The Briefing

The Australian government is preparing to launch a mission to rescue dozens of Australian women and children trapped in Syrian detention camps. More than 20 Australian women and more than 40 children – the widows, sons and daughters of slain or jailed Islamic State combatants – remain within the al-Hol and Roj detention camps in north-east Syria. Many of the women held in the camps say they were c...

Optus customers were horrified to discover last week their personal data had been hacked. Optus estimates that up to 9.8 million Australians could have their data compromised due to the attack, with 2.8 million severely impacted. So what exactly do the hackers do with your data? Ravi Sen is Associate Professor of Information and Operations Management, Texas A&M University.  Ravi joins us to ex...

Treasurer Jim Chalmers will deliver his first budget later this month. The 44-year-old has been tipped as ‘one to watch’ since he was a 20-something joining his local ALP branch. In this conversation, Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Jamila Rizvi discuss everything from the cost of living and housing prices, to childcare and the role of women, to climate change and why politicians never seem to talk abo...

Today’s Briefing is about returning artefacts to their rightful owners. From skulls to statues and super rare antiquities; nations, like Australia are starting to return artefacts to the countries they were stolen from. We’re joined by Dr Craig Barker - an archaeologist, and the Manager of Education and Public Programs at the Chau Chak Wing Museum at Sydney Uni. Craig explains how and why the hand...

When it comes to discussions of men and gender, it’s almost impossible to avoid saying or hearing the term toxic masculinity. It’s recently become a zeitgeisty and catch-all explanation for all instances of poor male behaviour. But are we too quick to reach for it as a label given no one has agreed what the phrase actually means? And if we no longer want “boy to be boys,” what exactly do we expect...

It’s an age-old question for adults: how to get the message through to teenagers that something they think is cool is actually dangerous, and they should stop doing it? We did it with smoking, now the challenge for this generation of teachers and parents is vaping. Griffith University is looking to change that, they’ve created a gamified experience called The Vape Detective that will help inform s...

The owner of the $3B outdoor apparel brand Patagonia has given his company away to fight climate change.   Depending on his profits around $100m a year will go towards climate initiatives. We find out more about the move and why it’s so rare to see a company founder do something like this.  To explain how Yvon Chouinard’s radical act of philanthropy works. We have New York Times reporter David Gel...

What is the BookTok phenomenon? Is it making reading cool? And how is it affecting book sales? There’s been a big surge in book sales, and publishers are putting it down to a new phenomenon called BookTok. BookTok is where young people on TikTok, typically in their teens or early twenties post about their favourite books in emotional videos racking up millions of views. BookTok has been responsibl...

Louise Milligan is an investigative reporter for 7.30 and Four Corners on the ABC, Louise Milligan’s job is to uncover and explore the complicated, often disturbing realities of Australia’s most high profile political and legal stories.   In this conversation, Jamila Rizvi and Louise Milligan explore the personal cost to the high profile, high stakes nature of investigative journalism, what it’s l...

What’s happening in Iran? We look into the death of Iranian woman Mahsa Amini and why it’s causing so much anger in Iran and around the world.  We chat to Naz Almasi, who was arrested at the age of 18 for participating in protests in Iran. She is deeply concerned about her friends and family who have no way of communicating with the outside world with intermittent or no internet access. Naz says "...

Last week Vladimir Putin announced that he was calling up 300k reservists to fight in the war in Ukraine and is threatening nuclear action once again.  So how concerned should we be, and is Putin "a cornered rat?" We speak to Peter Hartcher, the international editor of The Age and SMH newspapers and ask has Vladimir Putin become more dangerous, more desperate or both?    Headlines: - Albo promises...

Charlotte Mortlock - Former Sky News journalist, is behind the drive called Hilma's Network to get more women in politics.  Mortlock thinks more women need to be involved in the Liberal party at a grass roots level for change to occur at the top.  The former journo decided to start a network with one goal: flood the Liberal party with women and bring young women back to the conservative side of po...

On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Bali bombings, the bombmaker Umar Patek became eligible for parole.  Patek had his sentence reduced last month with Indonesian authorities claiming he’s been “deradicalised.” Patek has served 11 of his 20-year sentence for mixing chemicals used in the attacks that killed 202 people in 2002.  We find out what’s involved in a deradicalisation program with Gr...

They have been dubbed "cosmetic cowboys" and now the federal government is reining them in. Antoinette Lattouf talks to investigative journalist Adele Ferguson about the numerous patients that have spoken out about the painful and permanent damage they have suffered due to poor practices in Australia's cosmetic surgery industry. And their stories have not been in vain.  Health ministers across the...

Nakkiah Lui is an actor, writer and comedian. She is a Gamilaroi and Torres Strait Islander woman who is well known as a passionate, determined advocate for the rights and equality of First Nations people. She has an outstanding number of artistic achievements. You will recognise her from TV shows including Black Comedy, Preppers, Kiki and Kitty and Get Krackin or follow her witty, acerbic takes o...

Imagine you could control digital devices using just the power of thought. Although it’s a little more complex than that, an implantable brain-computer interface is essentially trying to do just that.  There have been some promising trials in New York where, in a world-first, a person who is severely paralysed was implanted with this new brain-computer technology. Now 20 patients in Melbourne, Syd...

Did you know crime statistics in Australia have been steadily falling over the last 20 years. We are now living arguably some of our safest lives ever. We speak with former director of the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, Don Weatherburn about how this has happened, and why our perception of crime could be out of whack. Follow The Briefing: Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast  Facebook: The...

A campaign has been launched to bring back the Tasmanian Tiger; the carnivorous marsupial extinct in Australia since the 1930s. Despite hundreds of sightings in ensuing years, the Tassie Tiger – or thylacine – is now a distant memory. Colossal Biosciences is a tech and investment company in the US – and it’s recruited people like Paris Hilton and the Hemsworth brothers to invest in its project to...

Google is trying out pre-bunking techniques in a number of eastern European countries after a study found pre-bunking helped ‘inoculate’ people against misinformation.  The study showed 30,000 participants cartoons explaining some of the most common manipulation techniques- and later asked them about the tactics.  We speak with Jon Roozenbeek, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow at...

The Queen’s funeral is tonight and it’s expected to be the most-watched television event of all time. Four billion people are expected to tune in. It will be the end of an era in Australia with King Charles III taking over from his mother. So what will it mean for Indigenous Australians? Our very own Rhianna Patrick, a Torres Strait Islander, tells us about her connection with the Queen and how gr...

Hugh Van Cuylenburg is a bestselling author and co-host of the popular podcast, The Imperfects. Hugh works in the area of resilience, through his podcast and books, he’s worked with everyone from school kids to football stars on how to live a more resilient life. In this conversation Jamila Rizvi and Hugh Van Cuylenburg discuss embracing the current season of your life, the power of resilience and...

Rapper Tasman Keith says the ARIA Awards should be judged on art, not charts. Is he right?  Keith posted a lengthy explainer on how the ARIA Awards are not based on merit, they’re based on sales this week.  ARIA CEO Annabelle Herd joins us to explain why those claims are not quite right, but the awards could do more to acknowledge artists who fly under the radar.  We’re also joined by ARIA judge a...

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, a wide range of sanctions has been imposed by western countries. Sanctions are penalties imposed by one country on another, to stop it acting aggressively, or breaking international law.     We’re joined by David Uren - an economic analyst and commentator with the Australian   Strategic Policy Institute - to determine the real impact of the sanctions. In today’s Brief...

We have now entered the realm of King Charles III. To many, Charles is an eccentric environmentalist whose relationship with his first wife Diana filled tabloids and documentaries for decades.  Now he’s ascended the throne on his mother’s death, we take a deep dive on the man himself with Dr Cindy McCreery, a historian with the University of Sydney and an expert on the history of the Royal Family....

With the Queen’s death last week, the world woke to a new generation. We have a new King, a new heir to the throne and many expect conversations to begin about Australia’s future in the Commonwealth. What should you do if you feel unsure about the future? In today’s episode of the Briefing, we’re joined by Brigid Delaney whose new book Reasons Not To Worry - How to Be Stoic in Chaotic Times, comes...