The Briefing

Twenty-five years ago, the September 11 terrorist attacks killed nearly 3,000 people and changed the course of history. The images of hijacked planes striking the World Trade Center, the collapse of the Twin Towers and the devastation left behind became defining images of this century.
But the consequences of 9/11 reached far beyond the United States. The attacks triggered America’s longest war - a 20-year conflict in Afghanistan that began with the fall of the Taliban. This year also marks five years since the war came full circle: the Taliban returned to power as the US withdrew its troops.
BBC Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet witnessed that extraordinary arc. Drawing on almost four decades of reporting from Afghanistan, she takes LiSTNR Senior Journalist Claudianna Blanco from the aftermath of 9/11 and the hope that followed the Taliban’s fall, to the chaotic final days at Kabul Airport and the Afghanistan of today.
This special episode of The Briefing looks back at the long shadow of 9/11, 25 years on.
Lyse's debut book
Lyse on The Weekend Briefing
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Friday Headlines:
Head of Instagram warns against turning off algorithm
Barnaby Joyce apologises to Andrew Hastie over 'traitor' video
Donald Trump accused of bribery over 5k election promise
August declared hottest month on record
Historic NFL game takes over Melbourne
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Thursday Headlines:
Pauline Hanson defends Victorian One Nation leader, Andrew Hastie cartoon
Anthony Albanese defends pork barreling allegations
Another man killed in Sydney's escalating gangland war
Melbourne council bans smart glasses from public pools and playgrounds
Apple unveils new folding iPhone
Further listening from the headlines:
Sach's deep dive on Sydney's gangland war
Chris' chat with David Shoebridge
Deep Dive: Australia's not really well known for skiing, but there is a dedicated ski fraternity who love getting to the slopes each winter. So, what happens if there’s no snow?
That’s the question being put to the country’s resort operators after a dismal 2026 season plagued by warm, dry conditions and patchy snow cover.
With most ski fields wrapping up their seasons over the weekend and just a couple still clinging on, we’re being warned winters like this will become more likely, not less.
In this episode of The Briefing, Chris Spyrou chats with the CEO of Snow Resorts Australia, Josh Elliott about the future of snow tourism in Australia. We also hear from Dr Lily O’Neil from Protect our Winters to talk about what climate change’s role is in all of this
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YouTube: @TheBriefingPodcast
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wednesday Headlines:
Labor unveils new laws to govern social media giants
Missing Australian found alive in Nepal
Penny Wong prepares new sanctions against Israeli settlements
One Nation Victorian leader says he's no angel, admits to previous drug use
Aussie kids record their worst reading and maths results
Further listening from headlines:
How Australia funds Israeli settlements
Deep Dive: Does Australia need a Minister for AI?
That's the call from Greens Senator David Shoebridge, who this week was appointed the party's first-ever spokesperson for Digital Rights and AI.
It comes as the government insists it's doing whatever it can to put big tech on a leash and keep people first - while at the same time selling Australia as the perfect home for the very infrastructure driving AI's expansion: data centres.
In this episode of The Briefing, Chris Spyrou is joined by Senator Shoebridge to discuss his new portfolio, whether Australia can pull itself back from being AI's wild west, and what it'll actually take to put people ahead of profit.
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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tuesday Headlines:
One Nation has been forced into a quick defence of its plan for superannuation
Australian bureaucrats want to ban videos from parliamentary hearings being shared on social media
Trial of alleged killers of Australian brothers in Mexico gets underway
Food prices could be pushed higher by record strength El Niño
King Charles issues clarification on Harry and Meghan
Deep Dive: For years, a secret formula has dictated everything we see on social media, hooking our attention spans at the expense of our mental health.
Now, the federal government is unveiling a plan to let users opt out of the algorithm entirely and return to a chronological stream of accounts they actually follow. But with increasing pressure to protect young men from the insidious manosphere, how much will an opt-out actually change?
In this episode of The Briefing, reporter Amber Schultz joins Sacha Barbour Gatt to detail her experiment posing as a 17-year-old boy online, where it took just 13 minutes to land on manosphere content, and what these proposed changes will mean for our feeds.
Follow The Briefing:
TikTok: @thebriefingpod
Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast
YouTube: @TheBriefingPodcast
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.