The Briefing
Episodes
Is Australia losing the race to ban plastics?
08 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Covid 19 has made avoiding plastics a lot harder; cafes stopped taking keep cups, there was an increase in food and grocery deliveries - all wrapped i...
Vaping: a national crisis in our schools
07 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In today’s briefing - the vaping problem in schools. Teachers and parents are extremely worried that school students are illegally dealing vapes...
Millennial malaise: real or imagined?
06 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In 2019, Bridie Jabour wrote a piece for the Guardian about the malaise of millennials. She found herself and her friends talking about the pain...
Canada’s shame unearthed: the discovery of hundreds of bodies of First Nations children
05 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Joanna, a Briefing listener, wrote to us via Instagram to ask us to do a story on the discovery of First Nation’s children in Canada. Hund...
The plight of the Afghan war interpreters
04 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the last two weeks dozens of people from Afghanistan have been evacuated to Australia because the war is ending - many had worked as interpreters f...
Michael Clarke's new love since cricket: Fatherhood
02 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Clarke has been called Australia’s controversial cricket captain. This kid from the western suburbs, with his blonde tipped hair, famous...
Inside Britney Spears’ conservatorship nightmare
01 Jul 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this Briefing we’re going to take you into the world of Britney Spears - from where it all began to now - where she’s fighting to free ...
Could a dumb phone be the answer to our smartphone addiction?
30 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Many Australians are addicted to their phones. We spend countless hours staring at our devices. A recent Monash University study found 43.3 per ...
Why Singapore decided to ‘live with Covid’?
29 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Three of Singapore’s most senior government officials wrote an article in the national newspaper, the Straits Times, to say the island nation wa...
50 risks you should take with your kids
28 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Ever heard the term helicopter parenting? Well, it’s about parents hovering over their children making sure they are never put at risk. &n...
Tokyo talks: Should the Olympic Games go ahead?
27 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Tokyo Olympic Games begin on July 23rd. It’s the world’s biggest event, but with Covid-19 still running amok in Japan, locals are conc...
Waleed Aly on the government's pandemic response, working in media and supporting Richmond.
25 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Waleed Aly is one of the smartest people on Australian television. As well as sitting at The Project desk, writing columns for the Nine newspapers or ...
How Australia backed the wrong horse in the vaccine stakes
24 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Australia’s vaccine rollout has been a disaster. So far only 2.8 percent of Australians have been fully vaccinated... In Israel...
How food helped a musician grieve for her mother
23 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The US-Korean writer and musician Michelle Zauner’s new book is called Crying in H Mart. It’s about how she found herself crying in her lo...
The story behind US rapper Mac Miller's death
22 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The US rapper Mac Miller died in his LA home in 2018. It was accidental overdose of fentanyl, cocaine and alcohol. He was just 26 years ol...
What’s China doing in space?
21 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
China has made no secret of its plans to dominate the space race. So how does this latest space race reflect tensions here on earth? ...
AFL star: my battle with an eating disorder
20 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this briefing we’re bringing you Brock ‘Chooka’ McLean’s story. He played in the AFL for ten years up until 20...
Nyadol Nyuon, the refugee who become a celebrated lawyer and activist against all odds.
18 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Nyadol Nyuon was dealt a hand of cards against her from birth. At just four-years-old, the conflict in Ethiopia forced her family to trek 40 days to S...
Saving life on Earth: shooting sperm to the moon
17 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists have come up with a plan to send egg, sperm and seed samples from 6.7 million Earth species to a vault inside the moon. Jekan ...
What will Brisbane’s Olympic Games look like?
16 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Brisbane is one step away from hosting the 2032 Olympic Games. What will it mean for the city - and the country?Five-time Olympian and Sydney go...
How your birth order can determine your fate
15 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There’s a theory… called ‘Birth Order Theory’... originally developed by psychologist Alfred Adler last century… that ...
Ommm: why meditation is having a rockstar moment.
14 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Lately it feels like meditation is being mentioned everywhere. Celebrities like Chris Hemsworth and Diddy have recently released guided me...
Is the digital vaccine certificate our ticket to freedom?
13 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The federal government announced the launch of the digital vaccine certificate last week. We expected widespread opposition to the idea. B...
Samantha Harris on runway diversity and body-shamers
11 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
THE WEEKEND BRIEFING: Samantha Harris is one of Australia’s most recognisable fashion models. She shot to fame in her late teens after bec...
How police tricked thousands of drug traffickers into using their AN0M app
10 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It’s being described as Australia’s biggest ever crime bust and biggest blow ever to organised crime in Australia, but today the inside st...
What’s with the Wuhan lab theory?
09 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
President Joe Biden has asked the US intelligence community to investigate the possibility Covid-19 leaked from a virology lab in the Chinese city of ...
Are we watching the slow demise of Melbourne?
08 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Will Melbourne…the city we all love…once the world’s most liveable city, ever be the same again. Cameron Stewart wrote in t...
Why young Aussies, especially women, are investing in shares
07 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
More young people, and more women, invested in the stock market for the first time in the last two years. This year’s annual Invest...
Has the pandemic driven us to drink?
06 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
With Melbourne being sent back into lockdown last week, it’s time to ask, “has the pandemic highlighted our problem with booze?”&nbs...
The Weekend Briefing with Clare Bowditch
04 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
You may know Clare Bowditch from her ARIA award-winning music career, her Logie-nominated role on the hit TV series Offspring, or her work as journali...
Do we expect too much from modern athletes?
03 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Naomi Osaka walked out of the French Open tennis tournament this week. Just days before she’d copped a $15,000 fine for refusing to appear at ma...
The Aussie law causing tension across the ditch
02 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
More than 2,000 New Zealanders have been deported since 2014 when the federal government changed laws to make it easier to send Kiwis with a criminal ...
Veterinarians: why they're overworked and overwhelmed
01 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Being a vet and working with animals might seem like a dream job...but vets are at a higher risk of emotional distress and burnout...and the pandemic ...
The latest on Australia’s vaccine rollout
31 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Australia’s Covid-19 vaccine rollout has been plagued by problems. First it was difficulty sourcing vials, and then people across the worl...
What is a Geriatric Millennial....and could you be one?
30 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Are Geriatric Millennials the heroes the world needs? Geriatric millennials are generally people born in the early 1980s and they make up some ...
The Weekend Briefing with Rove McManus
28 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Rove McManus is undoubtably one of Australia’s favourite TV personalities of all time, popularising the US format of late-night television on ou...
Why are mining electorates so important?
27 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Coal mining employs around 50,000 people directly... so why does coal dominate Australian politics?! It came up again at the weekend’s NSW...
Bitcoin – the environmental cost explained
26 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Of all the things to destabilise Bitcoin... it turns out the environment has been a key factor. The digital currency has seen some wild p...
Why losing your religion is harder than it looks
25 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Monica Dux has written a book called Lapsed... about walking away from Catholicism, her childhood religion. It’s a relevant story in toda...
Colombia in crisis: power of the people
24 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Violent protests have broken out on the streets of Colombia. Demonstrations about tax reform have turned into massacres on the streets. Neighbo...
How to keep calm as the property market surges out of reach
23 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There’s been a lot of talk this year about housing affordability after another surge in home and apartment prices. But interest rates have...
The Royal Record - Queen Lizzy and The Briefing say "check it out "
22 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Royal Record is your weekly dose of Royal news, without the spin! Royal correspondent and expert Juliet Rieden and journalist Bryce Corbett use th...
The Weekend Briefing with Rick Morton
21 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Rick Morton’s book My Year of Living Vulnerably is topping best-seller lists around Australia for unpacking Australian masculinity. Jamil...
How to talk to conspiracy theorists
20 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone knows a conspiracy theorist. Someone who believes we didn’t make it to the moon; or the September 11 attacks were a hoax. ...
Gaza stripped: Israel v Palestine explained
19 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The violence in Israel and Gaza explained. We’ll ask how it started... how similar is it to the last major flare ups in Israel... and wha...
NFTs: what are they, and are they the future?
18 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone is talking about NFTs - Non-Fungible Tokens. These digital certificates have been hailed as a way for creators to get paid for digital...
Mouse plague: will they take the bait?
17 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Huge numbers of mice have been tormenting farms and communities in western NSW for months. After lobbying, the state government has finally come...
Border shutdown: when can we travel overseas?
16 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In last week’s federal budget papers, we discovered the government plans to keep our international borders closed until at least mid-2021.  ...
The Weekend Briefing with Tanya Hennessy
14 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Tanya Hennessy is one of the funniest (and busiest) people in Australia. As well as being a podcaster, radio host, TV presenter, comedian and author, ...
Covid: did we miss an opportunity to house the homeless?
13 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In March/April last year, 33,000 homeless people were given emergency Covid accommodation around the country. It was amazing to watch; thousands of pe...
Budget follow-up: a bean counter spills the beans
12 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We go right to the top today to question the Finance Minister Simon Birmingham about Tuesday night’s budget. Some key questions:&nb...
Budget 2021: What it means for you
11 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Last night’s federal budget was handed down by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg. What does it mean for you? Why do we no longer focus on s...
A refugee’s journey from Manus Island to bare knuckle fighting in the US
10 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A story of courage, perseverance and bare-knuckle fighting. From seven years detained on Manus Island... to elite fighting in Americ...
Is modern life killing our sperm count?
09 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine a world where humans are infertile. Where technology is the only way to conceive. Where sperm counts get to zero. It sounds like t...
The Weekend Briefing with Rob Mills
07 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Australia fell in love with Rob Mills on Australian Idol’s first season in 2003. He’s since gone on to nab some of the most coveted roles ...
Why conservatives are making the case for Indigenous reconciliation
06 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders met at Uluru in 2017 and hammered out what’s called the Uluru Statement, which outlines a path...
Can kangaroos help Aussie athletes bounce back?
05 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Kangaroos could hold the key for sport stars looking to overcome career-ending ligament injuries. Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries in ...
Electric cars: why has Australia hit the brakes?
04 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Australia already has one of the worst uptakes of electric vehicles...for example, last year Germany and France both grew their electric vehicle fleet...
India: a Covid-19 catastrophe
03 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The whole world is watching India right now. Its daily case numbers of COVID-19 hit 400,000 this week. The death toll is also rising rapidly with Indi...
Have we lost the war in Afghanistan?
02 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
US President Joe Biden announced last month American troops would withdraw from Afghanistan by September 11 this year. Our PM quickl...
The Weekend Briefing with Andy Lee
30 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Prepare to see Any Lee uncut as he delves into personal territory with host Jamila Rizvi. He opens up about his mum's disability, the hard conversatio...
We rate Joe Biden’s first 100 days in office
29 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On January 20 Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. On today’s episode of The Briefing - Biden ma...
Why is Australia fascinated by MAFS?
28 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Why are Australians so fascinated by Married at First Sight? It’s the show we love to hate, or is it … hate to love? Eve...
The inside story of the Super League implosion
27 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Twelve of Europe’s top soccer clubs planned to shake up the sport. Instead, the project collapsed spectacularly in just 48 hours. How did ...
Should Australia join America’s war on carbon?
26 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been representing Australia at a virtual summit of world leaders discussing climate change. The summit was con...
An Aussie journo kicked out of Xi’s new China
25 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Tensions between Australia and China are at their worst in decades. Our global campaign to blame China for the Covid-19 pandemic pushed our rela...
The Weekend Briefing with Flex Mami
23 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jamila Rizvi sits down with Internet sensation and ultimate millennial “slashy” Lillian Ahenkan, otherwise known as Flex Mami. She&...
Looking over the vaccine horizon to the UK & US: part two
22 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
PART TWO - The UK, Europe and the United States are forging ahead with mass vaccines. Australia is well behind in terms of progress. So, what is...
Looking over the vaccine horizon to the UK & US: part one
21 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The UK, Europe and the United States are forging ahead with mass vaccines. Australia is well behind in terms of progress. So, what is life like ...
Royal Commission into veterans' deaths: a vet’s view
20 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Prime Minister has announced a Royal Commission into veterans’ suicide. Will it be enough to stem the number of returned servicemen an...
The Briefing's FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!
19 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Briefing kicked off on April 20, 2020, amid a global pandemic. No one was sure what the future would look like. Many of us were workin...
Dr Abby: An Aussie behind the Mars rover
18 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Did you know an Australian is leading one of the teams behind the Mars rover? Australian geologist Dr Abigail Allwood is the first ...
The Weekend Briefing with Benjamin Law
16 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jamila Rizvi sits down with Benjamin Law, a man of many talents in the Australian media industry. He is the creator and writer of SBS’s award-wi...
Minneapolis erupts: the Derek Chauvin murder trial
15 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Are we witnessing another big flashpoint for the BLM protests...? When George Floyd was killed by a police officer last year... it sparked that ...
Jewish female resistance fighters in Hitler's WWII ghettos
14 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Over the last two months here in Australia there’s been a number of sexual abuse and harassment scandals that have forced a rethink about the wa...
30 years since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody: what have we learned?
13 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This week marks the 30th anniversary of the final report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, created by the Hawke Government in...
Paramedics: their workload is putting lives at risk
12 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A listener wrote to say Victorian paramedics are spending hours waiting outside emergency departments rather than back on the road responding to more ...
The NZ travel bubble: what to expect over the ditch
11 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
NZ PM Jacinda Ardern last week announced that as of Monday April 19 the travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand will reopen. And t...
The Weekend Briefing with Abbie Chatfield
09 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jamila Rizvi talks to Abbie Chatfield who rose to fame as the runner up and perceived villain of The Bachelor Season 7, chasing the heart of Matt Agne...
Has the Coalition lost the female vote?
08 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A poll released last week showed the PMs approval rating dropped 10 points in a fortnight to 57 percent and what’s interesting is that his appro...
Australia’s place in global cyber warfare
07 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Nine Network was hacked last month. Australia has increasingly been the target of hacks. Is Australia fighting back... with our own hacking ...
Australia's vaccine rollout debacle
06 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Morrison government promised the vast majority of Australians would be vaccinated against Covid-19 by the end of October. It’s now be...
How to get a pay rise!!
05 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The gender wage gap is at more than 13 percent. But it’s not always a woman being paid less for doing the same job as a man, it’s of...
Meet a real spy, like James Bond, or Jason Bourne
04 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On today’s Briefing you’re going to meet a real life Jason Bourne... or James Bond... It’s very rare that spies speak o...
The Weekend Briefing with Rosie Waterland
02 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jamila Rizvi talks to Rosie Waterland, a best-selling author, award-winning podcast host, screenwriter, comedian and actress. She became a hous...
Is Hillsong still a ‘rockstar’ church?
01 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Christianity is on the decline in Australia. In 1966, 88 percent of the Australian population identified as Christian. In 2016 - 50 years later ...
Farmers’ role in our net-zero emissions ambitions
31 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We received an Instagram message from Melissa Smith who asked why farmers are never included in the discussion about climate change, when they’r...
A humanitarian crisis on the US/Mexico border
30 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
What’s the difference between locking a child in a cage... in a chain linked partition... or in a child migrant facility? Tho...
A return to Hong Kong under Beijing’s rule
29 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In June, 2019, hundreds of thousands of protestors lined the streets of Hong Kong. China has jailed many of Hong Kong’s loude...
The end of JobKeeper: a report card
28 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The federal government’s Covid subsidy, JobKeeper ends today. We’re joined by Professor John Quiggan from the University of Queensl...
The Weekend Briefing with Wil Anderson
26 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jamila Rizvi talks to Wil Anderson, the award-winning stand-up comedian, television host, writer and podcaster. Wil’s about to take his show Wi...
Consent: how, why and when
25 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We’re all talking about consent! And with good cause! It lies at the heart of the reason 100k plus women hit the streets last Monday.&nbs...
Freezing your eggs to have a baby later in life
24 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
More and more women are freezing their eggs to have a baby later in life. In fact, there’s been a 20 percent increase in the number of wo...
Locals being priced out of their own housing market
23 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Covid showed people they could work from home – live in a regional centre or on the coast, and work in the city. It’s meant a massi...
Should we follow NZ and set-up sex assault courts?
22 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Tens of thousands of women marched in rallies and protests across Australia last week. They sought a renewed dialogue about misogyny, sexual assault a...
Introducing Brooke & Linda's Dream Club
22 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Brooke Boney and Linda Marigliano, two of Australia’s most connected entertainment tastemakers, tell you what to think about the most impor...
The emerging Covid crisis in Papua New Guinea
21 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
News bulletins all weekend featured stories about an emerging Covid crisis in Papua New Guinea. We’re told hospitals are overwhelmed and doctors...
The Weekend Briefing with Brooke Boney
19 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jamila Rizvi talks to Brooke Boney, a Gamilaroi Gomeroi woman who hangs out in the living rooms of a quarter of a million Australians every weekday mo...
Arab Spring: did social media ruin ‘the moment’?
18 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A decade ago, the world watched the Arab world explode in a fever of protests and explosions. Millions marched in the streets to over-throw government...
Should Australia follow Europe and pause the AstraZeneca jab?
17 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Nations across Europe have paused the rollout of the AstraZeneca Covid jab after a handful of recipients suffered blood clots. Australia is heav...