It must feel like a never-ending battle for Rupert Murdoch.  His British newspaper group is continuing to face legal action more than a decade after the phone hacking scandal came to a head.  Now he’s settled with the actor Hugh Grant who was accusing the Sun newspaper of everything from bugging his car to robbing his home to get stories.  Today, ABC Media Watch host Paul Barry on how Murdoch has paid out many millions of dollars to avoid trial and what it all means for his empire.  Featured:  Paul Barry, Media Watch presenter ..read more

Australian political leaders are united in their condemnation of Elon Musk. He’s been described as an arrogant billionaire and a cowboy with no social conscience.  Now, Musk is ready for a legal fight over demands he remove videos of last week’s Sydney church stabbing from his social media platform X.   He says the concepts of free speech and censorship are at the heart of the matter.  Today, host of tech podcast Download this Show, Marc Fennell, on the fight between Australia’s eSafety Commissioner and Elon Musk.  Featured:  Marc Fennell, host of Download this Sh ..read more

Imagine opening your next electricity bill and it’s double what it usually is.   More Australians are finding themselves in a position where their power bills are rising, not because they’ve changed how much electricity they use, but because they’ve been unwittingly switched to a time of use tariff.  It means they pay more if they use power at peak times.  Today, energy reporter Dan Mercer explains the tariffs and how they’re leading to a greater energy divide.  Featured:  Dan Mercer, ABC energy reporter ..read more

He’s on trial for falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal, but Donald Trump’s woes haven’t harmed him in the polls yet. Instead, it’s abortion that’s become one of his most problematic issues as the former president works to get back to the White House.  Some voters are turned off by his pro-life record and so he’s been trying to massage his message. But will it win him votes? Featured:  Prudence Flowers, senior lecturer in US history at Flinders University  ..read more

As the events unfolded at Bondi Junction last Saturday afternoon, an unsuspecting university student was falsely accused on social media of being the killer.  It spread on the X platform and by the morning Channel 7 was also wrongly telling its large audience that Benjamin Cohen was to blame. How did the lie take off, who was originally behind it and how can we hold social media giants to account for misinformed and dangerous content? Featured:  Cam Wilson, Crikey associate editor ..read more

It’s hard to understand how a man could walk into a shopping centre on a Saturday afternoon and start stabbing people.  It’s left so many people demanding answers.  Today, we look at the offender Joel Cauchi’s mental health history and ask whether anything could have been done to stop the attack and save lives.    Featured:  Professor Kimberlie Dean, Chair of Forensic Mental Health at UNSW ..read more

It’s been an unsettling few days with two major knife crimes in Sydney.  The Bondi Junction attack left six dead and just days later there was an alleged act of terrorism at a church in the city’s west.  The circumstances are very different, but leaders are calling for calm and for the community to come together.  Today, extremism expert Josh Roose on what we know about the latest attack and the threat of terrorism.  Correction: This episode included a misleading quote of NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb discussing the Bondi attacker, when we were discussing the alleged c ..read more

A defamation case brought by Bruce Lehrmann has ended with a dramatic finding against the former Liberal party staffer.  Justice Michael Lee is satisfied that on the balance of probabilities Mr Lehrmann did rape Brittany Higgins inside Parliament House in Canberra in March 2019.  Court reporter Patrick Bell steps through the judgement that was watched on a live stream by tens of thousands of people.  Featured:  Patrick Bell, ABC court reporter ..read more

How did the attacker at a busy Westfield shopping centre select his victims?  Police are searching for answers after the Saturday afternoon rampage at Bondi Junction in Sydney’s east.  A 40-year-old Queensland man, armed with a knife, made his way through the centre stabbing innocent shoppers, killing six people.  Today, criminologist Xanthe Mallett reflects on the acts of heroism we saw and what may have driven the killer. Featured:  Dr Xanthe Mallett, criminologist and associate professor at the University of Newcastle ..read more

The appeal of music festivals seems to be dying away with a string of cancellations this year.  Is it all about rising costs and fears of bad weather? Or is there more to it? Today, Double Js National Music Correspondent Zan Rowe on whether the big music festival can be saved.  Featured:  Zan Rowe, Double J National Music Correspondent and host of Take 5 and Bang On podcasts ..read more