The Briefing

Jamila Rizvi talks to Brooke Boney, a Gamilaroi Gomeroi woman who hangs out in the living rooms of a quarter of a million Australians every weekday morning as Today’s entertainment reporter on Channel 9.   She’s worked in the newsrooms of NITV, SBS and triple j, and is the co-host of ‘Brooke & Linda’s Dream Club’ with her best mate Linda Marigliano.   Ja...

A decade ago, the world watched the Arab world explode in a fever of protests and explosions. Millions marched in the streets to over-throw governments. But was it worth it?   Hossam el-Halamaway is an Egyptian journalist and blogger living in exile in Berlin. He says social media might have informed the world, but it didn’t help the protestors. Peter Greste, the Australian journalist w...

Nations across Europe have paused the rollout of the AstraZeneca Covid jab after a handful of recipients suffered blood clots.  Australia is heavily invested in the vaccine.   Catherine Bennett - Deakin University Chair of Epidemiology joins us to assure Australians the vaccine is safe.  She says people get blood clots everyday – and it’s not a game-changer in terms of t...

Covid has made us all anxious. We’re all seeking ways to be more mindful, more relaxed, more in touch with now. Could learning a musical instrument calm our nerves and leave 2020 behind??   55-year-old GT inherited a piano from his mother and he has not stopped playing since he took it up. He says it’s changed his life. George Washingmachine, one of Australia’s premier music...

Seven people, including six children, died in a horrific fire at Sydney’s Luna Park in 1979.  Investigators at the time found an electrical fault was to blame.   The ABC’s investigative journalist Caro Meldrum-Hannah is hosting a new three-part series investigating the blaze.  She found the survivors, who for the first time, have had a chance to tell their...

The federal government is introducing strict new online bullying laws, designed to stop trolls.   The problem is, they powers are too broad.  The legislation will see sex workers, who advertise legitimately online, removed from most platforms.  Lucie B is a QLD-based sex worker.  She says it will impact her ability to make an honest living.  Jarryd Bartle is a lawyer speci...

Jamila Rizvi talks to Eddie Perfect, the Australian who took over Broadway with his musical adaptations of Beetlejuice and King Kong.   He rose to Australian prominence as Mick Holland on Channel 10’s Offspring and a host of Playschool , all while proving himself as an esteemed comedian, performer, lyricist and writer - there’s not much Eddie doesn’t do.   Now residing...

This week has been one of the most tumultuous weeks in the British monarchy’s history.   We take a look behind the scenes at Buckingham Palace, Highgrove House and Kensington Palace. Harry & Meghan kept referring to The Firm in their Oprah interview. Juliet Rieden is the Women’s Weekly’s Editor-in-Chief and Royal Correspondent.   She takes us behind the walls of the...

State governments across the country are changing defamation provisions. The laws haven’t been updated since 2005, when Facebook was still a frat house idea, and Twitter didn’t even exist. John-Paul Cashen from Thomson Geer Lawyers joins us to explain what the new laws mean for everyday Australians. Will they stifle, or encourage free speech? Today’s episode is an ‘explaine...

We’re more burned-out than ever before. A pandemic and back to back climate crises have left us fed-up and exhausted.   We’re joined today by the American GP and author Dr Amy Shah to find out why we’re so effing tired all the time. Is it diet? Or are some of us more prone to exhaustion than others?   It’s time for all of us to shake of the burden of tiredness. Fi...

Canberra has erupted with claims of toxic culture in the federal parliament – and the states are no better. So why would anyone choose to become a politician.   We’re joined by WA MP Anne Aly who freely admits she’s not watched Question Time before being elected an MP.   What’s the future look like in Canberra? Is it time the toxic culture in the corridors of parl...

The Victorian government is considering using robots to patrol the corridors of hotels where people are in quarantine to contain the coronavirus.   We’re joined by Bryan Goudsblom, CEO of Monjon Australia, the security company behind the robots. He says they’re the next frontier of technology and have a part to play in the country’s future.   So will robots take your jo...

Grace Tame made national headlines again this week after addressing the National Press Club amidst federal government sexual abuse allegations.    Jamila Rizvi talks to the 2021 Australian of the Year who is leading the fight for survivors of sexual abuse to be allowed to tell their own stories.   At 15-years-old, Grace Tame was abused by her high school maths teacher. While the med...

It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke but that’s exactly what happened this week when a group of teenagers and an 86-year-old nun took on the Environment Minister in the Federal Court.   The case kicked off Tuesday in Melbourne and will wrap next week.   We’re joined by Sister Brigid Arthur and one of the students, Tom Webster Arbizu, to find out how it’s going and...

A second look at the sexual assault crisis in private schools and why we don’t hear men’s voices in the discussions about toxic masculinity.   We’re joined by Louis, a 19-year-old former school leader who left school in 2019.  He sheds light on what’s going on in schools right now.  Rob Sturrock, author of the book Man Raises Boy, talks about the conversation...

The private school system in Sydney has been rocked by thousands of claims of sexual assault.   We’re joined by the former Kambala student Chanel Contos who has collated a dossier of names and experiences, she says, highlights a culture of toxic masculinity in private schools.   Why do private schools cultivate a toxic culture in relation to the treatment of young women? Chanel tel...

Three high profile shootings in Sydney already this year have raised fears about a wave of gang violence.    Two of the shootings involved innocent bystanders... a nurse almost died after being shot, the wrong guy was shot dead after a boxing match and a senior gang member was brazenly shot dead while sitting in his car, all in the space of a few weeks between late January and mid-Februa...

Australia was rocked by the murder of Brisbane mother Hannah Clarke and her three children.  Her estranged husband breached an AVO and killed them as Hannah drove the children to school.   Hannah’s death has prompted governments across the country to look into creating coercive control laws.   Hannah’s mother Sue joins us to talk about the last year and the impact on the...

Jamila Rizvi talks to Marc Fennell about the future of movies, the rise of streaming services, and what Marc has planned next.     We consume more content than ever before, with each medium receiving less of our exclusive focus. Going to the cinemas is becoming rarer and after its hard hit from coronavirus, will the industry bounce back?    Movie buff Marc Fennell gives his exp...

NSW Police announced this morning the missing financial adviser Melissa Caddick's remains have been found. A shoe containing a decomposed foot washed up on a beach near Tathra on the NSW South Coast. We bring you the details of the police press conference and the back story that led to one of the biggest missing person stories in recent history, We brought you the story two weeks ago - today, a dr...

The world watched on as Facebook pulled news from the feeds of its Australian users, over paying for the right to re-publish news.    Australia’s Treasurer Josh Frydenberg brokered a deal with Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg.   Stephen Scheeler, former CEO of Facebook Australia and New Zealand takes us through the machinations of the deal and what it means for users here an...

Scientists say climate change – and rising temperatures – could kill off summer sport in Australia.   The AFLW star Sharni Layton; and Dr Martin Rice, Head of Research at the Climate Council, say it will be too dangerous to play sport in summer in years to come.   Sport is a way of life in Australia.  Including sport in the conversation may provide the incentive for Aust...

The Bergin Inquiry in NSW has found Crown Casinos is not fit to hold a casino licence, meaning its new multi-billion dollar tower in Sydney is a white elephant   We’re joined by The Age’s Nick McKenzie and former chair of the Casino, Liquor and Gaming Authority Chris Sidoti, to discuss Crown’s future.    What’s next for James Packer?  What will happen to...

The Covid-19 vaccines have arrived. Tens of thousands of Australians will begin receiving jabs this week.   We’re joined by Pfizer Australia’s Medical Director, Krishan Thiru, to take you through what the rollout will look like – and how Pfizer managed to get a vaccine up and running in such a short amount of time.   The federal government hopes more than 80 percent of...

The World Health Organisation commissioned Chinese experts and 17 international experts to conduct an independent investigation of the origins of Covid-19.  One of the experts was Australian.   We’re joined by Professor Dominic Dwyer who went to Wuhan, to the wet market and to the Institute of Virology – to find the source of the outbreak.   He tells us what he and his c...