ABC1's blog

YES WE CANBERRA’s FINAL episode airs TONIGHT at the new earlier time of 9:30pm and tonight they’re warming up for David and Margaret’s At The Movies.

Also tonight:

- Chas and Andrew review all the early election night calls in “How to Turn This Boring Shit into Great TV”

- Craig delivers the Mal Award to a Labor Faceless man

- Inspired by Nine’s Michael Usher, Julian enters his own Chamber Graphic 3D World

Tuesday, August 24 at 10.05pm on ABC1, Jennifer talks to author Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Born in Somalia and raised a devout Muslim, Ayaan Hirsi Ali broke tradition when she escaped an arranged marriage and fled to the Netherlands where she was given asylum and eventually citizenship. Hirsi Ali gained international recognition as the controversial member of Dutch Parliament who wrote a short film attacking Islam, which led to the murder of its director, Theo Van Gogh, and a similar threat against Hirsi Ali.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali has since become an active critic of fundamentalist Islam and an advocate for women’s rights. She will be joining Jennifer Byrne to discuss her new book Nomad, the follow up to her best-selling memoir Infidel, which traced her journey from Somalia to Holland. Nomad picks up the story of her physical and emotional journey to freedom, and the challenges she faced not only show the difficulty of reconciling the contradictions of Islam with Western values, but are a touching and uplifting account of one woman’s discovery of today’s America.

10:05pm – Tuesday, August 24 on ABC1

Jennifer Byrne Presents is a series of individual treats for lovers of books and writing. A panel of leading authors and expert celebrity guests join Jennifer for investigations into some of the most popular reading genres. They reveal the conventions, controversies, and titles that have helped shaped the literary landscape.

On tonight’s show, Jennifer talks to author Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Born in Somalia and raised a devout Muslim, Ayaan Hirsi Ali broke tradition when she escaped an arranged marriage and fled to the Netherlands where she was given asylum and eventually citizenship. Hirsi Ali gained international recognition as the controversial member of the Dutch Parliament who wrote a short film attacking Islam, which led to the murder of its director, Theo Van Gogh, and a similar threat against Hirsi Ali.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali has since become an active critic of fundamentalist Islam and an advocate for women’s rights. She will be joining Jennifer Byrne to discuss her new book Nomad, the follow- up to her best-selling memoir Infidel, which traced her journey from Somalia to Holland.

Nomad picks up the story of her physical and emotional journey to freedom. The challenges she faced not only show the difficulty of reconciling the contradictions of Islam with Western values, but are a touching and uplifting account of one woman’s discovery of today’s America.

9:35pm – Tuesday, August 24 on ABC1

On the world’s most impossible quiz show tonight are Alan Davies, Jo Brand, Jimmy Carr and Jackie Clune.

Quiz master Stephen Fry awards points for interesting answers and penalties for boring, obvious and uninteresting ones.

Tonight’s questions and answers cover Australia, Africa, earwigs, arthropods, ducks and rubber boots.

8:30pm – Tuesday, August 24 on ABC1

Continuing this spectacular three-part series, this week we move on from Italy to continue our lesson in Baroque, as UK art critic Waldemar Januszczak takes us on a tour of the best examples of Baroque to be found, and tells the best stories behind those works.

This week’s program follows Baroque to its dark heart in Spain, especially focusing on the route of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, and featuring star painters Velasquez, Caravaggio, and Zurburan.

Waldemar explores just how international the Baroque movement was, including its influences in Latin America. We then follow on through Belgium and Holland to discover such Baroque celebrities as Rubens, Rembrandt and Vermeer.

FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT TUESDAY 24TH AUGUST 8PM ON ABC1

Is it possible to defuse a terrorist? Can a violent extremist be disarmed, mellowed and transformed into an upright citizen who values human life and religious diversity?

These are some of the profound and perplexing questions confronting authorities in Indonesia as they face rampant recidivism among terrorists. Jihadis do their time only to head out of their prison cell and back into a terrorist cell.

Foreign Correspondent goes behind bars to examine the Terror-go-round.

6:00pm – Tuesday, August 24 on ABC1

Britain’s most famous chef, the three-Michelin-starred Heston Blumenthal, has a disastrous start to revamping the chain of Little Chef roadside restaurants.

The public dislike his new menu, some calling it ‘poncey’. Wounded, he must begin again to try to win them over, by injecting some creative but good quality British food at the tired iconic restaurant chain.

He goes back to basics, asking Britons what their favourite foods are.

The answers are surprising, and set him on a new path.

But Heston has a falling out with the CEO of the chain who is leaning on him to inject some culinary sparkle into the restaurants, but on a budget.

Q&A’S ELECTION POST MORTEM- MONDAY 23 AUGUST AT 9.35PM ON ABC1

Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott have both faced the Q&A audience during this election campaign.

And this weekend, the voters decide who will win this extremely close election contest.

Join Q&A’s special election post mortem this Monday night to identify the victims and victors, with host Tony Jones, key politicians and your favourite Q&A commentators – 9.35pm on ABC1.

Members of the public can get involved in Q&A in a variety of ways:

Go to abc.net.au/qanda to register to be part of the live Q&A studio audience;

- The website is also the place to go to submit questions, and to upload video questions;

- Viewers can also contribute to the discussion via Q&A’s Twitter highlight’s feed, using #qanda and submit video and written questions via the website;

- And follow @abcqanda on Twitter to receive first-hand updates about the program and panel members.

9:20pm – Monday, August 23 on ABC1

Investigative reporter and author, Paul Barry, will host Media Watch while Jonathan Holmes takes long service leave.

A journalist for almost 40 years, Holmes joined the ABC in 1983 as the executive producer for Four Corners and has presented Media Watch for the past three seasons. He will enjoy a family holiday overseas before returning to Media Watch in February, 2011.

Paul Barry hosted Media Watch in 2000.

Barry said he was delighted to be involved again with such an iconic TV program, which for the past 21 years has played a crucial role in keeping the media honest.

“It will be great to be back in the chair, even if it is only for three months,” he said.

Barry’s programs for ABC TV’s Four Corners in the late 1980s and early 1990s won him numerous television awards. Since then he has presented The Times and Witness on Channel Seven and reported for Channel Nine’s 60 Minutes.

His expos� of tax-dodging barristers for The Sydney Morning Herald in 2001 won him a Walkley Award.

He has also written six bestsellers, including The Rise & Fall of Alan Bond, described by one reviewer as ‘essential reading for anyone with even a passing interest in business and its morality during the turbulent 1980s’.

The Rise and Rise of Kerry Packer was praised for combining ‘the highest standards of investigative journalism with admirable professional balance and a refusal to be intimidated by perceptions of power’. He’s also written a biography of James Packer (Who Wants To Be A Billionaire?).

FOUR CORNERS: OVERDOSE: THE NEXT FINANCIAL CRISIS - MONDAY 23 AUGUST AT 8.30PM ON ABC1

When the world’s financial bubble blew, the solution was to lower interest rates and pump trillions of dollars into the sick banking system. On the face of it this seemed the only way to deal with impending disaster, but was it?

“The solution is the problem, that’s why we had a problem in the first place,” Economics Nobel laureate Vernon Smith says. For him, the Catch 22 is self-evident. Interest rates have been at rock bottom for years, and governments are running out of fuel to feed the economy. He asks:

“The governments can save the banks, but who can save the governments?”

Forecasts predict many countries will see their debt reach 100 per cent of their Gross Domestic Product in the near future. Greece and Iceland have already crumbled, who will be next?

The storm that would rock the world began in the United States when congress pushed the idea of home ownership for all, propping up those who couldn’t make the mortgage down payments. The market even coined the term NINA loans, meaning “No Income, No Assets, No Problem!”

Enter FannieMae and FreddieMac, privately owned, government sponsored mortgage houses. “Want that vacation? Wanna buy some new clothes? Use your house as a piggie bank!” People began to ask:  “why earn money to pay for your home when you can make money just living in it?” With the government covering all losses, you’d have been a fool not to borrow.

The years of growth had been a continuous party. But when the punchbowl ran dry, instead of letting investors go home to nurse their hangovers as usual, the Federal Reserve just filled it up again with phoney money. For analyst Peter Schiff, the consequence of the spending binge was crystal clear:

“We’re in so much trouble now because we got drunk on all that Federal Government alcohol.”

If he and other experts are right, then the worst is yet to come as governments struggle to pay the debt they now owe as a result of their bank bailouts and bad investment decisions.

“OVERDOSE” goes to air on 23rd August at 8.30pm on ABC1. It is repeated on 24th August at 11.35pm. It can also be seen in the same week at 10.15pm Friday and 1.15pm Saturday on ABC News 24. It will also be available on iView and abc.net.au/4corners.