7am
Episodes
The Saturday Quiz: Zoë Coombs Marr and Kate Jinx
14 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Comedian Zoë Coombs Marr and programmer for the Melbourne International Film Festival Kate Jinx work their way through The Saturday Quiz. Bonus point...
Scott Morrison, a man of inaction?
13 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
At the beginning of the pandemic Prime Minister Scott Morrison was keen to project himself as a unifying leader, coordinating the nation’s response....
Supercharging the generational wealth gap
12 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
One of the federal government’s most controversial decisions during the coronavirus pandemic has been allowing workers to access their superannuatio...
Anatomy of a state of disaster
11 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Ten days ago, Melbourne entered the strictest shutdown the country has seen so far, and one of the harshest lockdowns currently taking place in the wo...
The young Australians suing for climate action
10 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Two Australians have launched court cases in an attempt to radically overhaul the way our government and big corporations are responding to climate ch...
“I am always going to be an ex-prisoner.”
09 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As calls for police reform and prison abolition grow across the world, a new campaign in Australia led by formerly incarcerated women is seeking to co...
The Saturday Quiz: Sarah Snook and Dave Lawson
07 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Recent Emmy nominee Sarah Snook and the guy from the 7-Eleven ads, Dave Lawson, solve The Saturday Paper’s quiz. What’s the best use for a Logie? ...
Morrison’s coronavirus backdowns
06 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
While most of the attention has been focused on Victoria’s handling of the latest coronavirus outbreak, behind the scenes the federal government has...
What happens if you survive coronavirus
05 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There are new signs that Covid-19 can cause a range of serious, long-term health problems. Today, we look at the evidence that the virus can cause neu...
Reaganomics is back, baby
04 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As the Treasurer Josh Frydenburg praises Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan’s economic policies, a controversial recovery plan is gaining traction....
The Covid crisis in aged care
03 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Aged care has been one of the hardest hit sectors during this phase of the Covid pandemic, with residents and their carers making up a large proportio...
How Morrison is using coronavirus to destroy his critics
02 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Scott Morrison’s Prime Ministership has been dominated by a series of rolling crises, but what can we learn about the ideology that drives him from ...
The Saturday Quiz: Kate McLennan and Kate McCartney
31 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Kate McLennan and Kate McCartney from Get Krack!n solve The Saturday Paper’s quiz. Who would invite Hitler to open the Olympics? Does the existence ...
Pandemic politics: Morrison vs. Andrews
30 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Throughout the Covid pandemic traditional political hostilities have been dialled back, with governments of all political persuasions trying to projec...
Coronavirus and the rise of "zombie charities"
29 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With two-thirds of volunteers staying at home due to Covid and donations drying up, there are serious concerns about the viability of Australia’s ch...
Who is Neville Power, the man leading Australia's coronavirus recovery?
28 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
On Monday the Prime Minister announced a revamp of the National Covid Coordination Commission, the body he tasked with leading Australia’s pandemic ...
Penny Wong on what happens after coronavirus
27 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Penny Wong warns that coronavirus could unravel the rules-based system on which the modern world is founded. The shadow foreign minister says we must ...
Face masks – the million dollar question
26 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As face masks become compulsory, doctors and public health officials are working to find consensus on their efficacy. But in the rush to contain coron...
The broke and the brittle
23 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As the government reveals the extent of the budget deficit, Scott Morrison has become increasingly short in answering questions. He no longer meets wi...
Scott Morrison and the invisible woman
22 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The decision to pull subsidies from childcare has caused alarm in the sector - especially because it is the first place the government cut support. No...
A night at the opera: How Whitlam and Kerr fell out
21 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
After a 10-year legal battle, the “palace letters” were finally released last week. In full, they show how Gough Whitlam’s relationship with the...
The moment Australia almost beat coronavirus
20 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In the middle of last month, Australia had its last chance to contain the coronavirus pandemic. One strain of the virus was all but defeated in the co...
Why we need to “feel” climate change
19 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As climate models predict even worse outcomes for the planet, some scientists believe the way to change what is happening is for people to “feel” ...
The Prime Minister for NSW
16 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As the pandemic worsens in Victoria, Scott Morrison has been careful to distance himself from bad news. He chooses when to be the face of the response...
If you are queer - or care about queer people - listen to this story
15 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Daniel van Roo spent 18 months trying to convince his doctors he was sick. They continued to test only for STIs - he says because he was gay. By the t...
Setting up for the second wave
14 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With Victoria one week into its second shutdown, and NSW on high alert, there are new fears about what a second wave could mean for Australia’s coro...
The man inside (part two)
13 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The sentencing of Ramzi Aouad to life without parole came at a tense moment in racialised policing. There are now people asking if the evidence was fa...
The man inside (part one)
12 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When Ramzi Aouad went to prison for life, it was on the basis of evidence from one man - a violent enforcer who had been offered financial incentives ...
Morrison to the virus: ‘Ich bin ein Melburnian’
09 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As Victoria enters a second lockdown, Scott Morrison has offered an apolitical response to the Labor state. The economic impact of the closure will af...
Morrison’s rule by ‘Henry VIII’ clauses
08 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
During Covid-19, the government has been increasingly using legislative powers to bypass the parliament. So-called ‘Henry VIII’ clauses mean some ...
Locked in the nine blocks
07 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Five days ago, the Andrews government used police to lock down nine public housing towers. Residents are afraid and have limited access to food and ot...
The other side of the glass
06 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There are thousands of young people in aged-care homes across Australia, because they don’t have their own facilities. The NDIS was meant to solve t...
The case for moving Cook
05 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With the renewed focus on colonial monuments, a group of academics and artists is petitioning the City of Sydney to remove Thomas Woolner’s Cook sta...
The Eden-Monaro Missile Crisis
02 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As both sides of parliament brace for tomorrow’s by-election in Eden-Monaro, it’s been suggested that the timing of Scott Morrison’s $270 billio...
The truth about Australia’s coal curse
01 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Australia’s economy is at a crossroads; but the current dependence on coal is really a continuation of issues we have always faced. Historian Judith...
Existential threat: Murdoch and the ABC
30 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As the ABC absorbs hundreds of job cuts, the government has commissioned another report into its operations – closely mirroring the concerns of Rupe...
Dyson Heydon and the misogyny of the law
29 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As allegations mount against former High Court justice Dyson Heydon, Bri Lee has written about the way misogyny and harassment are embedded in the leg...
Donald Trump didn’t drop from the sky
28 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As Donald Trump comes to the end of his first term, it is clear he has benefitted hugely from America’s divisions - in fact, he is the perfect expre...
Politics and Dyson Heydon
25 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The harassment allegations against Dyson Heydon have reminded some in Canberra of the royal commission that traded on his “stainless reputation”. ...
It’s not about statues or Chris Lilley...
24 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As the Black Lives Matter movement reignites calls for action on Indigenous disadvantage and incarceration, politicians and the media in Australia hav...
Justin Hemmes, the treasurer and the $100m wages case
23 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Justin Hemmes is one of four businessmen who were consulted by the federal treasurer on the JobKeeper program. At the same time, he is defending a mul...
The last family on Nauru
22 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
After almost a decade in detention, there is only one family left on Nauru. Mustafa and Salah have been acknowledged as refugees, but their resettleme...
What George Pell knew...
21 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As the final pages of the royal commission into child sexual abuse have been unredacted, it’s become clear what George Pell knew and when. But for a...
Everything you need to know about the Somyurek scandal
18 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The end of Adem Somyurek’s parliamentary career is the end of an important chapter in Labor’s factional history. The scandal has now involved the ...
The racism case Victoria Police didn't want
17 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As debate over police accountability continues, research suggests predictive policing may be targeting racial minorities in Australia. Victoria Police...
How we organised Melbourne’s Black Lives Matter rally
16 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance had five days to organise a huge Black Lives Matter rally in Melbourne. Under threat of fines and sustained crit...
The power of tradesmen
15 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Morrison government’s latest stimulus effort is a grants project aimed at home renovations. But there are serious concerns its real focus is on ...
Meet Australia’s marijuana terrorist
14 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
George Dickson is a cannabis law reformer. After an altercation with police, he was also classed as a high risk terrorist offender. Hugh Riminton on l...
Does Scott Morrison want an early election?
11 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Speaking to his party room, Scott Morrison says the next five years will define a new generation. Looking at the economic realities, some in his own p...
The theme park and the trillion dollar investment scheme
10 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As Scott Morrison resists signing up to the Belt and Road Initiative, China has begun focusing on lower levels of power - the Victorian state governme...
How coronavirus is reopening the wage gap
09 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In past recessions, women have tended to fare better than men. But now the trend is reversed, with women losing the majority of jobs. There are fears ...
Black Witness, White Witness
08 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As the world protests the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Darumbal and South Sea Islander journalist Amy McQuire confronts Australia’s natio...
Spotlight: Inside the Tanya Day inquest
07 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Tanya Day was a 55-year-old Yorta Yorta woman who died in police custody. In this archive episode, Madeline Hayman-Reber covers the inquest that asked...
Tear gas in the Rose Garden
04 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Description: As protests against police violence and inequality continue in the United States, Scott Morrison had a private phone call with Donald Tru...
Like a scene from 'The Castle'
03 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Queensland town of Acland has been all but swallowed by a coal mine. After decades of legal battle, there is only one resident left. Tomorrow the ...
Killed during the pandemic
02 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
From the beginning of the lockdown, domestic violence workers warned of the heightened risk of abuse – especially for women on temporary visas. Last...
When is a bushfire like a coronavirus?
01 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Instead of making us forget the bushfires, evidence suggests coronavirus will make us more conscious of the need for change. The urgent response to th...
The screens that ate school
31 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Big Tech has become an integral part of education. But there are questions over how much private companies are influencing curricula and what data the...
Morrison’s economy (unplugged)
28 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The prime minister is adamant that the government will not commit to further stimulus of the economy. But as a $60 billion hole shows up in the JobKee...
The Accord according to Morrison
27 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Scott Morrison’s appeal for a new compact between workers and business has reminded some of Bob Hawke’s 1980s Accord. But there are big difference...
Uber but for government money
26 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A multimillion-dollar contract for an app that places aged-care workers in nursing homes has triggered concerns about quality and access. The governme...
The crisis universities should have seen coming
25 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Almost overnight, Australian universities have lost the international student fees on which they depend. Some in the sector say universities were reck...
‘In my new home, I am loved.’
24 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
After five years on Manus Island, Imran Mohammad was resettled in Chicago. He says arriving in America was one of the happiest days in his life. But t...
Don’t mention the trade war
21 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Morrison government is working hard to disguise the trade war opening up with China. But its excitement over an inquiry into the coronavirus outbr...
Who is really planning Australia’s economic comeback?
20 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Prime Minister has appointed a panel of business leaders to develop a blueprint for the country’s economic recovery, but there are serious quest...
Back on the tinnies
19 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Pubs, restaurants and other businesses across the country are reopening and the government is predicting an economic comeback. But will life, and the ...
How Covid-19 united conspiracy theorists
18 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Conspiracy theorists have been energised by Covid-19, with misinformation on everything from 5G to vaccinations spreading online and featuring in real...
The push to expand ASIO’s powers
17 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has recently introduced legislation that would expand the surveillance powers available to Australia’s domestic s...
Back in black. Cough, cough.
14 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As the federal government struggles to rebuild Australia’s battered economy, the threat of a trade war with China risks hampering our recovery. Toda...
The ABC’s funding crisis
13 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
ABC staff are revealing the pressure they are under as the public broadcaster absorbs budget cuts amounting to more than 100 million dollars a year. T...
Australia’s worst coronavirus cluster
12 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Ruby Princess is responsible for more than 10 per cent of Australia’s cases of Covid-19. The decision to allow the ship’s passengers to disemb...
Adam Bandt’s green capitalism
11 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Three months since becoming leader of the Greens, Adam Bandt has begun articulating a plan for the party that embraces “green” capitalism, and see...
Inside the Newmarch cluster
10 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
An aged care facility in NSW is the site of one of Australia’s biggest clusters of Covid-19. Now, with 16 dead, the centre’s owners have been thre...
Snakes in the garden of Eden-Monaro
07 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Infighting within the Coalition has been exposed as candidates emerge and then quit in the race for the seat of Eden-Monaro. The by-election is reopen...
Jane Caro on reopening schools
06 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Prime Minister has made reopening schools a priority of his response to coronavirus, and part of his argument is that school closures are leaving ...
Making sense of the Black Summer
05 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Thousands of Australians had their homes and lives destroyed by last summer’s bushfires, and now the pandemic is shattering their plans to rebuild. ...
The 160,000 jobs lost while the government waited
04 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The government’s economic relief package was broken into three phases, but serious questions are being asked about whether the timing and order of e...
The real reason supermarket shelves were empty
03 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The coronavirus pandemic has exposed many Australians to shortages of food and essential items for the first time. Empty shelves across the country ha...
Bonus episode: Morry Schwartz on starting The Monthly
01 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Fifteen years ago Schwartz Media launched The Monthly, a magazine dedicated to current affairs, politics, arts and culture. Today, to celebrate the ma...
How Scott Morrison sparked a new war with China
30 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Australia’s relationship with China has become more strained than ever, as Scott Morrison pushes for an international inquiry into the coronavirus o...
Evangelical Christianity in the age of coronavirus
29 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Scott Morrison’s relationship to the founder of the Hillsong church has focused attention on the evangelical Christian movement in Australia. But wh...
The generation “done over” by coronavirus
28 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As we learn more details about the economic fallout from the pandemic, it’s clear young people will bear the brunt of the downturn. Already younger ...
How Indigenous communities got in front of the pandemic
27 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Remote Aboriginal communities across Australia reacted swiftly and effectively to the Covid-19 outbreak. Their response reflects the disproportionate ...
Anthony Albanese’s pandemic response
26 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Labor leader Anthony Albanese is attempting to pull off a delicate balancing act: between appearing constructive, and holding the government to accou...
Malcolm Turnbull’s last word
23 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The country may be in the midst of a health and economic crisis, but that didn’t stop former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull going on a media blitz ...
The inside story of Australia’s coronavirus supercluster
22 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With two hospitals shut down and thousands of residents quarantined, the Tasmanian Covid-19 supercluster has brought the state’s health system to it...
The truth about coronavirus fines
21 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Thousands of Australians have been fined by police under Covid-19 public health orders. New analysis shows that a disproportionate number of them have...
The coronavirus endgame
20 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As the number of coronavirus infections in Australia stabilises, talk has turned to how and when this crisis might end. With some countries gunning fo...
“I can survive until the end of May, maximum.”
19 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
There are over 1 million migrant workers in Australia who aren’t eligible for any financial support from the government as they try to navigate thei...
Virus economics: you and whose numbers
16 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With the global economy facing its biggest downturn since the Great Depression, the Treasury and the IMF are at odds on the extent of the damage in Au...
What governments are hiding behind coronavirus
15 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Federal and state governments have quietly been winding back environmental regulations while most of the world is focused on the coronavirus pandemic....
Taking back control of our super
14 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The global economic downturn is straining our financial system, and it’s hitting our superannuation funds. But is the way we’ve structured our $2 ...
The other holes in Australia’s quarantine
13 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Australia’s strict quarantine measures have dramatically slowed the spread of Covid-19, but confusion between different levels of government has exp...
Spotlight: Badiucao, Chinese dissident
12 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Months before the latest mass protests began in Hong Kong, the Chinese government shut down an art exhibition in the city. The work was by Badiucao, a...
Spotlight: Inside Australia's biggest cult
11 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1960s, Anne Hamilton-Byrne set up Australia’s most notorious cult, The Family. Last month, she died. Martin McKenzie-Murray spoke to one of t...
Spotlight: Looking back at Christchurch
10 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A year on from the Christchurch massacre, survivors face isolation and economic hardship. We speak to the men and women living through the aftermath o...
Spotlight: Tracing the source of coronavirus
09 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As coronavirus shuts borders and creates global panic, there is a risk it will reach a point where it cannot be contained. Rick Morton explains where ...
How coronavirus could break the NBN
08 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The NBN is facing it’s most crucial test yet, and there are serious questions over whether the network will handle the unprecedented load it’s und...
The women and children at risk in a lockdown (plus, the Pell verdict)
07 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A lockdown, together with a shattered economy, means that many domestic violence victims are now trapped inside their home with their abuser, unable t...
Policing a pandemic
06 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The public health response to the coronavirus has quickly become a law and order issue. Extensive new powers have been granted to police in several st...