{"podcast":{"title":"Melbourne News Today | 2 Min News | The Daily News Now!","slug":"melbourne-news-today-2-min-news-the-daily-news-now-7572838","podcast_index_feed_id":7572838,"rss_url":"https://feeds.fastcast.ai/washington-mystics-the-daily-news-now.xml","website_url":"https://thednn.ai/","image_url":"https://image.fastcast.ai/podcasts/washington-mystics-the-daily-news-now.jpg","author":"The Daily News Now!","episode_count":430,"summary":"Hosted by Corey with the Story, Melbourne News Today delivers fast, focused daily updates on the stories shaping Melbourne—from local news and business to culture, sports, and community developments. Designed for quick, on-the-go listening, each episode brings you up to speed in minutes. Produced by AI for speed, consistency, and global scale, the show is part of The Daily News Now network—bringing local news to every city in the world and keeping communities connected. Melbourne News Today is your daily snapshot of what’s happening in your city. Advertise on DNN: advertise@thednn.ai","last_synced_at":"2026-07-27T08:17:26.487596+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/melbourne-news-today-2-min-news-the-daily-news-now-7572838"},"episode":{"title":"Australia's Mouse Plague Hits Home","slug":"australia-s-mouse-plague-hits-home","published_at":"2026-06-14T15:11:11+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/melbourne-news-today-2-min-news-the-daily-news-now-7572838/australia-s-mouse-plague-hits-home","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/melbourne-news-today-2-min-news-the-daily-news-now-7572838","url":"https://api.fastcast.ai/audio/de864633-b996-4b10-90c1-0c956f40b7d7.mp3","audio_url":"https://api.fastcast.ai/audio/de864633-b996-4b10-90c1-0c956f40b7d7.mp3","summary":"Australia’s grain belt is facing a catastrophic mouse plague, with rodent numbers ten times plague levels in some areas—invading homes, beds, and food stores, leaving behind a foul stench of urine, feces, and death. Farmers are losing 5 to 50 percent of their crops, risking financial ruin, while bureaucratic delays blocked access to fast-acting poisons like zinc phosphide. Beyond the economic toll, the psychological strain is crushing: mice don’t stay outside—they’re everywhere. Communities are taking extreme measures to protect food, and businesses are struggling to keep rodents out. Experts say mouse plagues follow a boom-and-bust cycle, but it’s unclear if Western Australia is nearing the peak or just halfway. For now, farmers are battling the tide, relying on bait and community resilience, hoping the plague will vanish as suddenly as it arrived. Support the show: Get a discount at https://solipillow.com/discount/dnn. Advertise on DNN: advertise@thednn.ai This is an automated, high-level news summary based on public reporting. Report issues to feedback@thednn.ai. View sources & latest updates: https://sources.thednn.ai/fb1d68efd988c419","meta_description":"Australia’s grain belt is facing a catastrophic mouse plague, with rodent numbers ten times plague levels in some areas—invading homes, beds, and food sto…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":131,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/melbourne-news-today-2-min-news-the-daily-news-now-7572838/episodes/australia-s-mouse-plague-hits-home/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/melbourne-news-today-2-min-news-the-daily-news-now-7572838/australia-s-mouse-plague-hits-home.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}