The Morning Edition

What do the great war time Prime Minister John Curtin, and current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have in common? 

Well, a little bit, according to Albanese. 

On the weekend the PM delivered the John Curtin Oration and set tongues wagging with hints about his newly independent stance when it comes to our relationship with the United States. 

But how will this land with the Trump administration, which is currently reviewing the AUKUS pact? Is it possible they will make Australia pay more for submarines under the pact? Or pressure us into participating in a p...

For many of us, Cambodia has long been synonymous with tragedy, and the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime, which killed between 1.5 and 3 million Cambodians. 

But, underneath our noses, Cambodia has more recently been roiling from tension with its neighbours. And when a military standoff recently led to the death of a Cambodian soldier, it set off an unexpected chain of political fallout.

Today, southeast Asia correspondent Zach Hope, on what happened to Suon Roun on a contested mountain top. And why it just may bring down the Thai prime minister.

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Many will remember a powerful 2013 video of the then Australian army chief David Morrison ripping into soldiers who denigrated women, saying there was no place for them in the military. 

But today, after another set of allegations of rape in the ADF have been revealed, we wonder if anything has really changed.

Today, investigative reporter Nick McKenzie - who broke the story for our mastheads and 60 minutes.

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It’s the case that has had people from all over the world talking. And today, after a 10-week trial, the jury returned a verdict. 

Erin Patterson has been found guilty of triple murder, killing her in-laws, Gail and Don Patterson, and also Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson. Patterson was also found guilty of the attempted murder of Heather’s husband, Ian Wilkinson.

Ian Wilkinson was the only survivor of the now infamous lunch of beef wellington, which a jury has now decided Patterson deliberately laced with death cap mushrooms. 

One of the reporter...

Ever since American president Donald Trump declared a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, on June 24, we’ve been bombarded by hot takes from leaders on all sides. Trump says the entire world is safer, and the United States has triumphed over Iran. 

Iran’s supreme leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei, says Iran delivered the United States a "severe slap".

But what do Israeli civilians, who are caught in the middle of it all, make of it?

Today, foreign affairs national security correspondent Matthew Knott, reports from the middle east, on what Israelis are thinking now a...

The creation of a National Anti-Corruption Commission was a key Labor promise before it won Government in 2022. The Commission was duly created and this week it released the findings of its first ever investigation. 

But was it a little anti-climactic? Can we hope for bigger and better corruption-busting in the future? 

Plus, interest rate cuts and the confusing matter of the Trump tariffs, and their effect on the Australian economy. 

Joining Jacqueline Maley to discuss is federal politics reporter Olivia Ireland and senior economic correspondent Shane Wright.

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It is every parent’s worst nightmare. That their vulnerable child might have been abused at daycare; the very place where they’re meant to be looked after. 

This comes after new broke on Tuesday morning that a Melbourne childcare worker, Joshua Dale Brown, had been charged with 70 counts of sexual abuse against eight children, some as young as five months old.

Today, senior reporter Chris Vedelago, on what we know about this case. And early childcare sector advocate Lisa Bryant, on the changes she’s fighting for, and what parents need to know to keep th...

It was the killing that led to protests not just across Australia, but in New Zealand and the United States, too. Because the brutal beating of 15 year old Cassius Turvey while he was walking home from school, didn’t just end the life of a boy who was on a steady path to buck one of Australia's most damning trends: that a young Indigenous man is more likely to go to prison, than to university. The killing also reopened one of this country’s foundational wounds.

Today, WA Today reporter Rebecca Peppiatt, on the sentencing of the kill...

There was a time, not so long ago, when so-called quiet luxury, or stealth wealth, was in vogue. You remember; this is what Gwyneth Paltrow wore during her ski slopes trial; understated cashmere cardigans and suits cut just so that you had to be in the know, to know that these had come from The Row and Celine and cost a bomb. 

But the $50 million wedding, last week, between Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez has marked a new age. That’s right, we’re now in 'The Age of Vulgarity.'

Today, senior columnist Jacqueline Maley...

Many of us most likely spent the weekend catching up with friends, at our local pub or favourite restaurant. It’s unlikely we turned our attention to those preparing our meals, hidden in the kitchen, chefs who may be on their 14th hour, burnt out and very far from home.

Some of those chefs, former staff at lavish Merivale venues across Sydney, are now sharing their story, and the at times darker reality of their work.

Today, Good Food reporter Bianca Hrovat and investigative reporter Eryk Bagshaw.

And just a note, lawyers for Me...

She is a former shearer, a pilot and a mother of three children. She has a dark past as a punk in Canberra. She has been one of the only women in the room in successive Liberal cabinets. She was the deputy to former opposition leader Peter Dutton, and following the last election, she took his job. 

She is, of course, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley.

Today, chief political commentator James Massola and host Jacqueline Maley speak to Ley about the Coalition’s woman problem, how she plans on stopping a split within the Coalition over ene...

Donald Trump has accused Israel and Iran of already breaking a ceasefire, in a tirade against both sides as the US President left for a NATO summit in the Netherlands. 

Meanwhile, multiple American media outlets are reporting Sunday’s bunker blitz did not destroy Iran’s three key nuclear sites. 

So what’s next? And also, how did we get here in the first place? 

Today, national environment editor and former US correspondent, Nick O’Malley on the series of events which left Iran dangerously exposed.

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After eight weeks, the jury in Australia’s most high-profile trial in decades, is set to deliberate, and return a verdict.

By now, most will be familiar with the tale - Victorian woman Erin Patterson is accused of murdering her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, by serving them poisonous mushrooms in a beef Wellington lunch. Heather’s husband, Ian, also ate the lunch but survived after weeks in hospital.

Patterson has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder. Soon, we will know whether Patters...

It’s the kind of war he’s promised for years to avoid. Then just last week, Donald Trump said he’d take the fortnight to consider his options. But on Sunday, under the cover of darkness, the US president announced American forces had struck Iran.

The secret and brutal assault on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities, using so-called "bunker buster" bombs, brought the United States directly into the conflict between Israel and Iran.

While Trump has certainly claimed the total obliteration of Iran’s nuclear capability, the full extent of the damage remains unclear –...

Donating blood is an important community service – one that’s desperately needed for patients, in life-threatening conditions. But up until now, those identifying as gay, bisexual or transgender had effectively been banned from donating. A lift on that ban will now significantly expand Australia’s donor pool at a time when blood - specifically plasma - is most needed by patients. But for many in the LGBTQ+  community, the changes are long overdue, and the ban has been a major source of stigma. Today, health reporter Kate Aubusson and Matthew Mottola, on why the ban has been lifted, and why it...

This week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese travelled to the G7 summit with high hopes of scoring a sidelines-meeting with US President Donald Trump. The PM wanted to discuss the AUKUS pact, and the tariffs that the US government has put on Australian aluminium and iron ore among other things. 

But events overtook, and Trump left the summit to deal with the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran. Albanese did not get his meeting. He didn’t even get a phone call cancelling the meeting.

So what does this mean for our relationship with our supposed clo...

Israel and Iran continue to exchange missile fire in the Middle East’s latest battleground - and the world awaits a decision from Donald Trump.

The US president has long sworn off getting involved in wars like these, indeed, he’s touted himself as the peacemaker. 

But now he faces a critical decision, and a key test for his presidency. Meanwhile, Trump told leaders at the G7 summit that he’d been open involving Russian president Vladimir Putin as a mediator.

Today, political and international editor Peter Hartcher on what Putin’s growing influence...

'Train by day, podcast by night' is the catchphrase of the ‘Joe Rogan Experience’ podcast which has 50 million-odd downloads a month worldwide with a huge male listenership including in Australia.

The American host's message, while compelling, can be rambling, unpolished, and often delve into conspiracy theories.

Today, Chief Reporter, Jordan Baker on Joe Rogan’s influence on Australian men and whether it’s something to be concerned about.

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Some of Victoria’s top restaurants and most celebrated chefs have come under fire recently, as allegations about bullying and harassment mount from former employees. Similar such allegations have seen heads roll at hospitality giants like Swillhouse in Sydney. 

And now, allegations about a popular Melbourne restaurateur, from those who have worked with him closely, an alleged incident of indecent exposure and aggressive behaviour.

Today, investigative reporter Charlotte Grieve on how the spotlight in the hospitality industry has turned on those in positions of power, and why employees at high-profile venues across the country are spe...

When news broke, 11 days ago, that one of Australia’s oldest and largest fertility services implanted the wrong embryo in a woman in Melbourne, it, naturally, made headlines around the country.

But for those of us following the story, that was just the beginning. Because this mistake occurred only two months after another woman, in Queensland, gave birth to another couple’s baby, after an embryo mix up at Monash IVF.

Today,  senior reporter Grant McArthur on why this industry, which offers the promise of desperately wanted children, is leaving  people to feel heartbroken.

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This week the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gave a big speech at the National Press Club in Canberra, and used it to dangle the prospect of economic reform.During its first term, the Albanese government was criticised for not being bold enough in its agenda. So is the PM signalling he will use his huge majority to institute major reform? What would a daring economic reform agenda look like? And are Australians ready for it?

Plus, Jacqueline Maley, Paul Sakkal and Shane Wright discuss the hardening of the government’s stance on Israel, after it imposed  sanctions on...

It’s hard to keep up with what’s happening in Los Angeles. And why. On Saturday, federal agents were jumping out of an unmarked van near a Home Depot parking lot and began grabbing people.

Then we heard that Donald Trump had called in the National Guard. And then the Marines.

And then, yesterday afternoon, Californian governor Gavin Newsom delivered a rebuke to Donald Trump in a nationwide address, saying: “What we’re witnessing is not law enforcement - it’s authoritarianism.”

Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher, on why we are witnessin...

New York Times bestselling Author Michael Lewis is, as one interviewer recently put it, “a kind of guru of our age”. This is because, in books like Moneyball, The Big Short and Going Infinite, not to mention his own podcast, he has chronicled some of the big social and economic seachanges of our time - from the global financial crisis, to the cryptocurrency market, and how online gambling companies have managed to wage something of a “war against young men”.

Sometimes, he even seems to anticipate the sea changes. Last year, he all but predicted Donald Trump and Elon Musk...

Australia has marked the King’s Birthday long weekend and with it comes honours for 830 people.

But there’s one that stands out: former prime minister Scott Morrison’s appointment as a companion of the order of Australia has proved divisive.

So why did Morrison get the honour? Does he deserve it? And who are some of the other awardees on the list?

Today, senior economics correspondent Shane Wright joins Nick Bonyhady on the people Australia chooses to recognise.

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Male humpback whales sing to each other, and when they do - over the course of a season - a favourite “hit song” emerges. Each whale passes it along, until all the humpback males in the Southern Ocean sing it. 

But humpback whales aren’t just amazing creatures, capable of tenderness, and rivalries. They’ve also managed one of Australia’s great comebacks - they numbered less than 100 on the east coast in the 1960s, and now there’s about 40,000 of them.

Today, environment and climate reporter Caitlin Fitzsimmons on why they’re thriving, while other whales ar...

The dramatic shakeout from the general election continued this week, this time from the left wing of Australian politics, with WA Greens senator Dorinda Cox defecting to Labor. 
It was a coup for a triumphant Prime Minister. 
But will the PM live to regret his new recruit? What does Senator Cox’s defection mean for the much-depleted Greens party? And how does it fit with the PM’s recent approval of the extension of a giant fossil fuel project off the West Australian coast? 
Chief Political Correspondent Paul Sakkal, and Chief Political Commentator James Massola join host Ja...

Most of us have, for so long, lived under the shadow of American exports, that we’d be hard-pressed to choose which was the most intrusive. Hollywood rom-coms? Halloween? J.Lo?

That list might have been relevant a couple of weeks ago. But now America’s biggest export is Donald Trump’s MAGA mindset, according to international and political editor, Peter Hartcher. 

Today, he joins 'The Morning Edition' to discuss Trump’s hidden announcement, last week about a new level of American interference, globally, not seen since the end of the Cold War. And how it will i...

When news broke, over the weekend, that Ukraine launched a devastating and unprecedented attack on Russian air force bases, it shocked analysts around the world. 

The damage was huge. And it made a mockery of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s expectation, more than three years ago, that he would capture the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, within days.  

Today, Associate Professor Matthew Sussex, a fellow at the Australia National University’s Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, on what impact this attack will have on Russia’s ability to win this war. And what both countries gained, in Monday’s...

Since October 7, incidents of antisemitism have surged across the globe, with people attacked and synagogues and homes vandalised.

It’s with this backdrop that the latest attack has occurred, this time at a pro-Israel event in the United States.

Today, world editor Catherine Naylor on the attack in Boulder, Colorado that turned a weekly vigil into what one witness said looked like a “war zone”.

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How are we to make sense of the swirling chaos around us? The multiple wars, accusations of wrongdoing, and human carnage? And how can we possibly have civilised conversations about it all?

British barrister and author Philippe Sands, is uniquely placed to guide us through this moment. It’s not just that he’s an expert on crimes against humanity, who has won cases against former Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet. But he understands the personal toil of it all; he’s written about the Nazi SS officer who might have been responsible for the death of one of his...

Well, they fight, they break up, they kiss, they make up. 

Never before have the lyrics of a Katy Perry song been more relevant to federal politics.

After last week’s shock split, this week the Coalition got back together again. But at what cost? What compromises have been made on both sides? And will the Nats and the Libs be able to work constructively together after all the drama? 

Meanwhile, Labor is moving ahead with plans to hike taxes on super accounts of more than $3 million, and Anthony Albanese hardens his rhetoric on I...

American debt is growing, fast. As we record this, the United States federal government has borrowed about 36.2 TRILLION American dollars in order to cover its expenses. But, by the time you hear this - that is, less than 24 hours since recording - it will have shot past this. 

OK, I can hear you asking: So what? Why should we care? What does it matter to us if Donald Trump has a bill passed that will add another three trillion dollars to that debt, as he’s hoping? 

Because these figures point to an empire in decli...

A few years ago, Australia earned the unenviable title of allergy capital of the world. 

This could well have been true, with a World Allergy Organisation review finding Australia had the highest rate of food allergies for children under five.

But since then, something happened to turn allergy advice on its head, and parents have been introducing allergens to children at a far younger age than they used to.

So, where are we at now? 

Explainer reporter Jackson Graham is here with us today to discuss whether the new strategy has wo...

Shootings in a warring criminal underworld is not a particularly new thing for cities such as Sydney.

This type of violence exploded almost two decades ago with the advent of the gang, Brothers For Life, whose method of choice claimed the lives of multiple gang members  and seriously injured innocent people in the crossfire.  

But the violence did slow down once major gang figures had either been killed or placed behind bars. 

That is until recently, when, as crime reporter Perry Duffin writes, once again, there’s been a spate of gangland hits killin...

Renowned author Colm Tóibín's international bestseller Brooklyn deals with the agonies of trying to adapt to the customs of a strange new land. When we meet main character Eilis Lacey 20 years later, in Tóibín’s latest novel, Long Island, she again grapples with the pull of her home country Ireland.

So what does Tóibín make of our yearning to belong, and how it can twist us internally? How it can drive otherwise rational people to damn entire groups of people?

In this special episode, Tóibín, who is in Australi...

It was high drama this week with the Nationals telling the Liberals they wanted a political divorce.
But by Thursday, the separation – like a marriage on the rocks – was placed on hold while further conversations took place.
So what happened? And what’s going to be better for both parties, and the political health of the nation?
To discuss the drama in this special early episode of Inside Politics, chief political commentator James Massola, and political correspondent Natassia Chrysanthos join host Jacqueline Maley.

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For decades, global sporting events like the Olympics and the Tour de France have been rocked by doping scandals that elicited a collective gasp. If the odd athlete used performance enhancing drugs, how was this a fair test of athletic greatness? 

But there’s a new event that will turn all of that on its head, where athletes will compete while intentionally on performance enhancing drugs.

The “enhanced games”, as they’re called, will take place in Las Vegas next year. The prize money has already drawn top athletes, including Australian swimmer and Olympic medallist James Magn...

We know, we know, Donald Trump has gone gangbusters in the Middle east, inking hundreds of millions of dollars worth of deals left, right and centre. 

But hidden within all the details about Trump’s whirlwind trip - the Qatari jet, his bromance with the Saudi crown prince - is one deal that you might have missed.

Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher, on Donald Trump’s microchip deal with the UAE government. Its inherent risks, for the world. And potential opportunity, for Australia.

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From afar, many of us saw the odd agitator pop up on the federal election campaign trail, where they yelled at politicians, or others, like an indigenous elder on Anzac Day. They looked like the actions of random ratbags.

But watching on was crime reporter, Sherryn Groch, who discovered something unusual.

A small but sophisticated group of people, involved in many of these incidents, had links to Neo-Nazis. 

Today, Groch joins me to discuss the rise of neo-nazis in Australia. And the steps they’re taking to form a political party.

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40/20 is a brand new NRL podcast from The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. During this year's State of Origin and Finals series we'll be breaking down the biggest stories from across the game with the best journalists and NRL insiders from around the country. We'll be giving you press pass access as we breakdown the latest news, controversy and performances from the biggest matches in the Rugby League calendar. To listen to our episodes as soon as they drop follow 40/20 wherever you listen to podcasts.

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