The Briefing

Black Myth: Wukong has become one of the fastest-selling games of all time, selling 10 million copies in just three days and changing the Chinese video game market forever. But Wukong’s success didn’t come without controversy after the publishers, Hero games, asking reviewers not to discuss covid, the Chinese gaming industry and “feminist propaganda” whilst streaming. In this episode of the Briefi...

Headlines: Supermarket prices have soared by 20% in the last five years, Palestinian President addresses the UN, if Trump wins the Australian economy will suffer and Katy Perry teases massive Australian name at tomorrow’s AFL Grand Final. Deep Dive: The AFL Grand Final against the Sydney Swans and the Brisbane Lions is set to have the highest ratings of all time.   Both teams are two of the most s...

Housing, and the state of it in this country, has been on the minds of both Australian politicians and regular people alike. The major parties have very different perspectives in mind for what policies will fix this problem – but it’s hard to cut through political point scoring to get real on exactly what they have in mind, and how it will work for you. This week The Briefing brought you a housing...

Headlines: Labor reportedly considering a negative gearing policy, IDF prepares for ground assault in Lebanon, Choice reveals the cheapest supermarket and two Aussie suburbs make top 10 coolest in the world. Deed Dive: The state of Australia’s housing is in crisis.   From building them to buying them, there’s delay, disappointment, and division.   The major parties have very different perspectives...

The internet has become obsessed with two animals in recent weeks; Moo Deng, the pygmy hippo from Thailand, and Pesto the giant emperor penguin chick from Melbourne’s Sea Life Aquarium. The interest has sparked hordes of visitors, thousands of memes, celebrity endorsements and even moves for a patent. What makes an animal go viral? And what are some of the unintended repercussions for the cute spe...

Headlines: More strikes on Lebanon, the UN General Assembly meets, Australia's  Reserve Bank has held our cash rate steady for the seventh time in a row and the Federal Government has been slammed for approving coal mine expansions. Plus, the AFL Event office has been hacked just days out from the sold out Grand Final.   Deep Dive: The state of Australia’s housing is in crisis.   From building the...

Repression and media censorship in Venezuela are at an all-time high. Reports of arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances, and torture of political dissidents have skyrocketed following claims that the country’s current president, Nicolas Maduro, stole the July 28 election. But now, Venezuelan journalists are fighting back – reporting on events through two AI-generated avatars to avoid persecut...

Headlines: Fresh Israeli strikes on Lebanon have killed at least 356 people, Albo blames supermarkets for adding to inflation, Reserve Bank tipped to leave interest rates on hold today and Patrick Cripps claims the Brownlow while the AFL settles with Katy Perry.    Deep Dive: The state of Australia’s housing is in crisis. From building them to buying them, there’s delay, disappointment, and divisi...

As the war in Ukraine approaches its third year, global attention has largely moved on - but the conflict remains, and continues to shape the future of Eastern Europe. President of Russia Vladimir Putin has made a third order to boost Russia's military presence since 2022 while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is seemingly relying on ageing conscripts. Overall, it appears manpower on both s...

Headlines: Australia living in its longest period of ‘economic misery’ in a decade, Israel – Lebanon update, Donald Trump says he won’t run in 2028 if he loses this election and Friends turns 30. Deep Dive: Reports of online child exploitation have increased 45 per cent in the last financial year – which is an average of 160 a day. Authorities say every one of these reports contains images and vid...

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...