Narelda Jacobs is a trailblazer.

She’s a Whadjuk Noongar woman, journalist and presenter who’s changing the face of Australian media.

Over the past two decades Narelda has worked as a trusted news presenter and is a powerful advocate for First Nations rights, LGBTQIA+ inclusion and social justice.

In this chat with Antoinette Lattouf, Narelda opens up about some recent experiences that are both personal and painful tied to the colour of her skin and reveals a surprise of her own.

Weekend List

• TO FOLLOW: Hassan Hassan @hxhassan and Kevork Almassian @KevorkAlmassian on X
• TO EAT: Christmas brunch ideas tray bakes, savoury croissant and french toast
• TO BUY: Personalised toiletry bags for Christmas
• TO WATCH: Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey

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Dungeons and Dragons (DnD) is blowing up in Australia.

The fantasy table-top roleplay game is nothing new – it was first published in in 1974 – but Google Search trends in Australia show searches for DnD have been steadily climbing since about 2016.

What’s behind the hype? Should you be picking up DnD in 2025? And if you aren’t keen on the kind of effort involved in playing it, what board games should we instead try playing over the holidays? 

Justin Halliday is Game Designer for Hero Forge Games. He joins Bension Siebert on this episode of The Briefing to explain the growing hype.  

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Headlines: Coalition to unveil cost of bold nuclear plan, ‘Adult time’ youth justice laws pass Queensland parliament and Donald Trump named Time’s Person of the Year ... again

Deep Dive: It has been ten years since the Lindt Cafe siege, which took place on December 15, 2014.

Man Haron Monis took 18 hostages and held them for 16 hours in Sydney’s Martin Place. The 16-hour siege ended in the deaths of two hostages – Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson – as well as the gunman himself. Multiple others involved were injured by gunfire during the raid.

In this episode of The Briefing, we interview our very own Antoinette Lattouf, who was a television reporter at the time, and covered the harrowing developments from the scene that day. She joins Helen Smith to recount how the day unfolded, her thoughts on how our perception of terrorism has evolved over the past decade, and why the events of that day will never leave her. 

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Apple Intelligence has officially come to Australia.

Apple’s AI was first announced back in June, and as of today can be used by hundreds of thousands of iPhone-owning Aussies.

But what can it do, and how will it change us? Will it encourage Android loyalists to make the jump, and is it really a gamechanger?  

In this episode of The Briefing, Chris Spyrou is joined by tech expert and editor of EFTM magazine, Trevor Long to unpack if it's worth the hype.

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Headlines: Women launch class action against BHP and Rio Tinto over alleged decades of sexual harassment, Anthony Albanese supports exclusion zones near houses of worship, Saudi Arabia chosen to host FIFA world cup, and HECS balances will be slashed from today.

Deep Dive: A viral on the street interview turned Hailey Welch from a normal girl to an internet celebrity overnight.

Becoming Hawk Tuah Girl, she has since used her sudden fame and millions of followers to pivot into a podcast, brand deals and merch line.

Last week, she started a new venture – creating her own cryptocurrency called $HAWK. The digital coin hit a $490 million market cap shortly after it was launched, but lost 95% of its value within hours. 

Does this massive depreciation mean it was a scam? And who is to blame for those who lost out when buying into the currency? And how can any of this be legal? 

In this episode of The Briefing Helen Smith is joined by Daniel Gozman, Associate Professor at the University of Sydney, to explain the complex world of crypto and pump and dump schemes.

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Are public figures fair game when it comes to parody and satire? Personally, your answer might shift depending on who that public figure is, while legally, the answers are a little more clean cut.

It’s a question being asked following reports the legal team of Rachael Gunn, Australian academic and competitive breakdancer also known as Raygun, had a parody musical on her journey to the 2024 Paris Olympics cancelled ahead of its trial show.

Raygun: The Musical, a creation of Aussie comedian Steph Broadbridge, was set to debut in Sydney on Saturday. However, after the venue received a cease-and-desist notice from the break dancer’s legal team – that show was canned.

Joining Chris Spyrou on this episode of The Briefing, solicitor Jahan Kalantar explains it all.

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The fire attack against a Jewish synagogue in Melbourne has intensified a battle between our politicians over the meaning of anti-Semitism, and who is responsible for encouraging it in Australia. 

Meanwhile, many people are struggling to know how to talk about anti-Semitism, Israel or Gaza without fear of saying the wrong thing. 

In part two of The Briefing’s two-part special episode on anti-Semitism in Australia, Bension Siebert speaks with writer and co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Alex Ryvchin. 

Listen to part one here: https://play.listnr.com/podcast/the-briefing/episode/the-politics-of-a-jewish-synagogue-fire-attack-par?

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Headlines: PM’s pitch to families ahead of election announcement, Syria’s new PM meets old government officials to aid transition, Telstra fined $3 million for 000 network outage, and two new sounds have been added to Australia’s sound archive.

Deep Dive: The fire attack against a Jewish synagogue in Melbourne has intensified a battle between our politicians over the meaning of anti-Semitism and who is responsible for encouraging it in Australia. 

Meanwhile, many people are struggling to know how to talk about anti-Semitism, Israel or Gaza without fear of saying the wrong thing. 

In part one of The Briefing’s two-part special episode on anti-Semitism in Australia, Bension Siebert speaks with human rights lawyer and Executive Officer at the Jewish Council of Australia, Sarah Schwartz. 

Listen to part two here:  https://play.listnr.com/podcast/the-briefing/episode/the-politics-of-a-jewish-synagogue-fire-attack-p-1?

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A group of sexy Queensland concreters have created a the "Sexy Concreters" calendar, featuring 12 Gold Coast tradies posing shirtless in wheelbarrows, pouring iced coffee over themselves and eating meat pies.

The calendar was created to raise money and awareness for men’s mental health, with the first print of the calendar selling out in just two hours.

In this episode of The Briefing, Bension Siebert is joined by Jesse Stenroos, Mr April and director of the concreting business Conseq Group, and Anthony Savage, the creator behind the project.

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Headlines: Antisemitism taskforce announced as travel warning issued for Jews heading to Australia, Australia fires new Tomahawk missiles for the first time, person of interest interviewed in CEO shooting case and Starbucks Australia posts $5.8 million loss.

Deep Dive: A major health insurance company CEO was shot dead on the street in New York City last week, and many are celebrating. 

A Facebook post by UnitedHealthcare to remember its assassinated CEO, 50-year-old Brian Thompson, received tens of thousands of laugh reacts over the weekend. 

In the US and in Australia, many cultural commentators have echoed this sense of glee. 

So who was Brian Thompson, why are so many people happy he’s dead, and what does it say about who we are in the current cultural moment? On this episode of The Briefing, Bension Siebert unpacks the reaction with US-born activist and public speaker Azure Antoinette.  

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Rebel forces in Syria captured the capital over the weekend in a move that saw the nation’s president, Bashar al-Assad, flee the country.

It comes after a 13-year civil war and over five decades of his family’s brutal autocratic rule.

The news has been widely welcomed by those living in the country, who are celebrating liberation – a similar sentiment echoed on the streets back here in Australia. But how did we get here and who steps in now that a dictator has been toppled?

In this episode of The Briefing, Chris Spyrou speaks with Chair in Global Islamic Politics at Deakin University, Professor Greg Barton to discuss.

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