7am

Last year, the Prime Minister was ambushed in his hotel lobby by far-right figures boasting of being fed “private intel” during the last election campaign.
The incident was one of about a dozen stunts targeting Labor, the Greens and some Independents.
It turns out, this wasn’t just about influencers trying to generate content. It was actually a co-ordinated campaign allegedly paid for by a wealthy Christian sect.
Today, investigative journalist at The Age Sherryn Groch on the Exclusive Brethren, its bags of cash, and connections to the Liberal Party.

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Guest: Investigative journalist at The Age & SMH Sherryn Groch
Photo: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas
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Donald Trump has found a new way to make money. Trump Media and Technology Group is monetising the president’s social media posts, selling Wall Street firms early access to them for as much as $100,000 a month. And in the world of traders, a few milliseconds can mean millions of dollars.
Now, Trump is being sued over the arrangement, amid claims it gives paying customers preferential access to official presidential communications.
At the same time, Trump Media is also moving into prediction markets – a fast-growing corner of finance that can turn political events into betting opportunities.
Today, Reuters journalist Anirban Sen, on the extraordinary collision of presidential power, private profit and a booming industry where almost anything can become a wager.

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Guest: Reuters journalist, Anirban Sen
Photo: AP Photo/Evan Vucci
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Almost one year ago, the Supreme Court of Victoria allowed a television camera to broadcast a sentencing for the first time ever – the hearing for convicted triple murderer Erin Patterson.
Justice Christopher Beale imposed life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 33 years for murdering three in-laws – and attempting to murder a fourth – by lacing their beef Wellingtons with poisonous death cap mushrooms in 2023.

Now, Patterson has been back in court appealing her convictions, while prosecutors argue her sentence is too lenient and that she should never be released.
Today, we revisit our conversation with investigative journalist and author Lucie Morris-Marr on the sentencing of Erin Patterson, the suffering her crimes caused, and how the judge decided her punishment.
This episode was first published in September 2025.

If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support.

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Guest: Investigative journalist and author, Lucie Morris-Marr
Photo: AAP Image/Anita Lester
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For more than a decade, Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has been talking about gambling addiction.
His advocacy means he’s become a lightning rod for people to share their stories.
Now, as the government this week passed legislation aimed at reducing gambling harms, Wilkie is among an angry group of dissenters who say the bill is a “national shame”.

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Guest: Independent MP Andrew Wilkie
Photo: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas
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In 2022, Masha Alyokhina escaped Russia disguised as a food delivery courier.
She had spent years being arrested, imprisoned and watched by the state for her work with punk rock protest group Pussy Riot and for speaking out against Vladimir Putin.
But Alyokhina says the Russia she fled wasn’t transformed by one dramatic moment. Repression came piece by piece, until fear, censorship and eventually silence became part of everyday life.
Now, she says the same pattern is taking hold elsewhere, as people become overwhelmed, disengaged from politics, and complacent that the freedoms they inherited will simply endure.
Today, Pussy Riot’s Masha Alyokhina on what Putin’s Russia can teach us about authoritarianism, and why democracy can never be taken for granted.

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Guest: Pussy Riot’s Maria (Masha) Alyokhina
Photo: AAP Image/Kelly Barnes
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.