From disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong to Russia systematically doping its Olympic athletes, there has been no shortage of drug cheating scandals in the world of sport. But what if we throw out the rule book, letting athletes push their bodies to the maximum possible performance - using whatever drugs they want? Aron D'Souza is the president of the proposed Enhanced Games, an elite international sporting event without drug testing being planned to take place later this year. While he says the ev...
Feb 13, 2024•12 min•Season 5Ep. 67
Climate change is having an incredible impact on the continent of Antarctica. Historic drops in sea ice are accelerating the melt of ice sheets and the slowing of ocean currents, as well as catastrophic failures of emperor penguin colonies. A deteriorating climate in Antarctica will have a devastating impact on Australia. In this episode of the Briefing, we’re joined by Professor Matt King, an Antarctic expert at the University of Tasmania, and Director of the Australian Centre of Excellence in ...
Feb 12, 2024•19 min•Season 5Ep. 66
Did you see the video and memes over the weekend of Nationals MP and former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce lying down next to a planter box on a Canberra footpath at night, swearing loudly into his phone? Since the video surfaced, Barnaby Joyce has said he’d been "drinking" and was on "prescription medication" at the time. However, the incident raises a question on the expectations we place on our politicians and whether they are different for different people. On this afternoon episode of ...
Feb 12, 2024•12 min•Season 5Ep. 65
Australia has a dire shortage of apprentices. Some say it’s because of low pay and physically demanding work. Others argue Generation Z is simply too lazy or soft. Advocates want more subsidies and investment to boost the workforce. But some young apprentices have reported toxic workplaces and hazing. Meanwhile, older tradies are struggling amid a surplus of work and drought of young workers. So how did we get into this mess – and how can we fix it? ACTU assistant secretary Liam O’Brien joins us...
Feb 11, 2024•22 min•Season 5Ep. 64
Josh Thomas became a house hold name after his series Please Like Me was nominated for an Emmy, hitting the global stage. The Aussie comedian has spent the last seven years living in LA - but has decided it’s time to come back home. In this chat with Tom Tilley, Josh unpacks his new stand up comedy show, Let’s Tidy Up, about his ADHD, autism and how that turns into a messy house. Send us your Weekend Briefing suggestions on Instagram at @thebriefingpodcast ! See omnystudio.com/listener for priva...
Feb 10, 2024•25 min•Season 5Ep. 63
Ellie Cole is Australia's most decorated female Paralympian, but that’s not what bought her happiness. When Ellie claimed her seventeenth Paralympic swimming medal in Tokyo she made history. And this year she was just recognised in Australia Day honours. In this chat with Antoinette Lattouf, Ellie explains how she found true happiness once she stopped swimming. Weekend List: Fly screens from Bunnings Uno card game Secrets we keep: Nest of Traitors season 2 Lounder Milk on Netflix Send us your We...
Feb 09, 2024•31 min•Season 5Ep. 62
The US Supreme Court has a massive decision to make – whether to kick Donald Trump off the ballot in the 2024 election. It follows a decision of Colorado’s top court that Trump is ineligible to be on the ballot in that state. But should a court strip voters of their right to choose the next President of the United States? Dave Levinthal is Editor-in-Chief of Raw Story. He joins Bension Siebert from Washington D.C. to tell us what happened in the Supreme Court overnight and what it might mean for...
Feb 09, 2024•14 min•Season 5Ep. 61
The dog-loving world went into meltdown recently, with the announcement of a brand new drug to help increase the life expectancy of large-breed dogs. The company behind it, Loyal is on the path to getting conditional approval from the US FDA for the drug and has also just kicked off a new study for a pill that’d see our smaller four-legged friends live longer, too. So how soon can we expect to see these treatments available? And what are the ethical issues surrounding such a pill? On today’s epi...
Feb 08, 2024•22 min•Season 5Ep. 60
Have you seen the #legginglegs hashtag that was circulating on TikTok and Instagram? The trend saw female influencers posting videos of themselves wearing leggings, with the subtext promoting the idea that you need slim legs to do so. It quickly saw backlash over concerns that it could lead girls towards unhealthy eating or exercise behaviours, even leading to intervention from TikTok itself, now when you search for #legginglegs you'll be directed to Butterfly Foundation resources). So why do we...
Feb 08, 2024•11 min•Season 5Ep. 59
Taylor Swift is a global superstar. She’s sold over 200 million records and is the highest-grossing female touring artist of all time. And now she’s the subject of a MAGA conspiracy. Donald Trump supporters are spreading the theory Taylor Swift is working with the Democrats to ensure Joe Biden is re-elected at the November US presidential elections. AND they’re going so far as to say her boyfriend, NFL star Travis Kelce, the NFL itself, AND the Pentagon are also part of the wild conspiracies. In...
Feb 07, 2024•20 min•Season 5Ep. 58
How often do you work outside of your paid hours? Are you checking emails, or Teams messages, or taking phone calls when you could be spending that time with loved ones? The Government is looking at giving you the 'right to disconnect', as federal parliament kicks off for 2024 this week. If successful, the new law could mean you get the right to switch off your devices, and refuse to engage with work altogether, out of hours. Greens Senator Barbara Pocock has been pushing for the right to discon...
Feb 07, 2024•13 min•Season 5Ep. 57
The Albanese government’s tax plan will see Australian women taxpayers, on average, receive a tax cut of $1,649 from 1 July. Childcare workers, disability carers and aged care workers are some of the most likely to benefit. In this episode of The Briefing we’re joined by Minister for Women Katy Gallagher to find out how the tax cuts will work and what they mean for you. Headlines: US court rules Donald Trump does not have presidential immunity Prince Harry returns home to visit King Charles 'Rig...
Feb 06, 2024•22 min•Season 5Ep. 56
News broke this morning that King Charles has been diagnosed with cancer, with an official release from Buckingham Palace stating that while he "remains wholly positive about his treatment", he will be stepping away from his public-facing duties. Despite the high hopes for the monarch’s future health, the situation has raised concerns over Australia’s lack of regency laws – which cover what happens if the reigning monarch becomes incapacitated. On today's afternoon episode of The Briefing, Sacha...
Feb 06, 2024•12 min•Season 5Ep. 55
16,000 sheep and cattle have been stranded on a ship off the coast of WA for just over a month. The livestock were being exported to the Middle East but the ship was turned back because of the conflict in the Red Sea. Several hundred head of cattle disembarked over the weekend – when temperatures hit the mid-30s. But there are still thousands of animals stranded at sea. In this episode of the Briefing, we take a look at why the live export trade, which is agonisingly cruel to the livestock, is s...
Feb 05, 2024•20 min•Season 5Ep. 54
Thousands of people marched down the streets of St Kilda, south of Melbourne, yesterday for the annual Victorian LGBTQIA+ pride march at Midsumma festival. Queer and ally police officers were among the marchers, joining the celebration when about 50 people tried to block the officers’ way. Some of them were chanting ‘cops kill gays’ and there were banners that read ‘no cops at pride’, with outward aggression from both sides. The conflict has sparked debate over whether police officers should be ...
Feb 05, 2024•13 min•Season 5Ep. 53
Evergrande used to be a market giant, and now it's become the poster child of the bust. It received a liquidation order from a Hong Kong court on Monday two years after officially defaulting on public debt. Its collapse is the largest in a crisis that's dragged down China's economic growth and led to a record number of defaults by developers. What is this firm, who is it run by and how did Evergrande become the most significant domino in this event? In this episode of The Briefing we speak with ...
Feb 04, 2024•21 min•Season 5Ep. 52
Caleb Finn was named the 2nd most influential Australian on social media in 2022, known for his avant-garde, dress-ups, and short horror stories. He has nearly 16 million followers on TikTok and 800k on Instagram. And yet he describes himself as an introvert and doesn’t like to leave the house. In this chat with Antoinette Lattouf Caleb explains how long it takes him to create content and how it’s changed since having a baby. Weekend List: Wicked the musical Aldi insulated tumbler with straw Goi...
Feb 02, 2024•27 min•Season 5Ep. 51
Medicare is 40 years old this month, and the little green card is now a ubiquitous presence in our wallets and on our phones. It has become a point of pride for Australians - especially those of us who have ventured over to the United States. But that wasn’t always the case. The birth of Medicare was fraught; with its first iteration, Medibank, finding a very controversial reception by the public when it was first introduced by Gough Whitlam. In this episode of The Briefing, Sacha Barbour Gatt s...
Feb 02, 2024•12 min•Season 5Ep. 50
Up to 80 percent of new years resolutions fail by the end of January. So what is our obsession with starting fresh in the new year? Dr Gordon Spence from the University of Sydney sits down with Sacha Barber Gatt to reveal what tools you can use to help change your habits and why so many people become unstuck. Headlines: US to launch air strikes on Iran-backed militia group AEC releases the who's who of political donations Universal music has been taken off TikTok Chinese spy pigeon is set free b...
Feb 01, 2024•19 min•Season 5Ep. 49
For many Australians, Indian food equals butter chicken. It’s delicious and creamy and it’s incredibly popular here and across the world. But it hasn’t been around forever – in fact, it’s less than 100 years old. And now, a fight over exactly who invented butter chicken and when has erupted in India’s high court, with two families - and two restaurants - battling it out for bragging rights. On today's afternoon episode of The Briefing, Bension Siebert is joined by Delhi chef and food writer, Sad...
Feb 01, 2024•11 min•Season 5Ep. 48
The latest series in the Secrets We Keep podcast is called “Nest of Traitors” and follows LiSTNR journalist Joey Watson’s three-year journey to find the spy who betrayed Australia. During the Cold War an Australian spy turned to work for the enemy, providing intel to the KGB and potentially sabotaging ASIO from the inside. In this episode of The Briefing, Joey Watson sits down with Sacha Barbour Gatt to talk through his journey into a world of deception Headlines: Tech firms face US Senate heari...
Jan 31, 2024•24 min•Season 5Ep. 47
Most of us try to do the right thing with recycling. We sort our rubbish into plastics, cardboard and paper, and our landfill waste, in the hope we’re saving the planet. But there have been reports of recyclable waste ending up in landfill, or even being shipped overseas for processing (that’s quite a carbon footprint). So The Briefing team decided to do our own experiment, placing trackable AirTags into plastic bottles at locations across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Central Coast to see...
Jan 31, 2024•12 min•Season 5Ep. 46
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is trying to pass a bill that would allow the UK to deport refugees, asylum seekers and illegal immigrants to Rwanda. The inspiration for the idea has come from Australia and our use of third-party countries like Nauru to deal with illegal immigrants. The policy is extremely controversial, it was initially launched by Boris Johnson in April 2022, and was then struck down by the Supreme Court over safety concerns. Bension Siebert is joined by Jill Rutter, Director of...
Jan 30, 2024•22 min•Season 5Ep. 45
While a neo-Nazi demonstration was shut down in Sydney over the Australia Day long weekend, this isn't the only time that white supremacist groups have made the news recently. Last month a group of masked men marched through Ballarat chanting that 'Australia is for the white man', while earlier last year, about 30 men repeatedly performed the Nazi salute during an anti-trans rally. So how worried should you be about neo-Nazism in Australia? Nick McKenzie is one of Australia's most renowned inves...
Jan 30, 2024•12 min•Season 5Ep. 44
A ship called The Serenade of the Seas has embarked on a nine-month cruise, visiting more than 60 countries across all seven continents. It's being hailed as the world's longest cruise, and it gained notoriety when passengers began posting on TikTok - and it's now gone completely viral. In this episode of The Briefing, we're joined by Christian Hull, comedian, YouTuber and host of the Complete Drivel podcast here at LiSTNR, to find out why the cruise is taking the world by storm. Headlines: New ...
Jan 29, 2024•22 min•Season 5Ep. 43
The potential for artificial intelligence is indisputable. Though it has just been over a year since Chat GPT launched, now over 100 million people use the site weekly. But how far could the technology go? Could AI accurately predict the future? Some Danish researchers believe that it already can. In a published study, they've taken the principles of large language models, like Chat GPT, and applied it to data of Denmark's 6 million people, predicting with 78% accuracy aspects such as personalit...
Jan 29, 2024•11 min•Season 5Ep. 42
With annual fees pushing $50,000 at Australia's costliest elite private schools in 2024, it's time to look at what the data says on student performance in the big private vs public school debate. Is it actually worth sending a child to private school? What do they get for that eye-watering amount? Or is public education a better option, even if they don't have the fancy tennis courts and plunge pool? In this episode of The Briefing, authors David Gillespie and Jane Caro reveal what the evidence ...
Jan 28, 2024•21 min•Season 5Ep. 41
Tina Rahimi is one of the 12 boxers who have been selected to represent Australia at the Paris Olympics this year. She’s already made history without stepping into the ring. The Sydney sider is our first female Muslim boxer to make it to the Olympics. In this chat with Antoinette Lattouf Tina explains how she went from a makeup artist to boxer in a few years, going on to win a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games. Weekend List: Dubai Bling on Netflix SBS on Demand Always Was, Always Will Be Lo...
Jan 26, 2024•33 min•Season 5Ep. 40
What does January 26 really mean to ordinary Australians in 2024? Yevheniia Cherkasova found safety in Melbourne after she fled the war in Ukraine with her now-16-year-old sister, making a home here for almost two years. Jeffrey 'Yello' Simon-Ullungurra grew up on the Tiwi Islands, north of Darwin. He’s been looking for new ways to reconcile First Nations and Australian identities, and how to help his country heal. Michael Kheirallah witnessed a dramatic change in his Lebanese migrant community ...
Jan 26, 2024•16 min•Season 5Ep. 39
This year’s Australia Day comes after the defeat of the indigenous Voice to parliament last year - and the decision by a number of big retailers to stop stocking Australia Day merchandise. The question for many Australian’s over whether we should be celebrating on January 26 is still in debate. In this episode of The Briefing, ANU’s Frank Bongiorno speaks with us about Australia Day’s difficult history. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jan 25, 2024•16 min•Season 5Ep. 38
