The 2021 Paralympics are kicking off in Tokyo and wheelchair tennis champion Dylan Alcott couldn't be more excited to compete.

But it wasn't always gold medals and champagne showers. Dylan tells Hack how sport helped him emerge from a really dark time.

Plus, young Aussie workers heading into COVID hotspots to work each day say they feel unsafe and unsupported by their employers and the government - so what needs to change?

And, a hairdresser is giving fellow locked-down people free Zoom haircutting tutorials so they don't end up with dodgy DIY mullets.

Live guests:

Mairead Lesman, Acting director of Young Workers Centre

Dylan Alcott, Paralympian and wheelchair tennis champion

Nic Singer, Sydney hairdresser

National Cabinet agreed to start reopening the country when 80 percent of the eligible population is vaccinated - but now some states are saying they'll still use lockdowns if necessary.

The jitters are a result of outbreaks in Victoria and New South Wales but the Prime Minister says the country needs to prepare to live with COVID-19.

One part of opening up will be music festivals - but with Splendour and Bluesfest cancelled again this year, there are concerns there isn't a timeline for the live music industry to get back up and running.

Live guests:

Tony Blakeley, Epidemiologist Professor, University of Melbourne.

Peter Noble, Bluesfest owner.

Julia Robinson, Australian Festival Association.

It's the Shake Up and we're talking…

Stricter lockdown restrictions in NSW, increasing our intake of refugees from Afghanistan and how some young Aussies are waking up as early as 5am to be more productive.

Join Hack's Avani Dias with writer and advocate Tarang Chawla and Daily Telegraph journalist Eliza Barr.

While many of us are taking advantage of our pandemic sleep-ins, some ambitious young Aussies are waking up as early as 5am to work on their side hustles and personal projects. But is waking up early all it's made out to be?

More than 100,000 people have signed a petition calling for the Australian Government to let more refugees in from Afghanistan after the PM announced we’d grant humanitarian visas for 3,000 vulnerable people.

Plus, what to do when your mate disappears into a relationship.

Live guests:

Elaine Pearson, Human Rights Watch Australia

Dr Jo Lukins, psychology consultant and author

Elizabeth Shaw, Relationships Australia

Meet the Melbourne teenager who’s trying to join the board of Australia's largest greenhouse gas emitter, electricity company AGL.

Despite the IPCC’s stark calls for urgent action on climate change, Victoria has approved a gas project near the Twelve Apostles.

NSW has set another record today with 633 new COVID-19 cases, and experts say workplace transmission is driving the numbers.

Live guests:

Sally McManus, The Australian Council of Trade Unions

Ashjayeen Sharif, climate activist

Hack asks Barnaby Joyce about the government’s slow vaccine rollout in regional and remote Australia and why First Nations communities are lagging behind.

And, we get his thoughts on the IPCC’s dire climate report and his plans to tackle emissions.

Plus, an investigation by the ABC's Foreign Correspondent has found many of the clothes we donate to charities end up in rotting textile mountains in West Africa, creating an environmental disaster.

Live guests:

Barnaby Joyce, deputy PM and leader of the Nationals party

Clare Press, sustainable fashion expert and presenter of the Wardrobe Crisis podcast.

Two decades after they lost power of the country, Afghanistan is back in the hands of the Taliban.

Humanitarian groups and Afghan Australians are urging the federal government to consider a special intake of Afghan refugees facing threats from the militant organisation.

And, young veterans talk to Hack about watching Afghanistan fall.

Live guests:

Andrew Quilty, Australian photojournalist

Shamsiya Hussainpoor, Afghan Australian from Melbourne

Stuart McCarthy, Retired army officer

It's the Shake Up and we're talking…

The IPCC’s dire report on climate change, privileges for vaccinated people and why gardening makes us feel so good.

Join Hack's Avani Dias with former federal MP Wyatt Roy and climate activist Varsha Yajman.

We know conspiracies are all over Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, but we've discovered misinformation about Australia's COVID lockdowns have been going viral on TikTok, fuelled by the app’s powerful algorithm.

And, influencers are helping to peddle this dangerous information.

Plus, how you can spot fake posts on social media and protect yourself and your community from going down conspiratorial rabbit holes.

Live guests:

Dr Joshua Roose, extremism researcher at Deakin Uni

Dr Brad McKay, GP and author of ‘Fake Medicine’

Dr Tanya Notley, researcher at Western Sydney University

As we all try to figure out how to get through the pandemic, some young people are taking up gardening. And research shows it makes us feel pretty good.

The Federal government is floating a new law it says protects religious freedom, but critics say it’ll actually make it easier to discriminate against minorities.

Plus, Instagram has launched new tools to help athletes deal with racist abuse. But is it too little, too late?

Live guests:

Steph Lentz, former English teacher at Sydney’s Covenant Christian School

Kusini Yengi, Adelaide United player

Costa Georgiadis, Gardening Australia