The Morning Edition

Year 9 debaters in South Australia were given a topic for the third round of their debating competition a few months ago. The topic was whether the ''tradwife'' movement, a lifestyle in which women embrace traditional gender archetypes, was good for women. While it was deemed offensive by some, senior writer Jacqueline Maley today outlines why such a debate is worthwhile, and whether the movement is a "frilly version of fascism" or a way to reclaim motherhood. For more, read Maley's article, 'Year 9s were asked if women should stay in the kitchen. People were outraged. I wasn’t'. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Political debate was dominated this week by the topic of immigration after anti-immigration rallies in major cities last weekend. Politicians from both major parties tried to strike a balance between listening to people’s legitimate concerns while condemning the extremist fringe of the anti-immigration movement. Chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal and federal political correspondent Natassia Chrysanthos join host Jacqueline Maley. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Almost immediately after Russian opposition leader Alexi Navalny was murdered by the Kremlin last year, in an arctic penal colony, Russian president Vladimir Putin turned his eyes to Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya. She knows that nowhere is safe for her; not even flying to Australia, as she did this week. She was once a victim of poisoning. And a Russian court has issued an arrest warrant for her, on charges of extremism. Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher joins me to discuss how Yulia Navalnaya is combatting Vladimir Putin and fighting for a “normal” Russia, even as Putin is being welcomed into open arms by an increasing number of democratic leaders. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The whispering forests and deep valleys of Victoria’s high country have long provided refuge for those on the run. Think of Ned Kelly and his gang, who vanished into the Wombat Ranges, before finally being captured by police in a shootout at the Glenrowan Inn. And, conspiracy theorist Dezi Freeman, who has been on the run for the last week in this area, after allegedly killing two policemen and injuring a third. Today, associate editor and special writer Tony Wright, who spent the last few days in this area, on how this region has helped some of Australia’s most mythic outlaws. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Violent clashes, police with pepper spray and chants of “Heil Australia”. These were the scenes we saw over the weekend, as thousands of Australians marched in anti-immigration rallies, which have been endorsed by neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups. Why did this violence erupt now? And what does it mean that two prominent politicians attended the rallies? Today, senior writer Michael Bachelard and Maria O’Sullivan, Associate Professor at Deakin Law School, on whether our laws are up to the challenge of protecting all Australians from vilification. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Venture to a pro-Palestinian rally at one of Australia’s capital cities, and you’ll invariably hear calls to “end the genocide” in Gaza. And in the international court of justice, South Africa has accused Israel of committing genocide as well.It’s a claim Israel strenuously denies. So what is a genocide? And what evidence is needed to prove that one is happening? Today, we bring you a special episode with Geoffrey Robertson KC, a former United Nations war crimes judge and now a human rights barrister and author, who tells us why this case will become the definitive decision on genocide. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Canberra turned into a John le Carre novel, with the stunning revelation from the head of ASIO Mike Burgess, that the state of Iran directed at least two attacks on Australia’s Jewish community, on Australian soil. As a consequence, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expelled the Iranian Ambassador from the country. Joining Jacqueline Maley to discuss these dramatic developments, is chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal, and national security correspondent Matthew Knott. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As we record this episode, the Victorian High Country is the scene of an intense hunt for a man accused of shooting and killing two police officers, and injuring a third. The man Victoria Police say they are searching for is Desmond Christopher Filby, aka Dezi Freeman, a radicalised conspiracy theorist, and self-described “sovereign citizen”, who espoused hatred for police. But what is a sovereign citizen, and how widespread is the movement in Australia? Today, associate professor Dr Joshua Roose, who was an expert witness in a similar, notorious shooting in Queensland, on whether the sovereign citizen movement has been underestimated Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many will remember a spate of frightening attacks against Jewish communities in both Sydney and Melbourne last year, including firebombings, vandalism and a van full of explosives. We now know, according to the country’s top spy agency ASIO, that the Iranian government directed at least two of these attacks. The government has responded swiftly, expelling the Iranian ambassador to Australia and closing its embassy in Tehran. We bring you this episode early today, with Middle East and security analyst Rodger Shanahan, on what Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called ‘extraordinary and dangerous acts of aggression’ on our soil. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you’re in your 20s or 30s, or have someone in your life who’s in that age bracket, you know that the struggle to buy a home is real. So, what to make of the federal government's announcement that it will launch its newly expanded scheme to help first home buyers purchase a property earlier than expected? Today, senior economics correspondent Shane Wright, on whether this will help fix our housing crisis. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

AI chat bots are fast becoming a part of everyday life with more than half of all Australians using them regularly, although just over a third of those users say they trust them. Today, explainer reporter Jackson Graham explores how artificial intelligence learns, how often hallucinations - or wrong information - occurs and whether AI can be trusted. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week was an exciting one in Canberra, especially if you’re the kind of person who digs the philosophy of tax and transfer. We are talking, of course, about the economic roundtable, hosted by Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Meanwhile Health Minister Mark Butler began the necessary but painful process of reining in the enormous growth of the NDIS. Chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal, and senior economics correspondent Shane Wright join Jacqueline Maley to discuss. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stay tuned, the Inside Politics team will return later today with some big insights from the Government's productivity roundtable. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Since Russia launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine three and a half years ago, both sides have suffered catastrophic losses. More than one million Russian soldiers killed or injured. And on the Ukrainian side? Nearly 400,000. Both sides seem to agree on nothing except for one thing: whoever has the support of American president Donald Trump has the best chance at stopping this war on their terms. Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher, on whose side Trump is on now, after two crucial meetings held - separately - with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky, over the last week. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was billed as a “vibrant gathering of readers, writers, and creative thinkers” who would spark “ideas, conversation, and inspiration”. So what happened last weekend to turn the Bendigo Writers Festival from an idyllic ideas-fest into an event that exemplified “an authoritarian abuse of power”, as the festival’s founder put it? Today, senior culture writer Kerrie O’Brien on the slow-moving car crash of a cultural event that left dozens of writers stunned, and appalled. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It may have once boasted one of the most heartwarming advertisement ever to grace our TV screens reminding us that Qantas meant coming home but in the last few years, the airline has weathered multiple scandals, and allegations of ripping customers off. And then came Monday morning. When our national airline was slapped with a whopping $90 million dollars, for unfairly sacking staff. Today, aviation reporter Chris Zappone, on the harsh lessons that one judge is trying to teach C-suite members about how to treat staff with dignity, and issue a proper apology. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For more than a decade of dazzling media coverage, Dr Munjed Al Muderis was lauded as a miracle worker to some of the most vulnerable people in our community, helping people to walk again, against all odds, after losing their limbs in accidents and warzones. This all came crashing down, after a months-long investigation by reporter Charlotte Grieve, who exposed allegations of treatment gone horribly wrong with patients left disfigured, depressed and in excruciating pain, with horrific medical complications. Today, investigative reporter Charlotte Grieve, on a recent - and landmark - court case that backfired on the surgeon, and why, even after the damning Federal Court judgment, Dr Al Muderis is still practicing. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week the Albanese government announced it would recognise Palestine as a state, a huge foreign policy shift that was greeted with approval by many and criticism by others. Plus, the Reserve Bank assumes a fall in productivity right before the government's productivity summit, and is there tension between the PM and Treasurer? Joining Jacqueline Maley to discuss is chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two former Israeli prime ministers and now, the chief of staff of the Israeli defence force, have objected to Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial Gaza takeover plan, in the face of growing objections from the west, including Australia, to the starvation and death of Palestinians. But, as international editor Peter Hartcher pointedly argues, Netanyahu doesn’t care. Nor does he care about the Israeli hostages still in Gaza. If he did, he would not prolong the war. So, what will it take? Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was a scene straight out of the Donald Trump playbook: a rambling press conference where he spoke about oceanfront property in Ukraine, his upcoming meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Russia – though he’s actually meeting him in Alaska. And then, as if on cue, his claim that, Washington DC has been “overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals”. Today, North America correspondent Michael Koziol, on Trump’s historic move to take over the police force in the nation’s capital, and send in the national guard. Michael explains what this all means, whether it’s legal, and his view from the streets of Washington DC. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.