Taylor Swift just set the record for the biggest crowd of her career in Australia. And while the most successful female artist playing to half a million people should be the biggest story right now - she’s found herself at the centre of conspiratorial fantasies sweeping American right-wing politics. So why is the far right so obsessed with Taylor Swift? And now that Joe Biden has been pulled into the drama could the conspiracy theories be true?

Guest: Lucia Stein for ABC Online

The conspiracy theories plaguing Taylor Swift

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Australians have been in the midst of a cost of living crisis for a while now. Groceries are more expensive. Petrol is more expensive. Rent is more expensive. We're all in the same boat, so why is talking about money still so taboo? And what can we do to feel more in control of our finances?
 

Guest: Maani Truu from ABC Online

How to survive the cost of living crisis

Banning books feels like a thing of the past. A humble past-time of authoritarian leaders and churches trying to control the way people think. These days; thanks largely to our streaming services, it seems we’re reading much less than we used to. But in the last few years 10,000 books have been banned in the US alone. So why is the number of banned books sky rocketing?

Guest: Sarah L'Estrange for The Book Show

Why are book bans skyrocketing?

We spend more of our waking hours at work than anywhere else – and by extension, a lot of time with our colleagues. That might explain why up to half of us have been in a workplace relationship. So is it true a successful office romance can make you a better worker? And what about if it's your colleagues who are involved in not-so-subtle flirting while you’re just trying to get your job done?

Guest: Zoe Ferguson for This Working Life

Office romances are more common than you think

TikTok has over a billion users and counting. Recently there’s been a lot of talk about the national security threat that such a large user base owned by a Chinese company poses and now the US government has just passed a bill banning TikTok all together. So how did TikTok turn videos of synchronised dancing and lipsyncing into a multi-billion dollar business? And is the company’s Chinese ownership really as dangerous as governments would have us believe?

Since this episode was recorded US President Joe Biden signed a law that would ban TikTok unless it was sold within a year.  The measure formed part of a bill providing foreign aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan and stipulates that the parent company ByteDance must sell its stake in TikTok in 12 months under the threat of being shut down. 



Guest: Jen Leake for Rear Vision

Should TikTok be banned?

AI is already impacting the way we work, the way we design and the way we think but there’s a growing concern that soon it’s going to start impacting the way we vote. And it’s got governments and regulators scrambling. So with AI-generated images and videos flooding the internet, how can voters know what’s real and what’s a deep fake? And what regulations might help control AI without stifling the industry or sending people underground?

Guest: Hamish Macdonald for Global Roaming

The conspiracy theories plaguing Taylor Swift

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