Few Australian politicians showed as much courage during the pandemic as Senator Alex Antic — championing free speech, resisting the government’s attempts to censor Australians, and often standing alone in Parliament to challenge overreach and demand transparency.
I rarely agree to podcast interviews, but as a fellow Adelaidean, I accepted Senator Antic’s invitation for a wide-ranging discussion.
We cover the highs, lows, and battles of my investigative journalism career — from leaving medical research for the ABC in Sydney, to producing award-winning investigations that rattled powerful interests and ultimately saw me ousted from the public broadcaster.
I recount the behind-the-scenes struggles over reporting on widely prescribed medications, nutrition science, and wireless devices, and the industries that shape public health narratives — and how those experiences prepared me for the storm of Covid-19.
From clashes with “fact-checkers” and Freedom of Information stonewalling, to exposing the pharmaceutical industry’s influence over drug regulation, nothing is off-limits.
We also revisit my BMJ investigation into regulatory capture, which found the TGA derives 96% of its funding from industry fees — a model that undermines public trust — and explore the disturbing lack of transparency in how vaccine safety is monitored.
We discuss the potential for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reshape the US national conversation on vaccines, diet and water fluoridation — reforms aimed at reversing the rising tide of chronic disease.
Finally, we turn to the collapse of legacy media, the drift from fact-based reporting to opinion-driven coverage, and why independent journalism matters more than ever.
BASED podcast by Senator Alex Antic
Dr @MaryanneDemasi is an Adelaide-born investigative journalist specialising in medical subjects. Dr Demasi’s reporting has earned her an international audience and three National Press Club of Australia prizes for Excellence in Health Journalism. Dr Demasi was one of the first high-profile reporters to draw attention to systemic issues within the modern Australian medical and pharmaceutical industry. Though her efforts in this direction resulted in significant backlash and career hardship, Dr Demasi gained a reputation as a fearless journalist committed to telling the truth despite the cost. This pioneering work meant that when the COVID-19 era hit in 2020, Dr Demasi was well placed to recognise and report on the same pattern of half-truths she had seen in the past. On this episode of BASED, Senator Antic and Dr Demasi discuss the medical industry and its regulation, the dichotomy of old and new media, the response to COVID-19 and the evolution of her career so far.
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