In the 1990s, a small group of men in Silicon Valley imagined a world without governments or rules – a world run by code. They called themselves the cypherpunks, and they believed technology could replace politics entirely.

Those ideas didn’t stay online. They shaped the culture of the tech industry, which in turn has reshaped Western civilisation itself. Now, the billionaires behind it all are trying to remake democracy in their image.

Today, writer and contributor to The Monthly, Elmo Keep, on how Silicon Valley’s most dangerous philosophy escaped the internet and entered the real world.

 

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Guest: Writer and contributor to The Monthly, Elmo Keep

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In just one year, Donald Trump has transformed America's government and its institutions.

His actions and agenda reflect a far more emboldened president in his second term – and the guardrails designed to keep a president in check, from the courts to Congress, are buckling.

Trump’s success in reshaping the system raises deeper questions about exactly what kind of country the United States will become.

Today, Director of the Australia Institute's International & Security Affairs Program, Dr Emma Shortis, on how Trump is remaking American politics – and whether there is any way back from here.

 

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Guest: Director of the Australia Institute's International & Security Affairs Program Dr Emma Shortis

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After decades of spectacular growth built on property and heavy industry, China has tried to chart a new path – one driven by electric vehicles, green technology and AI. 

But as those bets begin to falter, there are questions about whether China has reached its peak, with stubborn problems like high youth unemployment and an ageing population seemingly intractable.

So as the new year begins, what is Xi Jinping’s plan to course correct? And if he can’t pull it off, what does that mean for Australia?

Today, essayist, translator and author of eleven books on China, Linda Jaivin, on what’s next for one of the world's great superpowers.

 

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Guest: Essayist, translator and author of eleven books on China, Linda Jaivin

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Like so many of us, Chloe Hooper spent 2025 obsessing over the triple murder trial of Erin Patterson.

It was different to the crimes she’s written about before, in her books The Arsonist and The Tall Man, which was about a death in custody.

For Chloe, it was the domesticity of the mushroom killings, the family dynamic, that drew her in.

But why did this story captivate the country at-large? And what does it say about us, particularly about women, that we are drawn to true crime?

These were some of the questions that drove Chloe, and her friends and colleagues, the writers Helen Garner and Sarah Krasnostein, as they began traveling to the town of Morwell to watch Erin Patterson’s trial.

What followed is The Mushroom Tapes: Conversations on a Triple Murder – a book that wrestles with ideas about power, money, marriage and murder.

Today, Chloe Hooper on what our collective fascination with Erin Patterson tells us about who we are as a country in 2025.

 

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Guest: Writer and co-author of The Mushroom Tapes: Conversations on a Triple Murder Chloe Hooper

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One of the big stories of the 2025 election campaign was the wipeout of the Australian Greens. 

In a stunning defeat, they lost three out of their four lower house MPs, including their leader Adam Bandt.

It left the party with big questions, about why they weren’t growing at a time when young people are more progressive than ever.

Now, more than six months out from the election, and under the leadership of Larissa Waters, they are beginning to show some signs of where the party wants to go next. 

Today, Crikey columnist Rachel Withers, on whether the Greens can claw back support, or if they’ve taken the wrong message from their defeat.

 

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Guest: Crikey columnist Rachel Withers 

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This year, Anthony Albanese promised to make big changes — on childcare, on Medicare, on the cost of living.

But while the government delivered some wins, it also quietly stepped back from the fights it didn’t want to have — on gambling, housing, and corporate power.

Today, contributing editor of The New Daily, Amy Remeikis, looks back on yet another huge year in politics, on the deals Labor made, the reforms it shelved, and what it reveals about how this government really works.

 

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Guest: Contributing editor of The New Daily Amy Remeikis

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It’s been a huge year for video games. Small developers are leading a renaissance of original ideas breaking through into the mainstream. They are going up against blockbuster franchises like Call of Duty – and winning.

The 7am team debated adding “games” to our ‘best of’ features this year – but the numbers don’t lie. More than four out of five Australians game and the industry is at least three times the size of the film industry.

Games can be so many things: high art, pop art – and pure dopamine. Sometimes all at once.

Today, video games critic and tech journalist at the ABC, Rad Yeo, on her top five favourite games of the year.


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Guest: Video games critic and tech journalist at the ABC, Rad Yeo

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Ruby Jones listens to a lot of podcasts. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, they all circle the same theme: journalism. 

Today, she’s bringing you her favourite journalistic podcasts of the year – recommending everything from immersive narrative series to friends with chat shows.

 

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Guest: 7am host Ruby Jones

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Kate Jinx watches hundreds of films every year – for her job programming feature films at the Melbourne International Film Festival, and, because she loves them.

Today, she’s bringing you her five favourites from 2025.

There’s Leonardo Dicaprio, of course. There’s also heists, collaborative theatre as film, PTSD but funny, and, there’s porridge.

 

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Guest: Programmer of feature films at the Melbourne International Film Festival, Kate Jinx 

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It’s been a heavy year in many ways. And when you work in news, there’s no shying away from that. But music can be a respite – something to help process the heaviness, and something that brings escape and joy.

When we asked Head of Music at SXSW, Claire Collins, to pick her favourite albums of the year, both the heaviness and the joy were reflected back at us. She’s picked five albums for you to blast this summer, as you prepare for the year ahead.

 

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Guest: Claire Collins, head of music at SXSW

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