Victoria’s Premier Daniel Andrews is seemingly delighted to have brought Victoria to an unprecedented standstill as he pursues eradication of the runaway coronavirus. But what will be the economic costs and how confident can we be that it will actually work, especially as second, third and fourth waves are reported across the globe? Where is accountability for past and present maladministration, when the Andrews Government seeks to shut down or obfuscate Parliament at every opportunity? (2:55-34:39) Donald Trump has announced that TikTok will be banned in the United States raising national security concerns. Are concerns valid or is the ban simply an attack on freedom of speech and/or a chance to extort the owners for Microsoft’s benefit? (34:39-46:30) Your hosts Scott Hargreaves and Chris Berg are joined by the IPA’s Cian Hussey to answer these questions and share their culture picks. This week’s picks include Camila Russo’s The Infinite Machine, the Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic On the Basis of Sex and Yuval Levin’s A Time to Build. (46:30-1:04:43)

Show Notes

Madness in Melbourne; Jeffrey A. Tucker

https://www.aier.org/article/madness-in-melbourne/

If New Zealand’s the coronavirus role model then we’re in strife; Adam Creighton

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/if-new-zealands-the-coronavirus-role-model-then-were-in-strife/news-story/0dd4f1b0fbd5b1fcb9e969f5bc626da9

Coronavirus: Victoria stopped using the COVID app before virus spike; Olivia Caisley

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/victoria-stopped-app-use-before-spike/news-story/31a3928d308b9d96dae199b2922ab92d

The Coronavirus Is Never Going Away; The Atlantic

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/08/coronavirus-will-never-go-away/614860/?fbclid=IwAR027V4IY-Eysv5rl8kjLd1HTX_agvA9DOhQJyZurk5_PSHA3KHXztzP0nU

Trump Wants U.S. Government To Get ‘A Lot Of Money’ For Allowing Microsoft-TikTok Deal; Forbes

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2020/08/03/trump-wants-us-government-to-get-a-lot-of-money-for-allowing-microsoft-tiktok-deal/

Culture Picks

A Time to Build; Yuval Levin

https://www.amazon.com.au/Time-Build-Community-Recommitting-Institutions/dp/1541699270

The Infinite Machine; Camila Russo

https://www.amazon.com.au/Infinite-Machine-Crypto-hackers-Building-Internet-ebook/dp/B07X8HS2WC

On the Basis of Sex; Mimi Leder

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4669788/