The Morning Edition

On Friday, Exclusive Brethren world leader Bruce Hales gave evidence before a federal parliamentary inquiry. This was a significant moment in a story with many twists and turns about power and influence in Australian politics.Today, senior writer Michael Bachelard on the Exclusive Brethren, now called the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, and its "Man of God", Bruce Hales.Further reading ‘Tail, film, heckle’: Inside the Brethren’s secret election influence plot with the far-rightThe Morning Edition brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris, from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more, rate, review and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or whichever platform you find your podcasts. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Pentagon’s plans to livestream the execution of a former US army psychiatrist who murdered 13 soldiers at an army base has been met with disbelief in many quarters. Even so, the plan, which would mark the first US military execution by firing squad since the end of WWII, was overshadowed by even more destabilising announcements by President Donald Trump over the last week. Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher talks about what Trump is doing to distract voters from the bashing Republicans are likely to get in the midterm elections in less than three weeks. Further reading:  When Trump gets a thrashing at the midterms, four words will come back to haunt him Update: On Friday, Australian time, Donald Trump said the Pentagon will no longer livestream the firing squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan. The Morning Edition brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris, from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more, rate, review and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or whichever platform you find your podcasts.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dementia is the No.1 cause of death here. And it’s a uniquely terrifying one, given it can often lead to an eroded sense of self, and lost memory of loved ones.The number of cases are set to double by 2061, when it’s expected 1 million Australians will suffer from dementia.But now, some Australians are accessing new therapies, which can, in the case of Alzheimer’s disease - the most common form of dementia - slow its progress.Today, senior writer Clair Weaver, on how close we are to a cure for dementia. And why only some Australians are no longer hostages to neurodegeneration, as we age. Further reading: ‘There’s plenty you can do’: The lifestyle changes you can make to curb the risk of dementia  Urgent injection of funds needed to stave off dementia crisis  For years, dementia researchers had no answers, but now the word ‘breakthrough’ is on their lips The Morning Edition brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris, from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am. If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more, rate, review and subscribe on Apple, Spotify,Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s been a year since Liberal MP Andrew Hastie quit Sussan Ley’s frontbench to speak his mind on migration. His decision fractured the Coalition and Ley’s ambition to woo back multicultural communities with a more moderate stance. How things change in a year. But through it all, migration has become a more heated political issue. On Tuesday, Angus Taylor announced the Coalition’s long-awaited policy, promising the biggest cut to immigration in Australia’s history. So what are the merits and the pitfalls of the Coalition's plan? Former deputy secretary of immigration Abul Rizvi – who is today's special guest – and chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal pull apart the policy and the politics before Rivzi answers a number of listener and reader questions on migration. Today's host is federal political correspondent Natassia Chrysanthos before regular host Jacqueline Maley returns to the chair next week. Further reading: The cost of cutting foreign workers: Fares spike in Taylor’s migration gamble International student cuts risk ‘very significant hole’, universities warn Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australians woke up on a Sunday morning in 2018 to extraordinary vision plastered across their television screens and mobile phones: Cameron Bancroft, the opening batsman on the Australian men’s cricket team, caught on camera using a piece of sandpaper to tamper with the ball during a Test match in Cape Town. It was one of the most brazen acts of cheating ever broadcast.This week, the Australian team returns to South Africa for their first Test series in the country since that scandal, which remains one of Australian sport's darkest moments.Today, senior sports reporter Chris Barrett and chief cricket writer Daniel Brettig, recording from South Africa, on the so-called “arms race” of ball tampering that proceeded the 2018 Test, and how South Africans might respond when the captain from the 2018 team walks out onto the ground on Friday. Further reading: ‘Just be careful, they’re on you’: Inside cricket’s greatest scandal The Sandpaper series was radioactive from the start. Then a USB stick was delivered to my room The Morning Edition brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris, from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am. If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more, rate, review and subscribe on Apple, Spotify,Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

According to new analysis, screen time could damage children more than being born into poverty. The findings from the University of Calgary say higher doses of screen exposure are associated with lower overall academic achievement, poorer language development and emotional and peer problems. So what’s it actually like to be a 17-year-old on social media? What material are you fed – and how quickly? Crime and justice reporter Amber Schultz found out after she created new accounts posing first as a teenage boy, and then as a girl. Today, Schultz talks about her descent into the algorithm and what surprised her.   Further reading: Posing as a 17-year-old girl online, I expected body image content. I got gender division I posed as a 17-year-old boy on social media. It took 13 minutes to be shown the manosphere The Morning Edition brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris, from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am. If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more, rate, review and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or whichever platform you find your podcasts.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When the competing leaders of the world's two biggest economies gather for a summit, there's usually a lot to tussle over – military build-up, trade, critical minerals or AI. But that's not what happened when Donald Trump and Xi Jinping met last week. Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher discusses the moments that could signal a startling break with decades of American policy.   Background reading:  How Trump’s grovelling emboldens China and imperils the Asia Pacific   The Morning Edition brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris, from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more, rate, review and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or whichever platform you find your podcasts.  Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Interest rate hikes are stressing Australian mortgage holders across the country.But are higher rates the only way to get inflation down? Or are there alternatives to the Reserve Bank’s go-to, blunt-force measure?Today, senior economics writer Matt Wade, on the potential – and challenges – of four alternatives to help keep inflation in check, newly floated by an Australian think tank.The Morning Edition brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris, from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more, rate, review and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or whichever platform you find your podcasts.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we’re going international to talk about Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s trip to New York for the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.It’s been an eventful few days for the PM who has, among other things, spoken about Australia’s attempts to crack down on social media, met with US President Donald Trump and given a speech in which he declared the world order in place since World War II "no longer fit for purpose”.But all of that was nearly forgotten when Albanese stood up in what was very early on Thursday morning our time to announce an OpenAI agent infiltrated a Medicare website in June, accessing public and private files.Joining guest host Stephanie Peatling in Canberra today is chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal and, live from New York where he is travelling with the prime minister, national correspondent Rob Harris.Further reading Rogue agent or human error? What OpenAI’s Medicare breach means for you Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You might remember this case from Sydney in the summer of 2024 – the alleged double murder of TV presenter Jesse Baird and his boyfriend Luke Davies. Baird was a television presenter, appearing on shows such as Totally Wild and Studio 10, while Davies was a Qantas flight attendant.A jury trial in the NSW Supreme Court began this week and we're finding out a lot more about the allegations against former NSW police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon, who has pleaded not guilty to the murders.Today's guest is Sydney Morning Herald legal affairs reporter, Michaela Whitbourn.Further reading Alleged victim of ex-cop was ‘petrified’ before his death, court told Alleged double murderer Lamarre-Condon acted in self-defence, court told The Morning Edition brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris, from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more, rate, review and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or whichever platform you find your podcasts.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What will our future look like 40 years from now? How, in a world growing in complexity, will we be faring economically and otherwise?Ahead of the release of the government's latest intergenerational report, Treasurer Jim Chalmers had warned of some "confronting" findings, but there were also some surprisingly positive predictions.Today, senior economics writer Matt Wade discusses the unique challenges faced by Australia. Further reading An ageing Australia must find ways to pay for world reshaped by AI, climate change.  Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we're sharing the first episode of Virginia – The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald's latest investigative podcast on Jeffrey Epstein's most prominent victim.Walkley-award winning journalist Melissa Fyfe and WA Today reporter Carla Hildebrandt spent more than six months investigating Virginia Giuffre's life in Australia and the months before her death.Despite Virginia's heroic battle in the most notorious sex-trafficking case of the 21st century, few knew about one of her toughest fights. It was one she fought privately at home in Australia.Follow The Age and SMH Investigates to listen to all four episodes of Virginia.Read the Good Weekend feature or our visual story which chronicles the harrowing final months of Virginia's life as her marriage unravelled. Visit our websites at smh.com.au, theage.com.au and watoday.com.au, and send questions, information and feedback to [email protected] to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Donald Trump announced his so-called Liberation Day tariffs in April last year, one question seemed to dominate: which country would suffer the most economic pain? But since then, one country after the next seems to have awoken to a starkly hopeful realisation: the United States accounts for only 15 per cent of total global imports and trade. So, could these countries join a newly powerful trading bloc? Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher on recent moves by Canada to possibly join the European Union, and if Australia could follow suit.   Background reading: Euro-vision: Could Australia join the European Union? One key minister is open to it   The Morning Edition brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris, from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am. If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more, rate, review and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or whichever platform you find your podcasts.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.