He spent four decades as one of Tasmania's most respected detectives, not by working the politics, but by working the streets. David Plumpton retired in 2015 as a detective inspector with Tasmania Police, but his legacy isn't built on rank. It's built on something far rarer: the ability to make the most dangerous, guarded, and ruthless criminals open their mouths.

Adam sits down with "Plumo" to explore a lost art in modern policing - the walk and the talk. Plumpton breaks down the psychology of getting people to talk, his philosophy of "business, nothing personal," and why sincerity is the most powerful tool in any interrogation room. He also reveals why, inside Tasmanian prisons, the word went around: don't talk to Plumpton.

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For nearly six years, Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty commanded the New South Wales Homicide Squad, overseeing more than 450 murders, a wave of organised crime killings, and some of the most complex mass-casualty investigations in the state's recent history, including Bondi Junction.

Now retired after a 40-year career, Danny sits down with Adam Shand to pull back the curtain on what it actually takes to run one of Australia's most demanding policing units. They cover the investigative "surge" model that put almost every organised crime murder before the courts in a single year; why the first 48 hours has given way to the first two weeks; the psychology of killers who refuse to give up a body — from Bruce Burrell to Chris Dawson; the promise of forensic investigative genetic genealogy; and the unsolved cases that still keep him up at night.

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When Sergeant Benedict Bryant pulled into Henderson Road on the morning of February 19, 2022, he had travelled 800 metres from Redfern Police Station to respond to a serious crime in progress. What followed took 3.9 seconds, and cost him his career, his finances and his freedom.

Adam Shand is joined by Retired Chief Inspector Paul Fownes, who has been supporting Bryant's legal fight and fundraising appeal. Together they examine the detail of what actually happened that morning, the coroner's conduct, the decision to bring in a barrister who had previously prosecuted police over an Aboriginal death in custody, and what this conviction means as a precedent for every officer who responds to a dynamic situation in seconds, with a legal system watching in slow motion.

Paul Fownes Support Page:

https://www.sergeantbryantfight.com/

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She didn't stumble into cold case forensics: she invented it.

Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick is a nuclear physicist, former rocket scientist, and the founder of California-based Identifinders International, and she's the woman who pioneered the technique now known as forensic investigative genetic genealogy. Adam sits down with Colleen to trace her remarkable journey from laser science and space shuttle research to building family trees that catch killers, and hears how she cracked cases that had defeated generations of detectives, including the 20-year-old murder of teenager Sarah Yarborough and Australia's most enduring mystery, the Somerton Man.

Colleen pulls back the curtain on how FIG actually works, the limits of commercial DNA databases, and why the technology is only getting more powerful. And she and Adam share a fascinating conversation about a potential future project - using genetic genealogy to identify and repatriate human remains taken from colonial Zimbabwe, currently sitting nameless in British museums. If you've got a skeleton in your closet, Dr Colleen Fitzpatrick will find it.

Identifinders International Website: https://identifinders.com/

GEDmatch Website: https://www.gedmatch.com/

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What began as a conversation about Ned Kelly, Dezi Freeman and the myth-making around Australia's most notorious outlaws, suddenly took an unexpected turn, and became something far more powerful.

Adam Shand was a guest on his mate Luke Bona's Bonafide podcast to explore the parallels between Kelly's rebellion and Freeman's modern-day sympathisers, and the romanticised legacy of Australian bushranging. But when Luke's Indigenous identity came up, Adam did what he does best - he asked the question no one else had thought to ask.

For the first time on any public platform, Luke Bona reveals the story of how he came to be raised in a white family on Sydney's northern beaches, unaware of his Wiradjuri heritage. Born at Crown Street Women's Hospital to a 16-year-old Aboriginal woman from Bourke, Luke was left in a Bondi orphanage — and the circumstances under which his biological mother lost him are deeply troubling.

It's a story of identity, loss, and the long shadow of adoption — one that Luke has carried for years, including the devastating decision by his adoptive mother to write him out of her will after he went searching for his roots.

Listen to Luke Bona's Bonafide Podcast HERE

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DNA evidence has been called the gold standard of forensic science — but is the justice system placing too much faith in it?

Adam Shand speaks with Jae Gerhard, one of Australia's leading independent forensic scientists, about the hidden limitations of DNA evidence and what they mean for criminal prosecutions. A former scientist with the Australian Federal Police and NSW Police Force, Jae now works as an expert witness advising defence lawyers on what the DNA in their cases actually tells us — and what it doesn't.

From trace DNA that can travel on a handshake to gloves that become vectors for contamination, Jae reveals how easily evidence can be misread, mishandled, or misrepresented in court. She takes Adam through landmark cases including Farah Jama, who spent sixteen months in prison for a crime he didn't commit — convicted largely on DNA evidence that was never what it appeared to be.

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Graeme Alford had it all mapped out: a criminal law practice in Melbourne, the trust of the underworld, and a fast-track to the top. Then the drinking and gambling caught up with him. He raided his client trust fund, did time in Pentridge and on release somehow managed to pull off one of the most inept armed robberies in Australian history - earning himself a second lagging.

Inside, something shifted. Graeme bulldozed the wreckage of his old life and rebuilt from scratch. Brain training, biographies of successful people and a cast-iron decision to become the master of his own destiny.

What followed was extraordinary. A clerkship led to a career bringing Norman Schwarzkopf, Nelson Mandela and Mikhail Gorbachev to Australian audiences. Then came a second reinvention: as an addiction counsellor, opening a rehab centre built on the belief that recovery happens in real life, not away from it. He's 77, 43 years sober, and still not done.

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Four Australian women, known as the ISIS Brides, returned home from Syria in May this year. Two were charged with crimes against humanity and slavery offences allegedly committed overseas. A third faced terrorism-related charges. And yet another 20 or more remain stranded in Syrian refugee camps, unable to get home.

The question isn't whether we like them. The question is whether the law applies equally to everyone.

Adam Shand is joined by Brisbane-based immigration lawyer Tanguy Mwilambwe of Sambi Legal to unpack the legal reality behind the headlines. Why can't the government simply keep these women out? What's the difference between joining ISIS and fighting with the IDF? And what does it mean for all of us when politics starts overriding the rule of law?

From temporary exclusion orders to mandatory visa cancellations, child brides to slavery charges, this is a story about what Australian citizenship actually means — and what we lose when we decide some citizens don't deserve its protections.

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