In 1993, the world watched on in horror as the compound at Waco burned to the ground. But most have never heard the story of how David Koresh came under suspicion, and it all starts with an Australian family and a current affairs program.

On this week's episode of The Modern Meltdown, Matt busts out his considerable geek knowledge to discuss the current trend of diversity in pop-culture and why it’s not such a new invention.

Considering recent events, Matthew takes a look at American Gun Control laws and how they correlate to Australian gun regulation. Matt hopes to clear up a few misconceptions about Australian gun laws and offers insight into how some of them could be implemented in America.

Sources for this podcast:
scholarsstrategynetwork.org - What Americans believe about voting rights for criminals
http://www.gunpolicy.org
Wikipedia - Incarceration in the United States
Vox.com - The Texas shooting shows why “a good guy with a gun” isn’t enough
heraldsun.com.au - Australian gun laws changed after Port Arthur, so why won’t USA change its gun laws?

On this week's episode, Matthew discuss the successful launch of Space X’s Falcon Heavy Rocket and what it means for the future of human space exploration.

On the 31st of January 2018, one of the worst security leaks in Australian history was reported by the ABC. Politicians from all walks of government suffer a public dissection of their most intimate political secrets, and some MPs (Kevin Rudd) would threaten the ABC with litigation. If you haven’t heard the incredible details of this story, then this podcast is a must-listen.

*Source note. All information discussed on this podcast can be found at http://ab.co/2DWY0EX. All reporting credited to the ABC.

The Modern Meltdown returns in 2018 with one big existential question for you: are we living in a simulation? Our resident science guy Patrick Catanzariti, aka Pat Cat (@thatpatrickguy), founder of Dev Dinner (@DevDiner) helps Matthew to navigate this startling theory.

The princess of pop sits down with us to discuss her new EP "Grim Tales", a dark walk down the fairy tale path.

You can find Grim Tales and all of Meri's previous releases at http://www.meriamber.com/

In our second interview with comic book creator Shaun Keenan, we discuss Xtreme Champion Tournament’s growing success since 2016. Shaun also offers his insight into the inflation of signature and photograph prices at comic book conventions around the world.

On this week's episode, we speak with Dev Dinner founder Patrick Catanzariti, and ask him exactly how A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) is already shaping the way we live. We also take a realistic look at the risk of creating a brand new intelligent A.I. species.

Matt interviews Colleen Hartland, Victorian MP for the Greens, concerning her viewpoints on our current political climate.