Keiynan Lonsdale: The Western Sydney kid who made it big in Hollywood

A new drug has been detected in Australia that can be up to 25 times stronger than fentanyl – which is already stronger than heroin. Introducing nitazene, an incredibly dangerous synthetic opioid that was linked to over 20 overdoses in western Sydney and was found in Canberra’s pill testing service for the first time over the weekend. Professor Suzanne Nielsen, the Deputy Director of the Monash Addiction Research Centre, joins Simon Beaton to explain the dangers of nitazene which could be lacing your party drugs. Follow The Briefing:Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAUSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The search for a missing person can capture the attention of the entire nation.  Currently, we’re waiting to hear the outcome of an appeal of Chris Dawson, who was convicted of killing his wife Lynette Joy Simms in December of 1982, despite her body never being found. So what happens behind the scenes of one of these investigations? And how is someone charged with murder when a body is never located?  Journalist Tessa Randello from the LiSTNR Newsroom has spoken with former New South Wales Detective Anthony Macklin about this topic. On this episode, she unpacks what she’s found out with Sacha Barbour Gatt.  Headlines: Iran’s President missing after helicopter crash Charges laid in Sydney police stabbing Sean 'Diddy' Combs admits to DV 700 ‘Kyles’ not enough to break world record Follow The Briefing:Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAU  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Scott Morrison is the 30th Prime Minister of Australia, lover of chicken curries and author of his new book - Plans For Your Good: A Prime Minister's Testimony of God's Faithfulness Morrison has had his fair share of controversies over the years - Hawaii, his response to COVID and his many ministries. In this chat with Antoinette Lattouf, Morrison opens up about his time as PM, repenting his sins and his impact on Australians. Send us your Weekend Briefing suggestions on Instagram at @thebriefingpodcast!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Social media has gone into meltdown after a video from a US college commencement speech went viral. The footage shows NFL player and Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker addressing the female graduates in the crowd, telling them that ultimately, their main and most valuable vocation in life is being a wife and mother. Butker has sparked a storm of criticism, the NFL even coming out to distance itself from his comments. In the post #MeToo world and amidst a spike in violence against women in Australia, we’re breaking down and debunking Butker’s comments and why they are so dangerous.'' Follow The Briefing:Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAUSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Chat GPT revealed the next steps in the way their AI interacts with humans. Now the interface can recognise emotions and have more nuanced conversations with the user. Meanwhile Google has revealed its new AI assistant “Astra” and their plans to scrabble back searches previously lost to Chat GPT by integrating more AI into Google search. But what is the cost of greater humanising of AI? And is it safe? Tech entrepreneur Ashi Bhat joins The Briefing to unpack the AI rat race. Headlines: Peter Dutton wants to slash immigration  Company at the centre of major data hack revealed  ANU and Deakin University move to shut down pro-Palestine encampments Namatjira responds to Rinehart portrait controversy    Follow The Briefing:Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAUSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australia is in the grip of a teacher shortage that is a decade in the making.   New research by McCrindle has revealed more than half of educators are considering leaving the profession. On top of that, teaching is increasingly becoming an aging profession, with 20% of the workforce to reach retirement age over the next decade. On today’s briefing, we speak with social researcher and demographer, Mark McCrindle, to explore why this is happening and what’s being done to attract more people to study teaching. Follow The Briefing:Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAUSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For over half a century, the US and Australia have operated Pine Gap - a joint top-secret spy base at Alice Springs in the heart of outback Australia Today, concern is mounting that spies at Pine Gap may be eavesdropping on the Middle East and passing critical information on to the Israeli Defence Force. This would mean Australia is playing a role in the conflict, raising serious questions about the public’s right to know how our land, resources and geographical advantage is being deployed, especially when it makes us a nuclear target for foreign powers. Today we’re joined by Alice Springs journalist Alexandra Barwick, host of new ABC podcast Spies in the Outback, to assess the evidence and get a local perspective. Headlines: Sydney council reverses same sex parent book ban Slovakia PM shot in assassination attempt  Labor senator breaks ranks to label Israel’s war in Gaza genocide Gina Rinehart has demanded the National Gallery of Australia remove a portrait of her   Follow The Briefing:Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAUSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When you take a gulp of bottled Mt Franklin spring water, you might imagine it comes from a pristine and abundant water source in an exotic wilderness location.  But In reality, Coca-Cola has been legally pumping groundwater for free out of a bore on the outskirts of Perth in WA to sell as bottled water for 32 years.  And now residents have had enough. They’re worried about the amount of water being extracted without obvious oversight in a region that’s drying out and prone to fire. WA Water Minister Simone McGurk talks to Simon Beaton about what she's doing to hold Coca-Cola to account. Follow The Briefing:Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAUSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last night, Treasurer Jim Chalmers handed down the Budget, aka the economic plan for the next four years and beyond.  On the positive side, he delivered his second consecutive surplus and a bunch of cost of living sweeteners – including a new $300 payment in energy bill relief for every Australian household, which he reckons will help put downward pressure on inflation.  We saw more detail on Treasury’s optimistic new forecast showing inflation will drop below 3% by Christmas, plus the things we knew already about like Stage 3 tax cuts and $3 billion in student debt being wiped.  But on the negative side: critics have described it as a “band aid” budget that relies on a lot of variables for its economic outlook, benefits billionaires and multinationals and could actually make inflation worse.  And while the Treasurer can pat himself on the back for this year’s surplus of $9.3 billion, looks like we’re heading deep into the red next year with a $28.3 billion deficit, followed by a $42.8 per cent deficit in 2025-26.  With an election looming, the year ahead will be critical in determining if he hit the right note between bringing inflation under control without hurting the economy.    Follow The Briefing:Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAUSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is threatening nuclear war as his invasion of the Ukraine continues. Putin last week ordered Russian troops to perform military exercises to prepare for the use of tactical nuclear weapons.  Tactical nukes are generally smaller and less powerful than traditional nuclear weapons, but use of such weapons would be catastrophic.  It’s now been more than 800 days since Russia’s massive ground invasion of Ukraine, a military operation supposedly intended to only run for ten days.  In this episode of The Briefing, Benison speaks to Dr Keith Suter, former President of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney about why Putin would make this new threat now, and just how worried should we be in this moment. Follow The Briefing:Instagram: @thebriefingpodcast Facebook: TheBriefingNewsAUTwitter: @TheBriefingAUSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.