The Briefing

Shaun Micallef is one of Australia’s most recognisable faces. He’s an actor, writer, television host and comedian. Now he’s back with another show on the cards, Shaun Micallef’s Origin Odyssey on SBS - where he takes six comics ‘back to where they came from’ for want of a better expression. In this chat with Antoinette Lattouf, Shaun explains how he keeps getting the top gigs in television and wha...

Big Brother Australia is returning to Australian TVs in 2025 for the 3rd time. Will it be the show's final, ever? After traversing three networks, being revived and killed twice, and now needing to compete with the dominance of ad-free streaming and reality TV juggernauts like Love Island, is there a place for a show like Big Brother anymore? Returning to its original home – Channel 10 – it plans...

Dozens of people were killed this week in Lebanon in two separate attacks that were unlike anything the world has seen so far in warfare. Pagers and walkie talkies belonging to militant group Hezbollah were set to detonate at the exact same time, injuring thousands of people. It is yet to be explained who and how this attack came to be, but is it a sign of what wars will look like in the future? A...

This week Sean “Diddy” Combs, also known as P. Diddy and Puff Daddy, was arrested in Manhattan by federal agents and charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution in the United States. The rapper has pleaded not guilty to all the charges. It’s not the first time the artist has had his reputation come under fire in public - since 2023 various allegations ag...

Groups of children and young people are trying to force their governments to do something about climate change, not through political campaigns, but by taking them to court. Most recently, young climate activists have asked the US supreme court to revive their case against the American government on climate – but using the legal system for this purpose has had very mixed results around the world,...

With an advocate like Chanel Contos onboard, will learning about consent on Tinder actually work? The dating app has launched a new Consent Course , created in partnership with sexual consent activist and founder of Teach Us Consent Chanel Contos, and women's domestic violence service WESNET.  The course is only available on Tinder’s School of Swipe website - not via the app - though it will be pr...

Should we be weighing children at school?  Health experts have suggested we start weighing kids in schools to help tackle the obesity epidemic, but could this do more harm than good?  In this episode of the Briefing Bension Siebert is joined by obesity researcher and author of Healthy Parents, Healthy Kids Dr Nick Fuller to explain the pros and cons of weighing children at school.   Headlines: At...

Meet the woman who has helped spread claims that Haitian immigrants are eating people's pets in Ohio, Springfield. Laura Loomer is a far-right activist and online personality who is feeding Republicans with extreme conspiracy theories and is seemingly influencing Donald Trump’s campaign. In this episode of The Briefing, Sacha Barbour Gatt chats with Planet America’s Chas Licciardello to find out w...

Improving mental health is one of the most important aspects of rehabilitating offenders in incarceration. It’s been the focus of a recent program at Wellington Correctional Centre – which was formerly branded the toughest country jail in NSW. More than 200 inmates and 70 staff have participated in mental health first aid training led by the National Wellbeing Alliance. What impact are they hoping...

You could call 2024 the year of the Mormon influencer. The internet has become fascinated with the lives of #tradwives, and now The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is dominating the small screen. So, what's behind our fascination? And how is this latest show contributing to a conversation about modern Mormonism and feminism? In today’s episode of The Briefing, Sacha Barbour Gatt chats with journalist...

PrEP is a miracle drug that is currently in short supply. Full name pre-exposure prophylaxis, it’s a little blue pill you take once a day – or before and after having sex – that stops 99 per cent of sexual HIV transmissions. It makes having sex a lot safer, especially for men who have sex with men, and it’s helped the rate of HIV diagnoses in this country plummet by about a third, and has been wid...

We all feel in love with the Matilda's during the world cup last year and now besties, Matilda players Chloe Logarzo and Emily Gielnik are ready to win The Amazing Race Australia: Celebrity Edition. After injury ruled out the duo in the most recent Olympics, the pair took their heartbreak and created a business together to inspire the next generation of Matildas. In this chat with Antoinette Latto...

This week, the Country Music Award (CMA) nominations were announced and Beyoncé was left off the list - despite her single Texas Hold 'Em spending 10 weeks at the top of the country music Billboard charts. The mega star’s rocky relationship with the CMA’s is nothing new, and dates back to 2016 when her performance with The Chicks was met with backlash and racism. So are there racist undertones to...

Concerns and conspiracy theories about seed oils have been circulating on social media over the last few months – and the political-right have taken a surprising liking to them. The most vocal of voices recently has been JFK’s nephew and former independent presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, who says they are “the worst things you can eat,” linking them to chronic inflation, diabetes and...

Violence has erupted in Melbourne’s CBD. Over 1,500 anti-war protestors yesterday descended on the Land Forces expo, the largest event of its kind in the country where businesses and start-ups spruik their products to defence forces and contractors. Those rallying were there to protest not only the war in Gaza, but also the wider implications of war – from human rights violations to its impact on...

House prices are surging across the country. It’s been particularly extreme in Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane, where prices have risen by closer to 60 per cent over the same period. It’s making it nearly impossible for many young people to get into the property market and part of the reason comes down to how many homes we’re building in Australia compared to the number of people who need to live in...

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have faced off in what could be the final debate before the election in November. The polls are neck and neck, both at the national level and in key swing states – and almost everyone likely to cast a vote in the US already has a strong opinion about Donald Trump. But plenty of people were still making up their mind on Kamala Harris, so the pressure was on her to def...

A two-week blockbuster trial with Rupert Murdoch is getting underway in Nevada today. It’s set to decide the fate of some of the world’s most famous news brands, and who gets to control them.  The 93-year-old media mogul, wants to give his voting power in News Corporation and Fox Corp to his oldest son Lachlan, stripping that power from his three other children.  In scenes reminiscent of the hit t...

Artificial intelligence is increasingly becoming intertwined within our day-to-day lives. But it’s not just simply helping us set our nightly alarms or adjust the tone of our emails anymore. For some, it’s offering intimacy and companionship in a way that’s challenging the conventional ways we understand love, relationship and sex. In the (not too distant) future will we be cheating on partners wi...

Pianist Jayson Gillham made international headlines last month after dedicating a performance with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) to journalists who have been killed in Gaza. The backlash from MSO was swift, resulting in Jayson’s performance being pulled. The MSO later admitted it "made an error”, but maintains the concert was not an appropriate place to express personal views, and an exte...

After receiving thousands of submissions and holding hearings across the country over three years, the Royal Commission into Veteran Suicide is releasing its final report today.  It’s expected to outline shameful failures within Australia’s Defence Forces to support veterans’ mental and physical health, especially as they transition into civilian life after serving.  Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambi...

In 2020 and amid a global pandemic, over 4 million students across Australia were forced to transition to online learning. Almost every school became a “virtual school” and it came with unintended consequences, including school refusal - which became the subject of a Federal Senate Inquiry last year. School refusal is an emotional-based avoidance of the traditional classroom. Among the solutions t...

Stand up comedian Monty Franklin tries to make the content audiences need- instead of what they think they want. Whether that’s explaining Aussie culture and slang to American audiences- or working on a film about the Great Emu War of 1932 with John Cleese, Jim Jefferies and Rob Schneider. In this chat with Antoinette Lattouf, Monty talks about why the best comedy is authentic- and why he’s not wo...

Technology enables many athletes to compete in the Paralympics – whether it’s modified wheelchairs or carbon fibre running blades. But is some of this tech giving competitors an unfair advantage over their rivals? If one athlete can spend the cash for the latest running blades, putting them a few seconds ahead of their competition, is fairness lost? Professor John Cairney is the Head of School of...

This week the Parliamentary Budget Office released costings for a Greens plan to add dental to Medicare. On the face of it, the fact that a major branch of healthcare is just not a part of the public health system might be surprising to many. But adding it now, according to the costings, would mean billions of dollars in new government spending – and the Australian Dental Association says we just...