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★★★★★

4.6

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Background Briefing is the ABC's flagship investigative journalism podcast. Its award-winning investigations and documentaries expose cover-ups, corruption, real-life mysteries, whistleblowing, crime, fraud and miscarriages of justice — often before these stories receive mainstream attention. The Background Briefing podcast brings you true stories not everyone will want you to hear, told by trusted reporters across Australia. This Australian podcast makes investigative journalism bingeable. From scams and fraud to schooling and health scandals, tech and social media digs, police exposes and various unsolved cases, each episode of the Background Briefing podcast is a must-listen. Recent series include: Hometown Boys exposed how a terrible crime fractured a local community around a local football club. The Invisible Killer: a forensic investigation into unexplained deaths in aged care after a doctor makes an unusual discovery. The Favourite: how a schoolyard secret stayed hidden for years. Stop and Search, which uncovered the mechanics of power and police accountability. Before and After investigated medical hype, telehealth, body image, cosmetic procedures and consumer risk. Beef: how small feuds escalate into serious disputes.

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02 In Search of the Missing Artist | The Plastic

2026/04/17

The only clue to Jean Paul Mangin's true identity is hiding in his art. Unlike everything else about the elusive French sculptor, the material he works with is right there for anyone to see — giant, flat sheets of plastic, in vivid colours and glossy finishes. Perhaps if reporter Julia Bergin can find out where they're coming from, she can find him too. And it’s that trail that leads her to a noisy factory floor, where another artist has been making strikingly similar work for years.

01 In Search of the Missing Artist | The sculptor

2026/04/11

The sales pitch goes that Jean Paul Mangin is a reclusive Parisian sculptor whose works are internationally acclaimed. His pieces sell quickly through one particular Australian gallery, sought after by trendy interior designers. But gallery staff are starting to ask questions. Why is Jean Paul Mangin uncontactable? Why can’t they find any evidence of his international credentials? And why do his works show up - sometimes in a single layer of bubble-wrap - within days of being commissioned?

Introducing | In Search of the Missing Artist

2026/04/06

For years, art buyers have been told that this man is an internationally acclaimed, intensely private Parisian sculptor. His bold, brightly coloured plastic works are available through one Melbourne gallery, and they're selling fast. But there's a problem. The artist, Jean Paul Mangin, has no website, no social media, and no discernible presence in France. His sculptures arrive in Melbourne wrapped in a single layer of bubble wrap, just days after being commissioned. When gallery staff start asking questions, they're told he's not to be contacted directly. That's when reporter Julia Bergin steps in — following a trail of clues from the bourgeois backstreets off the Champs-Elysées to an empty graveyard in country Victoria.

03 The Road to Bondi | Deepfake

2026/03/27

How did a wounded Bondi survivor become the face of a global deepfake conspiracy in less than 24 hours? Arsen Ostrovsky was celebrating Chanukah at Bondi Beach when the first shots rang out. A bullet grazed his head, and as he lay bleeding on the ground, his first thought was his wife and children. Not knowing whether the danger had passed, he took selfies to show them he was alive. Within hours, one of the images was circulating across social media. Arsen was then swept up in a wave of disinformation that recast him not as a victim, but as a performer: a “crisis actor” faking his wounds to manufacture sympathy for Israel. The deepfake conspiracy spread with startling speed. In less than 24 hours, Arsen had gone from shooting survivor to accused hoaxer. In this episode, reporter Josh Robertson trace how that happened. They follow the lie from its point of origin through the networks that amplified it: far-right Telegram channels, fringe conspiracy theorists on Reddit and Instagram, Russian propaganda outlets, and beyond. It is a story about surviving something catastrophic, then being told by strangers that it never happened.

02 The Road to Bondi | A Test of Character

2026/03/20

This man fled Iran after being imprisoned and tortured for protesting the regime. Known only as AB, he came to Australia hoping to start again — and, in many ways, he did. He found love and started a family. But he also made poor choices, fell into drugs and became violent towards his partner. Now his future in Australia is in jeopardy. He was living with those consequences when the Bondi terror attack unfolded around him. He ran towards the gunfire, and risked his life to help others. Now the country that once gave him refuge wants to deport him.

01 The Road to Bondi | Father and Son

2026/03/13

You think you know the story. You know how it ended. But you don’t know how it began. In the first episode of The Road to Bondi, reporter Josh Robertson traces the decades-long path that led a father and son to carry out their plan. He takes us from the narrow streets of old Hyderabad in India, where a young man grew up in a respectable family, to the western Sydney suburbs, where he begins to unravel.

TRAILER — Introducing The Road to Bondi

2026/03/05

In an ordinary Australian suburb, a father and son are secretly planning something terrible. One fateful summer evening, their path brings them crashing into the lives of strangers from around the world whose own stories haven’t yet been told. You might think you know the story, but there's so much more to tell. In a new three-part series, Background Briefing investigates how the road to Bondi began long before the first shots rang out.

06 Hometown Boys | Not the only one

2026/02/20

Insiders from the Harrow-Balmoral football club decide to break the code of silence. For Elise, it’s time to rebuild her life. But her story inspires other women to emerge with their own troubling accounts of the town’s club culture. When the convicted men were freed, Balmoral threw them a hero’s welcome; after everything, what was actually learned?

05 Hometown Boys | 'Luke, Maybe'

2026/02/13

A key witness submits a startling new statement that topples the guilty verdict and forces a retrial. This time, the men accused will not give evidence. But Lisa Hutchins, the trusted bush nurse will take the stand again — now for the defence.

04 Hometown Boys | The Trial

2026/02/05

As the criminal trial unfolds, witnesses from Balmoral waver on the stand, and the judge is "taken aback". The courtroom is heaving with supporters of the accused but the verdict is not what they're expecting.

03 Hometown Boys | Exile

2026/01/26

In the days after the 21st birthday party, some residents of Balmoral appear to take sides. As the police case quietly gathers pace, the town’s loyalties harden. Soon Elise and her family find themselves increasingly isolated in their own hometown.

02 Hometown Boys | The Party

2026/01/16

Elise comes home to celebrate a classmate’s 21st birthday party. By the end of the night, two old school friends will be accused of a terrible crime. But almost immediately, the town appears to adopt a “nothing to see here” approach, and close around the men.

01 Hometown Boys | One Street Town

2026/01/16

Balmoral is a small Victorian town built on tradition, loyalty and knowing your place. But there appears to be an unspoken code when problems arise - stay silent, or risk being cast out altogether.

TRAILER — Introducing Hometown Boys

2026/01/09

When a young woman accuses a talented local footballer and his friend of rape, the town reveals where its true loyalties lie. The beating heart of Balmoral, a tiny Victorian town in Australia, is the football club. It’s where children grow up, where families belong and where people learn the cost of rocking the boat. Background Briefing investigates what happens when town pride, sports club culture, and the reputation of a promising young player get in the way of a young woman seeking justice over a terrible crime.

Long Read | How social media algorithms decide who you are

2025/12/25

This week, Prianka Srinivasan arms herself with a burner phone and a fake name, and sets out to learn how Instagram’s algorithm really works.

Podcast reviews

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4.6 out of 5

34 reviews

★★★★★

Bilas Peles 2024/11/23

Good listening

Intelligent investigative reporting on interesting topics, usually, but not always, Australia-based

★★★★★

The Dodg 2020/10/30

A joy

This is just a great great show.

★★★★★

Cinavaphotos 2020/09/04

A must Listen!!

I’ve been listening to this show for almost a year now, and I love it. This show is the definition of real investigative Journalism. The episodes are ...

★★★★★

Boutie 2020/04/24

A Window on Australia

As a listener in America, the mix of topics and the depth of journalism devoted to each are a welcome window on Australia’s diverse communities, circu...

★★★★★

Jack_McCoy 2019/09/17

Investigative Journalism Radio

I wasn’t aware investigative journalism on the radio could be as compelling as this. Really good sound design and editing. Topics are as diverse as se...

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