The Briefing

One of our listeners sent us a message asking us to do an episode on whether Botox is dangerous.  We know it’s become incredibly popular since it was approved for cosmetic use 20 years ago    We’re joined by Dr Cara McDonald, a dermatologist from Sunbury in Victoria.  Dr Cara tells us what Botox is, why it’s so popular….and the best way to make the most...

Mariam Dabboussy was married in 2011 and she and her husband went on a holiday in 2015.  Her husband took her into Syria and joined the ISIS fight to establish a caliphate.  He was killed just before their second child was born.  Mariam was subsequently married off twice more.   Her father, Kamalle Dabboussy joins us to tell his daughter’s story – and to talk about...

A big episode for a big name! Dannii Minogue is one of the country's golden girls, with Australians growing up with her on Young Talent Time before she cracked the international market as a pop success; and now as a mum, podcaster and fashion designer, while gracing our screens as a television show judge.   Amidst her astronomical fame has been turmoil, from relentless paparazzi snapping her...

Covid 19 has made avoiding plastics a lot harder; cafes stopped taking keep cups, there was an increase in food and grocery deliveries - all wrapped in plastic and use of disposal PPE gear spiked … for obvious reasons.     On today’s Briefing - are we losing the fight on plastics? We’re joined by Kate Noble,  World Wildlife Fund Australia’s No Plas...

In today’s briefing - the vaping problem in schools. Teachers and parents are extremely worried that school students are illegally dealing vapes... and that more and more students are taking it up.    There are reports that increasingly younger students, even primary students, are taking it up.  Rudy and Maya, year 12 students give us their first-hand experience.  We&rsqu...

In 2019, Bridie Jabour wrote a piece for the Guardian about the malaise of millennials.  She found herself and her friends talking about the painful, protracted end of their adolescence.    They're looking at their lives and thinking: 'Is this it? Have I chosen the right place to live, the right job, the right partner? Am I, perhaps, not as special as I thought?'   The article...

Joanna, a Briefing listener, wrote to us via Instagram to ask us to do a story on the discovery of First Nation’s children in Canada.  Hundreds of bodies have been found in unmarked graves.   We’re joined by Kerry Benjoe - a journalist from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and a former residential school student; and Fiona Cornforth, CEO of The Healing Foundation. ...

In the last two weeks dozens of people from Afghanistan have been evacuated to Australia because the war is ending - many had worked as interpreters for Australian troops.    Harry Moffitt worked alongside these local interpreters in the theatre of war.  He says we’re not getting enough of them out... and we’re not getting them out fast enough. Glenn Kolomeitz works...

Michael Clarke has been called Australia’s controversial cricket captain. This kid from the western suburbs, with his blonde tipped hair, famous girlfriends and love of fast cars, took the conservative cricketing world by surprise. But it was what he achieved on the field that captured the country’s attention and inspired another generation of wannabe cricket stars. Jamila Rizvi talks...

In this Briefing we’re going to take you into the world of Britney Spears - from where it all began to now - where she’s fighting to free herself from a 13-year conservatorship that she says is abusive.    Last week in a 23-minute statement she told a US judge that under the conservatorship she had been drugged, forced to perform against her will and made to continue using bi...

Many Australians are addicted to their phones.  We spend countless hours staring at our devices. A recent Monash University study found 43.3 per cent of respondents spent over three hours a day on their phone! The same study measured nomophobia (no mobile phone phobia) finding 99.2% of users have some fear of being without their phone. Jenni Gritters is a US-based journalist who ditched her s...

Three of Singapore’s most senior government officials wrote an article in the national newspaper, the Straits Times, to say the island nation was considering major changes to how it deals with Covid-19.   They suggested it was time to start “living with Covid”, and it was time to stop reporting daily cases, to get back to going to major events – and basically to treat...

Ever heard the term helicopter parenting?  Well, it’s about parents hovering over their children making sure they are never put at risk.   Daisy Turnbull says not letting children take risks leaves them exposed to challenges later in life.  Her book 50 Risks You Should Take with Your Kids not only provides inspiration, it also gives parenting tips on getting bogged down in gui...

The Tokyo Olympic Games begin on July 23rd. It’s the world’s biggest event, but with Covid-19 still running amok in Japan, locals are concerned the games will see cases skyrocket.   We thought we’d ask locals if they want the event to go ahead.   We’re joined by Japanese lawyer Yoshihisa Hayakawa; Tokyo locals Moeca Takeshima and Hiroki Kawai and Tom’s...

Waleed Aly is one of the smartest people on Australian television. As well as sitting at The Project desk, writing columns for the Nine newspapers or hosting one of his many podcasts, Waleed is very busy out of the media limelight.    He is an obsessive Richmond Tigers supporter, the lead guitarist for rock band Robot Child, husband to wife Susan Carland, and dad to Aisha and Zayd. Jamil...

Australia’s vaccine rollout has been a disaster.   So far only 2.8 percent of Australians have been fully vaccinated... In Israel 57% are fully vaccinated.    In Israel they prioritised the Pfizer vaccine, in Australia we bet harder on the AstraZeneca vaccine... and backed the wrong horse.   Professor Bill Bowtell is Adjunct Professor at UNSW’s K...

The US-Korean writer and musician Michelle Zauner’s new book is called Crying in H Mart. It’s about how she found herself crying in her local Korean grocery store in the wake of her mother’s death.    Michelle tells the story of her relationship with her mother and how she didn’t realise when she was growing up, food was her mother’s way of expressing her lo...

The US rapper Mac Miller died in his LA home in 2018.  It was accidental overdose of fentanyl, cocaine and alcohol.  He was just 26 years old.   LA prosecutors say Miller thought he'd been sold the painkiller oxycodone but it had actually been laced with fentanyl, a powerful drug that is 50 times more potent than heroin.  Rhian Daly from Britain’s NME joins us to talk abo...

China has made no secret of its plans to dominate the space race.  So how does this latest space race reflect tensions here on earth?     Beijing has launched the Tiangong Space station...a rival site to the aging international space station.  Last month they landed a remote-controlled rover on Mars making it only the second country after the US to operate a rover there.&n...

In this briefing we’re bringing you Brock ‘Chooka’ McLean’s story.    He played in the AFL for ten years up until 2014... playing157 games with Carlton and Melbourne. But while he was kicking goals on the field … it was a very different story behind the scenes.    Over a third of people with eating disorders are male and Brock was one of them - he...

Nyadol Nyuon was dealt a hand of cards against her from birth. At just four-years-old, the conflict in Ethiopia forced her family to trek 40 days to South Sudan where they settled in a refugee camp.   It was there that she was split up from her mother, caring for her siblings while her father led the liberation army. It was only after her father was killed when she was a teenager that she was...

Scientists have come up with a plan to send egg, sperm and seed samples from 6.7 million Earth species to a vault inside the moon.    Jekan Thanga, Assistant Professor of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Arizona is part of the team planning to store  eggs, sperm, seeds and other DNA matter inside lunar lava tubes - massive caverns under the moon’s surf...

Brisbane is one step away from hosting the 2032 Olympic Games.  What will it mean for the city - and the country? Five-time Olympian and Sydney gold medallist Natalie Cook has been involved in the Brisbane bid since day one.   The Games will also feature events on the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast, spread across almost 40 venues.   So what will it mean for south-east Queensland...

There’s a theory… called ‘Birth Order Theory’... originally developed by psychologist Alfred Adler last century… that says whether you’re a first born, a middle child or the youngest… has a huge influence on how successful you’ll be, your personality and your view of the world.     ABS figures out last year show our fertility rate a...

Lately it feels like meditation is being mentioned everywhere.   Celebrities like Chris Hemsworth and Diddy have recently released guided meditations you can download… there are meditation apps for kids…. and even cats! And it’s popping up on movies and TV shows like Billions, where the main character, who’s a hedge fund trader, meditates before negotiating...