The Briefing

Are you in need of a go-to explainer on what the hell is going on with the stock market and how it could affect you?

This time last week, everything was coming up Milhouse for Australian investors.

The Australian Stock Exchange – or ASX – hit yet another record high after months of relatively consistent growth.

But since Friday markets across the globe have been tumbling, and $100 billion has been wiped off the value of Australian shares alone.

Dr Angela Jackson is Lead Economist at Impact Economics - she joins Bension Siebert on The Briefing to break down what it all means for you.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

September 11, the Iraq War and John Howard’s prime ministership were among the most pivotal news events of the early 2000’s. 

But did you know that during that same period, Australia lived through its biggest corruption scandal – where Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was paid kickbacks for lucrative Australian wheat contracts?

Today, investigative reporter Richard Baker launches a major new LiSTNR podcast, Secrets We Keep: Baghdad Nights, diving deep into the scandal, offering new revelations and focusing on the humanity of the people caught up in it.

He joins Bension Siebert on The Briefing to reflect on how Australia’s politics and media can fail to capture the nuance of a major scandal, and the lessons he’s learned getting to know the real people involved.

Headlines:

Olympics Update 

Stock market plunge over US recession fears

The national terror threat level raised from ‘possible’ to ‘probable’

Bangladeshi PM flees the country

Kamala Harris set to unveil her running mate

Follow The Briefing:
TikTok: @listnrnewsroom
Instagram: @listnrnewsroom @thebriefingpodcast 
YouTube: @LiSTNRnewsroom
Facebook: @LiSTNR Newsroom

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Yesterday, Nine Newspapers reported the government was about to walk away from a near-total ban on gambling ads across the country, to instead focus on banning gambling ads from social media and other digital platforms. The new plan for TV would reportedly be caps on the number of gambling ads per hour and banning them an hour before and after live sport. 

The reported proposal – which goes against the plan originally designed and championed by Labor’s Peta Murphy, who died last year – has prompted outrage on both sides of the debate. 

Anti-gambling advocates say the new proposal doesn’t go nearly far enough, while the big players in this conversation, sporting bodies, say banning gambling ads threatens revenue that funds grassroots and free-to-air sport. Media companies, including NewsCorp and Nine, argue such a ban threatens jobs. 

David Pocock is in a unique position to deeply understand this issue—he's both a former Rugby Union star and an independent senator for the ACT. He joined Bension Siebert to explain why the news has made him angry and what he thinks the government should do about gambling ads going forward. 

This episode mentions suicide. If you or anyone you know needs help, please reach out to Lifeline on 13 11 14.  

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Would you wear an ‘always-on’ AI chatbot buddy around your neck to keep you company?

Meet your newest ‘Friend’. Picture a small, white pendant – kind of like an Apple AirTag, about the size of a button large – enclosed in a necklace so it sits perfectly at your chest. It’s watching, listening, and ready to chat to you all day, every day.

A user wears their ‘Friend’, talks to it with the press of a button, and then the chatbot responds via text through the app.

The point of the ‘Friend’ is simply to keep people company, but what are the implications of technology you wear and talk to 24/7, and what does its creation say about who we are becoming as a society? 

On this episode of The Briefing, Sacha Barbour Gatt is joined by the lead engineer of Friend, Jackson Mowatt Gok, to explain why it's been created, and what he hopes it will achieve.

Headlines:

Olympics wrap

Makarrata Commission scrapped by Albanese government

US recession fears spook stock market 

French pole vaulter talks after going viral for one ‘big’ reason 

Follow The Briefing:
TikTok: @listnrnewsroom
Instagram: @listnrnewsroom @thebriefingpodcast 
YouTube: @LiSTNRnewsroom
Facebook: @LiSTNR Newsroom

 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Daizy Maan Kaur is full of surprises and her name is one of them.

She’s the founder of Brown Women Comedy and Soul house with a mission to create more inclusive spaces for south Asian and migrant women.

 

In this chat with Antoinette Lattouf, Daizy reveals where her comedic side came from and why she legally changed her name when she was just thirteen.

 

Weekend List

• TO DO - Short term goal setting planners
• TO EAT - Paddle pops
• TO READ - Meet the queen of the ‘trad wives’ (and her eight children) by Megan Agnew in The Times
• TO WEAR - Hair tie for a belt
• TO WATCH - Customise your Olympics experience

Follow The Briefing:
TikTok: @listnrnewsroom
Instagram: @listnrnewsroom @thebriefingpodcast 
YouTube: @LiSTNRnewsroom
Facebook: @LiSTNR Newsroom

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Overnight, Italy’s Angela Carini abruptly withdrew from her Paris Olympics boxing match against Algeria's Imane Khelif, saying she’s never felt a punch as hard as the one Khelif delivered to her nose in that match. 

Khelif had previously been disqualified from last year’s World Boxing Championships after failing a gender eligibility test, and the debate surrounding the withdrawal has added fuel to an already toxic conversation about the role of sex and gender in sport.

The science has been clear for a long time - sex and gender are anything but binary. But how should we draw the line, to keep what is an inescapably physical competition fair for everyone involved? 

Eric Windholz is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law at Monash University and an expert in the law and regulation of sport. He joins Bension Siebert on The Briefing to unpack how sex testing became a part of the Olympics in the first place, and the challenge global sport is facing to reconcile science with fairness in world-class competition.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Suncorp Super Netball Grand Final is happening tomorrow, with the Adelaide Thunderbirds facing off against the Melbourne Vixens at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. The Thunderbirds hoping to win back-to-back titles and its set to be a thrilling game. 

This season has been the most attended in the history of Australian women’s sport, with a record-breaking 331,841 fans, marking a 25% increase from last year.

But despite national and International appeal, a developing game and high profile stars, why hasn’t netball had a ‘Matildas moment’?

In this episode of The Briefing, Helen Smith is joined by former player turned TV commentator Bianca Chatfield to hear all about tomorrow’s grand final, and how netball plans to make the most of the surge in interest in women’s sport. 

Headlines:

Another successful night at the Olympics 

Russia prisoner swap

Trump’s race comments trigger bipartisan criticism 

Mercury could be covered in diamonds 

 

Follow The Briefing:
TikTok: @listnrnewsroom
Instagram: @listnrnewsroom @thebriefingpodcast 
YouTube: @LiSTNRnewsroom
Facebook: @LiSTNR Newsroom

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Iran has vowed “revenge” on Israel and negotiations to end the war in Gaza have been thrown into doubt after the killing of a Hamas leader in Iran. Meanwhile, Australians have been urged to leave Lebanon as fighting between Israel and Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah escalates.

In the last few weeks, fears of a widening conflict have grown. So why are Israel and Iran at each other’s throats? And are we really at the precipice of all-out war in the region?

Kylie Moore-Gilbert is an expert in middle eastern politics. She joins Sacha Barbour Gatt on The Briefing to break down the recent increase in violence, and what she thinks is on the horizon.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is your social media serving you ‘tradwife’ – or traditional wife – content?

These creators embrace a ‘traditional existence’, which includes being a wife, mother and homemaker, making things like sourdough to bubble gum from scratch, and honouring a nuclear family, their husband and God.

Big names, including Nara Smith, Estee Williams and Ballerina Farm AKA Hannah Neeleman, are amassing millions of likes and views making tradwife content that some see as an innocent escape from modern life, while others believe to be glamourising power imbalances in traditional gender roles.

Megan Agnew is a senior features writer from The Times. Her interview with one of the most iconic tradwives, Ballerina Farm, has forced discourse on the topic offline and into the real world. She joins The Briefing’s Helen Smith to discuss the public debate its created, and if this is women’s “Andrew Tate moment”.

Headlines:

Another golden night in Paris for the Aussies

Iran vows revenge over Hanas leader killing 

Threats to Australia’s politicians have almost doubled

Diet and exercise as beneficial as therapy for mild depression

Follow The Briefing:
TikTok: @listnrnewsroom
Instagram: @listnrnewsroom @thebriefingpodcast 
YouTube: @LiSTNRnewsroom
Facebook: @LiSTNR Newsroom

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rex Airlines has gone into voluntary administration. Has it been bullied out of the market by its competitors?

The airline has grounded its fleet of 737 aircraft that service capital cities and will continue to fly its Saab 340 flights between regional centres. Rex employs about 2000 people and their jobs and futures are uncertain, as calls across the country come for the government to step in in some way to help.

In this episode of The Briefing Sacha Barbour Gatt is joined by Robyn Ironside, aviation writer for the Australian newspaper, to discuss what this development means for regional travel and ticket prices going forward.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.