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Three years ago, mainstream newspapers in the West had a bit of fun ridiculing so-called nepo-babies, and the unfair advantage enjoyed by the children of the rich and the powerful, like Gwyneth Paltrow's daughter, Apple, or Lenny Kravitz’s daughter, Zoe.But in Nepal, nepobabies are no joking matter.They have just, in part, sparked the most widespread social unrest that the nation has seen in recent years. Last week, this left the prime minister toppled, and the wife of one former prime minister in critical condition.Today, Griffith University International Relations Professor Renee Jeffery, on the Gen Z-led violence that has erupted in Katmandu, and what triggered tens of thousands of protesters to take to the streets.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s charisma has led to her meteoric rise, and also, to her recent relegation to the back bench.Lambasted for her position on various issues including the Stolen Generation, the Black Lives Matter movement, and more recently, immigration, the Indigenous senator is celebrated by some of the most powerful conservatives in the country, and has become the most followed Coalition MP on social media.Today, investigative reporter Patrick Begley and federal political reporter Natassia Chrysanthos track plain-speaking Price’s journey from children’s entertainer to political celebrity.You can read their story here: https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/she-s-making-big-trouble-why-jacinta-price-is-losing-favour-in-her-family-s-hometown-20250912-p5muia.htmlSubscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US President Donald Trump is a fascist, running an authoritarian regime. We hear this allegation a lot, now. But is he? Really? Fascism expert Jason Stanley says he moved with his family to Canada so that he could leave behind, and protest against, the political climate in the United States. Today, Stanley, a University of Toronto philosophy professor, and author of Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future, argues that American exceptionalism has blinded many Americans from thinking fascism could ever take root in their country. And he discusses if fascism could flourish here in Australia. Jason Stanley appears in Curious at the Sydney Opera House on Sunday 28 September and in Melbourne on Thursday 2 October, presented by The Wheeler Centre.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Controversial Liberal senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price was sacked from the Coalition frontbench this week. Price left Opposition Leader Sussan Ley with little choice, after she refused to apologise for comments she made about the Indian community, and then refused to publicly affirm her faith in Ley’s leadership. Chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal and federal political correspondent Natassia Chrysanthos discuss the inside story of the sacking with host Jacqueline Maley, and they also check in on the climate debate, before a key climate policy measure to be decided next week.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When we think of countries trying to show the world their power and influence, we might think of muscular shows of force, like China’s army parading its newest nuclear weapons, missiles and lasers in a military parade in Beijing, last week. But then there was our government scrambling to out-deliver China with a tit-for-tat over, of all things, cars, for a tiny but crucial Pacific nation. Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher on why the region Australia long thought was least important is now the region that matters the most.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More than a year ago, the CFMEU – one of Australia’s most powerful unions – was placed into administration, after an investigation by our mastheads, and 60 Minutes, revealed that it was infiltrated by bikie gang members and criminals who were guilty of corruption and cronyism. But now, some of the very union officials who have been tasked by the government to stamp out the corruption have themselves been threatened - via arson attacks, vandalism and threats. As one union leader puts it: “I was gobsmacked. I feel like I'm in an episode of the Sopranos. It’s bizarre". Today, investigative reporter Nick McKenzie on the ongoing allegations of corruption, and the bravery of one man who is steadfast in his goal of purging the union of it, even as he admits he now does so while looking over his shoulder.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So now we know: Erin Patterson will be 82 before she gets the chance to get out of jail; if she gets out at all.This will make her one of Victoria’s longest-serving female inmates.But the revelations from Patterson’s sentencing hearing, in the Supreme Court of Victoria on Monday morning, leaned less to the historic, and more to the primal.Today, crime and justice reporter Erin Pearson, on the people impacted by Patterson’s premeditated and pitiless cruelty, and what the judge made of them. And the unexpected moments of mercy and forgiveness that Patterson was, nevertheless, offered by one of them.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 roamed the north east Victorian 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? We bring you this episode earlier than usual, with 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 underestimatedSubscribe 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.

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 the national airline was slapped with a whopping $90 million dollar fine for unfairly sacking staff. We bring you this episode on Monday night, a little early, with aviation reporter Chris Zappone.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.

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese has announced that Australia will recognise Palestinian statehood at the United Nations, next month. After being told, over the weekend, of Australia’s imminent announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted Australia - and the other countries that have recently flagged their intention to soon recognise Palestinian statehood - as being “shameful”. Today, foreign affairs and national security correspondent Matthew Knott, on what impact this announcement could have on the lives of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. And whether it might further embolden Benjamin Netanyahu, to move even further away from agreeing to a cease fire in Gaza. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you've bought a house lately - or tried to - then you'd know the price advertised for properties in the big cities are, more often than not, way below what they sell for. But we've never really had a handle on how widespread underquoting is. Until now. In a new investigation that analysed tens of thousands of property sales in Sydney and Melbourne, our mastheads have uncovered an extraodinary level of misinformation and deception faced by property buyers. In today's episode, reporters Aisha Dow and Lucy Macken take us through the results of this investigation and how dodgy price estimates are an open secret in Australia's property market. To read all the stories in the 'Bidding Blind' series, go to: https://www.theage.com.au/national/bidding-blind-melbourne-20250724-p5mhkc.htmlSubscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the pod we are going to delve into what we are calling Canberra’s Coachella - AKA the Productivity Summit, which is happening the week after next. What is the point of it? And what is productivity anyway? Here to discuss, we have Chief Political Correspondent, Paul Sakkal as usual, and special guest star and productivity king, Senior Economics Correspondent Shane Wright.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you heard the news that Donald Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday and responded with a shrug, you probably weren’t alone. How do or die are monthly jobs statistics? And wasn’t this just another instance of Trump attacking someone whose findings he didn’t like? Not according to experts from across the political aisle, who have raised the alarm that this move represents a different threat, altogether. Even for Donald Trump. Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher, on what history tells us happens once a country’s leader starts controlling facts.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We all know that divorce settlements often get ugly. We hear stories about the couples who chainsaw couches in half, such is their disagreement over who is entitled to get what. So, who knew that, behind our backs, divorce settlements have been getting even messier? Today, legal affairs reporter Michaela Whitbourn on the new methods that couples are using to hide their assets.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Picture this. A man has been convicted of rape. And as he sits in his prison cell, awaiting a sentence, he continues to be paid his taxpayer funded salary of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. He hasn’t been fired. It might sound implausible. But this case is playing out right now, with a NSW member of parliament. Today, state political editor Alexandra Smith on the case of Gareth Ward. And why behaviour that would get you fired from any job in the private sector, doesn’t automatically rule you out of making the law.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you feel like you’re working like crazy, but getting nowhere fast, you’re far from alone. It turns out that Australians work many more hours, per week, than our counterparts in Germany and Japan. But a new study has shown the benefits of a four-day work week. Today, economics writer Millie Muroi, on why the government keeps going on about productivity. And whether a shorter work week, which has already been adopted in other countries, could be heading our way.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

French President Emmanuel Macron, and Canadian and UK prime ministers Mark Carney and Keir Starmer have all called for Palestine to be recognised, one way or another. But Anthony Albanese remains cautious. So what is the Australian Prime Minister waiting for? This week on Inside Politics, European correspondent David Crowe, national security correspondent Matthew Knott and chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal explain.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the last 54 years, countless writers have lived by the words of the late author Graham Greene who wrote that writers should have a “splinter of ice in the heart”. He meant that we need to maintain a critical distance from the events we cover, in order to remain objective. But have journalists become part of the world’s problems, with our focus on catastrophes? Today, international and political editor, Peter Hartcher, on the argument that some journalists have been “bad friends” to all of you, and the clarion call for a new type of writing, to meet this moment of calamity that we find ourselves in. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The release of images of starving children lying listlessly in their mothers’ arms, in the Gaza strip, has pushed a growing number of global leaders to accuse Israel of breaking international law. So, is this the tipping point that will end the war? Today, foreign affairs and national security correspondent Matthew Knott on the plight of Gazans, now. And whether Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu will bow to Donald Trump, who has just said he wants to make sure that Gazan civilians are given “every ounce of food”.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark Smyth was one of Australia’s very top cancer scientists. Or, as one former colleague puts it, “the god of immunology." But Smyth was a god who fell to earth and doubt now surrounds his work after a public unravelling. Today, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald's national science reporter Liam Mannix on Smyth’s so-called “lab of secrets”, and his faked data, which now underpins a cancer drug being given to patients. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Obesity affects about a third of Australian adults, while another third are classified as overweight. But the weight loss drug Ozempic has proven to be a game changer in tackling this health epidemic across the country. Drugs such as Ozempic have evolved from managing diabetes to managing waist lines as Hollywood celebrities and doctors have hailed it as a phenomenon, with Ozempic users dropping kilos without crash diets or joining the latest run club. A But what's the catch? Today, Explainer reporter, Jackson Graham breaks down the wonder drug and the side effects you need to know while balancing the risks with the benefits.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese faces tricky terrain with the government lifting a ban on US beef imports to Australia this week, leaving him open to suggestions he has capitulated to pressure from Donald Trump. We also witnessed a democratic festival in the form of the opening of the new parliament, with former foes Barnaby Joyce and Michael McCormack putting differences aside to attack the government's 2035 emissions reduction target. Soon, the PM will have to decide on the interm emissions target. Some big companies want him to go hard, while others urge a slower approach to the green energy transition. Now that the US has pulled out of the Paris Agreement altogether, what will Albanese do? Today, Chief Political Correspondent Paul Sakkal joins host Jacqueline Maley.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A showdown looms between two of the world's most powerful men, Donald Trump and Rupert Murdoch, with the American president suing the media mogul for a whopping $10 billion. Front and centre of the case is Trump's connection to the late sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein, an issue that has become so divisive lately that it threatens to tear the MAGA movement apart and destabilise the president's leadership. Today, international and political editor Peter Hatcher discusses what one of Trump's most loyal supporters, Steve Bannon, told him about the biggest controversy to hit Trump's second stint in the White House. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You may be like half of all Australians who now take a multivitamin, to improve their health. But are they safe? Melbourne dad Dominic Noonan-O’Keefe had no reason to think the multivitamin he took recently, to boost his energy, would be anything but. And then, one day, he sat at his desk and felt like his brain was exploding. Today, health reporter Angus Thomson on the hundreds of Australians who’ve joined a class action investigation against wellness giant Blackmores. And the Australians who are unintentionally poisoning themselves with over-the-counter supplements. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More Australians are turning towards using in-vitro fertilisations to have babies, every year. Often it's done through regulated IVF clinic, but sometimes parents - desperate for a child - search for a sperm donor on social media. But as this extraordinary case shows, there can be many more risks associated with - as one lawyer put it - the ‘wild west’ - of online sperm donation. Today, senior reporter Henrietta Cook on the case of a Melbourne man who fathered 27 children, and the fall-out after the women he donated to found each other.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.