Join notorious Guardian columnist Van Badham and her labour activist co-host (and partner!) Ben Davison. As they deep-dive into the big news themes of the week and provide fresh, irreverent analysis about what's really going on in Australia and around the world.
Episodes
Wednesday Nov 25, 2020
Wednesday Nov 25, 2020
Van Badham and Ben Davison breakdown the Andrews government budget measures for jobs, sick leave, supporting women, acting on climate, wages growth and how it contrasts to the failures of the Morrison budget to the point of Victoria acting more like the federal government than the Morrison federal government.
Van and Ben take apart how digital sham contracting is killing people and we need to regulate platforms while collectively deciding not to tolerate exploitation.
Van drops some great news about electric vehicles and the opportunities for Australian manufacturing.
Germanicus, our dog, plays with the birds and joins in the shout outs to unions, economists, think tanks and friends of the show who are working on these issues.
Wednesday Nov 18, 2020
Wednesday Nov 18, 2020
Van Badham breaks down how the Liberal Party lack of integrity in NSW and in the Morrison government is holding back a national integrity commission while spurring more anti-union raids, Ben Davison examines the social housing revolution in Dan Andrew's Victoria and the good news involves bees!
Plus, our dog Germanicus gets fired up about certain Liberal Party MP's ideological obsessions.
Wednesday Nov 11, 2020
Wednesday Nov 11, 2020
Van takes on the misogyny & hypocrisy of the Morrison government, Ben talks about the ideological blinders undermining our economic recovery and punishing Australian's looking for work.
The good news, for a change, is from the USA.
Also Germanicus responds to some of the more outrageous stories of the week.
Thursday Nov 05, 2020
Thursday Nov 05, 2020
In this US Election special: Van and Ben discuss the chaos of the American election, the Trump tantrums, the accidental humour of the CNN 3am shift, the shifts in votes and how John McCain's ghost might have played a part.
The good news is at least one confederate flag has been taken down forever & maybe the next President can end the war on drugs?
And Germanicus decides to chase the birds and generally make noise.
Thursday Oct 29, 2020
Thursday Oct 29, 2020
In this very special Thursday edition Van and Ben look at the Queensland election campaign and Clive Palmer's grubby templated campaign of lies as well as how his private jet subsidy from Morrison is helping fund his political party.
Van explores the nature of the US electoral system while Ben outlines the current position of Biden vs Trump. And people are so excited in Melbourne that they are lining up for steaks at midnight!
Also our dog Germanicus defends the house from someone walking past!
Wednesday Oct 21, 2020
Wednesday Oct 21, 2020
Ben breaks down the Morrison government's failure to create jobs while more jobs are destroyed but billions are go out the door in tax cuts... Van explores ugly attacks on Australians of Chinese heritage in a senate committee... and - after 100 days of lockdown - it turns out Victoria is a better place to be than Paris!
Also, our dog Germanicus bumps into stuff. A lot.
Wednesday Oct 14, 2020
Wednesday Oct 14, 2020
Van takes us through what is happening in NSW with the Premier, the former MP and a corruption inquiry that has shown us a whole different side of Gladys. Ben looks at the civil war within the Murdoch Empire as well as the pressure building from outside.
The good news is that disco will never die even despite Trump's attempt to kill it.
And Germanicus is unsure about the casual nature of that passerby.....
Wednesday Oct 07, 2020
Wednesday Oct 07, 2020
Van gives us the scoop on the chaos in Trump World, Ben breaks down the what the federal budget REALLY means and theres good news about mangroves and justice.
Also Germanicus makes lots of weird noises....
Wednesday Sep 30, 2020
Wednesday Sep 30, 2020
Van Badham reviews the most strange Presidential debate in living memory, Ben takes us through the cuts facing 3.5 millions Australians on Jobkeeper and Jobseeker, Van & Ben are horrified at the Morrison government potentially sending troops to the docks while the workers are still negotiating and people in Tasmania save 109 whales!
Wednesday Sep 23, 2020
Wednesday Sep 23, 2020
Van explains just why the death of a single Supreme Court judge brings a powerful new dynamic to the American election, and Ben takes on the financial exploitation of pay-day lending in Australia. All with some good news at the end.