The Briefing

Monday Headlines:

• Iran has rejected a second round of peace talks with the US
• Ben Roberts-Smith breaks his silence
• 33 year old learner driver charged over Supanova death
• Support for One Nation wanes in two new polls 
• Madonna wraps up Coachella

Deep Dive: Australia’s migration debate has taken a sharper turn, with the Federal Opposition unveiling a plan that puts ‘Australian values’ at the centre of the visa system.   

The plan includes enhanced screening for all visa applicants, including social media checks, a legally binding ‘values’ statement and tougher enforcement measures aimed at refusing or removing people deemed not to meet the threshold. It also signals a broader tightening across the system, from faster visa refusals to stronger action on overstayers and reduced avenues for appeal. 

In this episode of The Briefing, Helen Smith is joined by Abul Rizvi, a former senior immigration official and one of the country’s most experienced analysts of migration policy to unpack what this policy could look like in practice.  

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Looksmaxxing is taking over millions of young men’s algorithms - a trend focused on maximising appearance that can start off harmless, but spiral into extreme measures to appear more masculine. 

This week, looksmaxxer influencer Clavicular was hospitalised in Miami after a suspected overdose during a livestream. He’s previously spoken about using drugs, including methamphetamine, to suppress his appetite as part of the trend. 

After leaving hospital, he described his substance use as “a cope trying to feel neurotypical while being in public” and “not a real solution.” 

In this bonus episode of The Briefing, Helen Smith is joined by UNSW public health researcher Samuel Cornell who unpacks the rise of looksmaxxing and why influencers are selling so-called 'ascension' programs. 

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Sofia Levin does a lot more than just eat. She’s built a name as one of Australia’s most respected food critics and landed her dream job as a judge on MasterChef Australia - bringing her expertise to one of the country’s biggest cooking shows.

From carving out a career in food media to earning her first Logie nomination, she’s rubbed shoulders with names like Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, Robert Irwin and Poh Ling Yeow - learning what it takes to stand out in a world full of big personalities.

In this chat with Chris Syprou, Sofia shares stories from her travels, the reality behind her career, and the personal loss of her father to Motor Neurone Disease, a cause she’s now more driven than ever to fight.  

Weekend list with Sacha Barbour Gatt and Helen Smith

• Listener Matt TO WATCH: Big Mistakes on Netflix
• TO LISTEN: Raye's album This Music May Contain Hope
• TO WATCH: Trust Me: The False Prophet on Netflix

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Headlines: 

• Bail for Ben Roberts-Smith 
• Israel-Lebanon ceasefire begins 
• Trump “not happy” with Australia 
• Pope calls out “tyrants” 
• A Sydney man gets a $40m phone call 

Deep Dive: 

Harry and Meghan are finishing their Australian tour. Thousands turned out to catch a glimpse of Harry and Meghan as they visited Melbourne, Canberra, and Sydney, and the Australian media followed the pair around on every stop. One journalist in the press pack was 7 News journalist Paul Dowsley – he gives the inside view of the tour.

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Friday Headlines:  

• Trump confirms 10-day ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel
• Farmers warn of impending grocery price rises
• Ben Roberts-Smith to face court today
• Prince Harry praises Australia's social media ban 
• Red hair gene favoured by natural selection

Deep Dive: You might’ve heard of the term ‘mum brain’ or ‘baby brain’ to describe the forgetfulness and brain fog that women can experience during pregnancy and into motherhood. 

But there’s actually a word for it – matrescence – and rather than denigrating the experience of women during this evolutionary phase of their lives, it describes the total biological, psychological and emotional transformation that comes with becoming a mum. 

Now, there are calls for ‘matrescence’ to be added to the dictionary.  

In today’s deep dive, Sacha Barbour Gatt talks about why that recognition is important with the president of the Peanut app, Michelle Battersby. 

You can check out the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/it-s-time-to-gaf-about-mothers-add-matrescence-to-the-dictionary

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Headlines: 

• Bowen on refinery fire: “Not good timing”
• Marles lays out Australia’s next defence challenges
• Bank data shows 45% rise in fuel spending
• Unemployment at 4.3%
• NZ Airlines introduces bunk beds
• Jail time for ant-smuggler

Deep Dive: 

Fuel prices were high, and then an oil refinery caught on fire. Australia has two oil refineries and late on Wednesday night one of them sprung a leak that became a half-day fire. Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the blaze at Viva Energy Refinery in Geelong was “not great timing”. But why is Australia reliant on such fragile energy infrastructure?

In this episode of The Briefing, Natarsha Belling is joined by David Leaney, a Lecturer at the ANU College of Business and Economics and expert in international supply chain management.  

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Thursday Headlines: 

• Iran threatens to stop all trade in the Gulf region 
• Labor set to boost defence spending by $53bn over next decade
• Large fire broken out at one of Australia’s only two remaining oil refineries
• Second school shooting in Türkiye in two days

• A British tourist has paid a LOT of money for a kebab while on holiday in Brazil. 

Deep Dive: The government is unveiling its new defence strategy that places drones and autonomous systems at the forefront of how it prepares for future conflict. Shaped by lessons from Ukraine and the Middle East, the plan signals a major shift away from traditional big-ticket military assets toward cheaper, scalable technologies designed for speed, surveillance, and agility. 

But as the government commits billions to this transformation, questions remain about whether Australia can move fast enough to keep up with the pace of modern warfare, close critical capability gaps, and balance ambitious spending with existing defence priorities. 

In this episode of The Briefing, Helen Smith is joined by retired Major General Mick Ryan, a former Australian Army commander and respected military strategist who has closely studied the war in Ukraine and the future of industrial-age warfare to explain how drones and autonomous systems are changing the way we approach conflicts.  

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Headlines: 

• Gina Rinehart to pay rival family millions
• Virgin also cutting flights due to fuel prices
• Albanese back in Asia; Chalmers flies to D.C.
• Israel and Lebanon agree to peace talks
• South Korean wolf still on the loose 

Deep Dive: 

It's about to get easier to access the pill. In NSW, pharmacists will soon be able to prescribe the contraceptive pill without a GP appointment. In this episode of The Briefing, Natarsha Belling is joined in the studio by NSW Health Minister Ryan Park to talk about the change to pill access and the concerns raised by GPs. 

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Wednesday Headlines: 

• Positive ceasefire talks between the US, Israel and Lebanon
• International Monetary Fund warn of global recession
• NSW city shaken by a magnitude 4.5 earthquake
• St Kilda VFL player handed 9 week ban for using homophobic slur 
• Royal Ballet and Opera thank Timothee Chalamet for boosting ticket sales

Deep Dive: Millions of Australians are turning to chatbots instead of doctors - using AI to interpret symptoms, scan results and diagnoses without clinical oversight. 

A recent YouGov poll found 40 per cent of Aussie adults have already done it, with many acting on that advice or using it to question their GP - raising concerns about accuracy, regulation and trust. 

In this episode of The Briefing, Chris Spyrou speaks with Poppy Reid about the rise of the “shadow doctor,” why and how people are relying on it, and what it could mean for the future of healthcare. 

Further listening: Will Asia fix our fuel crisis? and THE BEEFING: The AFL vs homophobia

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Headlines:

• More face-to-face U.S.-Iran negotiations coming
• Australia in talks to safeguard Strait of Hormuz
• Qantas and Uber hike prices
• TGA warns against unregulated peptides
• Harry and Meghan visit children’s hospital 

Deep Dive: 

What happens when you offend a billion Catholics? Trump’s about to find out. After feuding with the Pope and posting an AI-generated image of himself as Jesus, Donald Trump is facing criticism from some of his biggest supporters.

In this episode of The Briefing, Natarsha Belling is joined by Corey Alpert, a researcher at the University of Melbourne and a former staffer in the Biden Administration, to talk about the role of religion in American politics and Trump’s religious boundary-pushing.

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