Tech heroine Melanie Perkins calls Canva’s massive 1,200-person layoff a "refounding" of the tech unicorn. But behind the PR spin and a strict new return-to-office mandate lies a harsher reality: the threat of AI disruption, flattening growth, and a significant valuation haircut.

In this episode of The Front, Claire Harvey is joined by The Australian’s resident billionaire expert John Stensholt to cut through the spin. Is Canva’s era of innocence officially over, and what does forcing remote workers back into a $130m Surry Hills headquarters reveal about the tech industry's future?

Read more about this story at theaustralian.com.au and see the video by subscribing to our YouTube channel

This episode of The Front is presented and produced by Claire Harvey with Jasper Leak, and edited by Joshua Burton. Our team includes Kristen Amiet, Lia Tsamoglou and Tiffany Dimmack. Jasper Leak composed our theme.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donald Trump has lost control of the Senate and the House of Representatives in the United States midterm elections, with results flowing in throughout the coming hours. The Democrats have easily retaken the House and are on track for a much larger than expected victory in the Senate. Trump - who told voters to behave as if his name was on the ballot - now says it’s not his fault.

Read more: 

Donald Trump, Republicans lose House, Senate to Democrats

Democrats surge towards stunning sweep of congress

Trump to Mideast: You’re on your own

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why did a Bombardier Learjet 60 plunge 32,000 feet a minute into a Florida road? Aviation writer Robyn Ironside joins Claire Harvey to break down the final, chilling air traffic control audio and examine the severe online attacks on the late 20-year-old co-pilot Nathalia Filgueiras.

Read more about this story at theaustralian.com.au and see the video by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

We’re out of time: co-pilot’s haunting final message

$2 million Learjet crashes in Florida, victims named

Ice, turbulence: How the disaster happened

This episode of The Front is presented and produced by Claire Harvey and edited by Joshua Burton. Our team includes Kristen Amiet, Lia Tsamoglou, Tiffany Dimmack and Jasper Leak, who also composed our theme. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Point of Law won the Melbourne Cup by a country mile - and rates went up just as everyone expected them to. In fact the only surprise this afternoon is that three members of the Reserve Bank Board voted against putting the cash rate target up to 4.85 per cent, revealing some controversy inside the board about whether they can  slow inflation without wrecking the economy. Listen now to The Front’s afternoon headlines. 

Read more: 

Rate rise ‘to address domestic capacity pressures’, RBA governor Michele Bullock says

$170bn black hole ahead of rate call that stops a nation

RBA risks a 90s-style slump as rate hikes struggle for traction

Point of Law wins after Robbie Williams rocks Flemington

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The midterms are on in America - and you’d expect voters to give the widely unpopular Donald Trump the kind of walloping presidents can usually expect in congressional and state elections. But the Democrats are fracturing over candidate choice and tactics and the Republicans can’t decide whether to embrace Trump or disavow him. Today, Cameron Stewart on what to watch in the wild ride ahead.  

Read more about this story at theaustralian.com.au and see the video by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

This episode of The Front is presented and produced by Claire Harvey and edited by Tiffany Dimmack.  Our team includes Kristen Amiet, Lia Tsamoglou, Joshua Burton and Jasper Leak, who also composed our theme. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pauline Hanson’s lieutenant James Ashby turns down a run for parliament, as National Party leader Matt Canavan heads to the House of Representatives. 

Plus, the 27-year old Afghan refugee who will stay in Australia despite being a convicted drug courier and fraudster.

Read more: 

James Ashby’s tantrums a growing problem for Pauline

Commercial drug courier wins right to stay in Australia despite reoffending risk

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With specialist out-of-pocket costs surging by 73% since 2010, the Albanese government is pushing ahead with a mandatory website requiring medical specialists to display their fees upfront. But can price transparency fix Australia's healthcare crisis, or will patients end up paying the price?

In this episode of The Front, senior health reporter Penny Timms joins Claire Harvey to break down the high-stakes war over specialist fees, why voluntary codes failed, and what this means for your next medical bill.

Read more about this story at theaustralian.com.au and see the video by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

Specialist fees crackdown could backfire on patients: AMA

This episode of The Front is presented by Claire Harvey, produced by Kristen Amiet and edited by Joshua Burton. Our team includes Lia Tsamoglou, Tiffany Dimmack, and Jasper Leak, who also composed our music. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week’s bookshop frenzy for a new romantasy title -  A Court of Splintered Harmony by Sarah J Maas - prompts some big questions. Why are romantasy plots so silly? Why do smart women love them anyway? And what does it all tell us about men, women and modern love? 

Come hither: The sex women want is now a $28bn empire

The self-published ‘Romantasy’ author that sparked a 9-way book auction

Stand back for the hot breath of dragon sex in Onyx Storm

Read more about this story at theaustralian.com.au and see the video by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

The weekend edition of The Front is co-produced by Claire Harvey and Jasper Leak. The host is Claire Harvey. Audio production and editing by Jasper Leak who also composed our theme. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mushroom killer Erin Patterson will likely die in jail after the Victorian Court of Appeal rejected her bid for freedom and increased her sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Plus, an economist’s recession warning and Fantastic Furniture closes its last Australian factory.

Read more: 

Erin Patterson loses appeal, could stay in jail until her 80s as jail term increased

Near-zero growth, recession likely as rates rise looms: HSBC

Fantastic Furniture closes Fairfield East plant to shift manufacturing to China and Vietnam

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Israel’s gloriously messy democracy has thrown up a real doozy: parliamentary elections that have two potential prime ministers both saying the other guy lost. The Australian's Foreign Editor Greg Sheridan says there's one thing they both agree on: they won’t go into coalition with Arab parties – and it means Israel might be heading towards another election very soon.

Read more about this story at theaustralian.com.au and see the video by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

Benjamin Netanyahu takes narrow lead as Israel poll shows no clear result

Israelis ‘won’t let Arabs become kingmakers’ in tight election race

Commentary by Greg Sheridan: Impossible to kill: Benjamin Netanyahu defies defeat to maintain grip on Israeli politics

Commentary by Greg Sheridan: Removing Bibi won’t end irrational hatred of Israel

This episode of The Front is presented by Claire Harvey, produced by Kristen Amiet and edited by Tiffany Dimmack. Our team includes Lia Tsamoglou, Joshua Burton and Jasper Leak, who also composed our music. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is making “targeted inquiries” into the actions of the bankers behind the canned multibillion-dollar stock-market float of data-centre builder Firmus.

Plus, Australia’s Tax Commissioner has admitted he didn’t quite get how businesses use credit cards before the ATO brought in a ban on plastic.

Read more: 

Corporate regulator investigates lead managers behind cancelled $44bn Firmus float

ATO ‘jumped to conclusions’ over bungled credit card ban

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.