The Briefing

Monday Headlines:
One Nation claims top spot in Newspoll after winning WA by-election
Mourners gather for vigils across Australia for victims of Nepal and Tibet flash floods
New privacy laws to be unveiled today
Calls grow for Australia to follow the UK in banning strangulation in porn
Record crowd turns out for Sydney Marathon
Deep Dive: A group of scientists are warning the world is walking headfirst into a male fertility crisis, with crashing testosterone and sperm count levels witnessed in two major studies.
While their research has been widely quoted, some in the scientific community feel warnings of a so-called ‘Spermageddon’ are overstated.
In this episode of The Briefing, Dr Giselle Crawford from IVF Australia joins Sacha Barbour Gatt to discuss the research, whether male infertility is on the rise, and what can be done about it.
Follow The Briefing:
TikTok: @thebriefingpod
Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast
YouTube: @TheBriefingPodcast
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Would you be happy having your face not just surveilled, but scanned every time you walked into the supermarket?
It's no longer a hypothetical.
Coles and Woolworths have both now admitted to trialling facial recognition technology, while Bunnings has won the right to scan customers' faces in limited circumstances - a shift privacy experts warn could creep from spotting known troublemakers to tracking every shopper who walks through the door.
So what do we know about facial recognition technology and just how invasive can it really be?
To make sense of it, we're rewinding a few years to one of the most alarming case studies involving facial recognition tech company – CLEARVIEW AI.
In this bonus episode of The Briefing, we're revisiting an episode of Secrets We Keep: Uncovered by investigative journalist Joey Watson.
When it became known that the shadowy facial recognition company had created a massive database, capable of identifying almost anyone, anywhere, reporters around the globe picked up the trail - working to uncover how this start-up could reshape privacy and policing internationally.
Here in Australia, tech reporter Cam Wilson spent years digging through the Australian Federal Police's own files - and what he found in them was deeply disturbing.
Read Cam Wilson's investigations here:
‘World's most controversial company’ Clearview AI still being used to solve Australian police cases
Clearview AI is still collecting photos of Australians for its facial recognition database
Follow The Briefing:
TikTok: @thebriefingpod
Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast
YouTube: @TheBriefingPodcast
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome back to The Briefing: Our Take, the time each week that we kick off our shoes, loosen our (non-existent) ties and chat the week that was.
This weekend we debrief the latest in the Jackie O vs ARN court battle, with court documents revealing the former KIIS host claims she is suffering from PTSD after working with Kyle Sandilands.
Then we crack open our inbox, getting across your thoughts, feelings, concerns and praise from the week’s stories, featuring superannuation and whether Chris and Sach are too childish to host a news show.
We also have 2DayFM’s Yaz Haddad in studio for the Weekend Quiz before finishing off with your recommendations, including a rather cheeky one for Coles shoppers.
As always, we want to hear from you! Reach out to us on Instagram @thebriefingpodcast and feel free to leave a comment if you’re listening on Spotify.

The Weekend Quiz:
Which social media company settled a major lawsuit this week for $23 billion?
There was a sad development in bird flu in Australia this week. What was it?
What did the Swans AFLW team celebrate this week?
Harry and Meghan arrived back in the UK this week. What are they doing there?
Finish off this legendary Dolly Parton quote: “It takes a lot of money to look ...”
The Weekend List:
To Watch: The Menu on Disney+ (listener Chris)
To Watch: We are Jeni on SBS on Demand (Sacha)
To Do: Flip off Coles cameras (listener Clair)
Follow The Briefing:
TikTok: @thebriefingpod
Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast
YouTube: @TheBriefingPodcast

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Friday Headlines:
Death toll rises in Nepal amid fears of a second flood
Albanese steps in to guarantee refugee intake won't go backwards
One Nation tipped to win WA by-election
NT passes VAD laws, Queensland introduces ‘breach bail, go to jail’ legislation
UEFA plans criminal complaint against FIFA President
Greens move to ban the import of smart glasses
Deep Dive: That cheap smart TV in your lounge room might be paying for itself by spying on you.
In this episode of The Briefing, we unpack ACR - Automated Content Recognition - the little-known tech that quietly logs everything on your screen and feeds it to advertisers.
Swinburne digital media professor Ramon Lobato explains how your viewing habits are being used, how it got switched on without you noticing and the settings that let you shut it down.
Follow The Briefing:
TikTok: @thebriefingpod
Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast
YouTube: @TheBriefingPodcast
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thursday Headlines:
Meta agrees to settle for $23bn in teen social media addiction lawsuit
More than 150 dead in devastating flash floods in Nepal and China
Albanese caves on data centre renewables as Queensland wins coal-and-gas carve-out
Antisemitism royal commission wraps up with powerful message from Sydney Rabbi
Legendary actor Tim Curry dead at 80
Miley Cyrus pays tribute to Dolly Parton
Deep Dive: Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022, the country hasn't held an election due to martial law, which bans a vote while the war is on.
Volodymyr Zelensky's term expired back in 2024, and now, for the first time, a senior figure inside his own camp is demanding a vote, with former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov breaking ranks to call for a wartime election.
So is this a genuine democratic reckoning, or an opening for Russia to destabilise Ukraine from within?
In this episode of The Briefing, Sacha Barbour Gatt is joined by Politico journalist Ryan Heath to unpack the turmoil and corruption in Kyiv, whether Ukrainians support the idea of a wartime election and what it could mean for the country and its fight against Russia.
Follow The Briefing:
TikTok: @thebriefingpod
Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast
YouTube: @TheBriefingPodcast

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.