A story of courage, perseverance and bare-knuckle fighting. From seven years detained on Manus Island... to elite fighting in America... this is the story of Ezatullah Kakar Two weeks ago, Ezatullah stepped into the ring for his first fight in America’s Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship... and he won in 33 seconds!!! Eza joins us from the US to talk about his journey. We’re also joined by the former Socceroo, Craig Foster to talk about Australia’s refugee program – and our lost opportunities. E...
May 10, 2021•21 min•Season 2Ep. 100
Imagine a world where humans are infertile. Where technology is the only way to conceive. Where sperm counts get to zero. It sounds like the plot of a bad sci fi film but according to American Professor Shanna Swan, it’s real life … and it could happen sooner than we think. Dr Shanna Swan is a professor of environmental medicine and public health at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. She’s spent decades researching reproductive health and she’s written a fairly alarming book. It’s c...
May 09, 2021•20 min•Season 2Ep. 99
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 in musical theatre, appear on numerous television shows including his iconic role of Finn Kelly on Neighbours and more recently, dabble in storytelling. Jamila Rizvi and Rob ‘Millsy’ Mills discuss his journey post- Idol, his meet-cute with girlfriend Georgie Tunny and where to next for the born entertainer. THE BRIEFING BUCKET LIST: Listen: Forever Isn’t Long...
May 07, 2021•21 min•Season 2Ep. 98
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 towards recognition of Indigenous Australians in the constitution. It was shot down by then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. We’re joined by Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg, who has written a new book calling for a conservative re-think on reconciliation. We’re also joined by the Indigenous filmmaker Rachel Perkins, for her take on the slow progress of the...
May 06, 2021•22 min•Season 2Ep. 97
Kangaroos could hold the key for sport stars looking to overcome career-ending ligament injuries. Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries in the knee are common in many sports and can often derail the careers of professional sport stars. We’re joined by Dr Nick Hartnell, an Australian surgeon working on a way to use the longer and stronger ligaments of kangaroos to help humans overcome torn tendons. Tom has experience here…he did his ACL in a motorcycle accident a few years ago. Join us this m...
May 05, 2021•20 min•Season 2Ep. 96
Australia already has one of the worst uptakes of electric vehicles...for example, last year Germany and France both grew their electric vehicle fleet by more than 200 per cent. In Australia, fewer than 7000 electric vehicles were sold in 2020 representing just a three per cent jump from 2019. We’re joined by Jake Whitehead, a transport expert at the University of Queensland; and David Brown, the former president of the Australian Institute of Traffic Planning and Management Victoria and NSW are...
May 04, 2021•24 min•Season 2Ep. 95
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 India's health ministry reporting more than 3,600 deaths in the past 24 hours. We speak with James Oaten; the ABC’s Indian correspondent from Dehli to the get the latest from India; and we speak with Dr Pradeep Teneja from the Australia India Institute about what Indians in Australia make of what’s happening on the sub-continent. India is facing a Covi...
May 03, 2021•20 min•Season 2Ep. 94
US President Joe Biden announced last month American troops would withdraw from Afghanistan by September 11 this year. Our PM quickly followed suit confirming the 80 remaining Australian defence personnel still in Afghanistan would also leave. Around 80,000 Australians have been deployed to Afghanistan since the conflict began in 2001. 41 of them lost their lives. More than 150,000 Afghan civilians and military personnel and Taliban fighters were killed in the 20-year conflict that cost the US m...
May 02, 2021•21 min•Season 2Ep. 93
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 conversations of working in the popular radio duo Hamish & Andy , and his engagement plans with longterm girlfriend Bec Harding. THE WEEKEND LIST: Do: Daniel Sloss’ Hubris Watch: RuPaul’s Drag Race re-runs on Stan Listen: Sixty Summers by Julia Stone PSA: Buy mum a decent gift for Mother’s Day!! Follow us at @thebriefingpodcast and send us your recommenda...
Apr 30, 2021•30 min•Season 2Ep. 92
On January 20 Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. On today’s episode of The Briefing - Biden marks 100 days in office, let’s see how he’s going. Prof. David Smith is an Associate Professor in American Politics and Foreign Policy at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. We sift through the rhetoric to try to find out what Joe Biden has actually done during his first 100 days. Have his policies and decisions earned him a pass or fail? TODAY'S ...
Apr 29, 2021•21 min•Season 2Ep. 91
Why are Australians so fascinated by Married at First Sight? It’s the show we love to hate, or is it … hate to love? Ever since MAFS appeared on our screens in 2015, it’s consistently been one of the highest rated shows on Australian television. We’re joined by four guests to take us through our deep dive. David Dale, a Walkley Award winning journalist who spent 20 years as media and TV columnist for SMH and The Age; Tarang Chawla , whose sister Nikita was murdered by her husband in 2015. Tarang...
Apr 28, 2021•21 min•Season 2Ep. 90
Twelve of Europe’s top soccer clubs planned to shake up the sport. Instead, the project collapsed spectacularly in just 48 hours. How did the power brokers mis-read the market ….and fans? Murad Ahmed is a reporter for the Financial Times in the UK. He’s been following this lead for years. He joins us as we learn what the big clubs’ motivation was. One word. Money. TODAY'S HEADLINES All Australian Olympians to be vaccinated before Tokyo India flights suspended as Covid crisis worsens Australia to...
Apr 27, 2021•17 min•Season 2Ep. 89
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been representing Australia at a virtual summit of world leaders discussing climate change. The summit was convened by US President Joe Biden, who has put tackling climate change at the centre of his administration's agenda. Joe Biden promised to halve America’s emissions by 2030. Australia went to the summit without a firm target on reducing emissions. Dr Emma Shortis is an expert on climate change policies and US history. With our plans for hydrogen and carbon...
Apr 26, 2021•22 min•Season 2Ep. 88
Tensions between Australia and China are at their worst in decades. Our global campaign to blame China for the Covid-19 pandemic pushed our relationship to the brink. The Australian Financial Review’s China correspondent Michael Smith was woken by China’s secret police on a September night last year. Days later he was on a plane back to Australia – forced to leave the country he’d called home for the last three years. There are now no Australian journalists working in China. What does Michael Sm...
Apr 25, 2021•22 min•Season 2Ep. 87
Jamila Rizvi sits down with Internet sensation and ultimate millennial “slashy” Lillian Ahenkan, otherwise known as Flex Mami. She’s a DJ, TV presenter, podcaster, author, entrepreneur and “Professional Opinion Haver” who you can find hosting panels at the Sydney Opera House, sharing her thoughts on Pedestrian.TV or hosting on MTV among much more. More importantly, she’s about to grace our screens as a contestant on Big Brother AU 2021, bringing her multi-dimensional personality to a reality for...
Apr 23, 2021•26 min•Season 2Ep. 86
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 life like in London, Washington and Madrid now the vaccination numbers are climbing? Today’s briefing is part two of our transatlantic peek over the vaccination horizon. We’re joined by Adam Creighton in Washington... he’s the US correspondent for the Australian newspaper. What can we learn by taking a look over the horizon at the vaccine rollouts in Eu...
Apr 22, 2021•18 min•Season 2Ep. 85
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 in London, Washington and Madrid now the vaccination numbers are climbing? Today’s briefing is part one of our two-part transatlantic peek over the vaccination horizon. We’re joined by Bevan Shields in London... he’s the European correspondent for the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. What can we learn by taking a look over the horizon at the vaccine ro...
Apr 21, 2021•20 min•Season 2Ep. 84
The Prime Minister has announced a Royal Commission into veterans’ suicide. Will it be enough to stem the number of returned servicemen and women taking their own lives? We’re joined by Heston Russell - a 16-year army veteran and former Special Air Service Regiment commander and founder of Voice of a Veteran. 41 people died serving in Afghanistan... but ten times that number have taken their own lives after they got home. Why? The greater story needs to be told. TODAY'S HEADLINES Gov announces h...
Apr 20, 2021•25 min•Season 2Ep. 83
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 working from home for the first time, our computers perched on boxes of toilet paper. On today’s Briefing we look back….and forward. It’s been a crazy year – and we can’t wait to celebrate with the people that matter. Our listeners!!! TODAY'S HEADLINES Shakeup for vaccine program Emotional reunions as AUS/NZ bubble opens Royal commission into veterans’ suicides Clos...
Apr 19, 2021•24 min•Season 2Ep. 82
Did you know an Australian is leading one of the teams behind the Mars rover? Australian geologist Dr Abigail Allwood is the first woman and the first Australian to ever be a principal investigator on a Mars mission. Perseverance is the fifth NASA rover to explore the Red Planet and it’s being sent with the explicit goal of working out whether there is - or has ever been - life on Mars. We meet the Aussie geologist helping to find out if there’s life on Mars TODAY'S HEADLINES National Cabinet be...
Apr 18, 2021•20 min•Season 2Ep. 81
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-winning ‘ The Family Law’ and the maker and subject of the ABC documentary ‘Waltzing the Dragon’ . Ben is also a radio broadcaster, podcaster, author and speaker. Every Saturday for the Good Weekend magazine, Ben asks his famous subjects all sorts of things you’re not supposed to say publicly through the roll of the dice: sex, money, religion, bodies, deat...
Apr 16, 2021•25 min•Season 2Ep. 80
Are we witnessing another big flashpoint for the BLM protests...? When George Floyd was killed by a police officer last year... it sparked that wave of protests around the world including here in Australia. Well in a very dramatic confluence of events... right at the same time that former officer, Derek Chauvin, is being tried for murder, another black man has been shot dead by police, just ten miles down the road. We’re joined by New York Times’ national reporter and editor Shaila Dewan to take...
Apr 15, 2021•24 min•Season 2Ep. 79
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 way women are treated in our society. Right in the middle of that lands a new book. 'The Light Of Days' by Judy Batalion tells the incredible story of the young Jewish women in Poland who fought back when the Nazis invaded. Judy Batalion is an American author and the granddaughter of Polish Holocaust survivors. The incredible stories of the young Jewish wo...
Apr 14, 2021•21 min•Season 2Ep. 78
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 1987. We’re joined by Warren Mundine... former Chair of the PM’s indigenous advisory council during Tony Abbott’s time as PM; and Taylah Gray, an indigenous lawyer and academic, who come from different perspectives, but tell a similar story. More than 455 Indigenous people have died in custody since the report was released on April 15, 1991. NSW S...
Apr 13, 2021•19 min•Season 2Ep. 77
A listener wrote to say Victorian paramedics are spending hours waiting outside emergency departments rather than back on the road responding to more emergencies. This is not a problem affecting only Victorian ambos. There’s been a big jump in response times right around the country. We’re joined by Danny Hill, secretary of Victorian Ambulance Union; and Chris Kastelan, President of the NSW branch of Australian Paramedics Assoc. It turns out, most of the delays are Covid-induced. People aren't g...
Apr 12, 2021•19 min•Season 2Ep. 76
NZ PM Jacinda Ardern last week announced that as of Monday April 19 the travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand will reopen. And the response has been huge! There was a “100-fold increase” in ticket sales between Australia and New Zealand after that announcement was made. Aussies are keen to head over but before you book your tickets though … a warning! We’re joined by Quentin Nolan a ski-tour operator in Queenstown; and Ben Groundwater, a writer for traveller.com.au to talk through what...
Apr 11, 2021•18 min•Season 2Ep. 75
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 Agnew. She’s since turned the public’s opinion around to become one of Australia’s leading body positivity influencers, a podcast host and social media icon. Abbie was even crowned the 2021 Queen of the Jungle in I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! Jamila and Abbie discuss her time on the reality dating show, the price of fame and her recent sex toy c...
Apr 09, 2021•20 min•Season 2Ep. 74
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 approval with women voters is down 16 points since the Britney Higgins story broke - but with male voters his approval rating has remained relatively unchanged. Dr Sarah Cameron, a political scientist in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Sydney joins us to discuss whether the Coalition has lost the female vote. Has the Coalition...
Apr 08, 2021•24 min•Season 2Ep. 73
The Nine Network was hacked last month. Australia has increasingly been the target of hacks. Is Australia fighting back... with our own hacking attacks? Or are we only playing a defensive strategy? We’re joined by Dr Suelette Dreyfus - Lecturer in the School of Computing and Information Systems at The University of Melbourne. You’ll be surprised by her response. We also discuss if Australia is using the right strategy in the escalating cyber war? TODAY'S HEADLINES Blood clots should be listed as...
Apr 07, 2021•20 min•Season 2Ep. 72
The Morrison government promised the vast majority of Australians would be vaccinated against Covid-19 by the end of October. It’s now been revised to the end of April 2020. Paul Cross runs three online trade magazines focusing on the pharmaceutical industry. He’s been watching developments closely and says the Commonwealth, while wanting to shine in the spotlight by rolling out the jab, has no experience in the space. The states traditionally dole out vaccines. So where does the stand-off end? ...
Apr 06, 2021•22 min•Season 2Ep. 71
