Inside Politics: How does polling work and will it be right this time?

This week we are doing a special podcast about our complicated relationship with political polls. As journalists, we like them because, maybe, they can tell us something about what voters are really thinking. But we are a bit wary of them too. Especially after the federal election in 2019, where the polls were wrong. That caused a massive rethink in how polling is done, and how we in the media rely on it. Jacqueline Maley is joined by chief political correspondent, David Crowe, and special guest Jim Reed, who conducts the resolve political monitor poll for our papers.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Six days ago, American president Donald Trump signalled, with frustration, that he was prepared to walk away from trying to broker a peace deal with Russia over Ukraine, and leave the country to its fate. And then, yesterday, we got the news. Russian president Vladimir Putin had a new offer. Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher, on where this leaves Ukraine. And what the latest negotiations mean for the rest of us.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It wasn’t uncommon, in the 19th century, for women to be given the diagnosis of ‘hysteria’ and admitted to mental health asylums if they didn’t do what their husband said, or, if they swore, or had sex outside of marriage. But did you know that women are still being involuntarily sectioned in Australia? Today, investigative reporter Aisha Dow on what has led many women to end up in this terrifying situation, against their will. And the consequences of being misbelieved, and, often, misdiagnosed.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The threat teal independents pose in this election - to the dominance of the two-party system, to the stability of our parliament and to the Liberal Party’s base - is very real. Today, we focus on two of these seats: Bradfield in Sydney and Kooyong in Melbourne where the teals and the Libs are neck and neck. City reporter for The Age Rachael Dexter and NSW political editor Alexandra Smith join Jacqueline Maley to discuss.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church, has died at the age 88. Francis, who had led the world’s 1.3 billion Roman Catholics since 2013, had been in increasingly poor health and pain. We are re-publishing this episode, recorded in February, with former religion editor at The Age, Barney Zwartz, on Pope Francis' mixed legacy and the impact he has had on lives, whether Catholic, or not.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australians love a ‘battler’. Images of shearers, Anzacs, and gold diggers are deeply entrenched in our history. Politicians know that too. Why else do we see them in hard hats and high visibility vests? But a couple of moments in this election campaign have hit a nerve. They came from a blue blood Liberal candidate in Melbourne, and the opposition leader’s son in a press conference in Brisbane. Today, Frank Bongiorno, professor of history at the Australian National University, on what happens when members of the political class play down their wealth, in order to commune with the common people.  Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More than 1800 women have shared experiences of feeling gaslit, being dismissed by doctors or being told their pain was in their mind as part of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age’s investigative series into medical misogyny in Australia’s healthcare system. Among the most alarming stories are those of almost 60 women who detailed their delayed cancer diagnoses. Some spent years in pain or with symptoms that they said were fobbed off, treated with suspicion or misdiagnosed. Jenny Piper’s story is a powerful and harrowing example of this.In this special episode, the Sydney woman explains how her cancer was missed by medical professionals. And how she is now facing the end of her life. For more, read the medical misogyny investigation here.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on the campaign saw the release of competing housing policies, and the appearance of Peter Dutton’s son Harry. But in many ways the campaign continued to be overshadowed by Donald Trump. Labor is making increasingly explicit attacks trying to link Dutton to the US president. And Dutton’s cause wasn’t helped with one of his key frontbenchers aped a Trump slogan. Does this mean the wheels have fallen off the Coalition campaign? Chief Political Correspondent David Crowe and National Affairs Editor James Massola join Jacqueline Maley to discuss. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So many of us have been yanking at our hair, or just standing around, slack jawed, as we’ve watched sharemarkets collapse and the chance of a recession barrel towards us - all as a result of Donald Trump’s tariffs. But to focus on the economic chaos is to miss the larger domino effect that’s been taking place in the background, as countries begin scrambling for a safe harbour.Today, international and political editor Peter Hartcher, on the “surreal” moment Australia now finds itself in. And how so-called “rare earths” are at the center of it all.Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week our revered economics editor Ross Gittins wrote an essay for the Age and Sydney Morning Herald, in which he lamented the state of this election campaign in particular, and Australian politics in general. The essay was titled “They treat us like mugs”, and Ross did not miss with his critique of the timidity and cynicism of the two major parties’ campaigns. Gittins joins Jacqueline Maley in the studio, to talk through his searing critique. Subscribe to The Age & SMH: https://subscribe.smh.com.au/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.