Behind Putin's rigged, but significant, Russian election
Vladimir Putin has been re-elected as Russia’s president for the fifth time over the weekend. Before the polls even opened all serious challengers had been wiped out, with Putin’s only real opposition, Alexei Navalny dying in mysterious circumstances weeks before. In this episode of The Briefing, Sacha Barbour Gatt sits down with Politico’s Zoya Sheftalovich to find out why Russia holds elections when the outcome has already been decided, and how Putin came to power in the first place. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
18 Mar 202412min
Why won’t Egypt let Palestinians cross the border?
The war between Israel and Hamas has been raging for five months, more than 30,000 people have been killed, and it’s spawned a massive refugee crisis. Currently 1.4 million Palestinians who have fled to the southern city of Rafah on the border with Egypt are hemmed in. So are any of Palestine’s neighbouring countries willing to accept them? And if not, why not? In this episode of The Briefing Sacha Barbour Gatt speaks with Anas Iqtait from the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at ANU about Arab countries’ role in the crisis. Headlines: Some visas reinstated for Palestinians heading to Australia Russians around the world protest election TikTok ban talks ignite in Australia Space X is building a spy satellite network for the US Follow The Briefing:Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAUSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
17 Mar 202421min
Patrick deWitt on creativity and age
Patrick deWitt is an award winning author, and screenwriter. In this chat with Tom Tilley, Patrick talks about his latest novel The Librarianist, and why he hopes it provides readers with an escape from the “ugly” world we live in. Patrick also reflects on his decision to leave high school to pursue his dream of becoming a writer, and explains his take on why literature and art should focus less on young people.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
16 Mar 202438min
Veronica B on comedy and Crohn's disease
Sydney-based content creator Veronica B is many things, but she’s perhaps best known for her hilarious comedy skits where she plays Aunty Salma, a character she says represents “every ethnic mum”. In this chat with Antoinette Lattouf, Veronica takes us back to the moment she invented Aunty Salma, opens up about her decade-long journey in content creation before having her breakout moment on TikTok during the pandemic- and tells us why she wishes she could be a sellout. She also chats about using humor to cope with chronic illness- having grown up with colitis and Crohn’s disease. WEEKEND LISTBroadsheet’s episode with Hannah GadsbyAldi ProseccoRunning clubsAntoinette’s episode of Abbie Chatfield’s It’s A Lot podcastSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
15 Mar 202431min
How Salad Fingers pioneered the weird part of the internet
The first ever academic study has finally been written about Salad Fingers, a video series created in 2004 that later went viral on YouTube. Salad Fingers featured a sickly green figure with lettuce leaves for hands who liked to stroke rusty spoons. The study argues Salad Fingers was a trailblazer of “weird youtube” and is still influencing internet culture today. In this episode of The Briefing, Eleanor Harrison-Dengate speaks with Jessica Balanzategui, a Senior Lecturer in Media at RMIT University, about why she thinks the series has been so influential. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
15 Mar 202412min
The deepfake voice scam that you need to be prepared for
There’s a new phone-scam that’s being reported around the world, and it’s petrifying. It uses an AI generated cloned version of a loved one, who calls, claiming that there’s an emergency (often that they’ve been kidnapped and a ransom needs to be paid). They’re emotive, they’re high-quality replications, and they’re expected to hit Australians soon. So how does the scam work, and what do you need to know to ensure that you or your loved ones don’t fall victim to it? In today’s episode of The Briefing, Bension Siebert speaks with Toby Murray, Associate Professor of Computing and Information Systems at the University of Melbourne to find out more. Headlines: Federal government under fire for pulling Palestinian Visas Australian women died in Bali landslide EV purchases soar in Australia Space X mega rocket reaches new heights, before ending up lost Follow The Briefing:Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAUSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
14 Mar 202421min
What's behind the chaos in Haiti?
Haiti has been all over international headlines this week, and it’s culminated in the Caribbean country’s Prime Minister Ariel Henry being forced to step down. His resignation follows weeks of mounting pressure and increasing violence. Henry is currently stranded in Puerto Rico after being prevented by armed gangs from returning home. Now the Caribbean country is looking towards creating a transitional government for the foreseeable future. In this episode of The Briefing, Bension Siebert sits down with Australian National University's Professor Nicolas Lemay-Hebert to find out why Haiti is in such strife, and what will happen next.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
14 Mar 202413min
Cheek Media shares its game plan in Meta's media war
Facebook and Instagram could soon be wiped of news content. It’s after their parent company Meta, announced it will stop paying for news content in Australia when the current deals it has expire. In the future, Meta will encourage news publishers to buy extra services to increase their own traffic, flipping the flow of funds from Meta to news publishers, rather than the other way around. The move brings into question the issue of the sustainability of news journalism in Australia. The Albanese government has said it will move to force Meta to negotiate. In this episode of The Briefing, Sacha Barbour Gatt sits down with Cheek Media’s Hannah Ferguson, whose platform grew through Instagram, to talk about how she plans to deal with the change, and what she thinks the impact will be on news in Australia. Headlines: The US is one step closer to banning TikTok Two-thirds of women report bias in Australian healthcare Hot autumn ahead for Australia Clive Palmer unveils plans, again, to build the Titanic II Follow The Briefing:Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAUSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
13 Mar 202423min
