Male humpback whales sing to each other, and when they do - over the course of a season - a favourite “hit song” emerges. Each whale passes it along, until all the humpback males in the Southern Ocean sing it.

But humpback whales aren’t just amazing creatures, capable of tenderness, and rivalries. They’ve also managed one of Australia’s great comebacks - they numbered less than 100 on the east coast in the 1960s, and now there’s about 40,000 of them.

Today, environment and climate reporter Caitlin Fitzsimmons on why they’re thriving, while other whales are critically endangered. And whether new information about threats to whales might inform the government’s environmental policies.

Credit:
David Attenborough/Netflix 'Our Planet'

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The dramatic shakeout from the general election continued this week, this time from the left wing of Australian politics, with WA Greens senator Dorinda Cox defecting to Labor.
It was a coup for a triumphant Prime Minister.
But will the PM live to regret his new recruit? What does Senator Cox’s defection mean for the much-depleted Greens party? And how does it fit with the PM’s recent approval of the extension of a giant fossil fuel project off the West Australian coast?
Chief Political Correspondent Paul Sakkal, and Chief Political Commentator James Massola join host Jacqueline Maley.

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Most of us have, for so long, lived under the shadow of American exports, that we’d be hard-pressed to choose which was the most intrusive. Hollywood rom-coms? Halloween? J.Lo?

That list might have been relevant a couple of weeks ago. But now America’s biggest export is Donald Trump’s MAGA mindset, according to international and political editor, Peter Hartcher.

Today, he joins 'The Morning Edition' to discuss Trump’s hidden announcement, last week about a new level of American interference, globally, not seen since the end of the Cold War. And how it will impact how America changes other countries for years to come.

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When news broke, over the weekend, that Ukraine launched a devastating and unprecedented attack on Russian air force bases, it shocked analysts around the world.

The damage was huge. And it made a mockery of Russian president Vladimir Putin’s expectation, more than three years ago, that he would capture the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, within days.

Today, Associate Professor Matthew Sussex, a fellow at the Australia National University’s Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, on what impact this attack will have on Russia’s ability to win this war. And what both countries gained, in Monday’s peace talks.

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Since October 7, incidents of antisemitism have surged across the globe, with people attacked and synagogues and homes vandalised.

It’s with this backdrop that the latest attack has occurred, this time at a pro-Israel event in the United States.

Today, world editor Catherine Naylor on the attack in Boulder, Colorado that turned a weekly vigil into what one witness said looked like a “war zone”.

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How are we to make sense of the swirling chaos around us? The multiple wars, accusations of wrongdoing, and human carnage? And how can we possibly have civilised conversations about it all?

British barrister and author Philippe Sands, is uniquely placed to guide us through this moment. It’s not just that he’s an expert on crimes against humanity, who has won cases against former Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet. But he understands the personal toil of it all; he’s written about the Nazi SS officer who might have been responsible for the death of one of his family members.

Today, Philippe Sands, who recently visited Australia for the Sydney Writers Festival, on helping to defend Palestine at the International Court of Justice. And the breakups he’s experienced with friends, over their comments about Israel.

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Well, they fight, they break up, they kiss, they make up.

Never before have the lyrics of a Katy Perry song been more relevant to federal politics.

After last week’s shock split, this week the Coalition got back together again. But at what cost? What compromises have been made on both sides? And will the Nats and the Libs be able to work constructively together after all the drama?

Meanwhile, Labor is moving ahead with plans to hike taxes on super accounts of more than $3 million, and Anthony Albanese hardens his rhetoric on Israel and its killing of civilians in Gaza.

Here to discuss all this with host Jacqueline Maley is new chief political correspondent Paul Sakkal, and foreign affairs and national security correspondent Matthew Knott.

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American debt is growing, fast. As we record this, the United States federal government has borrowed about 36.2 TRILLION American dollars in order to cover its expenses. But, by the time you hear this - that is, less than 24 hours since recording - it will have shot past this.

OK, I can hear you asking: So what? Why should we care? What does it matter to us if Donald Trump has a bill passed that will add another three trillion dollars to that debt, as he’s hoping?

Because these figures point to an empire in decline, according to international and political editor Peter Hartcher.

Today, he joins me to discuss what it would take to pull the American empire back from the brink. And what it all means for the rest of us if the United States ceased to be a great power.

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