After Elon Musk’s incredible success at Tesla and Paypal, the world wanted to see what he would do when he announced he was buying Twitter. So far, it's been a disaster. From day one, Musk has pivoted from one mistake to another, sacking thousands of people before backtracking and making a complete mess of the verification process. In today’s Briefing, we take a deep dive on Elon Musk’s twitter chaos, blow by blow with David Swan, the tech editor at The Australian newspaper. Headlines: - Flood c...
Nov 14, 2022•24 min•Season 3Ep. 268
Rebel Wilson has just announced her daughter was born via surrogate. She’s one of a growing number of people having their children this way. In her announcement she thanked the surrogate who “carried Royce and birthed her with such grace and care,” and it got us talking about surrogacy. In today's Briefing, we speak to lawyer Sarah Jefford, a surrogate herself, about the Australia system which forces the majority of couples who want a surrogate, to go overseas. Headlines: - US: Democrats hold th...
Nov 13, 2022•21 min•Season 3Ep. 267
NASA is heading back to the moon in the hopes of setting up a colony there. But this endeavour – called Artemis - has been plagued by delays and the spacecraft remains firmly on the ground. So, what’s going on? Why hasn’t it launched yet? Dr Sophie Calabretto talks to Cosmos Magazine journalist Matthew Agius about the Artemis missions, what's gone wrong so far and when we’re likely to a see moon colony become a reality. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Nov 12, 2022•12 min
Brooke Blurton was Australia's first ever Indigenous and bisexual Bachelorette. There is so more to this impressive young woman than reality TV fame. Brooke is a passionate advocate for mental health, a proud champion of young queer people and people of colour. In her new book Big Love, she reveals a far more complex character than we were permitted to see on screen, and speaks about a childhood that was truly harrowing at times but nonetheless, full of love. In this conversation Jamila Rizvi an...
Nov 11, 2022•25 min•Season 3Ep. 266
Wil Anderson’s new book is called I am NOT fine, thanks. It's all about how the pandemic impacted us: we worked from home, or maybe lost our jobs, or began losing friends down rabbit holes. Wil says it’s time to bring those who drifted into conspiracy theories back into the fold. In today’s Briefing, Wil Anderson talks us through how the pandemic impacted his career and how he found himself living among vaccine deniers on the NSW north coast, how he deals with the impact of lockdowns, and how it...
Nov 10, 2022•20 min•Season 3Ep. 265
We all watched in amazement as the world’s super-rich went gangbusters during the pandemic. Some of the increases in wealth were next level. If 2020 and 2021 were dream years, 2022 has been a nightmare for billionaires. James Thomson writes the Chanticleer column in the Australian Financial Review. James explains why the pandemic was so profitable for the uber-wealthy, and why 2022 has seen some experience up to 40 percent falls in their net worth. In today’s Briefing, why 2022 was a bad year fo...
Nov 09, 2022•22 min•Season 3Ep. 264
We dive into some mindblowing research scientists have been doing in the field of lucid dreaming. They’ve actually spoken to people in their sleep, even asking them to solve complex mathematical problems, and those people have responded. It’s a bit like the real life version of that movie Inception, where Leonardo DiCaprio entered into other people’s dreams and interacted with them. We're joined by Ken Paller, professor of psychology and director of the Cognitive Neuroscience Program at Northwes...
Nov 08, 2022•21 min•Season 3Ep. 263
The US midterm elections are happening this week, with major implications for President Joe Biden. A third of the seats in the US senate are on the ballot along with every seat in the House of Representatives; that means the country’s legislature could swing towards either party. Biden’s Democrats are hoping to win votes by focusing on abortion rights and democracy, while Republicans are concentrating on the economy and immigration. They’re beginning today and they could have major implications ...
Nov 07, 2022•21 min•Season 3Ep. 262
The Australian housing market is experiencing strange times. In this episode we’ll look at previous downturns, and how they’ve panned out to discover if the current downturn will be the worst housing market crash in Australian history. We chat to Eliza Owen, Property Analyst from Corelogic to give us the inside scoop. Headlines: - COP 27: past 8 years hottest on record - Floodwaters move downstream - Sri Lankan cricketer faces court over sexual assault - Elon Musk lays off workers as advertisers...
Nov 06, 2022•22 min•Season 3Ep. 261
Teela Reid is a proud Wiradjuri and Wailwan woman, lawyer, and story-teller. Teela was also involved in the Constitutional dialogue process that culminated in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. The Prime Minister has foreshadowed a referendum on the question of a First Nations Voice to Parliament; a key component of the Statement of the Heart. One day soon we will all be called upon to vote on this critical question. In this conversation Jamila Rizvi and Teela Reid discuss kinship, oral history...
Nov 04, 2022•29 min•Season 3Ep. 260
In our first two episodes of the gut instinct series, we’ve explored the growing evidence that suggests how so much of what happens in the gut impacts diseases traditionally linked to the brain. We’ve also examined the booming multi-billion dollar probiotics and kombucha industries, and found they have little or limited effect on the gut. So what other ways can we treat the mind via our guts? Around a third of GPs now identify as integrative doctors who blend conventional medicine with lifestyle...
Nov 03, 2022•20 min•Season 3Ep. 259
Globally the kombucha and probiotics market is worth billions and it’s rapidly growing as people spend big on wellness and gut health. In part two of our three part series on gut health, we’ll be exploring if we’re being fooled by some of the extraordinary health claims these products make. Or maybe there's a tiny nugget of truth in the proclamations— and it's just been over-hyped. We talk to Jordan Stanford from the University of Wollongong, a dietician with a PhD investigating dietary interven...
Nov 02, 2022•21 min•Season 3Ep. 258
This series will examine the growing body of evidence between gut health and gut microbiomes to mental health, sleep disorders and in some cases even autism. Should we be changing our approach to mental health treatment which is so heavily geared toward quick pharmaceutical interventions? Professor Emad El-Omar is the director of the University of New South Wales Microbiome Research Centre and is also a professor of medicine. He chats with us about the ins and outs of our gut health. Headlines: ...
Nov 01, 2022•17 min•Season 3Ep. 257
Australian workers have been getting a raw deal on wages. Wages actually being stolen, that is, unlawful underpayment, and then there’s the terrible bargaining power that has seen real wages flat-line for the last decade. That’s one of the issues the Labor party campaigned on to get into office, and now that they’re in office, it's proving hard to change. Ben Schneiders has been investigating the wage problem for years, he’s an investigative journalist with The Age and author of “Hard Labour: Wa...
Oct 31, 2022•22 min•Season 3Ep. 256
It was a dramatic week last week in the story of Ye-formerly known as Kayne West. The list of companies that have walked away from Kanye is huge, he says it cost him $2bn in one day. So is this the end of Kanye’s career? Kanye West, or Ye has been a master of controversy; he loves to shock. But in the last month his attacks on Jewish people have brought serious consequences. We’ll get a Jewish perspective on Kanye from author John Safran. Headlines: - 150+ dead in Seoul crowd crush - Twitter hit...
Oct 30, 2022•21 min•Season 3Ep. 255
Ryan Shelton is a hugely successful comedian, actor, writer, radio and television presenter. In this conversation Jamila Rizvi and Ryan Shelton discuss following opportunities for success, discovering the power of vulnerability and Ryan’s own creative processes, where he has found honesty as the secret for his latest accomplishments. THE WEEKEND LIST: WATCH: Hocus Pocus & Hocus Pocus 2 – Disney+ LISTEN: How Other Dads Dad With Hamish Blake – Podcast WATCH: Eat The Rich: The Game Stop Saga – ...
Oct 28, 2022•33 min•Season 3Ep. 254
Trends in funerary practices and how the recently departed are remembered are nothing new. From face moulds of the dead to making the rear window of your car a rolling memorial, the way someone is remembered has changed through time. But would you turn the tattoos of a dead family member into art? Kyle Sherwood does just that for a living and it’s proving quite popular. Remembrance is a very individual act. But would you ever preserve the tattoos of a loved one who's passed? Headlines: - Lehrman...
Oct 27, 2022•22 min•Season 3Ep. 253
Canberra might cop it a lot for being one of the most boring cities in Australia but it’s always been pretty progressive when it comes to social issues. It’s the only place in Australia where the personal use of cannabis is legal. We recently shared with you here on The Briefing that it was hosting a trial of the first fixed pill testing site, and now the ACT government has passed legislation decriminalising small amounts of illicit drugs like cocaine, heroin and speed. We speak to ACT Health Mi...
Oct 26, 2022•21 min•Season 3Ep. 252
Labor’s first budget in a decade has been handed down. It’s being touted as a cost of living budget that’s friendly for families. The government’s focus is on childcare, paid parental leave and disaster resilience as well as TAFE and university places. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has also taken into account our challenging economic times; growth is forecast to slump while unemployment is set to rise. We speak with the Australian Financial Review's Tom McIlroy about the Albanese government's first bud...
Oct 25, 2022•21 min•Season 3Ep. 251
The UK's political saga continues with Rishi Sunak named the UK's new Prime Minister overnight. He replaces Liz Truss who was forced to resign just 45 days into the job after her disastrous mini-budget sent financial markets into meltdown. Truss had replaced Boris Johnson who sent his party into a meltdown. Rishi is 42, the youngest person to take office in more than 200 years, and is the first from an Indian background. He’s also married to one of the UK’s wealthiest women. Later this week he’l...
Oct 24, 2022•20 min•Season 3Ep. 250
On election day, a record number of independents seized previously "safe" seats and helped spell the end of the near decade-long Liberal government. It was a teal wave that surged stronger than anyone had expected, and it was backed by Climate 200 - a non profit, non partisan group that employed crowdfunding, whose founder, Simon Holmes à Court says is just getting started. Simon joins us on the Briefing to talk through his motivation for establishing Climate 200 and what he expects will happen ...
Oct 23, 2022•22 min•Season 3Ep. 249
If you tuned in to watch this year’s federal election night coverage, even for a few moments, you would have seen a sea of teal. All the political commentators could talk about was the wave of centre right independents who had claimed previously safe Liberal party seats. At the centre of these shifting political winds is Allegra Spender, former businesswoman and now the member for Wentworth covering some of Sydney’s wealthiest suburbs. Allegra Spender comes from a high-profile family, with both ...
Oct 21, 2022•29 min•Season 3Ep. 248
Why has an Aussie heavy metal band gone green? In Hearts Wake have used their passion for ecological advocacy, to push the boundaries of the music industry by recording, releasing and performing their last album, (Kaliyuga), in a radically new and sustainable way. Kaliyuga became the first carbon offset album, pressed on recycled materials to hit the top 5 in the ARIA Australian Albums Chart as it debuted at #3. We’re joined by the band’s front man Jake Taylor, who also directed a new documentar...
Oct 20, 2022•23 min•Season 3Ep. 247
Parts of NSW and Victoria are again under water as another big weather system heads for already sodden regions. Flood warnings are in place in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. Thousands of people living in the Victorian NSW border towns of Echuca and Moama are bracing for a second flood in a week as local rivers peak. We spoke to Bianca Hall, senior reporter with The Age newspaper early this morning. More than 700 flood rescues have been made since the disaster began, and thousands...
Oct 19, 2022•19 min•Season 3Ep. 246
Alex Jones is an American radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist who was last week ordered to pay almost a billion dollars US to the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook school massacre. Jones had peddled the theory the shooting was a hoax to curb America’s gun laws. A court in Connecticut ordered Jones to pay up – but he’s now claiming bankruptcy and there are fears the families will never receive the compensation they deserve. Elizabeth Williamson, a New York Times journalist a...
Oct 18, 2022•20 min•Season 3Ep. 245
In today’s Briefing we look at a perverse twist of Me Too. The wave of abuse stories has come with a wave of defamation lawsuits. London-based barristers Jen Robinson and Keina Yoshida have written a book called How Many More Women detailing the way the law and the media has held back justice for sexual assault victims. The book, out today, is about how and why laws must change to protect women who are brave enough to speak out against their attackers. Headlines: - Consumers to brace for price h...
Oct 17, 2022•23 min•Season 3Ep. 244
Our guest on the Briefing today is Grace Tame – former Australian of the Year and author of a new memoir: The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner. In her brand new book, Grace has told her story of being a victim of child sexual abuse in full, but for the first time we also get to know her very dark sense of humour. "One of my favorite jokes to make about the perpetrator who abused me is that he is like pedophile starter pack. You know, like he is a Catholic child-sexual abusing school teacher who wea...
Oct 16, 2022•19 min•Season 3Ep. 243
Emma Carey says she wasn’t a particularly positive person before her accident. She was working in a job that she didn’t particularly like, going through the motions of life without a lot of spark or ambition. While not wanting to take away from the seriousness of her experience and the pain and anguish of recovery, Emma says her life has changed for the better. She has gained an appreciation for what it means to be alive. Emma is now 29 years old and it’s been almost a decade since she literally...
Oct 14, 2022•29 min•Season 3Ep. 242
It’s been a critical week in the war in Ukraine. After almost 9 months of conflict, more than 6,000 people have died and countless regions heavily shelled. Many expected Ukraine would fall within days, but they’ve launched an historic fightback and as you’ll hear from our guest, the Australian-Ukrainian journalist Misha Zelinsky, the Ukrainians are not giving up without a massive fight. Misha is reporting for the Australian Financial Review and he joins us for today’s Briefing to give an update ...
Oct 13, 2022•21 min•Season 3Ep. 241
An inquiry is underway into a Queensland lab that failed to test thousands of DNA samples. The lab demanded that to progress to DNA profiling, crime scene samples require the equivalent of at least 22 cells, but fewer than 10 cells can often produce a DNA profile. The discovery was triggered by the Walkley Award winning journalist Hedley Thomas’ Shandee’s Story true crime podcast. It means there could now be thousands of miscarriages of justice related to the lab. Hedley joins us to talk us thro...
Oct 12, 2022•19 min•Season 3Ep. 240
