BETOOTA TALKS: Victorian Socialist Purple Pingers & Democratic Campaigner Kyle Middleton

The first of our mid-week podcasts that will be published in the lead up to the election features two figures on opposite ends of the political scale. First up, a Senate candidate from the Victorian Socialists, Jordan Van Den Lamb, better known by his online persona Purple Pingers. Jordan is in the headlines again this week after Anthony Albanese had a shot at him because he is encouraging people in Victoria to squat in empty houses in response to the housing crisis. He's got some rather radical ideas and he does represent the fringe in Australian politics, but as we know in Australian politics, sometimes the fringe even gets a start.

The second interview you'll hear is with more of an establishment figure in politics. He's an American named Kyle Middleton. He worked on the Kamala Harris campaign in the last US presidential election and has a lot of interesting insights about what went wrong and what could have been done differently. We chat about how the American political system differs to the Australian political system, but also how the American system is heavily influencing the current Australian federal election campaign.

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