In this RNB Podcast episode, Michael Lester interviews Judith Brett AM, emeritus professor of politics at La Trobe University and author of The Enigmatic Mr Deakin. As part of RNB’s 125th anniversary series for Australian Federation and the making of Australia in January 1901, they discuss how Alfred Deakin—Federation founding father and Australia’s second Prime Minister—shaped the 1890s debates, conventions, and referenda, and the ideas, values, and vision that helped motivate the Commonwealth nation.