Let’s revisit one of Stop Everything’s most popular interviews of 2021: our celebrity memoir book club with National Trinket, Shane Jenek, aka Courtney Act.

Brisbane-born Shane is known around the world as drag queen Courtney Act. Courtney’s appeared on Australian Idol, RuPaul’s Drag Race, The Bi Life, Dancing with the Stars, One Plus One on ABC TV and even a segment on ABC Kids talking to children about gender.

Shane joins Stop Everything! to talk about his memoir, Caught in the Act, with reflections on being gender fluid, coming out, life as Courtney and plenty of S-E-X.

Hello 2022! Please be kind. Our offering for the new year is a closer look at local versions of international reality TV blockbusters: Drag Race and The Real Housewives, aka brand Benjamin Law.

First up, RuPaul’s ride-or-die Michelle Visage dropped by ahead of the inaugural season of Drag Race Down Under.

Then, Brian Moylan on his tell-all book about the Real Housewives reality TV empire, followed by actual Real Housewives of Melbourne, Jackie Gillies and Cherry Dipietrantonio.

Settle in for deep and meaningful chats with two of our favourite Stop Everything! guests of 2021: screenwriter and director Steven Canals and singer, songwriter and artist Ngaiire.

Steven reflects on the end of Pose, the award-winning series hailed as ground breaking for trans representation. Steven shares what it was like to be in the room when series lead Billy Porter shared his HIV status with the cast and crew of Pose, and his view of the current TV landscape.

Ngaiire discusses the release of her long-awaited album ‘3’ which puts her Papua New Guinean roots front and centre in a conversation covering music, motherhood, home and breaking free of industry expectations.

Remember that window in 2021 when there were few covid cases, no lockdowns and people could travel across state borders? Yeah! That actually happened, and during that blessed window, we hosted a show, live, from the Sydney Writers Festival.

Ok sure, BW was beamed in via a giant screen on stage, but three out of four people on a stage ain’t bad.

In this RN summer highlight, BW + BL talk to Carly Findlay, editor of Growing Up Disabled in Australia, and Sam van Zweden, the author of Eating With My Mouth Open in a conversation covering the body, disability, fatness – and the medicalisation, language and politics around these things.

If you need support or to talk to someone. The Butterfly Foundation is a site where you can find resources for eating disorders and body image: www.butterfly.org.au

Lifeline is also available 24 hours: https://www.lifeline.org.au/

The long-awaited revival of Sex and the City is out! How are Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte faring in 2021 without Samantha?

Trigger, er we mean spoiler warning — BW and BL talk about And Just Like That’s woke moments, deaths, diversity, and podcast developments. 

Also: Jenna Guillaume shares her top #Christmance movies and BL and BW trade notes on memorable pop culture moments of 2021.

Show notes:

Kim Catrall not a part of the revival and in the past has been openly scathing of Sarah Jessica Parker: https://www.instyle.com/celebrity/kim-cattrall/kim-cattrall-response-samantha-absence-and-just-like-that

A cardiologist responds: Should Carrie have called 911? https://www.vulture.com/article/and-just-like-that-big-death-carrie-911-call.html

Jenna Guillaume’s 2021 Christmance thread: https://twitter.com/JennaGuillaume/status/1465613521475944450?s=20

We watched a lot of TV in 2021. We’re looking back at shows we loved and the TV moments staining our memories [hello Armond from The White Lotus]. We’re also talking about the TV culture shifts we noticed in 2021, the TV we want to see more of in 2022, and the TV we’re happy to toss in the bin.

Featuring two friends of Stop Everything: Patrick Lenton deputy arts and culture editor at The Conversation and a former editor of Junkee, and Hannah Reich, Arts on RN/ABC Arts digital producer. 

Show notes:

Jeremy Strong profile on the New Yorker: www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/12/13/on-succession-jeremy-strong-doesnt-get-the-joke?

Patrick Lenton's best TV shows of 2021: https://junkee.com/best-tv-shows-2021/317003

Hacks review: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-11/hacks-on-stan-with-jean-smart-nominated-for-emmys/100446534

Hannah Reich dissects The White Lotus: www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-04/the-white-lotus-mike-white-hbo-tv-series/100420922

Mare of Easttown: www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-20/mare-of-easttown-kate-winslet-tv-miniseries/100145988

Recapping RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-01/rupaul-s-drag-race-down-under-drag-queen-reality-tv/100091256

It’s a Sin: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-14/its-a-sin-stan-series-hiv-aids-crisis-sex-grief-joy/13127122

Hannah's top pick for Australian TV in 2021- Bump: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-24/stan-bump-australia-tv-series-claudia-karvan/13074518

It’s the year 10191. We’re folding time and space and going deep on the science fiction classic, Dune.

We start with Frank Herbert’s best-selling 1965 novel, make a pit stop at David Lynch’s indelible and sometimes inscrutable 1984 screen adaptation, and finally contemplate Denis Villeneuve’s star-studded 2021 release of Dune part one. 

Science fiction author and Dune scholar Haris Durrani and film critic Luke Goodsell join BW at the High Council to discuss everything from battle pugs to the deep Islamic and Arabic references of the source material.  

And BL is haunted by Kendall Roy’s terrible birthday party and late capitalism in the latest episode of Succession.

Show notes:

The Guardian remembers David Dalaithngu: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/nov/30/david-dalaithngu-obituary-walkabout-star-a-consummate-actor-who-helped-reinvent-australian-film?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Haris Durrani Washington Post article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/10/28/dune-muslim-influences-erased/

Haris Durrani's Medium article: https://hdernity.medium.com/gurney-halleck-the-moor-or-othello-in-space-682bfd99c760

Luke Goodsell's Dune review: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-01/dune-review-denis-villeneuve-sci-fi-epic/100659654

Succession season 3 episode 7 recap: https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/11/succession-season-3-episode-7/620816/

We’re rolling in the deep with Adele’s new album, 30, and two international TV specials to celebrate its launch. It’s been six years since Adele’s last album and a lot of life lived in between, including a divorce. BL + BW have listened to 30 many times and are ready to talk!

It’s 2021 and Superman has come out as bisexual. Jonathan Kent, the son of Clark Kent and Lois Lane, and the new guardian of planet Earth has shared a kiss with friend Jay Nakamura in a new issue of Superman: Son of Kal-El. Melbourne-based comic book writer Tom Taylor tells Stop Everything! why it’s time to queer DC’s iconic superhero.

And, welcome Ji-Young, Sesame Street’s newest character. She’s 7, loves tteokbokki (Korean rice cakes), playing her electric guitar and is the first Asian-American muppet in the show’s 52 year history. 

Adele One Night Only: https://7plus.com.au/adele-one-night-only

An Audience with Adele: https://www.itv.com/hub/an-audience-with/L0055a0007

Tom Taylor twitter: https://twitter.com/TomTaylorMade

Tom Taylor's instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tomtaylormade/

Washington Post on the story of how Superman came out as bisexual: https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2021/11/16/superman-bisexual-comic-jon-kent/

Sesame Street: Meet the friends in your neighbourhood with Ji-Young, Elmo and Alan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E5uk_CE6FE&t=134s

NY Times on the first Asian American muppet on Sesame Street: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/15/arts/television/new-sesame-street-character-ji-young.html

It’s Ausmusic Month and to celebrate Stop Everything! brings you interviews with some of the best musical talents our country has to offer.

Firstly: BARKAA. Earlier this year, the Malyangapa and Barkindji rapper took the stage at the Sydney Opera House with her daughter to perform a moving rendition of ‘I know I can.’ She chats with Ben about her debut record - Blak Matriarchy - which is a testament to powerful Blak women, past, present and future.

Then we revisit two of our favourite interviews from the Stop Everything! archives.

Singer songwriter Ngaiire goes deep on her third album (3), exploring her Papua New Guinean roots and the challenges she's faced in the music industry.

Twenty years on from their critically acclaimed debut album, Since I Left You, The Avalanches’s Tony di Blasi talks about the duo’s approach to sampling music, creative process during the pandemic and latest album.

Show notes:

BARKAA’s website: https://www.barkaa.com.au/

BARKAA performs at the Sydney Opera House with her daughter: https://stream.sydneyoperahouse.com/videos/barkaa-live-at-barrabuwari-a-sunset-gathering-of-music

Ngaiire’s website: https://www.ngaiire.com/

The Avalanches website: https://www.theavalanches.com/

Stop Everything! We’ve got a podcast recommendation for you — Pop Chat from CBC Podcasts in Canada. Join host

Elamin Abdelmahmoud, along with entertainment reporter Kevin Fallon and culture writer Amil Niazi as they discuss and work through the pop culture stories that matter. Follow Pop Chat wherever you get your podcasts.