With some kids back at school already and others heading back to class today, how vulnerable are we all to another Omicron surge, and who's really making the decisions about whether it's safe to go back?

Today we talk to the ABC's national education and parenting reporter, Conor Duffy, about the power of education unions across the country and the influence they've had in keeping schools closed in some states. 

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Conor Duffy, ABC national education and parenting reporter

ABC News Daily is a new podcast that will help you understand the issues affecting your world.

Every episode, host Sam Hawley will walk you through one story with the help of an ABC colleague or expert.

When you want coverage you can trust, listen to ABC News Daily.

Find it in your podcast feed from Monday, January 31 2022.

It's goodbye from The Signal team — join us to revisit our favourite episodes.

(We've chosen from a pool of 900, so you know they'll be good.)

Keep an eye out for the ABC's new daily news podcast, coming in early 2022!

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Ange Lavoipierre, Co-host, The Signal

Stephen Smiley, Co-host, The Signal

Chris Dengate, Producer & Sound Engineer, The Signal

Ever since Delta, we've been talking about the inevitability of a new variant.

And yet somehow, Omicron came as a surprise.

Before Omicron, the end of the pandemic seemed close enough to touch.

So was it all a mirage?

Today on The Signal, we're asking Epidemiologist, Professor Tony Blakely from the University of Melbourne, about what to expect from the pandemic in 2022.

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Tony Blakely, Professor of Epidemiology, University of Melbourne

In 2019, lots of people thought they knew what would happen at the federal election.

And almost all of them were wrong.

This time around, commentators are more circumspect.

But if you're after an educated guess about the 2022 election outcome, what should you take into account?

Today on The Signal, we speak with Patricia Karvelas about the answer to that question.

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Patricia Karvelas, Host, RN Drive and ABC Afternoon Briefing

The firehose of Trump-era headlines out of America has dried up, but Joe Biden hasn't been having an easy time during his first year in office.

In fact, the President's popularity has taken such a knock that many Democrats are bracing for the loss of their wafer-thin majority in Congress during next year's midterms.

So can Biden recover to win again in 2024, most likely in a rematch with Donald Trump?

Today on The Signal, we're taking a long view of US Politics and daring to ask: what should we expect from the next Presidential race?

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Chas Licciardello, Host of the ABC's Planet America

Parliament has risen for 2021 and it certainly looks and smells like an election campaign is underway.

The prime minister Scott Morrison spent Sunday at the Bathurst 1000 V8 supercar event in NSW, while the opposition leader Anthony Albanese held a policy rally in the inner west of Sydney.

So after a bruising final stretch this year, who's in pole position?

Today on The Signal, we catch up with the host of Insiders on ABC TV, David Speers, to dissect the final sitting fortnight of Parliament, and take a look at the road ahead in federal politics.

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David Speers, Host, ABC TV Insiders

And just a quick note to our loyal subscribers from Ange and Smiley: this will be our final week hosting The Signal. The podcast will undergo a refresh over the summer, and will be back in 2022 with a new host and name. Keep an eye out for it here in your feed!

Contraceptive choices for Australians haven't really budged in the last few decades.

So what's the hold up? And how far off are some of those big breakthroughs, like male contraceptives?

Today on The Signal, it's the future of contraceptives and why that future is taking so long to arrive.

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Georgia Hitch, ABC Reporter, Canberra Parliament House

Scott Morrison has a plan to end online trolling in Australia.

A draft of the Government bill released yesterday would force social media companies to keep a record of their users' real identity, as well as overturn a recent High Court decision that ruled social platforms are legally publishers, for defamation purposes.

So are those ideas any good?

And how would they work in practice?

Today on The Signal, what we know about the Government's latest plan to get tough on big tech.

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Cam Wilson, Associate Editor, Crikey.com.au

Sexual harassment and bullying are rife within Australian federal politics.

That's the finding of a landmark report by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins, based on anonymous interviews with hundreds of people employed in parliamentary workplaces.

Kate Jenkins' inquiry was initiated back in February, when allegations came to light that former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins had been raped by a colleague in a ministerial office.

So what has Kate Jenkins found?

And will the Government accept her recommendations about what needs to change?

Today on The Signal, what we know about the ugly workplace culture at the heart of our democracy, and whether there is sufficient political will to fix it.

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Stephanie Dalzell, ABC Political Reporter, Parliament House Canberra