next four decades? What it will take to keep Australians' faith in government alive while managing them? What can…

15
Sep
2026

Democracy Sausage Episode: New game, new rules

Is too much political capital being put into meaningless foreign policy platitudes rather than defining what modern Australian security looks like? If Australia's shared values with its allies…

08
Sep
2026

Democracy Sausage Episode: Whose Side Are You On?

Is Australia's looming digital duty of care about censorship, as its critics claim, or about handing control back to the people whose attention is being sold to advertisers?With Meta's $18 billion US…

01
Sep
2026

Democracy Sausage Episode: Three Shocks

For the first time since federation Australia's population is made up of a majority of migrants and their children, changing the electoral maths for our politicians - have our leaders caught up to…