Four Corners Season 57, Episode 33: The Ransom

1

"A Helluva Ride" - The Trump Revolution Begins

Four Corners returns with an incisive exploration of how President Trump will wield power. Reporter Michael Brissenden interviews key players in the Trump camp & Republicans on the political earthquake rippling across the US.

45 min

2

Swallowing It

How Australians are spending billions on unproven vitamins & supplements. With 7 out of 10 Australians taking a complementary medicine, Four Corners looks at the regulation & marketing of these products.

45 min

3

Highway To Hell

A Report from the Frontlines in the Battle Against the Islamic State. As the war against IS intensifies, Matt Brown reports from the frontlines of Mosul - the biggest urban battle since World War II.

45 min

4

Oceans Of Plastic

What happens to the plastic we throw away? A report on how our rubbish ends up in the ocean and the damage it causes.

45 min

5

Crown Confidential: Packer's Losing Hand

The Crown empire have bet big for years on China. Four Corners investigates what went wrong for James Packer's gambling & entertainment operations in China & what this might mean for its Australian business.

45 min

6

The Price Of The American Dream

Can President Trump keep his promise to make America Great Again? Four Corners meets the human face of America's working poor as they struggle to feed their families.

45 min

7

The Age of Consequences

Four Corners brings you the views of distinguished former members of the US military and senior policy makers who warn that climate change is not only real, it's a threat to global security.

45 min

8

Fighting The System

The mothers and carers battling for justice and protection for their disabled children.

45 min

9

Please Explain

Four Corners reporter Caro Meldrum-Hanna reveals the brutal backroom politics ripping into Pauline Hanson's One Nation party.

45 min

10

Cracking The Code

Cracking the Code: What Facebook really knows about you. How one of the world's most powerful corporations is turning our lives and our data into vast profits, in ways we have no control over.

45 min

11

Syria's Disappeared

This powerful film shines a light on the barbarism of the Syrian regime at a time when the future of President Assad is being argued over by the world's most powerful nations.

45 min

12

After The Game

After the Game: Elite athletes blow the whistle on the high price paid for sporting glory.

45 min

13

Power Failure

Four Corners investigates how a nation as rich as Australia is in coal, gas, sunshine and wind, could find itself in an energy crisis.

45 min

14

Gun Runners

It was one of the biggest illegal firearms busts in Australian history. A criminal syndicate brazenly smuggling weapons into the country exposing the failings in the nation's border security. Ben Knight reports.

45 min

15

The Lindt Cafe Siege (Part 1)

A 2-part investigation into the Lindt Cafe siege. Sarah Ferguson talks exclusively with families of Tori Johnson & Katrina Dawson about their experience on the day & their devastation, anger & frustrations in the aftermath.

45 min

16

The Lindt Cafe Siege (Part 2)

Part Two takes you inside the Lindt Cafe & the police operation on the day, with a forensic examination of how the disaster unfolded. We expose what went wrong & ask whether Australia is prepared for another terror attack.

45 min

17

Power And Influence

An investigation uncovering how China's Communist Party is infiltrating Australia, tracking the activities of Beijing-backed organisations and the efforts made to intimidate CCP opponents.

45 min

18

Breaking The Brotherhood

The brave few who blew the whistle on Australia's most corrupt police force.

45 min

19

Rise Of The Trolls

With the rise of social media and smartphones in virtually every pocket, internet trolls are only ever a click, tap or swipe away. Four Corners takes you into the dark side of the internet.

45 min

20

Bleed Them Dry Until They Die

The retirement villages ripping off retirees. Adele Ferguson investigates.

45 min

21

The Company He Keeps

This Four Corners investigation will reveal how Donald Trump was negotiating luxury resort deals in Bali and Java, raising serious questions about Presidential conflicts of interest.

45 min

22

Forget Me Not

A story of identity, love and dignity, introducing three families who tell their stories about living with dementia.

45 min

23

Dark Secret

In Philadelphia in the early 2000s, a team of lawyers embarked on an investigation led by a formidable District Attorney. What they uncovered was one of the worst criminal cover-ups in US history.

45 min

24

Pumped

Stretching from Qld to SA, billions of dollars in taxpayer's money has been poured into rescuing the rivers & streams of the Murray-Darling Basin. Linton Besser investigates where the money, & the water is going.

45 min

25

Weapons Of Mass Surveillance

The digital age has revolutionised the way we live our lives. With the technology of smartphones governments have been given the ability to spy on their citizens on an astonishing scale. Nawal Al-Maghafi reports.

45 min

26

Trashed

The dirty truth about your rubbish. Four Corners investigates the big business of rubbish & where it ends up. In interviews with insiders, reporter Caro Meldrum-Hanna exposes hidden practices occurring in the waste industry.

45 min

27

Inside The Greens

The Greens have been a party in disarray. As the party faces its biggest challenges since its foundation, Four Corners investigates if the party's actions live up to their spin. Louise Milligan reports.

45 min

28

Betting On The House

Australians are carrying more personal debt than ever. We hold the second highest level of household debt in the world. Michael Brissenden investigates the forces driving our debt fuelled housing boom & the risks it poses.

45 min

29

Blood Business

Giving blood is a selfless act that saves lives. For many, it's a way of giving back to the community. In other countries, blood has become a lucrative commodity fuelling a global trade worth billions of dollars.

45 min

30

Combustible

In the wake of the tragic Grenfell Tower fire in London, reporter Deb Whitmont investigates the risk of flammable aluminium cladding in Australia & the dangerous legacy of failed regulation in the building industry.

45 min

31

North Korea - Murder In The Family

How Kim Jong-un's murderous ambitions & nuclear weapons program are threatening world peace - tracing his rise to power, his aggressive pursuit of a nuclear weapons program to eliminating potential rivals.

45 min

32

All That Glitters

Developers, deals and donations on the Gold Coast. In this pro-development town, a series of controversial billion dollar proposals have prompted a collection of unlikely allies to say enough is enough. Mark Willacy reports.

45 min

33

The Ransom

Inside the murky world of international kidnapping and hostage negotiation. Every year more than 30,000 people are kidnapped around the world. A small number are taken for political reasons, many more held for financial gain.

45 min

34

Digging Into Adani

The dubious dealings of India's corporate colossus. Four Corners travelled to India to dig into the business practices of Adani, the corporate giant planning to build Australia's biggest mine site. Stephen Long reports.

45 min

35

Contamination

It's one of the biggest environmental scandals in Australian history. Harmful chemicals, leaching into the ground & waterways, contaminating our water. Linton Besser investigates the toxic legacy of fire-fighting foam.

45 min

36

Hillary Clinton

In her only Australian TV interview, Hillary Clinton speaks exclusively with Sarah Ferguson. Candid, open & at times angry, the former presidential candidate talks about what went wrong & her fears for the future.

45 min

37

What's Wrong With The NBN?

As the National Broadband Network passes the halfway point in its rollout, Geoff Thompson investigates why Australia's fast broadband is stuck in the slow lane, leaving a growing number of customers disappointed and angry.

45 min

38

Germany's New Nazis

A right-wing nationalist party is centre stage in German politics for the first time since Hitler's Nazi Party. We chart the rise of a notorious anti-immigrant group which stands accused of a wave of violent attacks.

45 min

39

Inside The Tax Havens Of The Rich And Powerful

Inside the secretive world of tax havens where corporations and the wealthy operate far from public view. In a global investigation we reveal the lengths some business figures and global corporations go to avoid paying tax.

45 min

40

Malcolm In A Muddle

In the week of the same-sex marriage survey result Four Corners looks into the battle for control raging inside the Liberal Party. Whatever the survey result, the politicking will be far from over. Michael Brissenden reports.

45 min

41

The Murphy Scandal

Justice Lionel Murphy was one of the most senior political and legal figures in Australia. He was also at the centre of one of the most extraordinary scandals in our nation's history. Debbie Whitmont reports.

45 min