The Qatar 2022 World Cup has ended with a spectacular final that culminated in a penalty shootout and a win for Argentina. It's been an eventful tournament: from the FIFA president’s questionable opening speech, to the sudden death of three journalists.This year was also the Socceroos' most successful World Cup campaign ever. In this episode, we’re unpack the wins, the losses and the controversies with ABC journalist Tracey Holmes live from Qatar. Headlines: - Manhunt following A-League pitch in...
Dec 18, 2022•19 min•Season 3Ep. 297
Virginia Gay describes herself as ‘highly sexed chaos’. Virginia is an Australian actress, writer and director. You’ll most likely recognise her voice from the characters she’s played in television dramas; Frances James on Winners and Losers or Gabrielle Jaeger on All Saints. More recently Virginia spends her time on stage, often writing and performing her own work. Two years of lockdowns made her realise that there is something special about live theatre that simply cannot be recreated in any o...
Dec 16, 2022•31 min•Season 3Ep. 296
It’s a story fit for a James Bond movie: last week US WNBA star Brittney Griner came home, after being swapped for notorious Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout. In this episode we find out why Bout has been called ‘a merchant of death’; how tough it was to catch him in the first place; what the domestic fallout has been in the US; how Griner is doing now; and the diplomatic effort it takes to make a swap like this. We’re speaking to Danielle Gilbert, expert in US foreign policy at Dartmouth College...
Dec 15, 2022•19 min•Season 3Ep. 295
Women in Australia are earning around $26,500 less each year than men, according to the latest Workplace Gender Equality Agency report. That number hasn’t changed over the past twelve months – with no progress being made for the first time in nine years. In this episode, we speak to Mary Wooldridge, Director of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, about why the pay gap is stagnating and what more Australian businesses need to do for gender equality. Headlines: - Labor's energy bill to pass parl...
Dec 14, 2022•19 min•Season 3Ep. 294
The federal government is facing criticism for its decision to cut the number of Medicare subsidised mental health sessions under the Better Access scheme. During the Covid pandemic, the Morrison government doubled the number of psychology sessions available from ten to twenty. From next year, the number of appointments each patient can receive under the initiative will be slashed back down to ten. In this episode, we speak to Mitch Wallis - a leader in the well-being space and co-founder of Cal...
Dec 13, 2022•20 min•Season 3Ep. 293
Bali’s tourism industry could take a hit after new laws banning sex outside of marriage were passed in Indonesian parliament. The new criminal code could also prevent couples who aren’t married from living together. So, what does this mean for the thousands of Australians that travel to Bali each month? In this episode of the Briefing we speak to Indonesian/Australian journalist and lecturer Tito Ambyo about the new criminal code. We also chat to Jenny Hewett, a freelance travel writer, who spea...
Dec 12, 2022•19 min•Season 3Ep. 292
Renters and first-time homeowners look set for a difficult Christmas after the RBA announced another hike in interest rates. Australia is already in the middle of a rental crisis with around 70% of people paying rent which is over a third of their household income. In this episode of the Briefing we speak to Emma Greenhalgh, CEO of National Shelter, about the current struggle to find an affordable place to rent in Australia. Headlines: - Gender pay gap stagnates - Labor faces uphill energy battl...
Dec 11, 2022•22 min•Season 3Ep. 291
Anna Spargo-Ryan is an award winning author and writer, whose work has appeared in The Guardian, the Good Weekend, The Saturday Paper and more. She is a mother of two, who was born in Adelaide but now lives in Melbourne. Anna is also an agoraphobe who rarely leaves the relatively short radius around her home. During covid lockdowns, Anna Spargo-Ryan rediscovered activities she hadn’t participated in for years. For two years she went to book launches and birthday drinks. She saw her favourite ban...
Dec 09, 2022•39 min•Season 3Ep. 290
Could a tax adjustment save Australia's live music venues? A new study has found a 70% drop in the number of venue-based live music gigs taking place in Australia following Covid. Around one in seven venues say they never expect to return to pre-pandemic sized audiences with the current tax settings in place. We’re joined by Dean Ormston - CEO of APRA AMCOS - which represents more than 100,000 musicians, to find out about a new tax offset that could revive the live music sector. In today’s Brief...
Dec 08, 2022•20 min•Season 3Ep. 289
How did police track down Toyah Cordingley’s suspected murderer, and where do we go from here? 24-year-old Toyah was murdered on a beach near Cairns four years ago. Her suspected killer has just been arrested in India after he allegedly fled Australia in the days following Toyah’s death. We’re joined by Seven News journalist Joel Dry who’s been covering the case. In today’s Briefing, we find out what has happened so far, and why the path to justice for Toyah Cordingley will take so long. Headlin...
Dec 07, 2022•21 min•Season 3Ep. 288
What are lab-grown diamonds, and why are they becoming so popular? Lab-grown diamonds are becoming increasingly popular, with a recent survey showing nearly 70% of millennials are happy to consider them for an engagement ring. We’re joined by Jodi Bradby, professor at the Research School of Physics and Engineering at the Australian National University; and Ronnie Bauer from the Jewellers Association of Australia. In today’s Briefing, lab-grown diamonds are chemically, physically and optically id...
Dec 06, 2022•23 min•Season 3Ep. 287
Why has North Korean leader Kim Jong-un decided to reveal his daughter to the world now? Kim Jong-un has revealed North Korea plans to build the “world’s most powerful nuclear force” after testing out a new ballistic missile. He’s also revealed his daughter to the public for the first time ever. So why has the North Korean leader chosen to unveil her to the world now? In this episode of the Briefing we’re speaking to Gordon Flake, founding CEO of the Perth USAsia Centre at The University of West...
Dec 05, 2022•19 min•Season 3Ep. 286
What is it like for youngsters locked up inside Western Australia’s Banksia Hill detention centre? We’re joined by the ABC reporter Grace Tobin, whose distressing Four Corners report has revealed the number of excessive force complaints against officers at Banksia Hill. Officers have been exposed for using the ‘folding up’ technique to restrain teenagers. The movement is banned in Queensland over fears it could lead to suffocation or death. In this episode of the Briefing, WA’s Banksia Hill’s sh...
Dec 04, 2022•21 min•Season 3Ep. 285
Dr Anne Summers is one of Australia's greatest contributors to the feminist movement. She is a writer, speaker and author, who was editor of the American publication Ms magazine in the 1980s and editor of the Good Weekend here in Australia in the 1990s. In between those roles she advised Prime Ministers Hawke and Keating on women's issues and went on to run the Office for the Status of Women, in Canberra. Her most recent work is about the link between family violence and women’s poverty. To read...
Dec 02, 2022•27 min•Season 3Ep. 284
You may know Isaiah Firebrace from the X Factor or Eurovision. Well he’s written a new children’s book - Come Together - things every kid should know about our First Peoples Isaiah joins Rhianna to explain the book is a heart-warming, debut picture book for children aged 5 and up, inspired by Isaiah’s petition to the Australian Government calling for Aboriginal history to be taught in every classroom. Come Together will make every Aussie kid proud that we are home to the longest continuing cultu...
Dec 01, 2022•20 min•Season 3Ep. 283
The Chinese government introduced its ‘zero-Covid’ policy back in 2019 when the virus was first detected. So why are protesters choosing to demonstrate against it almost three years later? We’re joined by author and Senior Fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute Richard McGregor, to discuss the ‘White Paper protests’ and how the Chinese authorities are attempting to mute them. In this episode of the Briefing we explore how protestors in China are using creative methods to stand up against the...
Nov 30, 2022•18 min•Season 3Ep. 282
Why is it becoming more common for women to freeze their eggs? A couple in the US has just welcomed twins into the world using embryos made 30 years ago. The twins have been named the ‘oldest babies’ to be born after the eggs were kept in ice for 3 decades. We’re joined by Molly Johnston, a bioethics lecturer at Monash University and she’s been working in the IVF field for the last five years to find out if this is something that could happen in Australia. In this episode of the Briefing we expl...
Nov 29, 2022•22 min•Season 3Ep. 281
Should employers respect a worker’s right to disconnect? The age of mobile phones and the internet means we’re connected more than ever. We’re basically available 24/7. Should workers retain the right to disconnect once their work day is done? A growing movement, called 'right to disconnect' is urging employers to respect a worker’s right to their own downtime. We’re joined by a Queensland teacher and Greens Senator Barbara Pocock. Before she was elected earlier this year, she was worked at the ...
Nov 28, 2022•23 min•Season 3Ep. 280
So many of us have developed mental health problems in the wake of the pandemic. The federal government currently has a program where you can see a GP and the doctor will refer you to a psychologist for 20 help sessions, but the government is planning on winding that back to ten sessions by the end of the year. To add to the problem it’s virtually impossible to find a psychologist who will take on new patients. We’re joined by Sahra O’Doherty – a practicing psychologist and director of the Austr...
Nov 27, 2022•24 min•Season 3Ep. 279
Angela White is Australia's most successful porn star. Angela knew she wanted to work in porn from the age of fourteen. She saw the industry as a place where her sexuality and her love of sex would be celebrated, not stigmatised. Today, Angela is one of the biggest adult entertainers in the world, with her own empire. The Daily Beast describes her as the "Meryl Streep of porn". In this conversation Jamila Rizvi and Angela White talk about everything from politics, education, shame around sex and...
Nov 25, 2022•33 min•Season 3Ep. 278
Cryptocurrency is having a year from hell. And it’s been a massive fall - the market capitalisation of the crypto market has fallen from around $US3 trillion last year to around $US 800 billion. As part of the fall, one of the world’s most famous crypto cowboys came down to earth. Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of crypto exchange FTX We’re joined by Paul Vigna, a reporter at the Wall Street Journal... he’s written a book called The Age of Cryptocurrency. Paul explains who SBF is, and how he had ...
Nov 24, 2022•23 min•Season 3Ep. 277
Chinese president Xi Jinping met with Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese last week. It was a first step in a bid to mend relations between the two countries. China blocked Australian imports of wine, barley, live seafood and beef - among others - in 2020 in response to Australia’s criticism of China in the wake of the pandemic. We’re joined by Joanna Chiu - a Vancouver-based journalist for the Toronto Star and the author of 'China Unbound - a new world disorder’ to discover why China ha...
Nov 23, 2022•20 min•Season 3Ep. 276
We look at the results of an inquiry into sexism in the Queensland Police Service. In May, QLD Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced an independent Commission of Inquiry into Queensland Police Service responses to domestic and family violence. We’re joined by Kate Kyriacou, a senior journalist at Brisbane’s Courier Mail newspaper. Kate has followed the hearings since day one and says the inquiry heard women had been raped, kissed, touched inappropriately, threatened and stalked online and in p...
Nov 22, 2022•17 min•Season 3Ep. 275
Protests against Iran's clerical establishment erupted two months ago after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was detained by morality police for allegedly breaking the strict hijab rules. We’re joined by Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert who spent more than 800 days imprisoned in Iran and has carried out research into protests and revolutions in the Middle East. Kylie explains we’ll see more bloodshed before we see the end of the unrest. The protests have spread to 140 cities an...
Nov 21, 2022•21 min•Season 3Ep. 274
Victoria will head to the polls this weekend, to decide whether to re-elect Daniel Andrews. We look into what has shaped the man who has become one of Australia’s most powerful and divisive premiers. We speak to Sumeyya Ilanbey from The Age who has written a biography of Andrews, the man who is likely to lead his government into a third term. Headlines: - Severe weather lashes east - FIFA World Cup begins in Qatar - Elon Musk reinstates Trump’s Twitter account - Historic deal struck at the UN's ...
Nov 20, 2022•22 min•Season 3Ep. 273
Tom Boyd was just eighteen years old when he was named the number one AFL draft pick of 2013. After briefly playing for Greater Western Sydney he moved back to Melbourne to join the Western Bulldogs. The teenager’s contract was worth a record-breaking $7 million. Tom Boyd was instrumental in the Bulldogs premiership of 2016, the team’s first in 62 years. Three years later, at 23 years old, Tom made the decision to retire from footy, shocking fans, commentators and everyone who had predicted a lo...
Nov 18, 2022•33 min•Season 3Ep. 272
Each morning, The Briefing tells you what is happening in the world. But does it tell you why it is happening? Well, yes, actually it does. It’s a real all-rounder. But what if I told you that there was a brand new podcast that could tell you the whats and the whys of what is happening in relation to astrology? Hosted by astrologer Katherine Gillies, It’s a Sign is a daily, 90-second guide to your life. Delving into the complexities of the Zodiac, Katherine charts moon and planetary transits and...
Nov 18, 2022•1 min
Covid cases are rapidly rising on Australia's east coast, leading Queensland to issue an amber alert across the state. There are fears Australia is heading for a Covid crisis in the lead up to Christmas. Experts are urging us to work from home; there are calls for mask mandates to be re-introduced; and Queensland has issued an amber alert across the state. In this episode of the Briefing, we talk new strains, new risks and just how worried we need to be this Summer. To answer all these questions...
Nov 17, 2022•20 min•Season 3Ep. 271
Towns in the Central West of NSW have been inundated by floodwaters this week. Residents of Forbes were told to leave town with the Lachlan River forecast to hit a new record. There were wild scenes across a number of small towns on Monday: more than 100 people were rescued by helicopter in Eugowra. Molong and Canowindra were also hard hit by flooding, and Wyangla Dam on the Lachlan has been overflowing. We’re joined by Jamie Jones, deputy mayor of Cabonne Shire Council and Kathy Finn, the manag...
Nov 16, 2022•22 min•Season 3Ep. 270
A brand new podcast has lifted the lid on every parent’s worst nightmare. Listnr’s new podcast, The Children in the Pictures follows Australian documentary-maker and dad, Akhim Dev, as he uncovers the truth behind a global criminal network of child sexual abuse. We’re joined by Detective Inspector Jon Rouse, who has been running Taskforce Argos at QLD Police for 25 years. His team infiltrates child sex networks to find 'the children in the pictures' – and hopefully to arrest and convict those re...
Nov 15, 2022•23 min•Season 3Ep. 269
