Selling your sperm or eggs is illegal in Australia, and has been for a long time. Unlike other parts of the world, where you can make a considerable profit – in some cases up to $10,000 per egg cycle, and hundreds of dollars per sperm donation – in Australia we’re only able to participate in ‘altruistic donation’ of eggs and sperm, meaning donating with no personal profit and in a highly regulated system. But amidst a cost-of-living crisis and a shortage of donors, should we be rethinking these ...
Aug 12, 2024•12 min•Season 5Ep. 367
Selling your sperm or eggs is illegal in Australia, and has been for a long time. Unlike other parts of the world, where you can make a considerable profit – in some cases up to $10,000 per egg cycle, and hundreds of dollars per sperm donation – in Australia we’re only able to participate in ‘altruistic donation’ of eggs and sperm, meaning donating with no personal profit and in a highly regulated system. But amidst a cost-of-living crisis and a shortage of donors, should we be rethinking these ...
Aug 11, 2024•18 min•Season 5Ep. 366
Amy Shark is one of Australia’s biggest names in pop music. When she changed her name to Amy Shark in 2013 her career took off, winning multiple ARIA Awards and working with Ed Sheeran to Keith Urban. Shark's new album, Sunday Sadness, features a dream line up of producers and artists including Kid Harpoon, who has produced and co-written with Harry Styles and Miley Cyrus. For this episode of The Weekend Briefing, Shark joins Helen Smith to break down how she thinks the live music scene has chan...
Aug 09, 2024•29 min•Season 5Ep. 365
There was a bit of a media frenzy at the Paris games recently when North Korean athletes posed for selfies with South Korean competitors at the gymnastics. Those same athletes were also spotted cheering for American rivals, hugging competitors and waving and smiling for tv cameras. There has been cautious optimism that the usually hermit-like North is finally starting to open up to the world after a period of extreme isolation. But how much of this display at the Olympics is diplomatic gymnastic...
Aug 09, 2024•12 min•Season 5Ep. 364
Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore have been in the International Space Station (ISS) since early June – and they can’t get down. The pair have been stranded in space for over 60 days due to technical issues with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft – and NASA now says they'll remain there for some time yet. The American space agency says the astronauts will remain orbiting the planet till September 24th at earliest, and potentially until February next year. What went so wildly wrong as to extend an eig...
Aug 08, 2024•22 min•Season 5Ep. 363
McDonald’s is an economic juggernaut. Since its inception in the 1940s, the golden arches have dominated the fast food market globally, becoming a beacon of success. But is the seemingly never-ending fast food honeymoon with them, and other outlets around the globe, over? McDonalds has reported experiencing its first downturn in years, and it’s not the only one – recently US burger chain Carl’s Junior, which had ambitions to open hundreds of outlets across Australia, collapsed into voluntary adm...
Aug 08, 2024•12 min•Season 5Ep. 362
Artificial intelligence is colliding with elite sport and mega-events like the Olympics in ways that could soon affect our daily lives, in surprising ways. AI is being used to identify talented future Olympians around the world, to help coaches identify minute flaws in athletic performance, and to improve training. But it’s also seriously ramping up state surveillance of crowds, and for all its amazing uses AI also has some big fundamental problems, like reliability issues and bias. So what shou...
Aug 07, 2024•23 min•Season 5Ep. 361
Previously, dairy milk was viewed as an irreplaceable part of a balanced diet. But things are more complicated now, and Australians are drinking less of it. So why the shift? Is it due to greater awareness of lactose intolerance, concerns over animal welfare, or environmental considerations? And how do dairy milk alternatives, such as soy, almond or oat milk compare for health and sustainability? In this episode, The Briefing’s Simon Beaton is joined by farmer and author of Milk , Matthew Evans,...
Aug 07, 2024•12 min•Season 5Ep. 360
ASIO and the federal government announced on Monday that Australia’s terror threat level had increased from 'possible' to 'probable'. Part of the reasoning - an increase in young men being radicalised. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said “governments around the world are concerned about youth radicalisation, online radicalisation and the rise of new mixed ideologies”. In this episode of The Briefing, Sacha Barbour Gatt is joined by Levi West from the ANU’s Centre for Social Policy Research ...
Aug 06, 2024•22 min•Season 5Ep. 359
Are you in need of a go-to explainer on what the hell is going on with the stock market and how it could affect you? This time last week, everything was coming up Milhouse for Australian investors. The Australian Stock Exchange – or ASX – hit yet another record high after months of relatively consistent growth. But since Friday markets across the globe have been tumbling, and $100 billion has been wiped off the value of Australian shares alone. Dr Angela Jackson is Lead Economist at Impact Econo...
Aug 06, 2024•12 min•Season 5Ep. 358
September 11, the Iraq War and John Howard’s prime ministership were among the most pivotal news events of the early 2000’s. But did you know that during that same period, Australia lived through its biggest corruption scandal – where Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was paid kickbacks for lucrative Australian wheat contracts? Today, investigative reporter Richard Baker launches a major new LiSTNR podcast, Secrets We Keep: Baghdad Nights , diving deep into the scandal, offering new revelations and ...
Aug 05, 2024•21 min•Season 5Ep. 357
Yesterday, Nine Newspapers reported the government was about to walk away from a near-total ban on gambling ads across the country, to instead focus on banning gambling ads from social media and other digital platforms. The new plan for TV would reportedly be caps on the number of gambling ads per hour and banning them an hour before and after live sport. The reported proposal – which goes against the plan originally designed and championed by Labor’s Peta Murphy, who died last year – has prompt...
Aug 05, 2024•13 min•Season 5Ep. 356
Would you wear an ‘always-on’ AI chatbot buddy around your neck to keep you company? Meet your newest ‘ Friend ’. Picture a small, white pendant – kind of like an Apple AirTag, about the size of a button large – enclosed in a necklace so it sits perfectly at your chest. It’s watching, listening, and ready to chat to you all day, every day. A user wears their ‘Friend’, talks to it with the press of a button, and then the chatbot responds via text through the app. The point of the ‘Friend’ is simp...
Aug 04, 2024•20 min•Season 5Ep. 355
Daizy Maan Kaur is full of surprises and her name is one of them. She’s the founder of Brown Women Comedy and Soul house with a mission to create more inclusive spaces for south Asian and migrant women. In this chat with Antoinette Lattouf, Daizy reveals where her comedic side came from and why she legally changed her name when she was just thirteen. Weekend List TO DO - Short term goal setting planners TO EAT - Paddle pops TO READ - Meet the queen of the ‘trad wives’ (and her eight children) by...
Aug 02, 2024•34 min•Season 5Ep. 354
Overnight, Italy’s Angela Carini abruptly withdrew from her Paris Olympics boxing match against Algeria's Imane Khelif, saying she’s never felt a punch as hard as the one Khelif delivered to her nose in that match. Khelif had previously been disqualified from last year’s World Boxing Championships after failing a gender eligibility test, and the debate surrounding the withdrawal has added fuel to an already toxic conversation about the role of sex and gender in sport. The science has been clear ...
Aug 02, 2024•12 min•Season 5Ep. 353
The Suncorp Super Netball Grand Final is happening tomorrow, with the Adelaide Thunderbirds facing off against the Melbourne Vixens at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. The Thunderbirds hoping to win back-to-back titles and its set to be a thrilling game. This season has been the most attended in the history of Australian women’s sport, with a record-breaking 331,841 fans, marking a 25% increase from last year. But despite national and International appeal, a developing game and high profile st...
Aug 01, 2024•22 min•Season 5Ep. 352
Iran has vowed “revenge” on Israel and negotiations to end the war in Gaza have been thrown into doubt after the killing of a Hamas leader in Iran. Meanwhile, Australians have been urged to leave Lebanon as fighting between Israel and Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah escalates. In the last few weeks, fears of a widening conflict have grown. So why are Israel and Iran at each other’s throats? And are we really at the precipice of all-out war in the region? Kylie Moore-Gilbert is an expert ...
Aug 01, 2024•11 min•Season 5Ep. 351
Is your social media serving you ‘tradwife’ – or traditional wife – content? These creators embrace a ‘traditional existence’, which includes being a wife, mother and homemaker, making things like sourdough to bubble gum from scratch, and honouring a nuclear family, their husband and God. Big names, including Nara Smith, Estee Williams and Ballerina Farm AKA Hannah Neeleman, are amassing millions of likes and views making tradwife content that some see as an innocent escape from modern life, whi...
Jul 31, 2024•22 min•Season 5Ep. 350
Rex Airlines has gone into voluntary administration. Has it been bullied out of the market by its competitors? The airline has grounded its fleet of 737 aircraft that service capital cities and will continue to fly its Saab 340 flights between regional centres. Rex employs about 2000 people and their jobs and futures are uncertain, as calls across the country come for the government to step in in some way to help. In this episode of The Briefing Sacha Barbour Gatt is joined by Robyn Ironside, av...
Jul 31, 2024•11 min•Season 5Ep. 349
Usually, nominating a vice president doesn’t have a huge effect on an average US presidential race - but this is no average US presidential race. Donald Trump has his pick – self-proclaimed hillbilly JD Vance. Now that Kamala Harris has gone from VP to Democratic presidential nominee, how will she choose her running mate? In this episode of The Briefing Bension Siebert is joined by US political watcher, comedian, and co-host of Planet America Chas Licciardello to unpack the potential options on ...
Jul 30, 2024•21 min•Season 5Ep. 348
There are a lot of misunderstandings about the world’s uncontacted tribes - communities that are indigenous to the land they live on and reject any contact with the outside world. The idea that they’re primitive or “stuck in the Stone Age” are outdated notions, with advocates passionately defending their place in the world and their freedom to choose how they want to live. Today The Briefing's Sacha Barbour Gatt busts the commonly held myths about uncontacted tribes, and the fight underway to en...
Jul 30, 2024•11 min•Season 5Ep. 347
Who betrayed Australia on climate change? In this episode of the Briefing, Bension sits down with journalist and author Royce Kurmelovs to discuss his investigation into what Australia’s fossil fuel industry knew about climate change more than 50 years ago. Royce describes how the industry managed to win the support of Australia’s governments and media to cover it up for so long. But he also makes a powerful argument for hope in the face of all the grim statistics we hear about the climate crisi...
Jul 29, 2024•20 min•Season 5Ep. 346
Breaking has, for the first time ever, danced its way into the Olympic Games. Spectators in Paris and around the world will watch as B-girls and B-boys windmill, 6-step, and freeze their way to gold, silver or bronze. But what does ‘good’ breakdancing look like, and what's been the journey to the sport's debut in Paris? The Briefing’s Helen Smith is joined by B-girl Hannah Belet to break down what a gold medal breaking performance might look like, and which competitors she thinks are the ones to...
Jul 29, 2024•11 min•Season 5Ep. 345
Could bad bots on social media be leading to the death of the internet? You might have come across a weird AI generated images of ‘shrimp Jesus’, or similarly strange content on Facebook, often linked with absurdly high numbers of likes and comments. It all connects with the ‘dead internet’ theory – the idea that bot created content is accounting for more and more of what is being posted online. So, is there truth to the theory - and are we watching the death of the internet in real time? In thi...
Jul 28, 2024•21 min•Season 5Ep. 344
Tim Minchin thinks policing other people's opinions online is a waste of time. He’s a talented musician and author, who’s smart, has great teeth and was even given three honorary doctorates. His thought provoking ideas on everything from empathy and identity, to why Australia can’t fall into the trap of far-right America is fascinating. In this chat with Antoinette Lattouf, Tim unpacks the meaning behind his latest anthem and his first nonfiction book, You Don’t Have To Have A Dream (Advice for ...
Jul 26, 2024•46 min•Season 5Ep. 343
Polls released in the US overnight show the presidential election campaign is neck and neck. Kamala Harris, who has all but secured the Democratic nomination after Joe Biden dropped out of the race, is surging in the polls. Donald Trump and his VP pick, JD Vance, know they have a fight on their hands - and it doesn’t help that in 2021 Vance said of VP Harris that ‘the nation is being run by childless cat ladies’. The comments have angered Democrat supporters, including Friends star Jennifer Anis...
Jul 26, 2024•14 min•Season 5Ep. 342
The 2024 Paris Olympics begin tomorrow morning our time. The 33rd hosting of the summer games will feature 329 events in 32 sports. More than 10 and a half thousand athletes from 206 nations will participate. The Opening Ceremony begins at 3.30am Saturday AEST. In this episode of The Briefing, Sacha and Bension break down what you need to know to be an uber Olympics fan - from breakdancing to BMX, and from canoeing to taekwondo. Headlines: Olympics wrap Biden and Netanyahu meet Roundup ruling Se...
Jul 25, 2024•21 min•Season 5Ep. 341
Australia has one of the highest rates of pet ownership in the world, with around 70% of households owning one. While choosing to bring a puppy or kitten into your home is an exciting time, the sad reality is a lot of these pets come from farms, mills and backyard breeders. Just 15% of puppies purchased every year are thought to be from reputable breeders. This week a puppy farm was shut down in Tasmania after the RSPCA found evidence of severe over breeding. In this episode of The Briefing, we’...
Jul 25, 2024•13 min•Season 5Ep. 340
Imagine having no internet – well that’s exactly what's happening in Bangladesh right now for over 170 million people since the government has cuff online connectivity. In the last week 10s of thousands of young people have been protesting throughout Bangladesh with reports of more than 146 people being killed during marches. In this episode of the Briefing Bension Siebert is joined by John Heidemann, a senior computer scientist at the University of Southern California and internet expert, to un...
Jul 24, 2024•20 min•Season 5Ep. 339
In the dark depths, four kilometres below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, scientists have found small clumps of rocks producing oxygen. Previously scientists believed oxygen was created by living things using energy from the sun, so the idea of 'black oxygen' has thrown a curveball into our theory of how life on Earth may have began. It also begs the question - could life dependent on oxygen be more common outside of Earth? Joining The Briefing to talk through what we know about the discovery,...
Jul 24, 2024•11 min•Season 5Ep. 338
