The Briefing

It’s becoming much easier to access the abortion pill MS-2 Step (RU486 overseas.) All doctors and some senior nurses will be able to prescribe it, and from today, all pharmacies will be able to stock it. But gynaecologists and obstetricians are sounding the alarm, saying there isn’t enough infrastructure in place to expand access this much. In this episode of the Briefing, we speak with Dr Gino Pe...

There’s a new tourism boom. It’s all about cosmetic surgery, dentistry – both remedial and cosmetic – and hair transplants. Aussies are flying to Turkey, to undergo procedures too costly here in Australia. In this episode of the Briefing, we meet Michael, one of thousands of Australians who’ve been to Turkey for a hair transplant; and Dr Nicola Dean, the president of Australian Society of Plastic...

In the early days of their careers, Kate McClennan and Kate McCartney never got booked for the same TV shows. At the time, women were few and far between in comedy sketches - and executives never imagined they’d need more than one woman. Let alone more than one Kate. Once they finally met in person, the two became close friends and writing partners. They went on to create the Katering Show followe...

The US Congress has held hearings this week to try to determine, once and for all, what the US Department of Defence knows about UFOs or UAPs, unidentified aerial phenomena. What’s called the House Oversight Committee is calling witnesses who claim the US government – particularly the Pentagon – knows more than it’s letting on. In this episode of The Briefing, we’re joined by Nick Pope, who used t...

There have been a string of dingo attacks on K’gari off the coast of south east Queensland in the last month. In one attack, a 10-year-old boy was dragged into a dam. In the two latest attacks, women were chased into the surf after being confronted on the beach. All three victims suffered wounds as the pack of dingos struck. In this episode of the Briefing, we’re joined by Dr Bradley Smith, a worl...

Laws passed in Israel overnight allow the Netanyahu government to overhaul the judiciary and prevents the Israeli Supreme Court from vetoing decisions on the grounds of being “unreasonable”. Hundreds of thousands of protestors have marched on the capital Jerusalem, protesting the government’s tactics, suggesting the new legislation will threaten democracy in Israel. In this episode of the Briefing...

Hollywood has ground to a halt after the the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists – the biggest union representing actors and production staff decided to join writers in going on strike for better pay and conditions. It’s the first time in 60 years both groups have gone on strike at the same time – and it means production on television, streaming and movies has...

Ground-breaking Australian research reveals why there is so much distain for road cyclists. Drivers see cyclists in lycra as less than fully human. Tom Tilley, a self confessed Mamil (middle aged male in lycra) has travelled the country speaking to cyclists, researchers and drivers in the hope of making our roads safer. Tom's report aired on Seven's Spotlight program last night. In this episode of...

Jeremy Franco is everyone's fave TikTok and Instagram star. He exploded during Covid and is now one of the most popular Australian creatives on social media. Jeremy and Jamila share a similar childhood and their combined memories are a pure delight. In this episode of The Weekend Briefing, Jamila is joined by Jeremy Franco.....wait until you hear about the 'lemon people'.   Follow The Briefing: In...

Welcome to Sex: Your no-silly-questions guide to sexuality, pleasure and figuring it out, a book written by Melissa Kang of "Dolly Doctor" and TV personality Yumi Stynes, has been removed from department store shelves. The authors have been subjected to a social media pile-on and Big W has pulled the book from its stores because its staff were being abused. In this episode of The Briefing, we’re j...

The Barbie Movie seems to be absolutely everywhere! With a marketing budget that dwarfs how much it was to actually film it, we’ve seen burger buns turn pink, swimming pools with ‘Barbie’ splashed on the bottom and of course millions of videos on social media. Now it’s finally out, Katrina Blowers and Justin Hill, host of Listnr’s The Streaming Service, checked it out to find out if it’s worth the...

The 2026 Commonwealth Games will not be hosted by Victoria. Premier Daniel Andrews has said the reason is due to its cost. The original price tag was $2.6 billion, but it’s now looking more like between $6-7 billion.  We get all the detail with Annika Smethurst.     Headlines: Christchurch mayor offers to host Commonwealth Games Trump expects to be arrested over Capitol riots Stranded Aussie back...

The FIFA Women’s World Cup is kicking off in Sydney this Thursday night; with the next month set to see the world’s best soccer played in Australia and New Zealand. With the Aussies serious contenders to be tournament champions, we speak with Teagan Micah and Charli Grant who are both in the squad about what it means to be competing against the world's best in your home country, and what it will m...

Everyone knows someone with a rental horror story. Rents are skyrocketing across the country and it's becoming increasingly difficult to find somewhere affordable to live. We're joined by Chantelle Schmidt, who writes for a number of publications including Pedestrian. She's also been sharing her painful rental journey on TikTok. We also talk to Mark McCrindle, founder of McCrindle research who has...

Marta Dusseldorp is one of Australia’s best known and loved actors. From stage to screen, and now with production credits to boot.  Dusseldorp’s latest project, Bay of Fire, premieres tomorrow night on ABC TV and is filmed on the west coast of Tasmania, a place that Dusseldorp herself discovered in the depths of the pandemic.  In this chat with Jamila Rizvi, Marta explains the impact of the pandem...

Everyone's talking about Threads, the new social media platform launched by Mark Zuckerberg's Meta last week. Jan and Tom signed up immediately, as they did when Twitter and Instagram launched. In this episode of The Briefing, Jan Fran and Tom Tilley discuss why you'd sign up for Threads, whether it will survive and whether we even need ANOTHER social media platform.   Headlines: Hollywood set to...

A 16-week trial over the Whakaari/White Island volcano tragedy has begun in New Zealand after an eruption killed 22 people, including 17 Australians in 2019. The island’s owners, brothers Andrew, James and Peter Buttle, their company, and two tour operators are on trial for allegedly failing to adequately protect tourists and staff. Each of the companies faces a maximum fine of $1.4 million, while...

Should Japan release millions of litres of radioactive waste water into the Pacific Ocean?   Everyone remembers the Fukushima nuclear plant being swamped by a tsunami in March 2011. All four of the plant's reactors were written off – and ever since, the reactors have been cooled with recycled water from a new treatment plant. The plant now plans to release the cooling wastewater into the ocean. In...

It’s a pretty sci fi concept – being stored upside down in a giant thermos full of liquid nitrogen in the hope that some day, maybe hundreds of years away, technology will bring you back to life. Now cryonics is here in Australia. Peter Tsolakides is the director of Southern Cryonics in Holbrook, and dozens of people have forked over tens of thousands of dollars to put themselves into deep freeze...

A decision on who will be the next RBA Governor is expected mid-July. So will Philip Lowe remain in the job? Who are the candidates? Will it change how the RBA operates, or are we just looking for a scapegoat following the huge number of cash rate rises. Jonathan Kearns, former RBA department head joins Tom Tilley to explain.     Headlines: Pressure mounts on Scott Morrison to resign BetStop: we c...

30-year-old MP Georgie Purcell was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council in November last year - and she’s already shaking up the House. Georgie, from the Animal Justice Party, stands out from other politicians as she made history with her maiden speech when she decided to own her narrative and share that she was previously a stripper.   In this chat with Katrina Blowers, Georgie explains w...

Queensland has announced plans banning smartphones in state schools from next year bringing them into line with the rest of the country except ACT. While it seems like a no-brainer given how distracting and harmful smartphones can be to kids and teens, we get the full story with child psychologist Michael-Carr Gregg and Dr Jason Zagami, a senior lecturer at the School of Education and Professional...

Colleen Ballinger, otherwise known as Miranda Sings, has been a YouTuber for over a decade and has recently had some serious allegations made against her, including being a child groomer. In a response to the claims she came out with a 10-minute long apology video where she decided to sing rather than speak, which many have dubbed Youtube’s worst apology video. Justin Hill host of LiSNTR’s The Str...

The World Health Organization's recently announced that aspartame, used in products from Coca-Cola diet sodas to Mars' Extra chewing gum, will be listed as "possibly carcinogenic to humans." It feels like we are told about a new carcinogenic item or product every week, so what should we actually be worried? Oliver Jones, Professor of Chemistry at RMIT and internationally recognised expert in analy...

Jordie van den Berg has become TikTok famous for his videos documenting shit rentals around Australia as the country’s rental crisis continues. His videos exposing shit rentals have hundreds of thousands of likes with Jordie's top video reaching over 1.4million views. Jordie joins Tom Tilley to explain what needs to change in order to give tenants a fair go.      Headlines begin 12:25: The UK PM R...