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Penny Wong is the intellectual leader of the Labor Party. Her politics is shaped by her experiences of difference and her belief in compassion. Her biographer, Margaret Simons, on what drives the most guarded woman in politics.Guest: Associate profess...

The Murray–Darling Basin is being ruined by cronyism and incompetence. Entire towns are running out of water. But a new crop is exploiting the system even further: almonds. Mike Seccombe on how a tree nut boom is drinking the river dry.Guest: The Satu...

The judge who sentenced Jaymes Todd for the rape and murder of Eurydice Dixon was asked to consider mitigating factors that included Todd’s age, his autism diagnosis and his early guilty plea. Sarah Krasnostein on the legal argument that preceded that ...

One of the terrible facts about the day Jaymes Todd killed Eurydice Dixon is that for him it was almost all very ordinary. Sarah Krasnostein on a crime that made the country pause and ask how these things can happen. A warning, this episode contains a ...

When former Anglican dean Graeme Lawrence was found guilty of child sexual abuse, his victim, Ben Giggins, made the unusual decision to request that the court name him publicly. Anne Manne on the case that convicted a key figure in the Newcastle clergy...

As a royal commission into disability care begins, it emerges that key emails relating to the NDIS are held on a private bank server and cannot be accessed. Rick Morton on governance, transparency and a failing system. Guest: Senior ...

The death of Graham Freudenberg comes at a time when politics has all but abandoned speech making. Don Watson on how the loss of big narratives denies us the possibility of bold policy.Guest: Author and speechwriter Don Watson. Background re...

Tanya Day was a 55-year-old Yorta Yorta woman. She died after being arrested on a train for public drunkenness. Madeline Hayman-Reber on how a coroner is now asking whether systemic racism contributed to her death.Guest: NITV journalist Madeline Hayma...

Tomorrow, Scott Morrison will be received in Washington on a state visit. The trip highlights the special relationship he has with Donald Trump. At the same time, it underscores the difficulty he has with Beijing. Paul Bongiorno on the prime minister’s...

Philip Lowe is the governor of the Reserve Bank. By all accounts, he is a conventional person who’s been pushed by the economy to make unconventional choices. Mike Seccombe on how rate cuts no longer stimulate growth, and how Lowe’s office became polit...