The Briefing

We learned this week Hillsong founder and global leader Brian Houston is stepping down to fight charges that he concealed his father’s alleged sexual assault.    We discuss what this means for Hillsong and its expansion in the US.   We’re joined by Elle Hardy, author of Beyond Belief: How Pentecostal Christianity Is Taking Over the World.  Elle has travelled th...

When state governments pause elective surgeries - to free resources to handle covid cases - it’s a huge deal to people waiting for those surgeries. Elective surgeries include any procedure that doesn’t need to be done within 24 hours.  That includes some cancer procedures, even brain surgery – and these procedures are not luxury options    We were all moved by...

The aged care sector is in crisis, with hundreds dying from Covid already this year….. 2022 is already shaping up as the worst year for nursing homes in terms of pandemic deaths.  One of the hidden crises is mental health. If our parents and grandparents don’t get personal interaction, their cognitive health goes into steep decline.   We’re joined by “Julie&rdquo...

There’s a major crisis in the Australian automotive industry.  There are basically no new cars. It’s partly to do with the global semiconductor shortage, and partly to do with people having extra cash in the pandemic, splurging on a new vehicle.   James Voortman is CEO of the Australian Automotive Dealer Association.  He says the car is the second-biggest purchase f...

Students return to schools across the country this week (except for QLD) and they face a very challenging tension point for ‘living with covid’.   We’re joined by Correna Haythorpe, the Federal President of the Australian Education Union.  We know with Omicron spreading across the nation, you’ve got dozens of people in one room, a huge number of unvaccinated kids,...

You've probably heard of Shameless, the celebrity and pop culture podcast that has taken the country by storm. But who are Michelle Andrews and Zara McDonald, the notoriously private young women behind the podcasting juggernaut? In this conversation with Jamila Rizvi, Zara and Michelle unpack what gave them the courage to leave their secure jobs and try something totally new, why they like keeping...

Western Australia has been cut off from the rest of the country for the last two years.  WA Premier Mark McGowan shut the borders letting only a handful of people in, or out, since the outbreak of the pandemic.   Now Omicron is on the march across the country, it was only a matter of time before it surfaced in WA – and this month, West Australians worst fears were realised when Omi...

The world has gone crazy for rapid antigen tests.  Schoolchildren will be tested twice a week when school returns; some people are even asking their friends to show a negative test before they’ll socialise with them.   So who’s making all the money?  Millions of tests are flooding the market.  Michael Roddan is a journalist at the Australian Financial Review. ...

Daniel Nour was last night named Young Australian of the Year.   Daniel was leaving Waterloo Station in London and saw a crowd gathering – he thought it was a busker.  It was a homeless man having a seizure, and it changed his life.   Daniel has been named as one of our Young Australians of the Year after establishing Street Side Medics, a medical service for the homeless. &nb...

The world watched on as the Australian government ripped up world tennis number one Novac Djokovic’s visa.  He was taken into detention, an urgent court hearing convened, and eventually deported.  The whole saga was over and done with in less than a week.   While Novak was in detention, in the Park Hotel in Melbourne, we learned there are refugees holed up in the same hotel.&n...

57-year-old Czech folk singer Hana Horka died last week after getting Covid... she was unvaccinated... and chose not to isolate from her husband and son when they contracted covid around Christmas.   Her son Jan Rek joins us to tell us how and why his mother chose to catch Covid, resulting in her sudden death.   We’ve spoken to people here in Australia about deliberately catching C...

Growing up on the Sunshine Coast, Michelle Law was both very aware and a little resistant to her own Chinese-ness. As an adult, she has embraced the cross-cultural narrative, putting her experiences into writing books, essays, plays and television series. In this conversation with Jamila Rizvi, Michelle Law talks about her new book Asian Girls Are Going Places, how she’s trying to unlearn so...

People are deliberately trying to catch Covid-19.  Some are hoping by catching it now, they can make sure they’re Covid-free for a big event, maybe a wedding or a birthday celebration.  So is it a good idea?    Two of our Briefing listeners are actively trying to catch it – Mel and David – but Professor Catherine Bennett, chair of epidemiology at Deakin Univer...

Today marks one year in the White House for US President Joe Biden.   We’re joined by Damien Cave, the New York Times’ Australian correspondent, who details the big challenges Biden faces to turn around falling approval figures and rising inflation, while taking on Covid-19, diversity ….and Donald Trump.   On today’s Briefing, we review Joe Biden’s first ye...

Australia has been gripped by the Novak Djokovic saga.  His plight has highlighted a much wider vaccine story emerging in Eastern Europe.   Some countries like Bulgaria, are facing an Omicron surge – and their vaccination rates are less than 50 percent.  Vojin Rakic, Professor at the University of Belgrade - a Serbian philosopher and political scientist – says some...

American comedian and sports commentator Joe Rogan hosts the most popular podcast in the world – often clocking up 11 million listens per episode.  Last week, an Australian journalist and radio presenter appeared on the podcast.  His name is Josh Szeps.   Josh hosts Afternoons on ABC Radio Sydney, and spent more than a decade in the US appearing regularly on television and rad...

Australians are finding supermarket shelves empty – again.   It’s largely due to the fact the federal government has told us all to prepare to catch Covid.   People are frightened we’re headed for another extended lockdown.   In a bid to free up the blockages in food and grocery supply chains, the Commonwealth made changes to the list of occupations consi...

Lucy Durack is the human personification of sunshine. The former star of the Australian production of Wicked is one of the most sought after people in show business and yet someone manages to make time for everyone. How does she do that? In this episode the actress, reality TV star, mum and queen of Australian musical theater talks to Jamila Rizvi about not being a natural singer, the joy of playi...

The world is pre-occupied with the Covid Omicron explosion, but a huge story is playing out in a standoff between Russia and the United States over the Ukraine.  100,000 Russian troops have massed at the Russia/Ukraine border – and the world is nervously watching, waiting for Vladimir Putin’s next move.   Adam Creighton, the Australian newspaper’s US correspondent talks...

Three leading health experts have released a joint statement asking Australia’s leaders to reintroduce some Covid restrictions, such as mask-wearing and a limit on indoor gatherings, until more is known about the highly contagious new Omicron variant.   John Kaldor is professor of epidemiology at the Kirby Institute and the UNSW. He says the original reopening plan had been develop...

Covid’s Omicron variant is running riot across the country.  Some of our listeners, who are nurses, told us about the strain they’re under. Dr Stephen Parnis works in three Melbourne emergency departments - and is the former vice president of the Australian Medical Association. Dr Stephen tells us what it's like in the hospitals right now.  Nurses are at breaking point, docto...

The world is watching Australia deal with Novak Djokovic, the number one men’s tennis player on the planet.  Novak wants to compete in the Australian Open next week – and potentially win a record-breaking tenth Aus Open title.   The Morrison government wants him deported – it says he hasn’t complied with Border Force requirements to secure the necessary visa.&nbsp...

Covid’s Omicron variant is running riot across Australia.  Tens of thousands of people are testing positive, throwing our Christmas and summer holiday plans into chaos.   We asked our listeners to send in their questions and asked Dr Paul Griffin, infectious disease expert and microbiologist at Brisbane’s Mater Hospital, to answer them.   On today’s Briefing&hellip...

More Australian Open exemptions under scrutiny; and the US marks the first anniversary of the deadly Capitol riots See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Todays Headlines Millions eligible for booster shot from today Canberra foots the bill for 84 million rapid tests QLD beaches still closed due to wild seas Big Bash teams to enter a hub Follow The Briefing AND DON'T FORGET TO SIGN UP FOR THE BRIEFING NEWSLETTER. LINK IS IN OUR BIO ON INSTAGRAM Instagram:  @thebriefingpodcast  Facebook:  TheBriefingNewsAU Twitter:  @ TheBriefing...