It’s not something we probably think about too often - just how much scientific studies impact our lives, in all sorts of ways. That they underpin the medicine that our doctors prescribe to us. And what our psychologists tell us about how we can best parent our children, or discuss conflict with our partners.  But how often is that science trustworthy? According to one researcher, not as often as you'd think. Today, national science reporter Liam Mannix, on a new finding that says one in...

It shouldn’t be much of a surprise that a space like LinkedIn, a professional social media site, is being used by powerful men to try to attract women. In this case, it’s allegations against not just any powerful man, but one of Australia’s richest. Billionaire Richard White is the chief executive of Australia’s biggest listed technology company WiseTech Global, and he has also been described by one woman as “The LinkedIn Lecher”. White, on the other hand, says he is unaware of any women...

Maybe, just maybe, there’s a very good reason the polar opposites on the political spectrum, the left and the right, can’t see eye to eye. Scientists say there is some evidence that says left-wing and right-wing brains are actually wired differently. And here’s a twist, British actor Colin Firth, perhaps best known for his role as Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, was the reason behind the research. Today, science reporter Angus Dalton, on whether this evidence, in a time of intense political...

It’s probably our greatest national obsession. Property: buying it, selling it, how much it costs and how hard it is to afford.  This week Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made headlines when it was reported he had bought a $4.3 million ocean-front beach house at Copacabana on the NSW Central Coast.  Albanese said the purchase was made in contemplation of his changing personal circumstances. He is set to marry his partner Jodie Haydon, who grew up in the area and whose family still lives...

When a 49-year-old man was arrested in California on Monday, after trying to enter a Donald Trump rally with a car equipped with fake licence plates, a couple of illegal guns, and a load of ammunition, it made history.  At least according to the local sheriff, who said his staff had foiled a record-making third assassination attempt on Trump. Police believe the suspect was part of a movement that considers the American government illegitimate. Today, international and political editor,...

There may be a whopping 160 million Americans who will vote in the upcoming presidential election. In just three weeks. But it’s only thousands of people, in a handful of swing states, who will likely determine who wins the top spot in the White House. North America correspondent Farrah Tomazin has been travelling to some of these areas and speaking to voters on the ground. Today, she reveals what they’ve told her about how near-assassinations, and a natural disaster, among other issues,...

One year ago, 16 million Australians voted and made their voices heard. The vast majority of us did not want to alter our constitution, in order to enshrine an indigenous voice to parliament.  So, what now for the Indigenous children who returned to school afterwards, to what they felt was a harsher country, as one ‘yes’ campaign advocate put it? And what do the leading ‘No’ advocates have planned instead, to improve the lives of indigenous Australians? Today, chief political commentator...

On Friday, King Charles III and Queen Camilla will arrive in Australia for their first visit since Charles became the reigning monarch. Charles, it’s safe to say, has one of the more scandalous personal histories in a long line of monarchs. Who can forget so-called “Tampon-gate”, back in 1989? Certainly not journalist Tony Wright. A reporter for five decades, he has a unique insight into the relationship between Australians and the royal family, having witnessed Charles and Diana-mania,...

A year on from the stunning October 7 attack by Hamas on Israeli towns, our parliament - on the other side of the world - is again convulsing over the widening war. As Prime Minister Anthony Albanese jets off to the influential ASEAN summit in Laos, he is trying to lower the temperature on a polarising domestic debate about antisemitism and Australia’s level of support for Israel’s invasion of Lebanon. One of the most prominent Australian backers of the Palestinian cause, Labor defector...

China has experienced a mass exodus before. People fled the country, for instance, after the collapse of Chinese nationalist Chiang Kai-shek’s regime in 1949. But lately, the country is seeing something new. Millionaires, in particular, are running away in record numbers. And taking jaw-dropping amounts of wealth with them. Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher, on how Chinese president Xi Jinping - the most repressive leader the country has had in decades - might respond...

Humans, we know, are full of contradictions. Even so, the disconnect between what we’re shown in the media, about how Australians feel about the war in the Middle East, and what people themselves say, is surprising.Record numbers of Australians, for instance, turned out around the country over the weekend, to protest the war. And the Greens, it would seem, have galvanised support for their party over their full-throated support for Palestinian rights. But exclusive results from our latest...

There are the classic autocracies that we know well - like China and Russia - but what would it take to morph a democracy like the United States into an authoritarian country? It’s a question that’s not so far-fetched for the States, a month out from its presidential election, and it’s one that Pulitzter prize winning journalist David E. Sanger has been grappling with. So with a second Donald Trump presidency looming large, what are the chances that Trump could turn the United States into...

It’s been a year since Hamas attacked Israel, in a vicious and sometimes sadistic assault. The murder of innocent civilians sparked a severe and sustained counter strike by Israel on the Gaza Strip, which is struggling with mass deaths and famine. We don’t know how, or when, this war, which recently spread to Lebanon, will end. Israel is now locked in a battle against Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terrorist group in Lebanon's south, while Iran itself has twice launched missile attacks on...

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wanted to talk about the budget surplus and the crack-down on the big supermarkets over their alleged ill-treatment of customers this week, but that was derailed by the escalating conflict in the Middle East.  While the government struggled to find the right form of words to respond to the crisis between Israel and its neighbours, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton labelled the Prime Minister weak, and said he needed to stand more firmly with Israel.  The result...

It’s been  the question on everyone’s minds, since Iran launched a direct attack on Israel on Wednesday, shooting dozens of ballistic missiles into the country. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to retaliate. And Iran has warned that any retaliation will result in a “more crushing and ruinous” response.  Today, international and political editor, Peter Hartcher, on how this attack differs from Iran's first attack on Israel, earlier this year. And if Benjamin Netanyahu...

The suicide of a 12-year-old Sydney school girl last month sent shockwaves across the country. It became the tragic flashpoint for a national discussion about bullying in our schools, and the complex set of issues facing students, parents, teachers and administrators. Bullying in schools isn’t a new problem, but according to experts it remains a major one. And in Australia, it’s been notoriously difficult – and oftentimes, costly – to tackle. Today, chief reporter Jordan Baker on the...

A new conflict has opened up on the troubled border between Lebanon and Israel. It started with pagers and walkie talkies exploding in the very hands of their owners, and then it moved to airstrikes - the deadliest in decades - before the latest news that Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed. Today, foreign affairs and national security correspondent Matthew Knott on the likelihood of an all-out war between Israel and Lebanon. Subscribe to The Age & SMH:...

Last week, we were confronted with our latest economic report card. On the upside, the Reserve Bank announced that our annual inflation rate has sunk to its lowest level in three years. But then an Australian economic think tank released its so-called “Misery Index”, and said that Australians are living through the most protracted period of economic misery since 2011.Today, economics correspondent Shane Wright, on whether we’re headed for economic relief… or a recession. And if Australia is...

Federal politics got interesting this week when our very own James Massola and David Crowe reported that the Labor government has asked the Treasury to model cuts to negative gearing tax concessions, a policy that has previously caused Labor plenty of electoral pain.  The Prime Minister and his frontbench are being very coy about any proposed changes to the tax treatment of investment properties.  Are changes to negative gearing an option the government is really considering? How would they...

Many of us can’t keep our eyes off of what’s happening in the Middle East, with a disturbing escalation of violence in Lebanon. But, according to International and Political editor, Peter Hartcher, the conflict that has a greater likelihood of threatening our safety here, is the one that is growing by the month, between China and many countries, including Australia. Today, Hartcher discusses the disturbing new video released by the People's Republic of China. And the former Australian prime...

It is a multi-billion dollar industry in Australia. And it’s been touted as a key way for us to eventually reach net zero carbon emissions.But our carbon credit schemes are also riddled with predatory behaviour, according to a year-long look into the market by our journalist, Charlotte Grieve. Particularly harmed, she says, are remote Indigenous communities. Their burning practices, which date back 60,000 years, are the golden standard within the carbon credit industry. The pay they receive...

For years, one of Australia’s best known crime reporters, John Silvester, kept a secret.He knew there had been a significant development in a notorious and long unsolved cold case: The Easey Street murders.But he didn’t write anything about it, until a few days ago, when he broke the story that there had been an arrest.It was big news, most of all for the family of Suzanne Armstrong and Susan Bartlett, school friends from the country who flatted together in Collingwood before their lives were...

As investigative reporter Patrick Begley puts it, it’s an apology that those Peter Dutton offended can’t remember, which he won’t repeat and doesn’t like to discuss. And some wonder whether he ever made it at all. It all centres on something the opposition leader said a while ago: “The reality is that Malcolm Fraser did make mistakes, in bringing some people in in the 1970s.” Today, investigative reporter Patrick Begley on the mystery of the Peter Dutton apology. Subscribe to The Age &...

The Albanese government came to power promising to ease the housing crisis by increasing supply. But has its housing agenda stalled?  This week, the Greens hardened their opposition to two key elements of the government’s housing policy.  The Prime Minister has urged the Greens to “get on with it” and wave the plans through. So will Labor be able to secure its agenda? And if not, who will pay the political price?  Plus we have a look at the war of words between the business lobby and the...

What obligation does the Australian government have to help retrieve its citizens from debilitating circumstances, overseas? This question will be at the heart of a High Court case on Monday, which will help decide the fate of 12 Australian women, and their 22 children, who’ve been languishing in refugee camps in Northern Syria for five years. To those who have opposed bringing them home, the women are a threat - the family members of slain or defeated Islamic State fighters who may believe...