Radio National Breakfast

Melissa Reader had three children under the age of seven when her husband Mauro died from cancer.

Despite Mauro being sick for a long time, they weren't prepared for his passing — and Melissa held huge regrets over how they handled this time.

She now focuses on helping others to improve their end-of-life experiences: working with carers, clinicians and other organisations.

• Guest: Melissa Reader, CEO The Violet Initiative, founder and CEO Vera.

We're just days out from South Australia's state election and a poll by Roy Morgan is pointing to a landslide Labor victory, with One Nation sitting ahead of the Coalition.

• Guest: Ashton Hurn, Leader of the South Australian Liberal Party
• Producer: Eddy Diamond

The United Nations' International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is preparing to hold an extraordinary session of its council this week to address the escalating crisis in the Gulf.

• Guest: Arsenio Dominguez, Secretary-General International Maritime Organisation
• Producers: Eddy Diamond, Grace Stranger

Deputy Liberal leader Jane Hume has endorsed Nationals leader Matt Canavan's plan to make it easier for public servants to work from home in regional and rural Australia.

Plus, this week the Liberals selected lawyer Raissa Butkowski to contest the Farrer by-election.

• GUEST: Jane Hume, Opposition Leader
• PRODUCER: Isadora Bogle

There are growing expectations among economists that the Reserve Bank will announce an interest rate hike later today.

It comes as the conflict in the Middle East continues to have global impacts, and the federal government prepares it's May budget. 

• GUEST: Katy Gallagher, Minister for Finance
• PRODUCER: Isadora Bogle

Hollywood actor Timothee Chalamet has become a running gag at the Oscars after an off-the-cuff comment criticising ballet and opera. 

It's Reserve Bank decision day - so what will happen to interest rates as the conflict in the middle east continues?

• GUEST: Warwick McKibbin, is a former RBA Board Member and now Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington DC and ANU Emeritus Distinguished Professor

An independent panel of experts has concluded the country's Research and Development sector is in desperate need of bold reform.

The Ambitious Australia report, commissioned by the government, is warning Australia's future living standards are at risk unless the country moves toward focused, mission‑driven innovation tied directly to economic growth, productivity and sovereign capability.  

Right now R&D investment has fallen to just 1.69% of GDP; almost half the OECD average.

• GUEST: Anna-Maria Arabia, Chief Executive at the Australian Academy of Science
• PRODUCER: Eddy Diamond 

Iran's effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has slowed the flow of a major share of the world's energy supply, disrupting global markets.

Since the conflict began, US President Donald Trump has floated the idea of naval escorts to help oil tankers pass safely through the strait.

So far, no countries have taken up the call for help - including Australia.

• GUEST: Admiral Gary Roughead, former chief of US naval operations 
• PRODUCER: Eddy Diamond 

The war in the Middle East has entered its third week; with missile and drone attacks continuing across the gulf, hundreds of ships left stranded in the Strait of Hormuz and the conflict also spreading into Lebanon.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump's calls for regime change appear to have fallen on deaf ears in Iran, with the son of the former Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei now at the helm.

So, where does this war end for Iran and how do Iranians view the conflict?

• Guest: Seyed Hossein Mousavian, former Iranian ambassador to Germany, and former Head of the Foreign Relations Committee of Iran's National Security Council
• Producer: Grace Stranger