The Briefing

Joshua Fox has built a reputation as one of Australia’s most relentless wedding crashers, better known as the ‘MAFS Guy’ for his viral ambushes on the set of Married at First Sight. But long before the online notoriety, he was Britain’s youngest paparazzo - landing an early win photographing Paris Hilton and earning more than he ever imagined.
From those beginnings in Manchester to producing one of Australia’s biggest radio shows, The Kyle and Jackie O Show, Josh’s path has been anything but conventional.
In this chat with Chris Syprou, Josh opens up about the reality behind his MAFS persona, his unexpected foray into OnlyFans, and the darker chapters he’s faced - from getting divorced before 30 to reinventing himself as one of the country’s most listened-to podcasters.
Content warning: This chat does touch on themes of suicide and sexual assault
Weekend list with Helen Smith
Listener Chris TO LISTEN:
TO WATCH: Untold: The Death & Life of Lamar Odom on Netflix
TO WATCH: The Moment
TO READ: Girl on Girl by Sophie Gilbert
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Headlines:
Albanese's energy agreement with Singapore
U.S.-Iran talks to begin over the weekend
Queensland MP found dead
Artemis II splashing down Saturday morning
A wolf on the loose in South Korea
Deep Dive:
Is Australia ready for an electric car revolution? The war in Iran has sent petrol prices spiking and Aussies looking for other ways to drive. But is our infrastructure ready for a rapid transition? And what should you watch out for if you’re considering an EV purchase?
In this episode of The Briefing Natarsha Belling is joined by Paul Maric from carexpert.com.au.
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Friday Headlines:
Israel tells hundreds of thousands in Beirut to evacuate
Melania Trump says rumours linking her to Epstein ‘need to end today’
Convicted gang rapist remains on the run after escaping police custody
Funding cuts force Grace Tame Foundation to close
Traffic volumes take a dive across the country
Deep Dive: Smoking is making a comeback in pop culture, appearing in shows like The Bear and Euphoria, and in music videos from Charli XCX and Sabrina Carpenter. Even Australian band DMA’S opens their latest video My Baby’s Place with multiple people smoking within the first 30 seconds.
The trend isn’t limited to entertainment. Instagram ‘cigfluencers’ are glamorising the habit, while depictions of smoking have surged by 70%, despite it remaining a leading cause of death worldwide.
In this episode of The Briefing, Helen Smith is joined by public health professor Becky Freeman to discuss why smoking is resurfacing and whether vaping is playing a role in its resurgence.
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Headlines:
The world watches a shaky Iran ceasefire
Albanese travels to Singapore to secure fuel supply
A hammer attack in a Sydney hospital
Bruce Lehrmann loses final chance to appeal defamation case
Plus: the cop chase stopped by a cactus
Deep Dive:
When women began disappearing on Long Island in the 1990s, police didn’t know they were facing a new serial killer. Today, architect Rex Heuermann pleads guilty to the murders of eight women in what have become known as the Gilgo Beach murders.
In this episode of The Briefing, Natarsha Belling is joined by Dr Xanthe Weston, associate professor of criminology and host of the Motive & Method podcast, to talk about how the killer was caught.
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Thursday Headlines:
Ceasefire in doubt as Israel pounds Lebanon and Iran halts oil tankers
Fuel price drops unlikely to hit your tank in a hurry
AI tool that spots heart failure risk five years before it develops
Activist group infiltrates Coles
You could own a Queensland town for $400K
Further listening from headlines:
Your supermarket is spying on you
The controversial ICE tech at our door
Deep Dive: Israel says its invasion of Lebanon is about security and pushing Hezbollah away from its northern border. But on the ground, more than a million people have been displaced, infrastructure is being torn apart, and tensions inside the country are rising fast.
With villages flattened, others cut off, and communities turning on each other, fears are growing of a prolonged Israeli occupation and the risk the conflict could tip Lebanon into something it hasn’t seen since the 1970s – a civil war.
In this episode of The Briefing, Chris Spyrou speaks with Middle East and counter-terrorism expert Dr Mariam Farida from Macquarie University about Israel’s long-term strategy in Lebanon, whether it can ‘dismantle’ Hezbollah and why the risk of a broader crisis is rising.
Follow The Briefing:
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