The new ABC limited series The Newsreader is a late 20th century period drama about sexual politics, egos and the stories that shaped our consciousness in the mid 1980s. Co-creator and writer Michael Lucas and series writer Kim Ho take us behind the scenes.

We talk about that Good Weekend profile of celebrity chef and MasterChef judge Jock Zonfrillo, which casts doubts on some of the recollections in Zonfrillo’s new memoir, Last Shot. Zonfrillo and publisher Simon & Schuster are standing by the book; Nine, which owns The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, is standing by journalist Tim Elliott’s feature.

As we cradle our Japanese rice baby sacks and cry about the imminent end of the world, we fill our dried out husks with Cooking with Paris and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

And: should we normies follow Jennifer Aniston’s example and cut covid vaccine deniers out of our lives? 

Show notes:

The Newsreader: https://iview.abc.net.au/show/newsreader

Good Weekend profile of Jock Zonfrillo: https://www.smh.com.au/national/he-s-very-nice-the-only-problem-is-chef-marco-pierre-white-on-jock-zonfrillo-20210714-p589q3.html

Jennifer Aniston's decision to cut ties with unvaccinated people could backfire: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-10/jennifer-aniston-cuts-off-people-who-refuse-covid-vaccine/100362204

Vogue Australia September cover: https://www.instagram.com/p/CSOiYQSgG4T

Cooking with Paris: https://www.netflix.com/title/81312532