Podcast
7am
Hosted by Solstice Media · EN
An independent daily news show. We feature the country’s best reporters, covering the news as it affects Australia. This is news with narrative, every weekday.
152episodes
Episodes
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Conspiracy Nation part 1: The COVID conspiracy pipeline
Today00:15:27Summary readyDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia – like many countries – saw protesters take the streets. They weren’t just protesting lockdowns, they were rallying around a tangle of fears and conspiracies. Those threads fused into a broader worldview that pulled people down a pipeline and built a small industry of influencers. Today, Conspiracy Nation authors Ariel Bogle and Cam Wilson on the conspiracy pipeline: how it works, who benefits, and where it’s heading now. This is part one of a two-part series that was originally published in August 2025. If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support. Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Authors of Conspiracy Nation, Cam Wilson and Ariel BogleSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Conspiracy Nation part 2: From fringe to Parliament
Today00:16:15Summary readyIt’s easy to dismiss conspiracy theories as fringe or imported. But conspiratorial ideas are gaining traction with everyday Australians – about one in three endorse at least one conspiracy belief. They’re also being echoed by people in power, and have spilled into real-world violence. Today, Conspiracy Nation authors Cam Wilson and Ariel Bogle on how conspiracies leap from the fringe to the mainstream – including all the way to Parliament house. This is part two of a two-part series that was originally published in August 2025. If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support. Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Authors of Conspiracy Nation, Cam Wilson and Ariel BogleSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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One Nation’s “monoculture” splits the Liberal Party
Yesterday00:15:54Summary readyPauline Hanson’s call for Australia to become a monoculture was meant to draw a line around national identity. Instead, it opened up a new split inside the Liberal Party. This week, the idea left Opposition Leader Angus Taylor looking bewildered, unable to say clearly where he stood on multiculturalism. Andrew Hastie took the opposite approach in navigating the challenge presented by One Nation, launching a full frontal assault on One Nation from inside the Coalition party room. And as the right fights over Hanson’s rise, a new party from two teal independents is trying to offer voters another way out. Today, news.com.au political editor Samantha Maiden, on a week of conservative confusion, One Nation pressure, and the teal independents trying to turn disillusionment into votes. If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support. Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: news.com.au political editor Samantha Maiden Photo: AAP Image/Lukas CochSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Is this the demise or rise of Karl Stefanovic?
2d ago00:18:22Summary readyKarl Stefanovic has spent decades as one of the most recognisable faces on Australian television. A household name from the largely inoffensive world of breakfast television. Now, that multi-million dollar career at Nine is officially over, after Stefanovic published an interview with Tommy Robinson, a British far-right activist with a long criminal history, who has built a large following based on hate-driven rhetoric towards Muslims, immigrants, the changing face of Britain; and on the claim that he’s being silenced by the establishment. But the fall out from the podcast, including his split with Nine, may have worked in Stefanovic’s favour as he tries to forge a new career in outrage podcasting. Today, Crikey’s media reporter Daanyal Saeed on Karl Stefanovic, the interview that ended his time at nine, and the audience he may have been chasing all along. If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support. Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Crikey media reporter Daanyal Saeed Photo: The Karl Stefanovic ShowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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The race to stop bird flu becoming a “wildlife massacre”
3d ago00:13:58Summary readyBird flu has reached mainland Australia – with cases first confirmed in WA and now South Australia. The strain, detected in three seabirds, is H5N1 – a deadly form of the virus that has swept through wild birds overseas, forced farmers to slaughter millions of chickens, spread to mammals, and, in the United States, infected dairy cows and farm workers. Authorities in Australia say the risk to the public is low – but for wildlife, an outbreak could be devastating. Experts fear it could become the tipping point for species already endangered or close to extinction. Today, CEO of the Invasive Species Council Jack Gough, on the race to stop bird flu becoming a wildlife disaster in Australia. If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support. Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: CEO of the Invasive Species Council, Jack Gough Photo: PR Handout/Lori-Ann Shibish, Esperance Wildlife Hospital and Sanctuary.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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What the hell happened to the Greens? Max Chandler-Mather explains
4d ago00:15:15Summary readyAmid the seismic political shift currently underway in this country, there’s been one party missing from the conversation: the Greens. And it’s curious, because the conditions that have seen One Nation rise – frustration with the major parties, a slip in living standards, appetite for change – should suit the Greens and their anti-establishment politics. So why are they lost in the political wilderness?Today, former Greens MP and Green Institute Executive Director Max Chandler-Mather on whether the Greens can mount a comeback and tap into the progressive version of Pauline’s populist politics. If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support. Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Former Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather Photo: AAP Image/Lukas CochSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Emily Maitlis on the fall of Keir Starmer and the UK’s next PM
5d ago00:17:50Summary readyThe Prime Minister of the UK Keir Starmer has announced his resignation – meaning Britain is preparing for its seventh leader in just ten years. Starmer, who won in a landslide victory for the Labor party only two years ago, has been haemorrhaging support from the public and the party for months. The man likely to replace him: Andy Burnham. Today - host of the News Agents Emily Maitlis on Starmer’s downfall, who Burnham is, and how he’s poised to take power. If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support. Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Host of The News Agents Emily Maitlis Photo: AP Photo/Thomas KrychSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Police trial live face-scanning technology: what could possibly go wrong?
5d ago00:17:07Summary readyIn Western Australia, police have just started trialling technology that can identify people as they walk past. A marked police van will scan faces outside major events, cross-checking them against a watchlist of people wanted by authorities. Police say it’s targeted and that innocent people have nothing to fear. But once this kind of surveillance is switched on, the question becomes how far it spreads, and who decides when it stops. Today, UNSW cyber security expert Professor Richard Buckland, on the scope creep of live facial recognition technology, and the danger of normalising police powers before the public understands them. If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support. Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: UNSW cyber security expert Professor Richard Buckland Photo: WA PoliceSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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“Too many abortions”: The growing push to wind back reproductive rights
6d ago00:16:28Summary readyAnti-abortion activists say it was the most successful pro-life campaign in Australia - last week a bill to overturn abortion access after 25 weeks was voted through the upper house of South Australia’s parliament. It didn’t make it through the lower house, but women's advocates are still sounding the alarm amid a growing push against reproductive rights - led, in part, by One Nation. Pauline Hanson, once a supporter of a woman’s right to choose, has changed her tune, as her colleague Malcolm Roberts pushes for the party to adopt a blanket abortion ban. Today, writer, peer-support worker, and reproductive health advocate Hannah Bambraon the local and international forces looking wind back abortion access in Australia If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support. Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Writer & reproductive health advocate Hannah Bambra Photo: AAP Image/Dean LewinsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Paul Barry on the billionaire who failed Whyalla
1w ago00:13:38Summary readyIn 2017, billionaire businessman Sanjeev Gupta rescued the Whyalla steelworks from administration, becoming known as the “saviour of steel”. There was hope in this small South Australian town that steelmaking – and the thousands of jobs tied to it – would survive. But since then, Gupta has lost control, the South Australian government has forced the steelworks into administration, and taxpayers are now underwriting the rescue to the tune of $2.4 billion. Now, the sale of the steelworks is in its final stages, but the question of whether Whyalla becomes the green steel town politicians promised, or whether public money is being used to keep an ageing steelworks alive, remains. Today, investigative journalist and former host of the ABC’s Media Watch Paul Barry, on the billionaire who brought Whyalla to the brink – and what it would really take to save the town. This episode was originally published in January, 2025. If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support. Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Investigative journalist and former host of the ABC’s Media Watch Paul Barry Photo: AAP Image/David MariuzSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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