The Briefing

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...

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-...

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 conser...

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 overc...

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 Qu...

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 Indi...

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 liv...

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...

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 throu...

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 j...

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...

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 reduc...

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 le...

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...

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&rsqu...

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 Euro...

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 ti...

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 m...

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...

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...

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...

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 i...

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 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, Presiden...

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...