A woman has lost the ability to speak and is forced to communicate by blinking. From her hospital bed she tries to blink out a request, but hospital staff refuse to help. Background Briefing can reveal that similar situations are playing out in many public health facilities across Australia, as patients pursue their legal right to die, and healthcare workers say "no".

This week reporter and Dharawal woman Brooke Fryer goes inside a program that's helping violent men turn their lives around.

He left a trail of defect-riddled apartment buildings across Sydney and debts exceeding $600m to his creditors. Police have issued a warrant for his arrest. The NSW Premier has even offered to pay for his flight back to Australia. This week, Background Briefing tracks down the notorious and elusive Jean Nassif, who gives his first exclusive sit-down interview since he left Australia more than a year ago.

Ruby's barely a teenager, and already she's become a champion bull rider. She's also had eight concussions and multiple brain bleeds. Reporter Tynan King investigates how this extreme sport became her obsession — even as it threatens her life.

There are only two witnesses to Brad Balzan's final moments: the two officers who chased him into his backyard. But their accounts of what happened don't match up.

As the investigation into Bradley Balzan's death continues, serious questions are raised about how the country’s largest police force uses its search powers.

Brad Balzan is shot dead in his own backyard after a police encounter goes wrong. In episode two of Stop and Search, a new mini-series by Background Briefing, reporter Paul Farrell asks why was he running away, and why did the officers chase him down?

A 20-year-old is chased by four plain-clothes police officers into his western Sydney backyard. But he hasn't committed a crime. He hasn't even done anything wrong. He's shot twice, and then dies. In a special miniseries by Background Briefing, the final moments that led to this tragic incident are pieced together. The reporter is Paul Farrell. 

There are women choosing to “freebirth” completely outside the medical system.

They have anonymous leaders, manifestos, and even a flag with a snake on it. 

‘Cities’ are popping up across Bali’s spiritual heartland. Can villagers from Ubud hold back a tsunami of foreign money and preserve the island's culture?

Background Briefing returns to your pod feeds next week.

In a nursing home lives an elderly man who is being held against his will. We can’t tell you his name. We can’t tell you his age. We can’t even use his real voice, or the voice of anyone involved in his case. Reporter Anne Connolly investigates what happens when the state rules you're incapable of looking after yourself.

As a teenager, Remy learnt to survive by hustling on the streets of Parramatta. Then she hit the bigtime. Reporter Mahmood Fazal investigates what life is like on the other side of the war on drugs.

Reporter Heidi Davoren provides an extraordinary insight into a parenting dispute, where a mother and father come together after a Family Court psychologist harmed their family.

Queensland authorities failed to heed multiple serious warnings that a young pair of sisters were in danger, before it was too late. Their grieving family is now desperate to understand why. Reporter Alexandra Blucher investigates.

When two infants die after being left inside a hot car, their family seek answers to how this could have happened. Reporter Alexandra Blucher tracks down a child safety officer involved in their case, and hears why she believes the girls' deaths could have been prevented.

After an electoral officer helped police arrest a popular state minister, her life began to unravel.

"Simone" arrived on a remote island to help asylum seekers. But she witnessed something there that convinced her to leak over 2000 documents. Reporters Paul Farrell and Maddison Conaughton investigate what happened.

From humble beginnings, Fahad faced hurdles entering medical school. Now, he fights for equal access to medical education. Marty Smiley reports.

Father-of-three Ayman Dhlan started a WhatsApp group to help Australians and their families get out of war-torn Gaza. Now he can barely put his phone down.

It might surprise you to learn that the names of pop stars and fascist dictators have been passed down to generations of Indigenous Australians. Reporter Erin Parke heads to the remote Kimberley to meet a man named Bing Crosby, and find out how it happened.

There's a gripping new series by our friends across the ditch at RNZ.

From humble beginnings, Fahad faced hurdles entering medical school. Now, he fights for equal access to medical education.