K’gari dingoes: The danger that can’t be tamed

K’gari, formerly known as Fraser Island, is one of Australia’s natural wonders and every year, almost half a million people enjoy its wild and sprawling environment. But as visitor numbers swell, the question of how tourists coexist with some of the island’s oldest residents, the dingo, becomes mo…

Inside Politics: How does polling work and will it be right this time?

This week we are doing a special podcast about our complicated relationship with political polls. As journalists, we like them because, maybe, they can tell us something about what voters are really thinking. But we are a bit wary of them too. Especially after the federal election in 2019, where th…

Putin's new 'offer' for Ukraine

Six days ago, American president Donald Trump signalled, with frustration, that he was prepared to walk away from trying to broker a peace deal with Russia over Ukraine, and leave the country to its fate. And then, yesterday, we got the news. Russian president Vladimir Putin had a new offer. Toda…

The Australian women being involuntarily sectioned

It wasn’t uncommon, in the 19th century, for women to be given the diagnosis of ‘hysteria’ and admitted to mental health asylums if they didn’t do what their husband said, or, if they swore, or had sex outside of marriage. But did you know that women are still being involuntarily sectioned in Austr…

Inside Politics: The battle of the teals in Kooyong and Bradfield

The threat teal independents pose in this election - to the dominance of the two-party system, to the stability of our parliament and to the Liberal Party’s base - is very real. Today, we focus on two of these seats: Bradfield in Sydney and Kooyong in Melbourne where the teals and the Libs are neck…

'Just as political as Conclave’: Choosing the next Pope

Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, has died at the age 88. Francis, who had led the world’s 1.3 billion Roman Catholics since 2013, had been in increasingly poor health and pain. We are re-publishing this episode, recorded in February, with former religion editor at The Age, Barney Zwa…

Australians love a battler, but crying poor doesn’t work in an election

Australians love a ‘battler’. Images of shearers, Anzacs, and gold diggers are deeply entrenched in our history. Politicians know that too. Why else do we see them in hard hats and high visibility vests? But a couple of moments in this election campaign have hit a nerve. They came from a blue bl…

For years doctors dismissed Jenny’s concerns. Now she has months to live

More than 1800 women have shared experiences of feeling gaslit, being dismissed by doctors or being told their pain was in their mind as part of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age’s investigative series into medical misogyny in Australia’s healthcare system. Among the most alarming stories are…

Inside Politics: Is the campaign getting away from Peter Dutton?

This week on the campaign saw the release of competing housing policies, and the appearance of Peter Dutton’s son Harry. But in many ways the campaign continued to be overshadowed by Donald Trump. Labor is making increasingly explicit attacks trying to link Dutton to the US president. And Dutton’s…

It's been two weeks since Trump's liberation day. Is the world ok?

So many of us have been yanking at our hair, or just standing around, slack jawed, as we’ve watched sharemarkets collapse and the chance of a recession barrel towards us - all as a result of Donald Trump’s tariffs. But to focus on the economic chaos is to miss the larger domino effect that’s been t…