The Briefing

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. Take part in The Briefing survey HERE. 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 Follow The Briefing: TikTok: @thebriefingpodInstagram: @thebriefingpodcast YouTube: @TheBriefingPodcastSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Follow The Briefing: TikTok: @thebriefingpodInstagram: @thebriefingpodcast YouTube: @TheBriefingPodcastFacebook: @thebriefingpodcastSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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! Take part in The Briefing survey HERE. 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. Follow The Briefing: TikTok: @thebriefingpodInstagram: @thebriefingpodcast YouTube: @TheBriefingPodcastFacebook: @thebriefingpodcastSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. Take part in The Briefing survey HERE. 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 Follow The Briefing: TikTok: @thebriefingpodInstagram: @thebriefingpodcast YouTube: @TheBriefingPodcastFacebook: @thebriefingpodcastSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.