China is hosting the Winter Olympics and two of its athletes highlight the incredible complexity of the country’s social media – and attitude to the rest of the world in general. Eileen Gu is the poster girl. Born in the US to an American father and a Chinese mother, she chose to represent China at the Games. Gu won gold and is a national hero. Figure skater Zhu Yi, is also an American born Chinese woman who has faced intense criticism after falling in several of her events. Jennifer Hsu, a rese...
Feb 15, 2022•19 min•Season 3Ep. 33
Prime Minister Scott Morrison won the “miracle” election back in 2019. No one expected him to win, but he was a master campaigner, convincing what he called “the quiet Australians” to trust him. Annika Smethurst from the Age newspaper and the Briefing is author of a biography on Scott Morrison – The Accidental Prime Minister. Annika tells us Scott Morrison will need to pull off a major coup to repeat his success from 2019, with poll numbers pointing to a heavy defeat. So, can Scott Morrison pull...
Feb 14, 2022•20 min•Season 3Ep. 32
McDonalds is accused of denying workers their ten minute meal break….in some cases offering workers a free sugary soft drink instead. They’re being sued for $100m in the largest class action of its type in the history of the Federal Court. We’re joined by Josh Peak, Secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, who says the class action could impact thousands of current and former employees. We also speak to Shae, who worked at Maccas and tells us what it’s like to work b...
Feb 13, 2022•21 min•Season 3Ep. 31
Lisa Wilkinson has lived most of her life in the public eye. At age just 21 she became editor of DOLLY magazine, before going on to edit CLEO magazine and later becoming a longtime co-host of the TODAY show with Karl Stefanovic. Now co-host of The Project and with a new autobiography in bookstores, Wilkinson remains at the top of her game. In this chat with Jamila Rizvi she spoke about television, feminism, working hard and making it to the top. Lisa's memoir It Wasn't Meant to Be Like This is a...
Feb 11, 2022•40 min•Season 3Ep. 30
As many as 1000 trucks have converged on Canada’s capital, Ottawa. The Freedom Convoy 2000 has rallied to protest mandatory vaccines for Canadian truck drivers who ferry goods to and from the United States. The protestors are sounding their horns constantly, driving locals to despair. Elizabeth Payne is a journalist with the Ottawa Sun. She says while numbers are dwindling, the protest is attracting hangers-on intent on causing as much havoc as possible. The main highway linking Canada and the U...
Feb 10, 2022•24 min•Season 3Ep. 29
Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins addressed the National Press Club in Canberra yesterday to highlight the plight of victims of sexual assault. Amy Remeikis, the Guardian’s federal political correspondent, joins us to talk through the fallout from the address. Scott Morrison apologised in Parliament this week…..was it enough to stem the fallout from the scandal that has rocked the seat of government in Australia? With a federal election just around the corner, it will be interesting to see how Sco...
Feb 09, 2022•24 min•Season 3Ep. 28
Denmark has become the first European country to lift ALL covid restrictions... except international arrivals who’ll need to be double-vaxxed. Authorities say the virus no longer qualifies as a ‘critical threat’ because of the country’s high vaccination rate - 81% of adults are double vaxxed and more than 60% are boosted - and ICU admissions and hospital stays are down because omicron is a milder variant. We’re joined by Adrienne Murray, a journalist in Denmark to ask given Australia’s vaccinati...
Feb 08, 2022•22 min•Season 3Ep. 27
A Brisbane Christian college has backflipped on its policy that required parents a sign a contract, that said children could be expelled based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. We’re joined by the YouTube star and comedian, Christian Hull, who has led the campaign to have the contract ripped up. We also talk to Natalie Pole, a parent of two students starting school at Citipointe College this week. The school says it “deeply regrets” that the contracts made students feel discriminat...
Feb 07, 2022•21 min•Season 3Ep. 26
The Winter Olympic Games kicked off over the weekend in Beijing in China. Politics will be bubbling beneath the surface, with Russian President Vladimir Putin attending the Games alongside Chinese host Xi Jinping, while western countries boycott the Games over China’s human rights record. Here are the two largest non-Western superpowers posing together on the world stage. We want to focus on the action on the snow and ice. Steven Bradbury won Australia’s first Olympic gold medal at the Salt Lake...
Feb 06, 2022•18 min•Season 3Ep. 25
Dr Norman Swan's COVID-19 analysis has made him one of the most recognisable media identities in the last two years. But where did this highly articulate, bespectacled doctor with a Scottish accent come from? In this chat with guest host Tom Tilley, Norman discusses his upbringing in Scotland, why he decided to get political during the pandemic and what he’s learnt about himself over the past few years. Regular host Jamila Rizvi will be back next week. THE WEEKEND LIST with Tom Tilley: Read: Bey...
Feb 04, 2022•26 min•Season 3Ep. 24
We learned this week Hillsong founder and global leader Brian Houston is stepping down to fight charges that he concealed his father’s alleged sexual assault. We discuss what this means for Hillsong and its expansion in the US. We’re joined by Elle Hardy, author of Beyond Belief: How Pentecostal Christianity Is Taking Over the World. Elle has travelled the world studying the growth and influence of churches like Hillsong. You’re also going to find out about another movement in Pentecostal Americ...
Feb 03, 2022•23 min•Season 3Ep. 23
When state governments pause elective surgeries - to free resources to handle covid cases - it’s a huge deal to people waiting for those surgeries. Elective surgeries include any procedure that doesn’t need to be done within 24 hours. That includes some cancer procedures, even brain surgery – and these procedures are not luxury options We were all moved by Melanie Swieconek, who posted a teary video on Instagram after the Victorian government cancelled IVF treatment as part of its Covid elective...
Feb 02, 2022•22 min•Season 3Ep. 22
The aged care sector is in crisis, with hundreds dying from Covid already this year….. 2022 is already shaping up as the worst year for nursing homes in terms of pandemic deaths. One of the hidden crises is mental health. If our parents and grandparents don’t get personal interaction, their cognitive health goes into steep decline. We’re joined by “Julie” (not her real name), whose husband’s dementia has declined rapidly after she was stopped from visiting him; and Professor Lee-Fay Low, a speci...
Feb 01, 2022•21 min•Season 3Ep. 21
There’s a major crisis in the Australian automotive industry. There are basically no new cars. It’s partly to do with the global semiconductor shortage, and partly to do with people having extra cash in the pandemic, splurging on a new vehicle. James Voortman is CEO of the Australian Automotive Dealer Association. He says the car is the second-biggest purchase for most families - after their home. Some experts say it will be a year - or more - before we get back to normal. Others say it the mark...
Jan 31, 2022•22 min•Season 3Ep. 20
Students return to schools across the country this week (except for QLD) and they face a very challenging tension point for ‘living with covid’. We’re joined by Correna Haythorpe, the Federal President of the Australian Education Union. We know with Omicron spreading across the nation, you’ve got dozens of people in one room, a huge number of unvaccinated kids, who’re mixing in from different households, loads of transport creating potential contact points... and a workforce that was already str...
Jan 30, 2022•19 min•Season 3Ep. 19
You've probably heard of Shameless, the celebrity and pop culture podcast that has taken the country by storm. But who are Michelle Andrews and Zara McDonald, the notoriously private young women behind the podcasting juggernaut? In this conversation with Jamila Rizvi, Zara and Michelle unpack what gave them the courage to leave their secure jobs and try something totally new, why they like keeping some seperation between private and public, and why we are all so obsessed with celebrity culture. ...
Jan 28, 2022•35 min•Season 3Ep. 18
Western Australia has been cut off from the rest of the country for the last two years. WA Premier Mark McGowan shut the borders letting only a handful of people in, or out, since the outbreak of the pandemic. Now Omicron is on the march across the country, it was only a matter of time before it surfaced in WA – and this month, West Australians worst fears were realised when Omicron turned up in the community. McGowan quickly moved to repeal a plan to re-open the state on February 5. Jenna Clark...
Jan 27, 2022•22 min•Season 3Ep. 17
The world has gone crazy for rapid antigen tests. Schoolchildren will be tested twice a week when school returns; some people are even asking their friends to show a negative test before they’ll socialise with them. So who’s making all the money? Millions of tests are flooding the market. Michael Roddan is a journalist at the Australian Financial Review. He says it’s a handful of Australians and Australian companies making the big bucks. There are tens of millions of RATs right across the countr...
Jan 26, 2022•18 min•Season 3Ep. 16
Daniel Nour was last night named Young Australian of the Year. Daniel was leaving Waterloo Station in London and saw a crowd gathering – he thought it was a busker. It was a homeless man having a seizure, and it changed his life. Daniel has been named as one of our Young Australians of the Year after establishing Street Side Medics, a medical service for the homeless. This is an inspiring story of a young man, who arrived with his family from Egypt as a boy. He has changed so many lives, and it’...
Jan 25, 2022•20 min•Season 3Ep. 15
The world watched on as the Australian government ripped up world tennis number one Novac Djokovic’s visa. He was taken into detention, an urgent court hearing convened, and eventually deported. The whole saga was over and done with in less than a week. While Novak was in detention, in the Park Hotel in Melbourne, we learned there are refugees holed up in the same hotel. One of them, Mehdi, has been in the refugee process in Australia for almost ten years after arriving in Australia seeking asyl...
Jan 24, 2022•22 min•Season 3Ep. 14
57-year-old Czech folk singer Hana Horka died last week after getting Covid... she was unvaccinated... and chose not to isolate from her husband and son when they contracted covid around Christmas. Her son Jan Rek joins us to tell us how and why his mother chose to catch Covid, resulting in her sudden death. We’ve spoken to people here in Australia about deliberately catching Covid – as you’ll hear from Jan, it’s not a good idea. It can be fatal. He calls it Russian roulette. Todays Headlines WA...
Jan 23, 2022•18 min•Season 3Ep. 13
Growing up on the Sunshine Coast, Michelle Law was both very aware and a little resistant to her own Chinese-ness. As an adult, she has embraced the cross-cultural narrative, putting her experiences into writing books, essays, plays and television series. In this conversation with Jamila Rizvi, Michelle Law talks about her new book Asian Girls Are Going Places, how she’s trying to unlearn some of her workaholic tendencies, and why she’s a passionate advocate for diversity quotas in the arts and ...
Jan 21, 2022•34 min•Season 3Ep. 12
People are deliberately trying to catch Covid-19. Some are hoping by catching it now, they can make sure they’re Covid-free for a big event, maybe a wedding or a birthday celebration. So is it a good idea? Two of our Briefing listeners are actively trying to catch it – Mel and David – but Professor Catherine Bennett, chair of epidemiology at Deakin University, says it’s not a good idea. On today’s Briefing, we find out once and for all, if it’s a good idea to actively seek out and catch, Coronav...
Jan 20, 2022•24 min•Season 3Ep. 11
Today marks one year in the White House for US President Joe Biden. We’re joined by Damien Cave, the New York Times’ Australian correspondent, who details the big challenges Biden faces to turn around falling approval figures and rising inflation, while taking on Covid-19, diversity ….and Donald Trump. On today’s Briefing, we review Joe Biden’s first year in office…..and look forward to critical mid-term elections due later this year. Todays Headlines National cabinet meets today ahead of kids g...
Jan 19, 2022•20 min•Season 3Ep. 10
Australia has been gripped by the Novak Djokovic saga. His plight has highlighted a much wider vaccine story emerging in Eastern Europe. Some countries like Bulgaria, are facing an Omicron surge – and their vaccination rates are less than 50 percent. Vojin Rakic, Professor at the University of Belgrade - a Serbian philosopher and political scientist – says some of the vaccine hesitancy can be blamed on people like Novak. BBC European correspondent, Kayleen Devlin, says there’s also an element of...
Jan 18, 2022•20 min•Season 3Ep. 9
American comedian and sports commentator Joe Rogan hosts the most popular podcast in the world – often clocking up 11 million listens per episode. Last week, an Australian journalist and radio presenter appeared on the podcast. His name is Josh Szeps. Josh hosts Afternoons on ABC Radio Sydney, and spent more than a decade in the US appearing regularly on television and radio. During the course of his podcast chat, Joe mentioned some statistics in relation to myocarditis in teenagers. Joe’s figur...
Jan 17, 2022•19 min•Season 3Ep. 8
Australians are finding supermarket shelves empty – again. It’s largely due to the fact the federal government has told us all to prepare to catch Covid. People are frightened we’re headed for another extended lockdown. In a bid to free up the blockages in food and grocery supply chains, the Commonwealth made changes to the list of occupations considered ‘essential workers’ and relaxed the iso requirements. So we know there’s hopefully light at the end of the tunnel… but should we be worried abo...
Jan 16, 2022•20 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Lucy Durack is the human personification of sunshine. The former star of the Australian production of Wicked is one of the most sought after people in show business and yet someone manages to make time for everyone. How does she do that? In this episode the actress, reality TV star, mum and queen of Australian musical theater talks to Jamila Rizvi about not being a natural singer, the joy of playing Glinda and why she works hard to cultivate gratitude. THE WEEKEND LIST with Linda Marigliano and ...
Jan 14, 2022•34 min•Season 3Ep. 6
The world is pre-occupied with the Covid Omicron explosion, but a huge story is playing out in a standoff between Russia and the United States over the Ukraine. 100,000 Russian troops have massed at the Russia/Ukraine border – and the world is nervously watching, waiting for Vladimir Putin’s next move. Adam Creighton, the Australian newspaper’s US correspondent talks us through the developments of the week; and Elizaveta Isakova, a Geneva-based correspondent for the Russian state news agency RIA...
Jan 13, 2022•20 min•Season 3Ep. 5
Three leading health experts have released a joint statement asking Australia’s leaders to reintroduce some Covid restrictions, such as mask-wearing and a limit on indoor gatherings, until more is known about the highly contagious new Omicron variant. John Kaldor is professor of epidemiology at the Kirby Institute and the UNSW. He says the original reopening plan had been developed using the delta variant – and it might be time to re-think our approach to containing the virus. On today’s Briefin...
Jan 12, 2022•21 min•Season 3Ep. 4
