The Briefing

For centuries, Christmas at the White House has been the gold standard of tradition with elaborate gingerbread houses and classic spruce trees. But for Melania Trump, the festive season sparked something else entirely: a meme jackpot of controversy online, leaked audio and public backlash. 

In this episode of The Beefing, Helen Smith unpacks the most chaotic holiday in the White House, from the infamous ‘blood-red’ trees to the secret 2018 recording where the First Lady famously asked, ‘Who gives a f*** about Christmas stuff?’ 

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Phoebe Santillan-Stocks has spoken to some of the most powerful right hands in the world - the people operating just out of sight, shaping history from behind the scenes.

The founder of Missing Perspectives and author of The Right Hand, explores what it’s really like to be a chief of staff or adviser to global leaders from Nelson Mandela to Jacinda Ardern and even Kamala Harris. 

In this chat with Antoinette Lattouf, Phoebe Santillan-Stocks shares what she learned by asking big questions in her twenties, why she’s driven to amplify overlooked voices, and the lessons that stayed with her long after the interviews ended.

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Weekend list with Helen Smith

• TO EAT: Panettone tiramisu
• TO EAT: Fruit kebabs 
• TO DO: Ette Media Live Show tickets here
• TO DO: Gift an experience over a material item

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Thousands of Australians turned out this morning for an emotional paddle out at Bondi Beach, with a powerful message of healing, unity and hope just five days after Australia's worst terror attack. 

In this episode of The Briefing, Natarsha Belling is joined by one of the organisers and members of the Bondi Jewish community, David Solsky, who explains why today was an important step forward.

Headlines: The Prime Minister has announced the federal government will launch a new national gun buyback scheme, the NSW Government has announced the details of its gun reform legislation, and Bondi hero, Ahmed al-Ahmed, has been presented with a cheque for more than $2.5 million in hospital. 

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Friday Headlines: Anthony Albanese facing increasing anger from Bondi victims' families, heavily armed tactical police arrest seven men in Sydney’s southwest, migrant intake hits three-year low, Australia facing storms and heatwaves today as Christmas Day forecast drops and our fav stories of 2025!

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Deep Dive: Australia has a long track record of world-changing research, from Wi-Fi to the bionic ear, and now one Melbourne academic thinks the next frontier might be in comedic robots.  

University of Melbourne researcher Dr Robert Walton has received more than half a million dollars in public funding to explore whether AI and robots can perform believable comedy, and what it can teach us about humour and human-machine interaction.  

In this episode of The Briefing, Chris Spyrou speaks with Dr Walton about what this research could mean far beyond the stage. 

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The NSW Premier has announced a major overhaul of gun laws in the wake of the Bondi Terror attack. We unpack the proposed changes as the rates of gun ownership soar across the country. 

In this episode of The Briefing, Natarsha Belling is joined by Rod Campbell, a gun ownership researcher at the Australia Institute, to discuss why this overhaul is needed and how governments have become too complacent about the number of weapons in our community. 

Headlines: The Prime Minister has announced tougher hate-speech laws targeting preachers who promote violence,  Optus has released a damning review into September’s network outage, and the son of Hollywood director Rob Reiner has appeared in court for the first time.

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Thursday Headlines: Charges laid in Bondi Beach terror attack, pressure mounts on Anthony Albanese in the wake of the Bondi attack, teens clash with police on popular beach after storming Melbourne supermarket, search history of some Pornhub users hacked and the first trailer of Melania Trump’s Amazon doco is here.

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Deep Dive: Does it count as cheating if it’s with AI? 

A recent YouGov survey found one in seven adult Australians could imagine falling in love with a chatbot, with one in six preferring to stay home and talk with it over going out with friends.  

In this episode of The Briefing, Helen Smith is joined by Raffaele Ciriello an expert in AI companions from The University of Sydney to discuss how worried we should be about AI relationships, romantic or not. 

Further listening from headlines: 
How the Philippines became a terrorist training ground

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Alleged Bondi gunman Naveed Akram has been charged with 59 offences at his bedside while in hospital.

The charges include 15 counts of murder, 40 counts of wounding with intent to murder and one count of commit a terrorist act.

The 24-year-old woke from a coma yesterday following Sunday's attack. He is understood to have declined to be interviewed about his alleged involvement in the terror attack.

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Authorities have confirmed the alleged gunmen behind the Bondi Beach massacre had both recently travelled to the Philippines, with allegations they had undergone extensive terrorist training. The Southeast Asian country has been a terrorist training ground for extremists around the world for decades, but now it appears there’s a dangerous resurgence.

In this episode of The Briefing, Natarsha Belling is joined by criminologist Dr Clarke Jones, who has interviewed convicted terrorists behind bars in the Philippines, on what’s behind this new wave of radicalisation. 

Headlines: The NSW Premier has announced parliament will be recalled next week to discuss urgent new reforms in the wake of the Bondi terror attack, the first funerals of the victims of Sunday’s terror attack have been held today, and former Liberal treasurer Josh Frydenberg has criticised the Albanese government's lack of action and called for a royal commission into antisemitism. 

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Wednesday Headlines: Community anger grows as youngest victim in Bondi Beach attack mourned, surviving Bondi gunman wakes from coma as investigation stretches beyond Australian borders, Donald Trump sues the BBC, renewables are the key to cheaper energy new CSIRO report finds and a seal visits a pub in South Australia. 

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Deep Dive: Australia has become the test case for a world-first social-media ban, launched last week by the Prime Minister alongside campaigners, grieving parents and media figures who helped drive the push. 

In the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack, supporters argue the ban has already proven its value - saying it spared millions of children from exposure to the very content it was designed to block. 

In this episode of The Briefing, Chris Spyrou speaks with Crikey’s Cam Wilson about how the legislation came together, who lobbied hardest for it, and what interests were at play. 

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As top authorities continue to investigate what motivated the two alleged gunmen to carry out Sunday’s terror attack at Bondi Beach, questions are being asked if our counter terrorism authorities could have done more. Authorities have also confirmed the two alleged terrorists had recently travelled to the Philippines, with unconfirmed reports they had engaged in military style training. 

In this episode of The Briefing, Natarsha Belling is joined by former counter terrorism detective, Peter Moroney, who explains why some of our top authorities have dropped the ball and the crucial red flags they missed. 

Headlines: The NSW Police Commissioner has confirmed the father and son accused of carrying out the Bondi terror attack had recently travelled to the Philippines, Former Prime Minister John Howard has lashed out at Anthony Albanese’s leadership, and  Bondi hero, Ahmed al-Ahmed has broken his silence.

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