Like I'm A Six-Year-Old

Sam Newman is a former AFL player for the Geelong Football Club and has been a controversial figure in the Australian media for decades. He's best known for his work on The Footy Show, which he appeared on from 1994 until 2018.  I find Sam's political positions to be ill-informed and incorrect (I'm pretty sure he feels the same about mine), but I know there are plenty of people out there who agree with him and think he talks a lot of sense when it to comes to political correctness, immigration, Donald Trump and climate change. He also considered running for Lord Mayor of Melbourne last year and received some support in some corners. In this very wide-ranging, frustrating but civil conversation, I try to get a sense of his thinking and push back where I could. I hope you get something out of it. Part two will be out next week.  JOIN THE BRAND NEW LIKE I’M A SIX-YEAR-OLD GROUP ON FACEBOOK! WOW!  If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron Check out my new podcast with Audible, What’s the Story? I’m coming to Ballarat this Friday November 1st for BallaRatCat Comedy I’ll be performing at Just For Laughs Sydney at the Opera House this Saturday November 2nd @Origsmartassam Sam's Facebook page Sam's podcast Sam, Mike & Thommo  ARTICLE: Footy Show host Sam Newman criticised for reckless transphobia  NASA's article on the Icelandic glacier Myrdalsjokull  ARTICLE: Trump cats did little to boost economic growth in 2018, study says ARTICLE: Enough with the fairy tales about the Paris agreement. It's time for facts by Erwin Jackson  ARTICLE: Why is China placing a global bet on coal?   Cause of the Week: The Les Twentyman Foundation (ltfoundation.com.au)   

Luke Buckmaster is a renowned film critic who has recently found himself hitting the streets as a climate protestor.  Here Luke tells me about his emotional reaction to the climate crisis, what inspired him to get involved with the recent week of Extinction Rebellion protests, what he saw that inspired and moved him at those protests and the philosophy and ethics of civil disobedience.   Oh also we touched on Marvel movies and Joker.  JOIN THE BRAND NEW LIKE I'M A SIX-YEAR-OLD GROUP ON FACEBOOK! WOW!  If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron Check out my new podcast with Audible, What’s the Story? I'm coming to Ballarat on Friday November 1st for BallaRatCat Comedy I’ll be performing at Just For Laughs Sydney at the Opera House on Saturday November 2nd @lukebuckmaster Luke's essay on the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the "apocalypse of cinema" Luke's review of the new Lion King Luke's review of Joker OPINION: When our planet is under attack we have to stand up and fight back by Luke OPINION: Extinction Rebellion protests by Luke ARTICLE: Tube protest was a mistake, admit leading Extinction Rebellion members  OPINION: Extinction Rebellion has built up so much goodwill. It mustn't throw that away by Gaby Hinsliff Extinction Rebellion Australia >> ausrebellion.earth Cause of the Week: Climate Change Protests (climatechangeprotests.net.au) 

Maddison Connaughton is the editor of The Saturday Paper. She's written for Vice News, SBS, The Australian, The Age and others and has been twice-nominated for the Walkley Award for Young Australian of the Year.  Here Maddison discusses why she became a journalist, her thoughts on her role as an editor and the ideological position of her paper, Ita Buttrose's comments on the loss of "larrikins" and political correctness and the dearth of new ideas in Australian political discourse.  If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron Check out my new podcast with Audible, What’s the Story? I'm doing two fun gigs in Melbourne this week I'll be performing at Just For Laughs Sydney at the Opera House on Saturday November 2nd Felicity Ward's piece on abortion rights for The Mash Report that I helped out (a little) with Donate to the Heart Foundation in memory of Carla Bellomarino @madconnaughton thesaturdaypaper.com.au Maddison's writing for Vice The 7am podcast (7ampodcast.com.au) Margaret Simons' profile on Jacquie Lambie Saturday Paper's Editorials Episode 33 with Erik Jensen ARTICLE: Political correctness has gone too far in Australia, says ABC Chair Ita Buttrose The Saturday Paper editorial, The untold joke  The Australian editorial, Endangered larrikins ($)  Cause of the Week: Give Well (givewell.org) 

Latika Bourke is an award-winning journalist and since 2016 has been the London correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and the Canberra Times. Here Latika reflects on covering British politics as the country has tried to deal with the fallout of the Brexit referendum and its ensuing chaos. She tells me about covering the Labour Conference in Brighton over the weekend and the state of the party, Brexit fatigue, the rise of the Liberal Democrats, what might happen next and what covering UK politics has taught her about the Australian political class. If you’ve got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron Check out my new podcast with Audible, What’s the Story? And email me! I’m on tom@tomballard.com.au @latikambourke Latika on instagram Latika's articles for the SMH Latika's book From India With Love unherd.com Cause of the Week: Pet Rescue (www.petrescue.com.au)

CONTENT WARNING: This episode involves discussion of sexual assault Aditi Mittal is a stand up comedian with a massive following in her native India. She's outspoken and hilarious about her politics and the plight of women under patriarchy. In this conversation Aditi tells me why for her "breathing is a political act", the repression in Indian society, how the caste system works, the country's recent rightward shift under the leadership of Narendra Modi and what it's like to live in a country of MORE THAN ONE BILLION PEOPLE.  MAKE SURE YOU STRIKE FOR THE CLIMATE ON FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 20TH >> globalclimatestrike.net If you've got the means please support this show by becoming a Patron Check out my new podcast with Audible, What’s the Story? And email me! I'm on tom@tomballard.com.au @awryaditi aditimittal.com ARTICLE: Five years after the gang-rape and murder of Jyoti Singh, what has changed for women in India?  ARTICLE: Hindutva on the March Cause of the Week: Good Samaritans Mumbai (samaritansmumbai.com)  

Michael Walker is the host of TyskySour on Novara Media, an independent media organisation dedicated to covering British politics from the Left.  After a big fat crazy week in British politics - Boris Johnson proroguing parliament, MPs defecting to other parties all over the place, general elections being proposed and voted down - Michael joined me in my London flat's kitchen to chat about what this moment means. He explains why he moved away from anarchism and why he now identifies as a "class war social democrat", how the Brexit and the Corbyn moments have affected each other and how he thinks Labour can win the next general election (if it's actually called this year). We also cover the Podemos example, the anti-Semitism row that Labour has faced and the challenges a Corbyn government might face from those within its own ranks.    MAKE SURE YOU STRIKE FOR THE CLIMATE ON FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 20TH >> globalclimatestrike.net You can be a hero in this world and support this show by becoming a Patron now if you like Check out my new podcast with Audible, What’s the Story? ARTICLE: Hazara asylum seeker in detention uses art to 'build bridges' and 'unite humanity'   I'm on the latest episode of The Bugle @michaeljswalker @novaramedia Michael's show TyskySour on YouTube TyskySour the podcast Cause of the Week: Novara Media (novaramedia.com)  

Dr. Matt Winning (yes! Actual name!) is a climate policy researcher, environmental economist and stand up comedian. I got to see Matt's show at the Edinburgh Fringe this year, It's The End of the World As We Know It, and it make me laugh and also made me sad. Here we discuss the depressing reality we're faced with when it comes to the climate crisis, what is to be done about it (as individuals and collectively), approaching tipping points, apocalyptic predictions, what that IPCC report really means and where to find some hope.  MAKE SURE YOU STRIKE FOR THE CLIMATE ON FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 20TH >> globalclimatestrike.net You can be a hero in this world and support this show by becoming a Patron now if you like ENOUGH is on now at the Soho Theatre until Saturday 7th September Check out my new podcast with Audible, What’s the Story? Please help Refugee Legal support people seeking asylum as they navigate Australia's rubbish immigration legal system @mattywin85 mattwinning.com Watch Matt's 2018 show Climate Strange - Part One & Part Two  Matt's podcast Operation Earth ARTICLE: New Report Suggests 'High Likelihood of Human Civilisation Coming To An End' Starting in 2050 What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming: Toward A New Psychology of Climate Action by Per Espen Stoknes  Don't Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired To Ignore Climate Change by George Marshall  My episode with climate strikers Emma & Anthony  ARTICLE: Yes, Socialism is Infinity Pools for Everyone by Aaron Bastani Cause of the Week: 10:10 Climate Action (1010uk.org)

Andrew Doyle is a stand up comedian and satirist who's written for Jonathan Pie, created the parody twitter character Titania McGrath, writes for Spiked Online and runs a "free-thinking" comedy night in London called Comedy Unleashed. But, unlike others who criticise social justice and the "woke movement", Andrew comes at these issues from a Leftist perspective.   Here we chat about why Andrew is so concerned about "wokeness" and how he sees it affecting society, comedy and free speech. We cover the state of Brexit (and why he thinks voting to Remain isn't a left-wing position), fascism and his attitude towards how his work is interpreted.  You can be a hero in this world and support this show by becoming a Patron now if you like ENOUGH is on at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival NOW! 9pm at the Monkey Barrel, pay to reserve a ticket or Pay What You Feel on exit Then ENOUGH is at the Soho Theatre from Monday September 2nd Check out my new podcast with Audible, What’s the Story? @andrewdoyle_com @TitaniaMcGrath andrewdoyle.co.uk Andrew's writing at Spiked Online Andrew's show Exodus at the Edinburgh Fringe  Titania McGrath's Mxnifesto at the Edinburgh Fringe Woke: A Guide To Social Justice by Titania Mcgrath Alistair Williams' twitter account @awilliamscomedy Oscar Wilde's The Soul of Man Under Socialism  The Once and Future Liberal by Mark Lilla on Amazon Inside London's "free speech" comedy night by Yohann Koshy for Vice Cause of the Week: Action With Effect (actionwitheffect.org) 

Grace Petrie is a socialist, feminist, lesbian singer-songwriter whose political songs place a fire in my heart and whose love songs break my heart. She's brilliant and I feel very lucky to have her on this show.  In this chat I ask Grace about being labelled a "protest singer", her agenda when it comes to her music, the importance of representation, Hannah Gadsby, trans rights, battling with TERFs and Jeremy Corbyn.  Plus at the end she bloody sings a song for us! It is great!  You can be a hero in this world and support this show by becoming a Patron now if you like ENOUGH is on at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival NOW! 9pm at the Monkey Barrel, pay to reserve a ticket or Pay What You Feel on exit Then ENOUGH is at the Soho Theatre from Monday September 2nd Check out my new podcast with Audible, What’s the Story? @gracepetrie gracepetrie.com Grace's tour dates ARTICLE: Protest music: steel in the hour of chaos Grace's Facebook post after TERFs disrupted her show  Cause of the Week: UK Lesbian & Gay Immigration Group (uklgig.org.uk)

CONTENT WARNING: This episode involves discussion of sexual assault Daniel Sloss is a Scottish comedian who has sold out shows around the world, appeared on Conan shitloads of times and has two specials on Netflix. I'm also lucky enough to consider him a friend. Daniel's latest show X deals with toxic masculinity and his personal response to an incident involving the sexual assault of a friend. It's a funny and thoughtful response to gender politics, call-out culture, sexual violence and #MeToo. In this conversation (recorded back in March), Daniel and I have a frank and at times tricky conversation about how to navigate this kind of terrain, the ethics of writing offensive and dark comedy and how we can all try to make the most of this cultural reckoning with the widespread scourge of sexual misconduct. We also have a few laughs.  I'm keen to hear any and all feedback on this episode: my email is tom@tomballard.com.au  You can be a hero in this world and support this show by becoming a Patron now if you like ENOUGH is on at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival NOW! 9pm at the Monkey Barrel, pay to reserve a ticket or Pay What You Feel on exit Then ENOUGH is at the Soho Theatre from Monday September 2nd Check out my new podcast with Audible, What's the Story? @daniel_sloss Daniel's show X is at the Fringe for three nights only   danielsloss.com Cause of the Week: Rape & Domestic Violence Australia (rape-dvservices.org.au), Rape Crisis Scotland (rapecrisisscotland.org.uk)