Do you remember the early days of Facebook and Instagram? When your feed was filled with content you actually wanted like your friends’ updates and family dog pictures? Have you noticed that now every second post feels like it’s sponsored or an ad? If yes, it's not your imagination - it’s because you’re noticing the cycle social media platforms go through, where they seem to get worse and worse over time. In this episode of The Briefing, Bension Siebert delves into just how that cycle works, wit...
Mar 01, 2024•9 min•Season 5Ep. 97
The crackdown on vaping goes into its next stage today, with the government making it illegal to import any non-therapeutic vapes, that includes rechargable vapes and anything you would buy without a prescription. It’s after disposable vapes were banned from being imported at the beginning of this year. In this episode of The Briefing, Bension Siebert speaks with Jamie Hartmann-Boyce from the Department of Health Promotion and Policy at the University of Massachusetts to find out whether banning...
Feb 29, 2024•20 min•Season 5Ep. 96
An elite foreign spy group called 'A-Team' has been targeting Australian students, academics, law enforcement officials, a former politician and even a prime minister’s family members. That's the assessment of Australia's top intelligence agency, ASIO, which released its annual assessment of the biggest threats to our national security overnight. On this episode of The Briefing, Bension Siebert speaks with Joey Watson, 'spy watcher', investigative journalist and host of Secrets We Keep: Nest of ...
Feb 29, 2024•12 min•Season 5Ep. 95
The NRL will create history this month and launch season 2024 in Las Vegas, USA. Two games will be played in prime time: Sea Eagles v Rabbitohs & Roosters v Broncos, with the league hoping to bring their game to America’s 330 million strong market. In this episode of The Briefing, Bension Siebert sits down with former NRL great, host of the Bye Round & NRL commentator for Fox Sports and Triple M James Graham from Vegas to get the low down. Headlines: ASIO reveals details of international...
Feb 28, 2024•20 min•Season 5Ep. 94
"Ovarian cancer wasn't even on my radar." February is ovarian cancer awareness month in Australia. It's a cruel disease, with 70% of patients discovering the cancer in advanced stages, and a shocking 49% five-year survival rate. In this episode of The Briefing, our producer Simon Beaton sits down to speak with his mum, who was diagnosed less than six months ago, as well as Lisa Finuncane, who has been living with ovarian cancer for over fourteen years, to discuss their experiences of living with...
Feb 28, 2024•15 min•Season 5Ep. 93
Ovarian cancer is a silent scourge in Australia. Most people know little about it, there aren’t any tests you can do to detect it early, and that means 70% of women and gender diverse people diagnosed with it catch it late. Ovarian cancer has a 49% five year survival rate, whereas breast cancer by contrast has a 92% survival rate. In this episode of The Briefing, producer Simon Beaton speaks with Bridget Bradhurst, the Acting Chief National Ovarian Cancer Advocacy & Support Services to find ...
Feb 27, 2024•19 min•Season 5Ep. 92
Taylor Swift has finished her run of sold-out concerts here in Australia, playing in front of over 600,000 fans throughout the tour. Yet with events of this size comes a price to our environment. Many fans fly interstate or internationally, purely to be at those shows, which also use large amounts of power to amplify sound and for light displays. They also produce copious amounts of waste, including everything from paper cups through to glitter, bracelets and feather boas. LiSTNR journalist, Lor...
Feb 27, 2024•13 min•Season 5Ep. 91
American firm Intuitive Machines made history last Friday when its lunar lander touched down on the Moon. It’s the first private company to land on the Moon, and the first US mission to land on the lunar surface in more than 50 years. It’s up there for a week conducting experiments and preparing for humans to return to the Moon as part of NASA’s Artemis program. In this episode of the Briefing, we’re joined by Swinburne University Astrophysicist Dr Rebecca Allen to find out what it’s doing up th...
Feb 26, 2024•22 min•Season 5Ep. 90
Police have charged a New South Wales police officer, Constable Beau Lamarre-Condon, with the murder of former Network Ten presenter, Jesse Baird, and his partner, QANTAS flight attendant Luke Davies. At the time of recording, police divers have been searching dams in Goulburn, southwest of Sydney, looking for Baird and Davies’ bodies. Often, when we tell these stories, we focus on the criminal allegations – but Isaac Muller, a proud Wiradjuri and Palawa man, and one of Jesse’s friends – wants h...
Feb 26, 2024•8 min•Season 5Ep. 89
It’s been two years since the start of the war in Ukraine, and both Russia and Ukraine appear to be at a stalemate. Russia has been making tiny territorial gains on the ground at an enormous cost both in troops and equipment; while Ukraine is on the backfoot after failing to achieve the objectives of their 2023 counteroffensive, while also sustaining huge casualties. In this episode of The Briefing Sacha Barbour Gatt sits down with Ukraine-born Politico journalist Zoya Sheftalovich to find out w...
Feb 25, 2024•23 min•Season 5Ep. 88
Kumi Taguchi is an Australian journalist, broadcaster and presenter living in Sydney. She’s currently the host of Insight on SBS, which many would consider to be one of the most challenging and stressful hosting gigs in the country. Joining Tom Tilley for the Weekend Briefing, Kumi explains what goes on behind the scenes of the show, growing up “feeling on the outer”, reconnecting with her father before his death, and the importance of sharing stories. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inf...
Feb 24, 2024•40 min•Season 5Ep. 87
Josh Szeps wants us all think about having more uncomfortable conversations. The Australian media personality and podcast host, who recently departed the ABC because he was “too spicy” for the public broadcaster, is a big fan of asking the 'why' behind the status quo. Joining Antoinette Lattouf, Josh speaks on what life is like after the ABC, the non-mystery of the spelling of his name, and explains why he loves having uncomfortable conversations his guests on his own podcast, Uncomfortable Conv...
Feb 23, 2024•37 min•Season 5Ep. 86
This year, the Australian government have rolled out a national framework guiding the use of AI, including Chat GPT, to be used within school classrooms across the country. Use of Chat GPT had previously been banned in all public schools (aside from South Australia) amidst plagiarism and privacy concerns. So what changed? And will the use of artificial intelligence in our classrooms aid or limit learning for our youth? On today's afternoon episode of The Briefing, our producer Simon Beaton speak...
Feb 23, 2024•12 min•Season 5Ep. 85
Are we raising a generation of soft kids? Millennial parents are getting blamed for everything that seems to be wrong with Generation Alpha: that they’re lazy, entitled, addicted to their screens, and averse to boredom. Another big criticism is they lack resilience, social skills, and even the ability to read. In this episode of The Briefing we sit down with social researcher Ashley Fell to find out what is this generation of mums, dads and caregivers getting wrong when it comes to raising the n...
Feb 22, 2024•23 min•Season 5Ep. 84
March 10th is the deadline Israel has given Hamas to release the remaining hostages before Israel launches a massive, troops-on-the-ground invasion of Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah. In this special afternoon episode of The Briefing, we speak to a 26-year-old woman sheltering in Rafah with her remaining family. Palestinian journalist and translator Aseel Mousa shares her story of survival, and reveals exactly what life is like in Rafah right now, as a new catastrophe looms. See omnystudio.com...
Feb 22, 2024•13 min•Season 5Ep. 83
More and more Australians are choosing rentvesting as their way into the property market. It’s basically buying in a high rent areas as an investment and then renting in an area you want to live. It means you can break into the property market, purchasing a property in lower-cost areas without giving up the benefits of a city lifestyle. In this episode of The Briefing, we’re joined by property expert Michael Beresford from OpenCorp, to find out how rentvesting works, and if it’s for you. Headlin...
Feb 21, 2024•20 min•Season 5Ep. 82
At 8:30am today, Woolworths announced its CEO Brad Banducci is retiring after eight years in the top job. Woolworths announced to the stock market that Banducci will be retiring in September, to make way for the company’s head of loyalty, Amanda Bardwell. It comes after Balducci's disastrous interview on the ABC’s Four Corners on Monday night. So was this change due to Banducci's conduct in the interview, or was this plan already in the works? And can a change in leadership stem the PR bleeding ...
Feb 21, 2024•13 min•Season 5Ep. 81
Pharmacists are being given more power to give and refill prescriptions. It comes as more and more GPs opt out of bulk billing and a doctor shortage in regional areas mean it’s more difficult to see a doctor. So where are the trials and what types of medications can you get without having to see a GP? We’ll hear frome the Australian Medical Association, someone involved in the NSW/ACT Pharmacy Trial, and look at where those trials are at the moment, if they’re being considered successful and if ...
Feb 20, 2024•18 min•Season 5Ep. 80
Sydney is currently dealing with a widespread asbestos-contaminated mulch investigation, with 45 locations - including potentially six schools - contaminated with bonded asbestos that was mixed in with garden mulch. Since investigation into the mulch began, most identified sites have been found with the much lower risk bonded asbestos, while two have been found to include friable asbestos, which poses a much greater health risk to the community. So how did this happen, and is the rest of the cou...
Feb 20, 2024•11 min•Season 5Ep. 79
The number of people charged with human trafficking in Australian Federal Police is growing year on year. We’re talking about forced marriage, sexual exploitation, child trafficking, forced labour, domestic servitude and even slavery. In this episode of the Briefing, we’re joined by Justine Nolan is a Professor in the Faculty of Law and Justice at UNSW Sydney and Director of the Australian Human Rights Institute, to take a deep dive on what constitutes human trafficking and why, despite increase...
Feb 19, 2024•22 min•Season 5Ep. 78
The man many considered Russian President Vladimir Putin’s most powerful critic, Alexie Navalny, is dead. His death comes after a highly publicised assassination attempt a few years ago, when it's believed Russian secret services tried to kill him by putting the deadly nerve agent Novichok into his underpants. Incredibly, Navalny survived that assassination attempt. However, instead of remaining safe in exile overseas like many of the country’s opposition figures, he returned to Russia, where he...
Feb 19, 2024•13 min•Season 5Ep. 77
There are 450,000 Australians living with Dementia. Our parents or grandparents drift away from us as the disease takes hold. So are we doing enough to manage the crisis? Closed wards, limited interactions with the outside world, a long list of medications, in some cases restraints, doesn’t sound like the way we’d like to see our loved ones treated. In this episode of The Briefing, we’re joined by Maree McCabe, the CEO of Dementia Australia, to try to find out what can be done for our family and...
Feb 18, 2024•22 min•Season 5Ep. 76
Tony Armstrong is a proud Gamilaroi man and former AFL player, turned TV presenter, podcaster and two time Logie winner. With his moustache and cheeky smile all over our screens as the sports presenter on ABCTV News Breakfast and a regular on the project, Tony seems to have it all. In this chat with Tom Tilley, Tony unpacks his relationship with Adam Goodes, how he feels since the Voice referendum and why hard work doesn’t always pay off. Send us your Weekend Briefing suggestions on Instagram at...
Feb 17, 2024•40 min•Season 5Ep. 75
Azure Antoinette is a Grammy nominated poet, a corporate crisis fixer, a public speaker and a global ambassador for living with multiple sclerosis. Azure moved to left LA and arrived on Australian shores a few years ago, both for love, and because of threats from the Ku Klux Klan which drove her from home. In this chat with Antoinette Lattouf, Azure breaks down what it’s like being the co-host of a new podcast, The Antoinettes, with our very own Antoinette Lattouf. Weekend List: Bogan San Choy B...
Feb 16, 2024•37 min•Season 5Ep. 74
Taylor Swift is the talk of the town, with the icon shortly kicking off her leg of the Australian Eras Tour show tonight in Melbourne. The hype is real, with Swifties creating palpable levels of excitement right across the country. So why have we become so caught up in Swiftmania? And in a broader sense, why do fan girls cop more criticism than sports fans, who are often just as passionate? On today's afternoon episode of The Briefing, Bension Siebert speaks with LiSTNR journalist Loren Howarth,...
Feb 16, 2024•13 min•Season 5Ep. 73
Measles is making a comeback. Here’s what you need to know. Australia was declared Measles-free ten years ago, but a resurgence in cases, largely from people visiting from overseas, has seen it return. It’s not just a itchy rash, either. It can lead to very serious health problems. So in this episode of The Briefing, how and why has Measles returned to Australia and what you need to know to stay safe. Headlines: Judge lists first Trump criminal trial for next month Politicians call for HECS over...
Feb 15, 2024•20 min•Season 5Ep. 72
Tasmania, currently the last Liberal government in the country, will head to an election more than a year earlier than planned. Yesterday, Premier Jeremy Rockliff announced that Tasmanians will vote on March 23rd, amidst claims that the parliament has become unworkable after two former Liberal MPs ditched the party and won’t agree to pass legislation. On today's afternoon episode of The Briefing, Tessa Randello from the Listnr newsroom joins Bension Siebert to discuss how the party in power for ...
Feb 15, 2024•12 min•Season 5Ep. 71
Gen Z or a Millennial? You’ve probably been told you’re more likely to vote toward the left of the political spectrum, only to drift further right as you get older. Well new research suggests that’s not actually the case. Gen Z and Millennials are sticking with the left. They’re deciding things like LGBTQI+ issues, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues, wider gender issues and climate change, are really important and they expect their politicians to think the same. In this episode of the ...
Feb 14, 2024•20 min•Season 5Ep. 70
Valentine’s Day for most usually means overpriced chocolates, flowers, presents (and maybe even sex). But Chanel Contos says it's also a particularly good time to talk about consent, and how to keep it front and centre in our intimate relationships. The pressure surrounding Valentine’s Day can be overwhelming, with partners seeking consent often forgotten about or assumed. Is there a larger conversation needed about how we view and educate others about consent as a society? In this episode of Th...
Feb 14, 2024•12 min•Season 5Ep. 69
We’re all recycling, buying electric cars, taking paper and recycled bags to the supermarket, but do our climate change actions really move the needle on global warming? There are anti-global warmists who say renewable energy is a myth, you achieve nothing by recycling your bottles and cans, and putting your paper in the paper bin is a waste of time. Are they right...? In this episode of The Briefing, we’re joined by Amanda McKenzie, the CEO of Climate Council to find the truth in the debate ove...
Feb 13, 2024•21 min•Season 5Ep. 68
