Explore every episode of the podcast 7am

The numbers are almost incomprehensible – last month US debt hit 40 trillion dollars. With an interest bill of more than three billion dollars a day.

And that’s before Donald Trump’s trillion dollar promise to hand every adult in America a cheque for five thousand bucks!

Now, as global debt levels rise to record highs, and the cost of paying that debt rises too – experts are sounding the alarm – warning the economic storm that’s brewing is starting to look an awful lot like the 2007 global financial crisis.

Today, Senior Economics Correspondent at the Age and SMH, Shane Wright on the chance of another GFC and what it means for Australia.

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Guest: Senior Economics Correspondent at the Age & SMH Shane Wright

Photo: AP Photo/Richard Drew

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One by one, the Aboriginal leaders, organisations and watchdogs the Northern Territory government is supposed to work with are walking away.

The Children’s Commissioner has resigned. An Indigenous MP has left parliament after more than a decade. And now almost the entire Aboriginal side of the Territory’s Justice Policy Partnership has suspended its involvement.

They’re all making a remarkably similar complaint – that the government isn’t listening, and that the structures supposedly designed to give Aboriginal people a say have become meaningless.

Today, National Indigenous Times journalist Dechlan Brennan, on how relations got this bad – and whether a government can tackle the Territory’s enormous problems if the people most affected no longer believe there’s any point in sitting at the table.

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Guest: National Indigenous Times journalist, Dechlan Brennan

Photo: AAP Image/Supplied by (A)manda Parkinson

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From afar, Alice Springs is a whirlpool of myth and truth. A town with competing interests and few solutions, marked by chaos and decades of government overreach.

In cities and towns across Australia, we read about a “crisis” about “rampages”. One newspaper described the children of Alice Springs as “tiny menaces stuck on a turnstile of trouble”.

In this first episode of our three part series This is Alice Springs, Daniel James visits the town at the heart of our nation, to find out how all the interventions, big and small, by governments of all persuasions have led to this chaos. What he finds is that almost all of it leads back to one thing.

This series was originally published in October 2024.

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Guest: Hosted and reported by Daniel James

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In 2020 Anthony Albanese called for the sacking of then-sports minister Bridget McKenzie over her involvement in the infamous sports rorts – which he labelled a farce. Not long after, she resigned.

But now that similar pork barrelling claims have been levelled at the Prime Minister, he’s come out swinging – refusing to admit any wrong-doing over his failure to declare membership at a golf club which received a six million dollar grant.

Also coming out swinging this week was Andrew Hastie. The Liberal MP delivered a masterclass in how to take on One Nation as he labelled Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce lying cowards over a party-backed cartoon calling him a traitor.

Today, press gallery veteran Paul Bongiorno on a fiery week in parliament, and who came off second best.

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Guest: Press gallery veteran Paul Bongiorno

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When Donald Trump was sworn in for a second time, some of the most powerful men in the tech world had the best seats in the room.

Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg – a display of just how close silicon valley had aligned itself to the administration.

But within that world, journalist Gil Durán says, is a smaller, more radical group with a much bigger ambition: get rid of democracy, and use technology to build a new order in its place, controlled by a wealthy elite. And in his new book, The Nerd Reich, Gil traces how these once-fringe ideas have moved closer to the White House than ever before.

Today, Silicon Valley journalist and author Gil Durán, on the group he’s dubbed the “Nerd Reich’, the ideas driving them, and how they became part of Trump’s political project.

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Guest: Author of The Nerd Reich Gil Durán

Photo: AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson

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Last month, an emotional Jacqui Lambie revealed a private health battle connected to her time in the army – a debilitating prolapse that required surgery.

The Tasmanian senator called out gaps in health care services for female veterans, and raged against the government’s plans to introduce a $5,000 cap on allied health services for veterans.

This week fellow veterans joined her calls, laying down their war medals outside parliament house in protest, as Lambie promised to continue the fight.

Today, Senator Jacqui Lambie on why veterans are getting a raw deal.

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Guest: Independent Senator for Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie

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One Nation is copping heat for a proposal that would let Australians take some of the money going into their super as extra pay instead.

For up to three years, renters and mortgage holders could choose to take home a quarter of the money that would normally be put into their retirement – worth about $44 a week for someone on the average full-time wage.

At the same time, the Coalition has been looking at its own ways to give people greater access to their super now – and some of its MPs want to go further.

So why is superannuation suddenly being pitched as an answer to Australia’s cost-of-living and housing problems? And is it a good idea?

Today, economist Greg Jericho, on the growing political fight over what our super should actually be for.

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Guest: Chief economist at the Australia Institute, Greg Jericho

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In imposing scenes in the UK over the weekend, hundreds of masked men belonging to the hard-right group Patriot Platform stopped traffic.

Around the same time, political party AfD was making history in Germany – becoming the first far-right party to win in the country since World War two.

And on the other side of the world, Australia’s high court will today hear from our most high profile Neo-Nazi group in a challenge, legal experts say could see the federal government’s ban on White Australia (formerly known as the National Socialist Network) overturned.

Today, Associate professor of politics at Deakin University Josh Roose on Germany, the UK, and Australia’s high court challenge – as the far-right continues its march across the world.

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Guest: Associate professor of politics at Deakin University, Josh Roose

Photo: AP Photo/Matthias Schrader

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On the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Labor has promised a vast new national park to protect more than 12,000 koalas.

But there’s a catch.

The New South Wales government wants carbon credits to help pay for it. By ending planned logging, it could generate credits that are then sold to companies to offset their emissions.

For the Greens, that creates a dilemma at a moment when both major parties are bleeding voters – voters who are walking straight past the Greens as an alternative.

They want the forests protected, but have long opposed carbon offsets that allow big polluters to keep polluting. Now those two positions are about to collide.

Today, co-chief executive officer of the Australia Institute Richard Denniss on koalas, carbon offsets and whether the Greens are still willing to pick the big fights.

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Guest: Co-chief executive officer of the Australia Institute, Richard Denniss

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For years, Australia has made cigarettes increasingly expensive in an effort to drive down smoking. Now, the Coalition wants to dramatically reverse course.

It's promised to slash the tobacco excise by 80 per cent, arguing that soaring cigarette prices have fuelled a violent black market. It also wants to legalise and regulate vapes and nicotine pouches.

Labor says there’s no evidence the tax cuts would draw smokers away from the black market, while public health authorities warn it could undo decades of progress in reducing smoking.

So, who’s right?

Today, Martin McKenzie-Murray on how Australia’s public health success helped create the conditions for a deadly tobacco war – and whether making cigarettes cheaper could actually help end it.

This episode was first published in May, 2025.

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Guest: Martin McKenzie-Murray

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Paul Keating has been out of office for thirty years. But he’s never really left the national conversation.

Keating wanted Australia to find its security in Asia, not from it, and to stop defining itself through bigger powers in the Anglosphere.

That vision now sits uneasily alongside AUKUS, a more powerful China, and an Australia tied ever more closely to the United States.

Today, historian and author of Grand Ambition James Curran, on Keating’s argument for a more independent Australia – and why it continues to challenge the modern Labor Party.

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Guest: Historian and author of Grand Ambition, James Curran

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Speaking at the Press Club this week, consent education advocate Chanel Contos outlined how social media companies are feeding misogynistic content to young men online. 

Now, she wants the government to compel social media companies to give people the option to restrict their algorithm. 

So can, and should, the algorithm be contained? And would social media companies even comply? 

Today, CEO of Teach Us Consent, Chanel Contos on the damage the algorithm is doing – and the next tech frontier. 

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Guest: Teach Us Consent CEO Chanel Contos

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They’ve been dubbed pervert glasses. And with good reason  – women around the world are reporting being sexually harassed, filmed without their consent, often without their knowledge.

But this week, the federal government ruled out an import ban on smart glasses – as concerns about the technology rise and examples of their misuse flood the internet.

Today, Associate Dean of Interaction Technology & Information at RMIT Dana McKay,
on the rising popularity of smartglasses, how to regulate their use, and the dangers if wearable surveillance tech becomes widespread.

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Guest: Associate Dean of Interaction Technology & Information at RMIT, Dana McKay

Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria

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One Nation has declared that “politics has changed” after snatching a formerly safe Labor seat in a surprise by-election victory in WA over the weekend.

Until now, it had been the Coalition feeling the effects of the orange wave, but now Labor officially has a Pauline problem of its own.

So what does this mean for the government, and the country?

Today, WA political reporter for Business News, Gary Adshead on how One Nation won over WA voters and whether it can replicate that victory elsewhere.

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Guest: Political reporter for Business News, Gary Adshead

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A wall of grey, silted water tears through a Himalayan Valley. 

People look on in shock, disbelief and fear as buildings are swallowed. Cars are swept away and people run as the flood surges down below. 

In its aftermath, more than 800 people are dead and thousands are missing, including 43 Australians.

In the search for answers, scientists now believe the disaster began high in the mountains, when an enormous mass of ice and rock, weighing around 500 million tonnes, collapsed and unleashed a torrent of water down the valley. 

Today, glaciologist at University of Sunshine Coast Adrian McCallum, on how this disaster unfolded, and why the Himalayas and some of the world’s other great mountain ranges are becoming more vulnerable to events like it. 

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Guest: Glaciologist Adrian McCallum

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On day one of his role as communications director for the White House, Anthony Scaramucci sung Donald Trump’s praises. 

He would serve in that role for just another ten days, a span of time that has become known as a “mooch”.

Since leaving the White House, Scaramucci has become one of the president’s most vocal and scathing critics. Now, he says Trump’s return to power is the product of deeper failures in American politics, and a warning about what happens when economic anger goes unanswered.

Today, The Rest is Politics US host Anthony Scaramucci on why Trump came back, the limits of his power, and how Australia should deal with the U.S. president.

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Guest: The Rest is Politics US host Anthony Scaramucci

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The latest NAPLAN results show around a third of Australian students are still falling short in literacy and numeracy – results that have barely budged since 2023.

At the same time, Australia is settling a decades-long fight over how children should be taught to read.

For years, many schools relied on outdated methods that encouraged children to work out words using context, pictures and other cues. Now, some classrooms are increasingly moving towards phonics and explicit instruction.

But the evidence for that approach has been around for decades. So why is it taking so long for classrooms to catch up?

Today, journalist Martin McKenzie-Murray on why the old methods lasted for so long, and how children should actually be taught to read.

This episode was first published in August 2024.

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Guest: Associate editor of The Saturday Paper, Martin McKenzie-Murray

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Australia has changed in ways our politics is still struggling to understand. 

We are now a majority migrant nation. Professional women have overtaken blue-collar men as the largest group in the workforce. And the two countries Australia has relied on most, China and the United States, have become less predictable. 

Labor has adapted to parts of this new reality. The Coalition, so far, has struggled to do the same. 

Today, author of Three Shocks, George Megalogenis on the tectonic plates reshaping Australian politics. 

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Guest: Author of Three Shocks George Megalogenis

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Over the past two weeks, allegations of sexual assault involving some of the country’s most powerful institutions – the Swans and Sydney’s Scots College – have forced an uncomfortable question about how Australia responds when women say they have been harmed.

But behind those cases is an even more troubling shift. New research suggests some young men are becoming more hostile towards women, while misogyny and sexual violence is being normalised online. 

And with pressure building on leaders and governments across the country to confront it, the question is whether the response is keeping pace with the problem.

Today, Minister for Social Services Tanya Plibersek, on the institutions failing women, the forces shaping a generation of boys, and whether governments are doing enough to stop it.

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Guest: Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek

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As Trump’s war with Iran reaches the six-month mark, the US is increasing its economic pressure – threatening harsher sanctions not just against Iran, but against anyone else who does business with it.

That puts China, the country’s most important trading partner, directly in Washington’s sights.

But how much of this is just bluster? And has Trump lost the ability to turn this conflict in his favour?

Today, The National Interest’s editor-at-large, Steve Clemons, on the dwindling options available to the US – and what that means for its increasingly unpopular president.

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Guest: Editor-at-large of The National Interest, Steve Clemons

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Bird flu has reached a new milestone, crossing over to infect and kill a seal in South Australia. 

It marks a new phase of the outbreak, and has sparked fears for many endangered wildlife species, which face the possibility of extinction. 

So how does the way we farm, eat, and live make us vulnerable to viruses like this? And could humans be at risk with the next mutation? 

Today, journalist and author of Sentinel: when diseases spread between animals and humans, Michael Dulaney on the root cause of the virus - and the future of animal pandemics in our times. 

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Guest: Journalist and author Michael Dulaney

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Last year, the Prime Minister was ambushed in his hotel lobby by far-right figures boasting of being fed “private intel” during the last election campaign. 

The incident was one of about a dozen stunts targeting Labor, the Greens and some Independents. 

It turns out, this wasn’t just about influencers trying to generate content. It was actually a co-ordinated campaign allegedly paid for by a wealthy Christian sect. 

Today, investigative journalist at The Age Sherryn Groch on the Exclusive Brethren, its bags of cash, and connections to the Liberal Party. 

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Guest: Investigative journalist at The Age & SMH Sherryn Groch

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Donald Trump has found a new way to make money. Trump Media and Technology Group is monetising the president’s social media posts, selling Wall Street firms early access to them for as much as $100,000 a month. And in the world of traders, a few milliseconds can mean millions of dollars.

Now, Trump is being sued over the arrangement, amid claims it gives paying customers preferential access to official presidential communications.

At the same time, Trump Media is also moving into prediction markets – a fast-growing corner of finance that can turn political events into betting opportunities. 

Today, Reuters journalist Anirban Sen, on the extraordinary collision of presidential power, private profit and a booming industry where almost anything can become a wager.

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Guest: Reuters journalist, Anirban Sen

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Almost one year ago, the Supreme Court of Victoria allowed a television camera to broadcast a sentencing for the first time ever – the hearing for convicted triple murderer Erin Patterson.

Justice Christopher Beale imposed life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 33 years for murdering three in-laws – and attempting to murder a fourth – by lacing their beef Wellingtons with poisonous death cap mushrooms in 2023.

Now, Patterson has been back in court appealing her convictions, while prosecutors argue her sentence is too lenient and that she should never be released.

Today, we revisit our conversation with investigative journalist and author Lucie Morris-Marr on the sentencing of Erin Patterson, the suffering her crimes caused, and how the judge decided her punishment.

This episode was first published in September 2025.

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Guest: Investigative journalist and author, Lucie Morris-Marr

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For more than a decade, Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has been talking about gambling addiction.

His advocacy means he’s become a lightning rod for people to share their stories.

Now, as the government this week passed legislation aimed at reducing gambling harms, Wilkie is among an angry group of dissenters who say the bill is a “national shame”.

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Guest: Independent MP Andrew Wilkie

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In 2022, Masha Alyokhina escaped Russia disguised as a food delivery courier. 

She had spent years being arrested, imprisoned and watched by the state for her work with punk rock protest group Pussy Riot and for speaking out against Vladimir Putin.

But Alyokhina says the Russia she fled wasn’t transformed by one dramatic moment. Repression came piece by piece, until fear, censorship and eventually silence became part of everyday life. 

Now, she says the same pattern is taking hold elsewhere, as people become overwhelmed, disengaged from politics, and complacent that the freedoms they inherited will simply endure. 

Today, Pussy Riot’s Masha Alyokhina on what Putin’s Russia can teach us about authoritarianism, and why democracy can never be taken for granted. 

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Guest: Pussy Riot’s Maria (Masha) Alyokhina

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When news broke this week of an alleged sexual assault involving the Sydney Swans AFL team in Melbourne, old faultlines in the way the sport handles accusations against its players re-ignited. 

Everything from the players involved, to the language used by the club, and the way the media reported the allegations, came under the microscope. 

So how much has changed when it comes to footy players doing the wrong thing. And what would a good response from the AFL look like? 

Today, journalist and author of Night Games, Anna Krien, on the way forward for the AFL. 

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Guest: Journalist and author of Night Games Anna Krien

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Over six days of public hearings, Australians with a disability told parliament what losing NDIS support would mean for their independence, their families, and their everyday lives.

Despite more than 4,000 submissions and calls for reforms to be paused, the government’s overhaul of the scheme passed the senate yesterday, with support from the Coalition.

By tightening access and reducing some supports, the changes are forecast to save $37.8 billion over the next 4 years. But advocates warn the cuts will leave people worse off, and shift the costs onto families, hospitals and the states.

Today, CEO of Women with Disabilities Australia Sophie Cusworth, on what these reforms mean for people who rely on the NDIS, and if the scheme can be made sustainable without leaving people behind.

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Guest: CEO of Women with Disabilities Australia Sophie Cusworth

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Last week Donald Trump signed an executive order calling for fewer childhood vaccines, sprouting links to autism – which have been definitively disproved by scientists and health organisations around the world.

During Trump’s second term, the misinformation from the president and his health secretary, RFK Jr, has been relentless – undermining public trust in vaccines, as outbreaks of previously eliminated diseases flare up again.

Today, Professor of Public Health at the University of Sydney’s Infectious Diseases Institute Julie Leask on the politicisation of antivax sentiment, and the implications for Australia

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Guest: Professor of Public Health Julie Leask

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For most of Australia’s recent history, preparing for war has meant preparing the military. 

Now, the government is turning its attention on the rest of us. 

A new parliamentary inquiry will examine Australia's civilian preparedness and whether we could keep fuel flowing, supply chains moving and essential services running through a major conflict. 

It comes as the government warns Australia is facing the most threatening strategic circumstances since the Second World War. 

Today, Sam Roggeveen, Director of the Lowy Institute’s International Security Program, on what major conflict would actually mean for Australians, and whether we’re preparing for the right threats.

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Guest: Director of Lowy Institute’s International Security Program, Sam Roggeveen

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Whistleblower David McBride has been released from prison on parole, after serving 27 months for leaking classified Defence documents to journalists.

Those documents helped expose allegations of war crimes by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.

Years on, he’s still the only person to have been sent to prison over the Afghan Files.

Today, as McBride is released, we’re returning to an interview Ashlynne McGhee recorded with him just before he was jailed – on why he leaked those documents, whether he had any regrets, and how Australia keeps its secrets.

This episode was first published in May 2024.

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Guest: Whistleblower and former military lawyer, David McBride

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After years of pressure to tackle gambling harm, the Albanese government is trying to get its long-awaited reforms through parliament, looking to cut a deal with the Opposition, sparking a debate over just how far the government is prepared to go to get its reforms through. 

Meanwhile, immigration is becoming one of the defining battles in federal politics, as One Nation’s growing support and hardline approach force both major parties to confront how they respond to its agenda. 

And amidst it all, Barnaby Joyce declared One Nation “one of the gayest parties in Australia”, after a former One Nation candidate called homosexuality a mental illness. 

Today, SBS Chief Political Correspondent, Anna Henderson, on a hectic week in parliament; the fight over immigration, gambling reform and a warm conversation between the PM and President Trump.

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Guest: SBS Chief Political Correspondent Anna Henderson

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For decades, Rupert Murdoch’s media empire has helped shape politics and public debate, and in doing so, has often left lasting consequences for some of the people caught in its sights, from politicians, to public figures to everyday people. The consequences can be devastating. 

Journalists Matthew Ricketson and Andrew Dodd have a name for what happens when that attention becomes a campaign, they call it ‘getting Murdoched’.

Today, co-author of their new book Getting Murdoched, Matthew Ricketson on the people who’ve found themselves on the receiving end, and the media culture that could outlast Rupert Murdoch himself. 

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Guest: Co-author of Getting Murdoched Matthew Ricketson

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Just when you thought world politics couldn’t get any more ridiculous: tonight, far-right British politician Nigel Farage is set to face a by-election of his own making. His main opponent? A joke candidate by the name of Count Binface, who says he’s an alien space warrior, and wears a superhero costume featuring a bin for a head.

The contest has turned into a circus, but the five-million-pound donation scandal which prompted it, is deadly serious.

Today, European correspondent for the Australian Financial Review, Andrew Tillett, on the contest, the scandal behind it, and the parallels between Farage and Australia’s far-right offering, One Nation.

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Guest: European correspondent for the Australian Financial Review, Andrew Tillett

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The Reserve Bank of Australia yesterday left interest rates on hold at 4.35 per cent: a relief for those with a mortgage. 

But as the bank weighs up future interest rate hikes to try and combat inflation, some economists say there’s a fairer way to keep spending under wraps and spread the pain around. 

And the alternative could leave us all with bigger retirement nest eggs.

Today, independent economist Saul Eslake on whether superannuation could be used to manage inflation, and what it all means for the future of housing. 

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Guest: Independent economist Saul Eslake

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As One Nation’s political clout rises, so too does its bank balance, courtesy of the very elites Pauline Hanson often rails against.

Now an investigation by the Brisbane Times and SMH has detailed some of the places One Nation’s cash is coming from: from exclusive parties hosted at Gina Rinehart’s mansion, to movies, to merch.

But perhaps even more pertinent are the contributions hidden from public view.

Today, SMH Investigative Reporter Patrick Begley on the sources of One Nation’s wealth. 

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Guest: SMH Investigative Reporter Patrick Begley

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In the early hours of July 5 last year, a group of masked people allegedly broke into a defence manufacturer in Melbourne’s north-east. 

Three cars were set alight. The building was vandalised, and later, a video message appeared online with a masked man claiming responsibility; warning workers involved in the weapons supply chain that they were being watched. 

Waleed Aly has a PhD in global terrorism and says the message left behind is crucial to understanding what happened and what might happen next. 

Today, Waleed Aly on what makes political violence terrorism, and whether this attack is a sign of something much bigger taking hold. 

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Guest: Monash University terrorism expert Waleed Aly

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This week, Alan Jones went on trial in Sydney, more than 20 months after his arrest.

The once-powerful broadcaster is now facing 22 charges of indecent assault and sexual touching involving six complainants. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and denies any wrongdoing.

When we recorded this episode, Jones had just been charged with 24 offences involving eight complainants. Since then the case has narrowed, with a number of charges withdrawn or replaced before the trial began.

Today, we revisit our conversation with investigative reporter and author of Jonestown: The Power and Myth of Alan Jones, Chris Masters, on the fall of one of Australia’s most powerful men, and what it tells us about the nature of power itself in this country.

This episode was first published in November 2024.

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Guest: Investigative reporter Chris Masters

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In Australian politics, access can be bought, factions can operate beyond public view, and conduct can be deeply troubling without ever meeting the definition of corruption.

None of it is especially new, and maybe that’s the problem.

Meanwhile, people are becoming more disconnected from the institutions that shape their lives, and less convinced that those institutions are working in their interests.

Today, columnist for The Age and SMH Sean Kelly, on the money, secrecy and private power shaping our politics, and what happens when voters stop trusting the system itself.

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Guest: Columnist for The Age and SMH Sean Kelly

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Almost 30 years ago the Howard government shut down Australia’s public employment service and privatised the system that helps unemployed people find work.

Since then, repeated inquiries have found the system is failing the people who need it, while the companies paid to run it rake in huge profits.

Now, the Albanese government has admitted the system isn’t working and promised its biggest overhaul in decades. But Labor says these private providers will still remain part of the system, even as a new report has followed the billions of dollars flowing through the industry

Today, ABC business and economics reporter Gareth Hutchens, on how helping unemployed Australians became a massive money spinner, and whether Labor can fix the system while leaving private companies at its centre.

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Guest: ABC business and economics reporter Gareth Hutchens

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Alan Jones is used to attracting attention. But not like this.

At 85, the once-powerful shock jock who for decades acted as judge, jury and executioner in the court of public opinion, is now the one on trial.

Jones is accused of historical offences involving the indecent assault and sexual touching of teenagers and young men – claims he’s always denied.

Now, a judge will decide, with the trial slated to run over the next four months.

Today, National Affairs Editor at Ten News, Hugh Riminton on how the first few days of the Alan Jones trial played out in court, and what comes next.

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Guest: National Affairs Editor at Ten News Hugh Riminton

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For decades it’s shone a light on corruption of the highest order, even toppling premiers: Now NSW ICAC, the state’s corruption watchdog, has set its sights on a secretive right-wing Christian faction of the Liberal Party, “the Reformers”, and its cashed-up group of backers.

Already the public inquiry, codenamed Operation Rosny, has heard of shit sheets, sham payments, phone taps, and dodgy deals with fugitive developers – with the reformers' connections reaching all the way to the top of the Liberal party.

Today, The Sydney Morning Herald’s chief investigative reporter Kate McClymont unpacks the tangled web of players at the centre of what she’s calling ICAC’s Game of Thrones.

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Guest: SMH chief investigative reporter Kate McClymont

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What do Jacqui Lambie, Pauline Hanson, Lidia Thorpe and David Pocock all have in common?

Usually not much. But they're part of an unlikely group of politicians backing former senator Rex Patrick in a legal fight with the Albanese government over information the government does not want released.

At the centre of that fight are documents about potential sites for nuclear waste storage from AUKUS submarines, a bill that could see Patrick forced to pay $150,000, and a warning about what happens when ordinary Australians push too hard for answers. 

Today, transparency campaigner Rex Patrick on the case that has united some of parliament's most unlikely allies. 

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Guest: Transparency campaigner Rex Patrick

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It’s the largest institutional emitter in the world. A bigger polluter than 140 countries. And yet its emissions are hidden from sight.

Now a new documentary ‘Earth’s greatest enemy’ is exposing the impact of the US military empire on the planet: the waste, the billion dollar budgets, and the political maneuvering that’s kept it all out of the public eye.

Today, Journalist and filmmaker Abby Martin, on what the world’s biggest war machine is doing to our Earth.

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Guest: Journalist and filmmaker Abby Martin

Photo: US Central Command

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This week, 7am spoke with former Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce, as he returned to public life with a memoir defending many of the decisions he made during his final years at the airline.

Joyce said the company was fighting for survival during the pandemic and that, while mistakes were made, the difficult decisions taken under his leadership were necessary to keep Qantas from going under.

Today, we revisit our conversation with journalist and author Joe Aston, recorded after Qantas was handed a record $90 million penalty for illegally outsourcing 1,800 workers.

It asks what those decisions cost, whether they really were necessary, and whether the airline has actually changed since Joyce’s departure.

The episode originally aired in August 2025.

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Guest: Rampart founder and author of The Chairman's Lounge: The Inside Story of How Qantas Sold Us Out, Joe Aston

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In America, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has turned anger over rent, groceries and childcare into a powerful movement on the left. One with real momentum. 

In Australia, that same anger is increasingly being captured by Pauline Hanson and the populist right, while Labor retreats towards the centre. 

So attention is turning to who in Australia could make a Mamdani-style case for economic change, and to whether the Australian left has the organisation, discipline and ambition to build a movement around them.

Today, freelance writer, political commentator and host of RRR's Spin Cycle Rachel Withers, on the political figure the left is searching for, and whether the conditions exist to produce an Australian Mamdani.

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Guest: Writer and political commentator Rachel Withers

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Victoria’s new premier Ben Carroll has announced a royal commission into the state’s building industry.

It follows years of reporting exposing alleged corruption, organised crime links and misconduct within the sector, and years of resistance from the government and former premier Jacinta Allan.

The commission now has the potential to examine what happened and who knew about it, forcing powerful figures in politics, unions and the underworld to answer questions under oath and in public.

Today, The Age investigative reporter Nick McKenzie, on what the royal commission must uncover and the big names who could be called to testify.

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Guest: The Age investigative reporter Nick McKenzie

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Next election the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will have a new contender for his Sydney seat, with commentator and Cheek Media founder Hannah Ferguson announcing she’s taking a tilt.

She says she’s started canvassing locals to find out what they want from their representative, and that she’s already been warned that attempts to build a dirt file on her have begun. 

Today, we speak with Hannah Ferguson, and political journalist Karen Middleton, about what it takes to actually oust a PM, and what else could be in store. 

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Guest: Candidate for Grayndler Hannah Ferguson and press gallery journalist Karen Middleton

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After a chaotic 24 hours of backroom plotting and mounting pressure, the Victorian premier resigned.

Jacinta Allan’s replacement, and former deputy leader Ben Carroll, now has just four months to turn Labor’s fortunes around in what’s shaping up to be the most unpredictable election the state has ever seen.

Polls show an unprecedented three-party contest – with voters split, almost equally, between the unpopular Labor government, an Opposition ridden by scandal, and a rising One Nation.

Today, ABC Melbourne Mornings host Raf Epstein on what Labor’s change of leader means for an already chaotic election race and whether Australia’s most progressive state could turn orange.

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Guest: ABC Radio Melbourne host Raf Epstein

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Cory Doctorow is the author and tech critic who brought us the term ‘enshittification’ – which refers to the gradual decline in the quality of digital platforms and services over time.

Now he’s warning that what we’ve been led to believe is the inevitable march of AI towards world domination isn’t that inevitable after all, and actually what we’re marching towards could be the end of the AI bubble.

Because every time you ask ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini a question, companies like OpenAI are losing money. The more we use, the more they lose.

And while those AI giants burn through billions of dollars a year, gambling that eventually they’ll figure out how to turn it into a profitable business, the world’s economy is hanging in the balance.

Today, Cory Doctorow, on why the AI boom is being pushed into every part of our lives and what happens when the bubble bursts.

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Cory Doctorow is in Australia this August for appearances at Sydney’s Festival of Dangerous Ideas, and in Melbourne at The Capitol, presented by The Wheeler Centre and Now or Never. His new book, The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI, is out via Verso 

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Guest: Author Cory Doctorow

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