When journalists from The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald put a call out to hear from women who’d experienced medical misogyny, they were inundated with stories.

More than 500 women responded, within only 48 hours. Many said they’d had their serious diagnoses missed, at the hands of doctors and other medical professionals. Others said they’d been condescended to, or told that what they were feeling was in their head. Some said they’d only narrowly survived, as a result.

Today, health editor Kate Aubusson and senior writer Wendy Tuohy, on the invisible epidemic that has its roots in Ancient Greece, but has become, says Tuohy, like the medical version of everyday sexism.

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese should retire. Not right now, but a “decent interval” after the next election, if he wins it. 

So says Sydney Morning Herald and The Age columnist Niki Savva, who joins Jacqueline Maley this week to talk about the government’s prospects of re-election, how well Peter Dutton has performed as Opposition leader and whether the Teal Independents have fulfilled their promise in the 47th parliament.

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.

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We know that many of Donald Trump’s preferred picks for his presidential cabinet sound like the set up for a joke. This is what happens when you nominate a vaccine skeptic to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, and a wrestling impresario to become education secretary.

But which of Trump's picks should we actually be worried about? And why?

Today, Nick Bryant, a former BBC foreign correspondent and author of The Forever War: America’s Unending Conflict with Itself, on who is poised to cause the most damage. And how far it could spread.

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Last night, in a shock televised announcement, South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol declared emergency martial law. 

It sent some South Koreans running to their homes, to be with their families. Unsure of what this move would mean. While many others fled to the National Assembly, in protest, even as police and the military surrounded the country’s parliament.

In a bonus episode today, North Asia correspondent Lisa Visentin, on how this bizarre situation unfolded and why such an extreme measure was deployed by the president.

Audio thanks to:

• South Korea crisis - President lifts martial law in humiliating U-turn. BBC News.
• South Korea President Yoon says he will lift martial law. BBC News.

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Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and Greens environment spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young had allegedly agreed on a massive reform that would establish a federal environmental protection agency. Which they thought would pass through the senate. But then, in an 11th hour meeting, the deal was scotched, according to multiple sources, by prime minister Anthony Albanese.

Today, climate and energy correspondent, Mike Foley - who broke this story - on whether Albanese’s captain’s call was personal; a knock to his long-time political rival. And whether it counts as a betrayal of Labor’s election promise.

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For the last eight years in Syria, a civil war, borne out of the Arab Spring protests, had come to something of a standstill.

The frontlines were largely frozen, with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad having control of the major cities, while militant groups wrestled for primacy in the regions.

That is, until the attack on the weekend, from a rebel force with origins in Al Qaeda.

So what happens now?

The last time Assad had his territory and military rule threatened in such a fulsome way, Russia came to his rescue, in a brutal campaign that involved the use of chemical weapons on Syrians.

Today, digital foreign editor Chris Zappone on the story behind the rebel group that took the city, why they want to topple Assad, and what role his allies might play again.

Audio credit:

• What happened after the Arab Spring?, Al Jazeera. 

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It’s been nearly five months since investigative journalist Nick McKenzie broke one of the biggest stories of the year, and exposed what he calls “an unholy alliance” between gangland figures, and one of the most powerful labour unions in the country.

He revealed that the CFMEU had become a fiefdom in which bikies and former stand-over men, among others, were given positions of power on building sites - many of them government-funded projects. The culture they created was toxic. Right up the east coast of Australia, the threat of violence was real and omnipresent.

Today, Nick McKenzie, on the battle for control of the construction industry, which will be the focus of a court hearing next week. And whether the people in power, who allegedly turned a blind eye to the alliance, will ever be held to account.

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This week was the last sitting week of the parliamentary year, and there is speculation the Prime Minister will call an election early in 2025, meaning it might have been the last parliamentary session of the Albanese government, full stop.

So what legislation did the government get through this week? And more broadly, how well positioned is it, going into an imminent election campaign?

Joining Jacqueline Maley to discuss is chief political correspondent David Crowe.

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.

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Political scandals in the Philippines have long resembled overcooked soap opera storylines. This is the place, after all, where the wardrobe of the former first lady, Imelda Marcos, was discovered, on the day she fled the country, to contain nearly 900 handbags, and around 3,000 pairs of shoes. While half her country lived in poverty.

Still, when the current Vice President of the Philippines announced, over the weekend, that she had engaged a hit man to kill her country’s President, it caused many to take pause. Some have argued it's a tactic, to distract the public from fighting for democratic reform.

Today, international and political editor, Peter Hartcher, on why this assassination plot is no mere distraction. And what problems it could create for Australia.

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Even for those who aren’t political junkies, it’s been a dramatic couple of weeks in Parliament House. 

In a stunning capitulation to the Government, the Greens blinked, after nearly a year-long conflict with Labor over housing. But then, in a move that puzzled many, Labor dumped, or delayed, signature bills.

If Anthony Albanese calls an early election in the new year, this could be the final sitting week of Labor’s first term in government. And the last chance to get things done.

Today, national affairs editor James Massola, on whether the Government’s losses outweigh its wins. And if it could be the first incumbent federal government in 93 years, to serve only one term.

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