Mike Foley, a climate and energy correspondent, joins the discussion to dissect the intricacies of Peter Dutton’s controversial nuclear energy plan. He reveals the plan's reliance on questionable cost assumptions and its potential environmental impact. The dialogue contrasts the government's renewable strategy with the opposition's fusion of coal and nuclear. Foley addresses the heated debate over costs and future energy prices, while warning that limiting renewables could thwart Australia’s climate goals. A must-listen for a dinner party discussion!

On the weekend, four Australians were rushed to hospital in Fiji with suspected alcohol poisoning, after drinking cocktails at a resort.  This follows the mass drink poisoning in Laos last month, which claimed the lives of six tourists, including Australian teenagers Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles. What’s happening to people’s drinks overseas? And is it all poisoning from methanol, like what happened in Laos? Today, breaking news reporter Jessica McSweeney and Dr David Ranson, a former forensic pathologist, on the latest poisonings.  Audio credit to: Australians hospitalised in Fiji after suspected alcohol poisoning, ABC News Father opens up on daughter’s condition after suspected alcohol poisoning in Fiji, Sky News  Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It reads like a script from a movie. A small-town boy from coastal new south wales who grew up to rub shoulders with the rich and the powerful and, if all the stories are true, cheating them out of a whole lot of money. Timothy John Alford is accused of being a serial swindler, cheating dozens of people in Australia and in the United States of an estimated $50 million. He has allegedly left a trail of ruin behind him. All while authorities both here, and overseas have been on his case. Today, chief investigative reporter Kate McClymont and investigative reporter Harriet Alexander on following the trail of an alleged con artist.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

David Crowe, Chief Political Correspondent, and Paul Sakkal, Political Correspondent, dissect the political chaos following the firebombing of the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne. They analyze Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's controversial response to the anti-Semitic attacks and the political ramifications, questioning his leadership capabilities. The discussion also touches on opposition leader Peter Dutton's tactics and the criticism he faces for lacking bipartisanship. Additionally, they explore upcoming government childcare policy changes aimed at universal access.

Joining the discussion is Matthew Knott, a foreign affairs and national security correspondent, who offers insights into the Australian government's ambitious $600 million investment in a Papua New Guinean rugby league team. They dissect whether this is merely a passion project of Prime Minister Albanese or a strategic political maneuver amid a cost-of-living crisis. The conversation dives into rugby league as a tool for soft diplomacy, the intricate balance of sports and geopolitics, and Australia's efforts to counter growing Chinese influence in the Pacific.

Rupert Murdoch’s plan to alter the family trust and cement his eldest son Lachlan as the dominant force in the global media empire has failed after a ruling in Nevada. Murdoch’s representatives say they intend to appeal the decision, delivered after months of secretive court hearings and described by some as ‘unparalleled’ in the family’s turbulent history. Today, media reporter Calum Jaspan on previously unheard testimony from inside the courtroom, including plans reportedly inspired by the hit TV show Succession. And whether Murdoch’s bid for control beyond the grave has had the opposite effect than intended: further galvanising his children James, Elisabeth and Prudence against Lachlan.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shortly after 4am on Friday, the quiet hush of a synagogue in inner Melbourne was broken by what sounded like a sledgehammer, ripping through the place of worship. Glass flew, and one congregant, who was inside the building at the time studying religious texts, was injured. Police have now declared what was an attack that left much of the inside of the building gutted, with twisted steel littering the floor, was likely a terrorist act. Today, regional editor Benjamin Preiss, on how he felt about attending synagogue the day following this attack, and how it’s impacted his community. And later, senior writer Michael Bachelard, on how Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has weighed in on the incident, saying that Labor is partially to blame.  Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When journalists from The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald put a call out to hear from women who’d experienced medical misogyny, they were inundated with stories. More than 500 women responded, within only 48 hours. Many said they’d had their serious diagnoses missed, at the hands of doctors and other medical professionals. Others said they’d been condescended to, or told that what they were feeling was in their head. Some said they’d only narrowly survived, as a result.Today, health editor Kate Aubusson and senior writer Wendy Tuohy, on the invisible epidemic that has its roots in Ancient Greece, but has become, says Tuohy, like the medical version of everyday sexism.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese should retire. Not right now, but a “decent interval” after the next election, if he wins it.  So says Sydney Morning Herald and The Age columnist Niki Savva, who joins Jacqueline Maley this week to talk about the government’s prospects of re-election, how well Peter Dutton has performed as Opposition leader and whether the Teal Independents have fulfilled their promise in the 47th parliament. Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We know that many of Donald Trump’s preferred picks for his presidential cabinet sound like the set up for a joke. This is what happens when you nominate a vaccine skeptic to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, and a wrestling impresario to become education secretary. But which of Trump's picks should we actually be worried about? And why? Today, Nick Bryant, a former BBC foreign correspondent and author of The Forever War: America’s Unending Conflict with Itself, on who is poised to cause the most damage. And how far it could spread.  Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.