The Briefing

China has trumpeted their suppression of Covid-19 since the virus first emerged within their own borders and are now locking down on Delta, but are they doing as well as they seem?   Bill Birtles is the ABC’s China correspondent and up until last year he was living in Beijing.  He was in Wuhan, at the virus’ ground zero, as Covid spread around the world.   Bill’s b...

The world watched on as Australia’s Ariarne Titmus and the USA’s Katie Ledecky prepared to battle it out in the women’s 200m and 400m freestyle events at the Tokyo Olympics.  Ledecky is regarded as the greatest female swimmer of all time.    Could the 20-year-old Ariarne Titmus beat the queen of the pool.  Yes!!    Ariarne joins us this morning from...

Being the son of a rugby league legend didn’t quite fit with Brandon Jack.  His new book ‘28’ delves deep into the search for his own identity while living a life that was imagined for him. He didn't really fit that life.   The book is so much more than a football memoir….it’s a snapshot of the professional sport psyche. It’s full of vivid details of...

Podcast aficionados will know Jacob Stanley as the co-host of Just The Gist with Rosie Waterland. But before his media life, he was the Head of Learning and Development at the beauty juggernaut Mecca, traveling the world for makeup.   For the past year and a half, he’s been podcasting on the road as he chasing his travel bug nomadically around Australia. He talks to Jamila Rizvi from th...

Are you concerned about media experts getting lots of media airtime to talk about Covid-19. but getting it wrong, often being way too pessimistic?  It feels like it’s impossible to filter out all the white noise to get to the facts we need to make an informed decision.   Dr Nick Coatsworth was the Deputy CMO for six months, he’s an infectious disease expert and the Director o...

News broke this week that a US company had made a $39 billion bid for Australian firm, Afterpay.  It is the biggest business deal in the history of the Australian Stock Exchange.   A company that is created and then grows massively in a short amount of time is called a ‘unicorn’.  Jonathan Shapiro and James Eyers are reporters for the Australian Financial Review and the...

T ODAY'S HEADLINES PM unveils vaccine threshold, admits need for restrictions NSW sets vaccination goal for lifting restrictions Wuhan back in lockdown amid Delta chaos Olympic finals for Kookaburras and Boomers Payphones to become free Follow The Briefing Instagram:  @thebriefingpodcast  Facebook:  TheBriefingNewsAU Twitter:  @ TheBriefingAU  YouTube : http://bit.ly/TheBr...

The Tokyo Games has been Australia’s most successful Olympics in the pool ever, with nine gold medals.  In Rio, five years ago, we won three.  In London, we won just one.    The Australian swimming team has always been about the men – but in Tokyo, eight out of nine medals were won by female swimmers... which got us to number two in the world... behind the US w...

Ampol is sponsoring Surf Lifesaving Australia.  The giant oil company says its money will go to saving lives and its name will appear on the sleeves of surf club members on beaches right across Australia this summer.   The wider surfing community says the clubs should not be taking money from oil companies that contribute to global warming.  Sean Doherty is Chairperson of Surfrider...

Osher Günsberg is a familiar face on Australian television, having hosted Australian Idol, The Bachelor franchise and Masked Singer Australia.   However, off-screen, Osher is a much more complicated and complex man. He talks openly with Jamila Rizvi about his struggles with alcoholism and depression, finding spiritual connections in changing his name, his family life both now and growing...

There is so much information circulating about Pfizer, AstraZeneca and vaccines in general.  No one knows what to believe.   Dr Nick Coatsworth is former Deputy Chief Medical Officer….and Executive Director of Medical Services at Canberra Hospital. He features in the federal government’s ads urging us to get vaccinated.   We invited our listeners to send in their questi...

One of our listeners asked us to do an episode on the Friendlyjordies story. Friendlyjordies is Youtube star, Jordan Shanks - a 31-year-old from Sydney.  He started his satirical YouTube channel eight years ago, has half a million subscribers and has racked up 135m views. He’s part comedian part political commentator   Friendlyjordies published a series of videos personally attacki...

Australia is currently in the middle of a massive timber shortage.  It means the booming construction industry has had to hit the brakes.   Angela Lillicrap, Chief Economist with the Housing Industry Association explains the reasons for the shortage; Mark Swadling from Sydney’s Swadling Timbers explains what it means for the industry; and Andrew Page, a builder tells us what it mea...

Donald Trump is back on the hustings in the US. He’s talking up his chances of reclaiming the White House.   So, how likely is he to run again in 2024?  Does he have the money?  Does he have the support?  Could one of his family members bump him from the top of the ballot paper?     Ron Elving, is Senior Editor and correspondent on the Washington desk for N...

Next month, Independent NSW MP Alex Greenwich will introduce a voluntary assisted dying bill to the state’s parliament.  Under the proposal, adults with a terminal illness that will cause death within six months, can access assisted dying with the approval of two doctors.    Like recently adopted legislation in South Australia and Queensland, health practitioners can conscient...

Comedian Nazeem Hussain became a household name after reaching the final of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here , made his American TV debut sharing a screen with Bill Nye and has a comedy special on Netflix.   But Nazeem never meant to become an international comedy success as Jamila Rizvi finds out. The two talk about Nazeem’s heritage, growing up in Melbourne’s Mus...

The Tokyo Olympics is finally here!  The pandemic meant the Games were delayed by a year….and there were times this year when it looked like they might not go ahead.   We meet two young Australians hoping to win gold in their respective sports.  Australian Hockey midfielder, Renee Taylor; and Australian freestyle BMX rider Natalya Diehm have trained for years for the opportun...

The Australian music industry is on its knees.  Artists and promoters have had gigs and festivals cancelled as a result of the most recent Covid lockdowns.   Reuben Styles, one half of Peking Duk, joins us to talk about the impact on local artists.  Many are desperate to get back to what they do best….and to make matters worse, they’re seeing sports venues packed to the...

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has highlighted NSW’s role in seeding the outbreak that’s led to Victoria’s current lockdown and many Melburnians have expressed anger at Sydney for not containing the outbreak.   We’re joined by the much-loved Melbourne musician Rebecca Barnard who is furious because the local music industry was just starting to find its feet again.&nb...

UFOs are back on the radar in the US.   On June 25, the Director of National Intelligence did put out a report on UFOs... but they call them something slightly different. The report was titled... Preliminary Assessment: Unidentified Aerial Phenomena.   The report looked at 144 sightings.... and follows on from a move by the department of defence in April last year to declassify thre...

Today, July 19, is Freedom Day in the UK. Prime Minister Boris Johnson sold it as the day Great Britain “goes back to life as it was before Covid”. Our team reached out to a handful of Brits who disagree with Mr Johnson.   We’re also joined by Bevan Shields, UK correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald who says life is definitely returning to normal; and Martin McK...

Kate Ellis was elected to the seat of Adelaide at the age of 27, and held the title of the youngest person to become a federal minister at 30.  After working in Parliament House for 12 years before leaving the profession to prioritise her family life and to write her book  Sex, Lies and Question Time: Why the Successes and Struggles of Women in Australia's Parliament Matter to Us All. Ja...

Ash Barty and Dylan Alcott kept Australia mesmerised last weekend when they won their respective Wimbledon titles.  Both are bona fide champions….but how do they get themselves in shape mentally?   Ben Crowe works with both Ash and Dylan. He’s their mindset coach.  He gets them in the right frame of mind to face their opposition….and their fears.   So what c...

No one likes having difficult conversations.  It’s easier NOT to talk about things like death, sex and money.  But we DO need to have those conversations   Anna Sale is an author and host of WNYC’s podcast, Death, Sex & Money.  Her new book is Let’s Talk About Hard Things: Death, Sex & Money.  Anna tells us how and why we need to have conversation...

The nation is watching Sydney right now as it struggles to get this Covid-19 outbreak under control.  For people in Melbourne, it's looking eerily similar to the second wave that sent the Victorian capital into 112 days of lockdown last winter...     There is speculation Sydney’s so-called ‘lockdown lite’ is to blame.   We’re joined b...