A woman in a man’s prison Mara is a trans woman in a men’s prison – something that is possible in parts of Australia where people are jailed according to their sex-at-birth. Mara was arrested after assaulting her partner, after several years of hormone-replacement therapy, but before she legally changed her sex and name on her documents. Her story of being left alone by her family when she came out and her experiences of abuse in the prison are very vivid in the immersive illustration that tells this story.

I had never thought about trans people in prison before, and this story was a stark and sad reminder of the consequences of the lack of support for and acceptance of diverse identities.

Irene, First 1,000 Days correspondent ABC News: ‘Life as a transgender woman locked up in a men’s prison’ (reading time: seven minutes)
Why winning at poker too often automatically makes you a suspect Mike Postle won hundreds of thousands of dollars whenever he played poker at Stones, a gambling palace in northern California. He could definitely use the money after his wife lied about a deadly brain tumour and dragged him into court to fight over their daughter’s custody for years. Other poker players admired Postle’s insight into the game, but one commentator felt there was something off about him.

Veronica Brill, an IT expert who, like Postle, was struggling with personal problems (her three-year-old son died of cancer), suggested that Postle somehow sensed the cards he was dealt were either better or worse than those of his rival players. Mathematically speaking, his 86% win rate was close to impossible. A battle of words followed on Twitter and YouTube; Postle and the casino were indicted; images of Postle’s cap with a curious lump underneath it were carefully analysed in hundreds of pages of forum threads.

Did Postle cheat, or is he so brilliant that the best poker manuals simply haven’t yet figured out his unorthodox moves?

Riffy, general editor at De Correspondent WIRED: ‘The cheating scandal that ripped the poker world apart’ (reading time: 35 minutes)
What does it really mean to help children overseas? Renee Bach was just 19 when she left her comfortable life in the US to go to Uganda. She had no degree, no knowledge of poverty or development, but she had God on her side. As a modern Mother Teresa, Renee established an aid organisation to combat malnutrition in Uganda, where she soon fed hundreds of children every day.

Thanks to her clever use of social media, money from Christian donors in the US started to pour in. Renee was a role model for young missionaries-to-be. But now, 10 years later, a lawsuit against Renee is pending. She is accused of posing as a doctor, performing unlicensed medical procedures, and killing more than 100 children.

Maite, Migration correspondent at De Correspondent iHeartMedia: The Missionary (average episode listening time: 40 minutes)

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