Spin Cycle

Jess is joined by senior reporter for The Australian, Sarah Elks, to discuss Sarah's jaw dropping series of investigative reports into long-time QLD MP, Warren Entsch. From spiriting a billionaire to Thursday Island for a covid jab to questions around government-funded pottery classes in Doomadgee to Entsch's former lives as a croc catcher and LGBTIQ+ activist - this is a story you don't want to miss. Jess is also joined by Swinburne University senior media lecturer, Dr Belinda Barnett, to discuss the impact of AI on newsrooms.

Media ethics expert and long-time journalist, Denis Muller returns to Spin Cycle to join Charlie for a discussion on the past week's news. What does the ABC's redundancy of Andrew Probyn and his role say about their approach to political reporting? Is the News Corp response to the Ben Roberts-Smith saga undermining other media outlets? Is there a way for media monopolies to be effectively regulated?

Jess and Charlie are joined by journalist Marc Fennell for a discussion about the making of his new SBS documentary The Kingdom, his personal history with the church, and the changing face of Pentecostal religion in Australia. The team also cover how the continuing media response to the Ben Roberts-Smith verdict appears to have split along ideological lines and the continuing adventures of social media influencer Caroline Calloway.

Academic and Author Sally Young joins Jess and Charlie to discuss Australia's media mogul history and her new book, Media Monsters: The Transformation of Australia's Newspaper Empires. The team also cover this week's verdict in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case and how defamation laws in Australia impact the media environment.

After Stan Grant's departure from the ABC, hosts Jess and Charlie discuss how various corners of the media responded, and the broader lack of inclusion and support of Indigenous voices in the Australian media.  

They also consider the strange bedfellows that celebrity journos and politicians make and the tech-riddled media fail that was the Twitter Launch of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' 2024 US Presidential bid.

Award-winning author of The Trauma Cleaner, Sarah Krasnostein, Joins the Spin Cycle team for a chat through her latest piece for the Monthly - exploring the media response to 2022 Train family murders in Wieambilla, Queensland and their link to online conspiracy theories.

Plus, the team digs into the latest media dramas of the week including 2023 budget reporting and how outlets select their political commentators. With hosts Jess Lilley and Charlie Lewis.

Najma Sambul returns to Spin Cycle this week. Jess and Najma reviewed the recent episode of Foreign Conversation, Surviving in Somalia, as an example of the vital reporting foreign correspondents do. They also discussed the curious case of how twitter user, Bigolas Dickolas, created a number one Amazon best selling book. 

Jess flies solo this week with Charlie on holidays for the next fortnight.

First up, Crikey associate editor, Cam Wilson gets on the line to discuss his recent reporting into how both the Daily Mail and the Spectator have published pieces by people who have tenuous links to neo-nazi movements and the alt-right.  Later, Amy Remeikis from The Guardian Australia unpacks all the reporting around Jobseeker, the raise the rate campaign, the incoming budget and the government's response to their own advisory committee's recommendation that unemployment benefits be increased.

Ben Abbatangelo, writer for The Saturday Paper and The Guardian, joins Jess and Charlie to discuss his debut piece for Indigenous X, covering Peter Dutton's comments on Indigenous issues, Jacinta Price and the politics of refusal.

Jess and Charlie also discuss the defamation case between Dominion and Fox News and the roots of "facts" in QAnon forums.

Charlie Lewis is joined by guest-host Rachel Withers (The Monthly) covering for Jess Lilley.  They're joined by special guest Kishor Napier-Raman, CBD columnist for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age who covers Australia's most influential political and business figures, about what a "gossip column" really means, what it can tell you that straight news can't, and having a job that has powerful people yelling at you more than most. 

Plus, the pair survey the wreckage of the Twitter files, and get into the weeds of Peter Dutton's media strategy when it comes to opposing the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.