Democracy Sausage: The Alchemy of Leadership
Historian and biographer Paul Strangio joins Mark to dissect what makes — and breaks — an Australian prime minister, drawing on his newly shortlisted book The Alchemy of Leadership: Seven Australian Prime Ministers in a Turbulent Twenty-First Century.
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 mothers — and what does that pattern tell us about who gets to lead? And is the Liberal Party’s current unravelling the price of clinging to the “Howard settlement” long after the country moved on?
Paul Strangio is an emeritus professor of politics at Monash University, specialising in political leadership and political parties. His new book, The Alchemy of Leadership, is shortlisted for the 2026 Australian Political Book of the Year Award.
Mark Kenny is the Director of the Australian Studies Institute. He came to the Australian National University 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.
Democracy Sausage with Mark Kenny is available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to democracysausage@anu.edu.au.
This podcast is produced by the Australian National University on the lands of the Ngunnawal, Ngambri and the Ngarigu peoples.
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