

The Briefing
LiSTNR
A daily news podcast, The Briefing gives you the latest headlines, discussion and explainer interviews to keep you informed and entertained.
Bringing you the news you need to know at 6am and 4pm Monday to Friday, and profile features across the weekend, The Briefing is Australia's go-to news podcast for your commute, coffee or exercise.
Hosted by journalists Sacha Barbour Gatt, Chris Spyrou, Natarsha Belling, Helen Smith and Antoinette Lattouf.
Bringing you the news you need to know at 6am and 4pm Monday to Friday, and profile features across the weekend, The Briefing is Australia's go-to news podcast for your commute, coffee or exercise.
Hosted by journalists Sacha Barbour Gatt, Chris Spyrou, Natarsha Belling, Helen Smith and Antoinette Lattouf.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 29, 2023 • 20min
What it's like to live in the nightmare world of OCD from the age of six
The stereotypes of OCD are hand washing and checking door locks, but for many people it’s the underlying thoughts that derail their life and steal their happiness. In this episode Penny Moodie, author of The Joy Thief, shares her darkest thoughts with Tom Tilley and explains how exposure therapy worked to help her. Headlines: STC issues apology over on-stage pro-Palestinian display Calls for the ceasefire in Gaza to be extended Annual inflation figure has dropped Follow The Briefing:Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAU See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nov 29, 2023 • 11min
How much should we blame Coles and Woolies for surging grocery prices?
How can Coles and Woolworths claim to keep prices down while recording record profits? Our two supermarket giants have recorded rising profits, each netting more than $1 billion in 2023. With Australians buckling under cost of living pressure, families struggling to put food on the table, and interest rates climbing, households are at breaking point. In other words, “Up, up, prices are up” and “Every day high prices”. In this extra episode of The Briefing, our investigations editor Clair Weaver joins us to explain what’s going on with Coles and Woolies' rising prices – and what we can do about it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nov 28, 2023 • 16min
Why the government is apologising to thalidomide survivor Trish Jackson
The government is making a formal apology to the victims of thalidomide today. Thalidomide was a drug given to pregnant women in the 50s and 60s to treat morning sickness, it was then discovered to cause birth defects in unborn children. In this episode of The Briefing Katrina Blowers speaks to thalidomide survivor, Trish Jackson about what the apology means to her and her family. Headlines: More Israeli hostages and Palestinians released as ceasefire continues Update on Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial 41 Indian workers rescued from tunnel after 17 days Follow The Briefing:Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAU See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nov 28, 2023 • 9min
The Albanese government is banning Nazi salutes. Here's why
The Albanese Government will introduce legislation to the federal parliament tomorrow officially banning Nazi salutes. It follows a decision in June this year to criminalise the public display of, and trade in, Nazi hate symbols. In this extra episode of The Briefing, we're joined by the Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, as he explains amendments to legislation to be put to the parliament tomorrow will make the Nazi salute a criminal offence under Commonwealth law.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nov 27, 2023 • 19min
What really went down with reinstated ChatGPT boss Sam Altman?
Sam Altman was fired from his position as CEO of OpenAI and then four days later was reinstated. Altman is the darling of Silicon Valley, with Open AI now the hottest company in tech today, having released the ChatGPT chatbot and DALL-E image generator. In this episode of The Briefing Tom Tilley speaks with AI scientist Toby Walsh about who Altman is and what this latest saga tells us about what’s going on at the top of the tech world. Headlines: Gaza truce extended for two days Australia to ban disposable single use vape imports Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial update Follow The Briefing:Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAUSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nov 27, 2023 • 12min
With the sky-high cost of living, has Albo's popularity paid the price?
Today’s Newspoll figures show Anthony Albanese is on the nose with voters. If an election were held this weekend, the ALP would lose six seats and face governing with a minority government. So what’s behind Albo’s decline? Is it just the Voice, the cost of living, immigration and border issues, being out of the country and interest rates? Or is Peter Dutton managing to make the most of key Coalition strengths, national security, economic management and immigration? In this extra episode of The Briefing, we’re joined by Sarah Ison from the Australian newspaper’s Canberra Bureau, to sift through the latest Newspoll numbers to try to determine why voters are turning their backs on the Albanese government as the parliamentary year winds to a close.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nov 26, 2023 • 20min
Meet the Aussie bringing CCTV into space to tackle real-life star wars
An Australian start-up called HEO is bringing CCTV into space. The technology HEO uses is world-first and works at phenomenal speeds; doing everything from checking on the health of a satellite to de-escalating world conflicts thanks to its use in counter-espionage. HEO even has contracts with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. In this episode of The Briefing, Tom Tilley finds out from Dr William Crowe, the Sydney-based founder of HEO, what’s going on above our heads. Headlines: Third hostage-prisoner exchange takes place Support for federal Labor in decline according ot Newspoll More than 80 arrests at world's largest coal port Follow The Briefing:Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAUSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nov 25, 2023 • 16min
BONUS: An expert's warning about the future dangers of AI in dating
In the near future, experts predict everyone will have a personal AI assistant that'll be able to perform all sorts of tasks for you - potentially even finding and screening people for you to date... Before you've even interacted with them. Earlier this week, The Briefing brought you an episode about how dating apps are using AI at the moment, and how that could change over the next few years. In this bonus episode, you'll hear the full interview between LiSTNR journalist Micaela Savage and Professor Joel Pearson - a psychologist, neuroscientist and the Director of the Future Minds Lab at UNSW.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nov 24, 2023 • 30min
Genesis Owusu is 25 years old and already has seven ARIAs
Genesis Owusu is an award winning musician and artist, taking home 3 ARIA's just a couple of weeks ago including album of the year. Moving from Ghana to Canberra when he was 2 years old, since then he has become a trailblazer in the Aussie music landscape. In this chat with Tom Tilley, Genesis reveals how grew up with a confidence and sense of self that most of us spend years trying to cultivate. Weekend list: Tom’s pasta recipe Helen’s gratitude journal from Kmart Robbie Williams Doco series on Netflix Kris Kringle with Drawnames.com.au Send us your Weekend List suggestions on Instagram at @thebriefingpodcast!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nov 24, 2023 • 10min
Cash and Carols: The surprising impact of music on your spending habits
What was once an American tradition has now come to signal the start of the busy festive season in Australia: the Black Friday sales, which are now underway and will last right through to Monday night. According to research by Roy Morgan, Aussies are tipped to spend a whopping $6.36 billion dollars over the next four days, with more than half of us on the hunt for cheaper Christmas gifts. While shops won't have to try that hard to get us in the doors this weekend and in the lead-up to Christmas, there is a sneaky trick they're using to get us to spend more. On today's extra episode of The Briefing, we're digging deeper into the world of Christmas songs and how they subconsciously get us to drop more cash during the festive season.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.