100 episodes

The Morning Edition (formerly Please Explain) 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.

The Morning Edition SMH & The Age

    • News

The Morning Edition (formerly Please Explain) 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.

    What most Israelis hope will happen to Netanyahu when the war is over

    What most Israelis hope will happen to Netanyahu when the war is over

    What will it take for Benjamin Netanyahu to lose his grip on power? He holds the record in Israel for most time served as prime minister: three stints, over 16 years. 
    But now, he is deeply unpopular; held responsible, by many Israelis, for not only the deadly October 7 attack, by Hamas. But also for turning his country, in the years before then, into a profoundly unsafe place to live.
    Today, international and political editor, Peter Hartcher, on whether Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement that the most intense stage of fighting in the south of Gaza is nearly at an end, could finally spell the end of his political career.
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    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 16 min
    Julian Assange has suddenly walked free. What happens next?

    Julian Assange has suddenly walked free. What happens next?

    When the news broke yesterday morning that Julian Assange had been set free from a London prison, the buzz spread immediately through parliament house in Canberra.After spending more than a decade in prison or hiding, what exactly, had Assange agreed to plead guilty to? And will he finally come home to Australia?Today, foreign affairs and national security correspondent, Matthew Knott, on how the case that changed politics and journalism, forever, finally came to an end. And what the ripple effect might be, on both domestic and American politics.
    Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 15 min
    Reading wars: The way children are taught to read is about to change

    Reading wars: The way children are taught to read is about to change

    When Victorian education minister Ben Carroll announced, earlier this month, that his government had mandated a change in the way teachers instruct children to read, he admitted that he was potentially “stepping on a hand grenade”.
    He was entering the long-running “reading wars”, which have pitted teachers, principals, and parents against each other.
    Today, education editor Robyn Grace, on why one union has ordered its teachers to disobey the government’s mandate.
    And whether the new method will help remedy the inadequate reading proficiency of too many Australian children.
    Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 12 min
    What another four years of Trump would mean for Australia

    What another four years of Trump would mean for Australia

    There's no one quite like Donald Trump.
    He has torn up long-standing treaties, threatened to abandon allies, indulged his rivals and shook America's stability as the centerpiece of Western democracy.
    So what would another term of Donald Trump in the White House mean for Australia and the global world order?
    In a special Monday series, our journalists examine his impact on trade, security, climate change and the economy, as well as who Australia's most influential lobbyists will be. 
    Today, international editor Peter Hartcher and foreign affairs national security correspondent Matthew Knott on how the long standing relationship between the United States and Australia might be thrown off kilter by a Trump presidency, and how our power brokers should handle Trump's mercurial temperament. 
    Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 18 min
    Inside Politics: Dutton's nuclear plans 'slightly bonkers', but will it win an election?

    Inside Politics: Dutton's nuclear plans 'slightly bonkers', but will it win an election?

    This week Opposition leader Peter Dutton unveiled the Coalition’s plans for its nuclear energy policy. In doing so, he drew the battle lines for the next election, with the Albanese government firmly backing in its own plan to lower emissions using renewable energy sources, particularly wind and solar.
    Plus, this week Australia hosted a visit from the Chinese Premier Li Qiang. So did the visit improve relations with our largest trading partner, or set them back?Today, chief political correspondent David Crowe, national climate and environment editor Nick O’Malley and national affairs correspondent Matthew Knott, join Jacqueline Maley.
    Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 21 min
    Is China trying to buy us off with…therapy pandas?

    Is China trying to buy us off with…therapy pandas?

    The Chinese Communist Party has long used unconventional means to improve strained relationships. In the 1970s, this meant sending ping pong players to the United States, to encourage the country to lift its embargo against China. (It worked.)So it was that China pledged, over the weekend, that it would loan one of our zoos two so-called therapy pandas. That’s right, pandas.Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher, on how this diplomatic strategy went down in Canberra. And the skirmish in Parliament House that highlighted the perennial tensions between Australia and its largest trading partner. Which might take a lot more than therapy pandas to fix.
    Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/
    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    • 19 min

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