The Morning Edition

When news broke last week that America’s national debt had surged to a record high of $US40 trillion, it was notable enough. If the US economy shakes, the rest of the globe feels it.
And then came the kicker: Donald Trump suggested he could use the military to stage an “intervention” on bond markets.
Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher discusses the declining global confidence in the American dollar and the US Treasury – and what Trump will have to do to avoid a global financial crisis.

Background reading:
How is Trump weakening American power? Let me count the ways

The Morning Edition brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris, from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.
If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more, rate, review and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or whichever platform you find your pods.
Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s been a year since a murderous ambush in rural Victoria led to Australia’s biggest manhunt, and the consequences are being felt beyond the dense bush that Dezi Freeman fled into after he shot and killed two police officers.
Today crime journalist Sherryn Groch on the underground network and doomsday preppers in the High Country. And why Freeman, a monster to some, has become an outlaw hero to an entrenched part of Australian society. It’s Wednesday, August 26.

Background reading:
‘Still Kelly country’: Life in Porepunkah after Dezi Freeman, as locals pick up the pieces


The Morning Edition brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris, from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.
If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more, rate, review and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or whichever platform you find your pods.
Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our domestic spy agency copped a lot of criticism in December after the Bondi Beach massacre for failing to prevent the attack.
But is the answer expanded powers?
A bill passed in parliament last week is proposing just that – laws that force suspects to answer questions, or face a jail sentence.
Today national security correspondent Matthew Knott talks about the new expanded powers of ASIO and the politicians arguing they amount to a breach of our rights.
Background reading
‘Oppressive’: Why this Liberal senator crossed the floor on expanding ASIO powers


The Morning Edition brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris, from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more, rate, review and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or whichever platform you find your pods.
Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chanel Contos is a young Sydney woman who, five years ago, made headlines after she collated and published the testimonies of thousands of women and girls about instances of sexual assault they’d experienced.

Many had made allegations they’d been assaulted by teenage boys who went to some of Sydney’s most elite private schools.

So have things changed, since then? Judging by the last week or so with allegations of sexual assault made against boys from two separate schools, and then the Sydney Swans, perhaps not.
Today, sexual consent activist and author Chanel Contos on elite schools, sports, and boys.
Background reading:
'When the accused in sex crimes are children, school leaders must wake up to a toxic culture'.

The Morning Edition brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris, from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more, rate, review and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or whichever platform you find your pods.
Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we have something special and a little bit different because Tony Wright, one of the stalwarts of Australian political writing, is stepping back from daily newsroom duties after 50 years in journalism.For about 30 of these years, Tony reported on federal politics. Bob Hawke was the first prime minister he covered, while Paul Keating often rang Tony at home in the mornings to, at first, berate, and then debate, the stories he had written.
He witnessed great moments - such as the apology to the stolen generations - and the fracturing of Australian politics from the Rudd-Gillard era.
Today, Tony talks to Inside Politics host Jacqueline Maley and chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal.

Background reading
‘Hawkie would like to see you’: Lessons, power and nostalgia from 30 years in the press gallery

If you enjoyed this episode and want to hear more, rate, review and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, YouTube or whichever platform you find your pods.
Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.