For seven months the sex discrimination commissioner and her team have been investigating the culture in Parliament House. The review has found one in three staffers have experienced some kind of sexual harassment. Days after declaring our borders open, a new COVID-19 variant has thrown them shut again. And international students, skilled migrants and humanitarian visa holders, won’t be allowed in for at least another fortnight. Meet the brother-sister duo making sex toys for people with disabilities. Live guests: Simon Birmingham, Finance Minister Vicki Thomson , head of the Group of Eight Mohammed Samrah, disability sex advocate

Hack

Sexual harassment at Parliament House

Just weeks after we opened our borders to the world - COVID-19 is back with a new variant. But we don't know how dangerous it is, how much protection our vaccines are going to give us and what’s going to happen to all our travel plans and holiday reunions. Meet the 23-year-old who got a vasectomy because he was worried about climate change. Plus, the government wants to introduce new laws that will force social media companies to unmask online trolls, and make them responsible for the abuse people face online. Live guests: Dr Larisa Labzin, immunity and molecular bioscience expert from the University of Queensland Josh Bornstein, lawyer and director at the Australia Institute

OMG Omicron

It's the Shake Up and we're talking… Opposition leader Anthony Albanese accusing the PM of lying about his 2019 trip to Hawaii, proposed voter ID laws excluding young Aussies and First Nations people, and announcing relationships on social media. Join Hack's Avani Dias with former Bachelor contestant and host of the politics podcast 'In the House and In the Senate' Alisha Aitken-Radburn, and influencer Christian Wilkins.

The Shakeup: The PM’s texts, voter ID and launching relationships on social media

Three years after it was announced, the PM has finally introduced a controversial religious discrimination bill in parliament. He believes people of faith need more protection under the law, but there are concerns that LGBTQI+ students and teachers could be worse off. Plus, Yorta Yorta-Gunditjmara singer Isaiah Firebrace has presented his petition for Aboriginal history to be taught in Australian schools at Parliament House. Live guests: Keysar Trad, Australian Federation of Islamic Councils Jo Inkpin, Minister of Pitt St Uniting Church Sydney, Anglican priest and trans woman Steff Fenton, queer Christian and co-pastor at New City Church Isaiah Firebrace, musician

A bill against “cancel culture”

Food delivery services are making moves to cash in on Canada’s multi-billion dollar recreational weed industry. Meanwhile… meet the young Aussie who says he got fired from his job after his bosses discovered he used medicinal cannabis Australia’s listed white supremacist group The Base as a terrorist organisation, making it a criminal offence to be a member. Plus, new research shows that young women and migrants were worst affected by job losses during the pandemic. Live guests: Dr Teresa Nicoletti, lawyer and qualified scientist Dr Joshua Roose, extremism researcher at Deakin Uni Julie Reilly OAM, CEO of Australians Investing in Women

Uber for weed

It’s the last sitting week of parliament for the year, and things are a bit chaotic with fights over the Religious Discrimination Bill, mandatory vaccinations and a federal anti-corruption commission. Meanwhile the government also put forward a controversial bill to make it compulsory for people to show IDs when casting a vote. But the requirement risks excluding young Aussies and First Nations people. There are concerns for one of China’s most popular tennis players, Peng Shuai, after she levelled allegations of sexual assault against a top government official on social-media. Plus, NASA will launch a mission to deliberately slam into an asteroid, in a bid to test the solar system’s gravitational forces. Live guests: Sophie Johnston, National Youth Commissioner Fergus Ryan, Australian Strategic Policy Institute Dr Brad Tucker, astrophysicist

Chaos in Canberra

Sick of all the side-effects from taking the birth control pill, a German inventor has created a new form of contraception for men that uses ultrasound to temporarily immobilise sperm. Protestors are marching across a town in America’s midwest after teenager Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty of killing two Black Lives Matter activists last year. Plus, a remake of The Cure’s iconic song ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ is shining a light on men’s mental health and encouraging blokes to reach out for help and check in on their mates. Live guests: Jamal Hakim, Marie Stopes Australia Tavis Grant, bishop and black rights activist Simon Lee, advertising executive

Where’s all the male birth control?

It's the Shake Up and we're talking… Young Aussies working harder for less money during the pandemic, how our names can influence where we end up in life and whether voice notes can establish chemistry on dating apps. Join Hack's Avani Dias with podcast host Emily Vernem and musician Joyride.

The Shakeup: Unpaid overtime, unusual names and voice notes on dating apps

You know those first few weeks and months of a really painful breakup? When you can’t eat, sleep or stop crying? Imagine if in those moments you had a voice in your ear whispering ‘I love you’ and telling you how special you are. Except those words aren’t coming from your ex, but from a stranger on the internet. When the pandemic kicked off and heaps of Australians lost work, the federal and state governments made an unusual commitment to protect renters from being evicted. But now almost all of those protections are gone. Plus, Australia’s top cyber spy agency and the federal opposition have called for more action to tackle dodgy texts and scam robocalls. Live guests: Dr Mac Shine, neuroscientist at the Brain and Mind Institute at USYD Brendan Coates, housing expert from the Grattan Institute Cassandra Cross, Cybersecurity Cooperative Research Centre

Healing trauma with whispers and clicks

Community members have long warned that overcrowding, misinformation and a lack of communication in Aboriginal languages means those communities are left vulnerable in the pandemic. Now the Northern Territory has recorded 19 cases, and they’re all young Aboriginal people. How did we get here? A survey has revealed Aussies have done eight weeks of unpaid work on average during the pandemic - and young people are the worst off. Plus, the copyright battle over popstar Taylor Swift’s music has heated up after she re-recorded and released her iconic album ‘Red’. Live guests: Malarndirri McCarthy, Garrwa-Yanyuwa woman and NT Labor Senator Dan Nahum, researcher from the Australia Institute Dr Kylie Pappalardo, copyright lawyer

The pandemic’s worst case scenario

Splendour in the Grass is the country's biggest music festival, but over the last few years more young people have spoken up about the disturbing ways they were stripsearched by NSW Police at the event. In most cases, no drugs were found. Now they’re taking the cops to court. Meet the young Aussie who's created an environmentally friendly and cheap sanitary pad out of bananas. Plus, have you ever thought about the science behind your name? Research shows it could impact our job opportunities and social circles. Live guests: Dr Vicki Sentas, senior lecturer at UNSW’s School of Law, Society & Criminology Mursal Azadzoi, student and creator of the Nana Pad

Young people are suing NSW police

Hinge has become the first dating app to introduce voice prompts and memos, to help you figure out if you have chemistry or ‘The Ick’. Plus, the biggest climate change meeting in the last decade has ended with a global pact to phase ‘down’ coal, instead of phasing it out altogether. Live guests: Dr Cate Madill, speech pathologist and researcher at Sydney Uni’s Voice Research Lab Tim Buckley, Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis

Can voice notes establish chemistry?

It's the Shake Up and we're talking... The importance of mosh pit etiquette following the tragic and deadly crowd crush at Astroworld, whether putting beers on Afterpay will be a recipe for disaster for young people, and why some are feeling way less horny after exiting COVID lockdowns. Join Hack's Avani Dias with Herald Sun journalist Jade Gailberger and artist Raph Dixon.

Sex droughts, Astroworld, and drink now, pay later

Have you ever been out and thought, 'I'll just have the one more', but your wallet is empty? Buy now, pay later services can now be used for a bunch of hospitality services, including at some pubs. But experts say it could unwittingly plunge young people into debt. Also, trading on the stock market has become a lot easier thanks to the proliferation of apps available. And, why young people are turning down sex after the pandemic. GUESTS: Melissa Browne, financial advisor Thomas Keily, economist and podcaster Lauren French, sexologist

Using Afterpay at the pub

Plenty of people decided to make a tree-change or sea-change after the pandemic. But slow internet speeds in the regions have made some people think twice. Costs for the Coalition's mixed tech NBN plan has blown out, and new figures show they could have gone for a full fibre option, which would have meant faster speeds. Also, Australia's on track to eradicate new diagnoses of cervical cancer, thanks to the Aussie-created HPV vaccine. And, conspiracy theories are flourishing online that the disaster at Travis Scott's Astroworld festival was caused by Satan. GUESTS: Mark A Gregory, Senior Lecturer at RMIT University Professor Ian Frazer, University of Queensland Ray Radford, PhD Candidate in religion studies

Why is the internet so shit in the regions?

Shoving the J into journalism, Hack covers current affairs, music, politics and culture with youth in mind. Get our half-hour radio program sent directly to you each weekday.

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