EPISODE · Aug 12, 2026 · 26 MIN
Mass school walkout over Hanson + How sex work saved Bension’s career
from The Briefing · host LiSTNR
Thursday Headlines: Students to stage school walkout over Pauline Hanson One dead and more than 200 rescued after Bali ferry fire News bargaining incentive hits parliament today Victorian authorities prepare for mass vaccine event of little penguins Tooth decay cases soar across Australia as people put off expensive dentist work Deep Dive: When Bension Siebert's role was made redundant, the award-winning journalist found himself staring down a shrinking media industry that no longer seemed willing to invest in the investigations he'd spent his career chasing. A week later, he was walking out of a stranger's apartment with $600 in his pocket, having just taken his first paid in-person sex work booking. In this episode of The Briefing, Chris Spyrou and Sacha Barbour Gatt welcome their former colleague and co-host back to the mic to unpack an unlikely career move - and the essay about it that's turned his life upside down in a matter of days. Bension explains how five hours of sex work can out-earn a week of journalism, why he sees it less as a last resort than a kind of liberation, and how a media landscape squeezed by redundancies and legal risk pushed him toward telling the stories he says newsrooms won't. Bension’s essay on Cheek Media: How sex work saved my investigative journalism career Bension’s Instagram: bensionfindsout Follow The Briefing: TikTok: @thebriefingpodInstagram: @thebriefingpodcast YouTube: @TheBriefingPodcastSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Mass school walkout over Hanson + How sex work saved Bension’s career
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