Headlines: Tropical Cyclone Alfred and the federal election date, new findings on the gender pay gap and the 2025 Oscars wrap

Deep dive: What does mental health advocacy for men look like in 2025, and does social media help or hinder the cause?

A recent video by charity The Better Bloke Project has gone viral after the founders told women to “shut up” to give men “a minute to think” when discussing the state of men’s mental health in the country. The comments have sparked a fierce debate online around gender dynamics, how we talk about men and about mental health, and who should be leading those conversations.

In this episode of The Briefing Helen Smith is joined by Professor Braden Hill, Deputy Vice Chancellor of Students, Equity and Indigenous at Edith Cowan University in Perth and a Nyungar (Wardandi) man, who has taken on the task of unpacking content from The Better Bloke Project and other men’s health commentators about feminism, racism and mental health.

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Tech billionaires like Elon Musk say the AI systems they're building will replace lots of people’s jobs, but also create better ones in their place. Is that true?

In Part One of the Briefing’s special three-part series on AI and your job, Bension Siebert explains the threat artificial intelligence is presenting to Australian workers.

He speaks with the prolific Australian voice actor behind some of the world’s largest brands – like Google – and most recognisable characters – like Healthy Harold – about how his career disappeared, pretty much overnight, and what advice he would give to the rest of us.

In Part Two, out tomorrow, we find out how Australian healthcare professionals are using AI to avoid being replaced by it.

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Headlines: Europe is putting together a ‘coalition of the willing’ to stop the war in Ukraine, Israel blocks entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza, and Labor vows further spending on health while Coalition promises to bolster national security.

Deep Dive: Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy is an illness most of us have heard of, having been at the centre of some of the biggest movies, TV series and criminal cases of the decade.  

But now the widespread awareness of “Factitious Disorder” is leading to innocent parents being wrongly accused of child medical abuse.

One expert, who’s dedicated decades to researching the misuse and misdiagnosis of the illness, says it’s not only leading to false allegations, but it’s being used as leverage in family custody disputes, as ammo for doctors accused of malpractice, and seeing children battling rare diseases left behind.  

So how common is Factitious Disorder actually? And what impacts have high-profile stories like that of Gypsy-Rose Blanchard had on the amount of Aussies being wrongfully accused of hurting their kids?

On this episode of The Briefing, Tara Cassidy speaks with Dr Helen Hayward-Brown, a medical anthropologist and sociologist who’s studied and assisted mums and dads across the globe who’ve been incorrectly accused of Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy, and all its other names, for the past 25 years.

Further listening from the headlines:
Trump wants to buy Greenland and annex Canada. Can he? is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Jen Robinson made headlines as the lawyer who helped secure the release of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange after 14 years, but her advocacy doesn’t stop there.

From representing Amber Heard, to challenging major fossil fuel corporations over climate change violations, and fighting for press freedom for Palestinian journalists, she has become a force in global justice.

In this chat with Antoinette Lattouf, Jen reveals the reasons behind her fight, why Anthony Albanese is ‘one of her favourite people’ and the moment she met Julian Assange.

Weekend list with The Briefings listeners recommendations

• TO WATCH: Severance on Apple TV
• TO EAT: Homemade Baba ghanoush from Sofra: Lebanese Recipes to Share
• TO WATCH: Invisible Boys on Stan
• TO EAT: Orange cake from Recipe Tin Eats

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Viral emerging pop sensation Go-Jo, also known as Marty Zambotto, will represent Australia at Eurovision in Basel, Switzerland this year.

He’s taken the internet by storm and now, he’s hoping to do the same on the Eurovision stage with his track ‘Milkshake Man’.

So, who is Go-Jo? How did a social media star land one of Australia’s most coveted music gigs? And does he have what it takes to finally bring the glass microphone home? In this episode of The Briefing, Chris Spyrou chats with the artist about his journey from rural WA to the 69th edition of the world’s biggest music competition. 

The Eurovision Song Contest airs on SBS and SBS On Demand 14-18 May.

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Casinos are usually synonymous with high rollers and high stakes. But running a business of the size and scale of a casino comes with big risks and big expenses – despite having a possibly never-ending stream of clientele addicted to participating in what you’re selling.

The Star Entertainment Group – who operate casinos in Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast – entered a trading halt, minutes before the Australian share market opened today, after failing to post its half-year financial results.

On this catch-up episode of The Briefing, gambling expert and associate professor at Monash University Charles Livingstone joins Chris Spyrou to explain how we got here.

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Friday headlines: Australian divorce rates at lowest in half a century, Penny Wong accuses coalition of ‘gunboat diplomacy’, mystery surrounds death of legendary Hollywood actor, and Katy Perry is going to space on all-woman crewed Blue Origin mission. 

Deep Dive: The government has approved a deal that will let Qatar Airways buy a quarter of Virgin Australia.

The deal means an extra 28 flights a week – and there’s hope more competition in the sector equals cheaper airfares going forward. The Treasurer Jim Chalmers yesterday greenlit the deal with some caveats – including a guarantee of an Aussies on the Virgin board and protection of customer data.  

You might remember the political shitfight that was Labor knocking back a bid by the same airline to operate more routes in Australia in 2023 – with the Opposition and others accusing the Government of being far too cosy with Qantas.  

On this episode of The Briefing, author of the Chairmans Lounge and founder of new Australian media company Rampart News, Joe Aston, joins Bension Siebert to explain what this is going to mean for all of us flying in the future, and what Qantas might be feeling about it all.

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Overnight, comedian and broadcaster Marty Sheargold parted ways with Triple M after comments he made on his drive show surrounding his views on the national Australian women’s soccer team The Matildas.

But what you might have missed in the backlash was additional commentary made by Sheargold on his views on endometriosis, and his perception that women suffering from the condition were exaggerating or making up the experience.

Endometriosis is a debilitating disease affecting 1 in 7 females and those assigned female at birth across the country. Often described as an “invisible illness”, sufferers were quick to voice their outrage.

But what does joking about endo in this way do to the stigmatisation of people experiencing it in this country right now?

On this episode of The Briefing, Chris Spyrou speaks with two individuals who know what they're talking about when it comes to the disease – chair of Endometriosis Australia Monica Forlano, and ambassador and podcaster Ellie Angel-Mobbs. 

Find out more about the work of Endometriosis Australia here https://endometriosisaustralia.org/ 

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Thursday Headlines: Dutton defends share purchases and late property disclosures, religious sect jailed over death of Elizabeth Struhs, cost of private health insurance in Australia to go up and Marty Sheargold and Triple M "mutually part ways".

Deep Dive: Millions of people have been displaced, thousands killed, and tensions with Rwanda are threatening to spill into a regional war—so why aren’t we hearing more about the Democratic Republic of Congo?

While the country is no stranger to political instability, its latest flare-up along its eastern border is capturing little to no Western attention, despite it attracting condemnation from the United Nations.

In this episode of The Briefing, Chris Spyrou speaks with former AFP and Politico journalist Emmet Livingstone from inside the DRC to explain what’s happening – and why it feels like a huge chunk of the world’s not watching. 

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If it benefits the health of the whole country, would you be willing to pay for someone else in Australia to lose weight?

Ozempic, Wegovy and medications like them have revolutionised weight loss in Australia and around the world in the past few years, and both are now approved for treating diabetes and your taxpayer money goes towards subsidising their cost.

But the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme has rejected funding them for weight loss. This means that people who are overweight but do not have diabetes are looking at hundreds of dollars a month if they want to try them to lose weight. On this episode of the Briefing, we’re asking – is that the right call? Bension Siebert is joined by Jonathan Karnon, Professor in Health Economics at Flinders University’s College of Medicine and Public Health, and Lauren Ball, Professor of Community Health and Wellbeing at The University of Queensland, to help answer the question.

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